Dorian released an annoyed breath. “Heaven is the opposite of hell. You live all your greatest moments with the ones you love. There’s never any sadness or heartache, everything is peachy. As for God and the devil, I don’t know. I’ve never met either one of them; they’re reclusive—even to us. I guess you’ll find out when you die. Now, can we get back on track?”

“But you’re an angel, the Angel of Death no less,” I replied.

“I’m not saying God doesn’t exist, I’m just saying I’ve never met him. Now can you please focus?”

Questions flooded my mind and just as I opened my mouth to ask another, Dorian held up his hand and shook his head. My mouth snapped shut, and I took the vial of blood he handed me. The rest of the night was spent summoning ghosts and ordering them to stalk their murderers. As soon as they’d form and get their orders from me, they’d vanish. It was a bit disconcerting to know a battalion of spirits was lingering and waiting at the ready, even more so that it was me they were connected to.

10

Morning came way too fast. With groggy eyes and a pounding headache, I stepped out of bed. The alarm clock screamed from my dresser. It felt like I hadn’t gotten any sleep.

As I stumbled over to put the alarm clock out of its misery, I tripped over something hard. “Ow! Son of a bitch!” I hopped up and down on one foot and cradled my toes in my hand to ease the pain.

“You have a filthy mouth in the morning.” My useless hopping stopped, and I looked down at where the voice came from. Dorian was lying on his side, clad in nothing more than black boxer briefs. The pain in my toe forgotten, my mouth fell open and my eyes shot wide. Every square inch of Dorian’s body was chiseled. Even his legs were toned, like he spent hours doing squats just for the hell of it.

“What are you doing on my floor? And why are you naked?” I pulled my eyes away from his bare skin and focused on the antique, woven rug beneath my feet. Come to think of it, I didn’t remember falling asleep last night. The last clear image I had of the previous night, I was sitting on the floor with Dorian summoning ghosts. How did I get in my bed?

“I didn’t think you’d appreciate it if I climbed in bed with you. Was I mistaken?” He lifted himself off the floor so all six feet two inches was standing a couple feet from me.

“No, you were right. I would’ve kicked your ass if you’d gotten into my bed.” My eyes traced the patterns on the rug, but when Dorian laughed, I looked up. He bent down and grabbed for his jeans, giving me a full view of his backside. The alarm clock still demanded attention, so with my growing frustration, I stomped towards it and slammed my hand down to shut it off.

“Why are you naked?” My voice sounded panicked. Taking a couple deep breaths calmed me minimally. “And how did I get into bed?”

The amusement on Dorian’s face was annoying as hell. “It’s uncomfortable to sleep in jeans, and I put you in your bed. I didn’t take you for a shy girl.” His eyes raked over me, his gaze too personal for my liking.

“I’m not shy, but that doesn’t mean you should be sleeping in my bedroom, naked no less. I have a boyfriend, one who I love very much! So if you thought you’d get me all hot and bothered by seeing your sexy body, then you were wrong!”

“You think my body is sexy, huh?”

Damn, had I said that? “No, I don’t.”

Dorian snorted at my lame attempt to cover my ass. “You’re boyfriend, the vampire? The one you told Holly you weren’t seeing anymore?”

Double damn.

“It’s none of your business.”

Three rapid knocks pounded on my door. “Gwen? Are you awake? We have training and should’ve been there like five minutes ago.”

Three things happened at once. One, I realized it was Fiona on the other side of my door. Two, the handle was turning and at any moment she’d open my door. And three, the one that freaked me out the most, Fiona would see Dorian dressed in his jeans and come to the conclusion we’d slept together. I’d be interrogated about it for days, maybe months.

My tongue stumbled over words. I tried to tell her to stop, but before I got the first stammer out, she stepped into my bedroom. Her eyebrows arched in surprise at the scene and a knowing smirk lifted the side of her mouth. My hand went to my forehead, my headache growing more intense.

“Sorry to interrupt.” She held two coffee cups in her hand. Walking over to me, she held one out, her eyes glued to Dorian’s bare chest. I grabbed it and took a big gulp, burning my tongue in the process.

“It’s not what it looks like, Fiona.”

“Oh, I’m sure it isn’t.” Her tone was less than convincing. As soon as we were away from Dorian the grilling would begin.

“Seriously, he just slept in here.” I turned to Dorian and said, “Tell her. Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I just slept in here,” Dorian said with a smirk I wanted to slap off of his face. They both laughed like this was all a joke while I grumbled to myself.

“Give me five minutes to change.” I told Fiona and then pointed a finger at Dorian. “Get out.”

He shook his head and snorted walking towards the door, but before he could leave, I snatched up his shirt and threw it at him.

Fiona mouthed the word, “Hot” while his back was turned.

As far as days went, this one already sucked.

Ten minutes later I rushed downstairs and towards the ball room. Fiona stood off to the side with Ethan but rushed towards me when I walked in. Patrick, a fighter specialist on the council, was speaking at the front of the room while rows and rows of witches and warlocks stood in perfect lines. The castle turned into a military base overnight.

“So?” Fiona leaned towards me while we faced forward, pretending to listen to Patrick. Her tone begged for details of my night spent with the Angel of Death.

“What?” I pretended to not know what she was talking about.

“How was it?” Even whispering, I could tell how giddy she was for the details.

“Nothing happened.” I bit out. It annoyed me she thought I was that kind of girl, especially when she knew I was dating Aiden.

“He was pretty much naked, Gwen.”

“He sleeps naked!” I shrieked.

Patrick stopped talking and every head in the room turned towards Fiona and I. Oops, perhaps a bit louder than I intended. She giggled next to me while I wished the floor would swallow me whole.

“Gwen Sparks, up front,” Patrick ordered.

My stomach plummeted. It was like I was in junior high all over again—would he have me write my name on the chalkboard? With angry footsteps, I stomped up to the front of the room. Patrick looked like a general you’d find at any army base; shaved blonde hair, square face, brown eyes, and muscles that tried to escape his shirt. Once I was standing in front of him, he crossed the tree limbs he called arms and glared at me.

This is ridiculous I’m twenty-six years old! Why do I feel like I’m twelve?

“As much as everyone is interested in finding out who ‘sleeps naked’, I will not tolerate you disrupting the class. You will be my partner to demonstrate the lesson today.” Patrick’s face was hard and the caterpillars he called eyebrows, pulled together as he scowled. Fiona giggled a few rows back, but she covered it as a fake cough; the strong urge to use magic to tie her shoelaces together teased my thoughts.

“Today we will be practicing three different maneuvers,” Patrick continued, addressing the room again. “The first will demonstrate what to do if you’re being attacked. You will pair off. One will be the attacker and the other the victim.”

I bet I can guess which one I’ll play.

“Gwen, you will play the victim, and I’ll attack you.”

Ding, ding, ding! What do I win, Johnny?

While I was having a sarcastic conversation in my head, Patrick disappeared. Everyone’s head swiveled in different directions as they looked for where he went. As his intended victim, I was scared. Patrick wasn’t the type to pull punches. Being made an example out of at seven in the morning was a bitch.

Air whooshed behind me. I turned too late and was knocked across the padded practice mats—hard. I lay on the pad for a few seconds as I regained my breathing. Patrick stood over me with a satisfied smirk.

“You always have to be aware of your surroundings people. Vampires are quick and stealth; you won’t see them coming.” He offered a hand to help me up, but I ignored it and stood on my own. Patrick snorted at my childish snub and continued to speak to his soldiers. “So how do you anticipate a vampire if you can’t see them?”

A few hands rose in the air, mainly woman who cared more about getting his attention than getting the answer right. He was cute, if you liked the “I’m Tarzan, you Jane” attitude. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used a club to hit woman over the head and dragged them back to his cave.

“We could use a beckoning spell so vampires are always on our radar,” one woman said. “You know, because that way they couldn’t hide from us.”

“Wouldn’t that spell also make it so we were on their radar?” Patrick asked.

The woman’s cheeks turned a nice shade of red. “Yeah, I guess it would.”

More hands rose in the air, but he ignored them and turned towards me instead.

“Gwen?”

“What?”

“Do you know how to spot a vampire?”

“They’re the ones with the fangs?” A few people laughed at my sarcasm, but Patrick didn’t look amused.

“Give me ten,” he ordered.

“Ten what?”

“Pushups.”

Ah hell. “Seriously?” Someone needed to tell this dude we weren’t on an army base.

Patrick nodded as he held his arms behind his back. I could tell by the look on his face he didn’t think I could do one pushup let alone ten. I loved proving people wrong, so I knelt on the mat and straighten my body to begin my punishment. The first six were easy peasy, but after that, the muscles in my arms screamed in protest.