“And what do you ask of me in return?” The billion-dollar question. If the price was too high, I would be forced to leave here with little chance of success.

My father stiffened beside me. Every fiber of his being rebelled at what I was about to do, but he stayed quiet, honoring his decision.

The Queen stepped up beside me, her lips parted without shame, flaunting her delight. The upper hand was hers, and if I refused—well, she would happily take glee in my sorrow. “It’s nothing really.” She gave another dismissive wave of her hand. “You will swear to return to me here in New Orleans, on the eve of our annual celebration of T¸epes¸, to provide your service of guard as we enjoy our … festivities.”

My mouth fell open a teensy bit without my consent. “You want me to serve as a guard dog at your annual gala?” I asked incredulously. She didn’t want my firstborn? Or my blood drained hourly? Or primal torture at the hands of Valdov?

“Oh, it isn’t merely a party, little wolf girl. It’s an … event. It lasts for a full fortnight, and the revelry can get quite … out of hand. We have hired mercenaries in the past, like your cat, to keep things in check and away from human knowledge. But this year we will require a more civilized crowd, for this year marks the five hundred and fiftieth year of our celebrations, and we plan to … outdo ourselves.”

Creepy chills slid up my spine. I didn’t want to know what they were going to outdo. My brain raced as I tried to process. There was a catch. There was always a catch. My coming back here, under this horror-filled roof once again, would be a major stroke in her favor. Anything could happen to me in fourteen days. Plus, if she was willing to take the measures she had to get me here this time, I was clearly missing something about the good Queen’s interest in me.

I planned to remedy that as soon as possible.

My father glowered at the Queen, distaste pulling his lips. The Queen crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

Apparently I was taking too long. “If I agree to swear to your demands, it will come with several of my own stipulations,” I rambled, thinking fast, “or I walk out now and take my chances.”

She shrugged like my meager requests meant nothing. “Name them and we shall see.”

“After my duties are fulfilled at the … party”—it sounded so ridiculous—”I will leave here alive and … untouched.” My skin crawled. “I stay no longer than fourteen days.”

The Queen appeared bored. “Yes, yes, you will be alive. You have my solemn word.”

“During my time here, I won’t be your prisoner. I will enter and leave the premises freely, showing up for my duties when necessary.”

“Yes,” she ground out, her bored look changing to a glint of anger.

Here was the kicker, something I was going to insist on. “And if my mate lives, he will be allowed to accompany me.” I was a realistic gal. There was no way Rourke was going to agree to let me romp around with vamps without him. Plus, once I got him back, I planned on enjoying him.

Before the Queen could answer, Tyler strode to my side. “And she will also be allowed ten bodyguards. To ensure you intend to honor your agreement about her safety fully.”

The Queen’s eyes dilated to full black, her incisors dropping in an instant. There was a horrible hissing as she shrieked, “How dare you question my honor!” The power in the room rose to a suffocating degree and my hand shot to my throat.

My father calmly stepped in front of her and bellowed, “Enough!”

The Queen came up short, still hissing, her fingernails curved to hideously sharp points. Her skin slipping again. Man, I was never going to get used to that.

“Eudoxia”—my father was an inch away from attacking—“you come too close in your threats.”

The Queen trembled with fury. She struggled to tamp it all down. She’d pushed her power too far, now she risked losing her prize. “I will not … I will not tolerate being called without honor in my own home.”

The vampires in the room started to hiss, crowding themselves in behind the wolves. Everyone was on edge.

“Eudoxia, you fool no one,” my father snarled. “It’s very clear to all of us standing here you want my daughter, for some reason I don’t quite understand. But rest assured, henceforth I will make it my greatest quest to find out.” His eyes flashed a brilliant violet. “Understand this now, my daughter is not yours to take. I will never let her go without a fight. We have been forced into an agreement at this time, but the terms she has already brought forth will stand, and in addition, you will hire ten of my wolves as your … guards,” he spat, “and personally guarantee their safety. Make no mistake, Eudoxia, by the time my daughter arrives back here to fulfill her oath to you, she will be full Pack. And she will be protected as such.”

The Queen’s eyes had returned to their normal silver glow, but her incisors stayed put. “Five,” she snarled through her fangs.

My father started to respond, but I interjected quickly, “Five! I agree to five wolves, a werefox, and a witch. Well, a minor witch. If this is going to play out like a job, I want my team.” I added for good measure, “That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”

The Queen snapped her furious glare to me, her long canines so white they stood out like ivory knives against her red lips.

“It is done.” Before any of us could react, she swept up the dais. “My vampires will begin the hunt at nightfall. They will first go to the mountains to ascertain Selene’s trail. Expect them at your door in two eves from this day. Be prepared to leave then.” I didn’t want to ask how she knew where my door was. “Now swear an oath to me, little wolf girl.” Her lips spread into a hideous smile, her teeth ridiculously long and sharp, her eyes flashing danger.

Am I really going to do this? “I swear to … ” I recited everything we agreed on carefully, and for good measure I threw in, “And if your two vamps kill my mate, or any other vampire tries to for that matter, my oath to you will be considered forfeit. And I will come back and kill you instead.” Then before she could interject, I added, “This is my Oath of Honor. I give it freely to Eudoxia, the Queen of the Vampires.”

From the screams following us out, it seemed my end of the bargain wasn’t looking so bad after all.

24

Hank was missing. It was the only piece of news I’d received since we’d emerged from the vamp hold. No one knew what had happened to him. My father had decided to give him space to grieve his son before he ordered him found.

Hopefully that would happen before Hank came for me in the middle of the night, hell-bent on revenge for his son’s demise. It wasn’t a stretch to assume Hank knew what his son had been doing, and keeping that kind of information from his Alpha carried a hefty punishment, if not death. But I had enough to worry about without adding Hank into the mix.

After a plane ride home, the wolves dispersed. Tyler and I headed back to my apartment in a cab, my father and James back to the Safe House. We would meet in the morning to come up with a plan.

I’d snagged a T-shirt and some sweatpants at a boutique in the New Orleans airport, so I was presentable enough. I couldn’t help my smell, however, even though I’d given myself a half-assed rinse in the restroom. Luckily, the cab’s greasy takeout stench masked any of my unpleasantness for the time being.

I laid my head back against the headrest and shut my eyes. I was tired and hungry. “So Danny’s been staying at my place, right?” I asked.

Tyler stretched out his legs, jostling me a little. “Yep. He was injured during the attack, broke a few ribs, gushing head wound, so Dad put him at your place to look after things. He was pissed he couldn’t come along.”

I raked my hands through my hair and tried to energize myself. So many things needed my attention I didn’t have the pleasure of curling up and going to sleep. The manhunt for Rourke would take resources and he was my first priority. “God, it feels like I’ve been gone for at least two months, and it’s only been a day and a half,” I said. “I should’ve called Nick when we reached the airport. I was just too tired.”

“Nick was put in charge of the Safe House while we were gone. He’s been updated regularly. He wanted to meet us at the airport, but I told him we were fine.” Tyler cleared his voice, which got my attention.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, there’s been …” He paused for a long second. “… Well, I guess you could say there’ve been some issues concerning that cop Ray Hart. Nick’s sort of been forced to… cover for your absence again.”

My head snapped off the headrest so quickly I had to brace my hands on the seat in front of me to stop my momentum. “What did you just say?” When he didn’t answer immediately, I shot a fist into his shoulder. “Come on! What are you talking about? What issues with Ray?”

“It seems he’s gone missing,” my brother said carefully, glancing out the window, not meeting my eyes.

“What do you mean, missing?”

“It means,” Tyler grumbled, turning toward me, “he clocked in at work yesterday and was scheduled to come by your apartment first thing in the morning, and wasn’t seen again. When he didn’t show up at the end of his shift, they tracked his car … to your lot. Nobody knows what happened to him.”

“Nobody human, you mean?” I said, my voice low and angry. “Why wasn’t I informed of this before right now? You know how this is going to look—they’ll be all over my ass now. I can’t just waltz back into my apartment, into my life, completely clueless. There could be a whole SWAT team waiting to arrest me.”

“I didn’t tell you on the plane because there wasn’t a damn thing you could’ve done about it. Plus, you were too busy trying to convince me not to help you as a Selective, remember?”

I gave him a searing look. “Well, what did Danny say? If he’s been at the apartment this whole time, he must’ve seen Ray.” I lowered my voice. “You didn’t tell Danny to …”