“No. You’re beautiful. When will you marry me?”

She blinked in surprise. “I thought after, when it’s over.”

“No, I don’t want to wait. Every day is a day less, and every day is precious. I want us to be married here, in this house. Before long, we’ll travel to Geall, and then... It should be here, Glenna, in the home we’ll make.”

“Of course it should. I know your family can’t be here, except for Cian and Blair. Neither can mine. But when it’s over, Hoyt. When everyone’s safe again, I’d like another ritual here, I’d like my family here then.”

“A handfasting now, a wedding ceremony after. Would that suit?”

“Perfect. I’d—now? As in now? I can’t be ready now. I have to... do things first. I need a dress.”

“I thought you preferred your rituals skyclad.”

“Very funny. A few days. Say the coming full moon.”

“The end of the first month.” He nodded. “It seems right. I want to—what is all that shouting?”

They walked to the window to see Blair going toe-to-toe with Larkin. Moira stood, hands fisted on her hips.

“Speaking of rituals,” Glenna commented. “Looks like the head-butting portion of the daily training’s started without us. We’d better get down there.”

“She’s slow and she’s sloppy, and slow and sloppy get you dead.”

“She’s neither,” Larkin shot back at Blair. “But her strengths lie in her bow and in her mind.”

“Great, she can think a vamp to death. Let me know how that works out. As for the bow, yeah, eye like an eagle, but you can’t always kill at a distance.”

“I can speak for myself well enough, Larkin. And you—” Moira jabbed a finger at Blair. “I don’t care to be spoken to as if I were addle-brained.”

“I’ve got no problem with your brain, but I’ve got a big one with your sword arm. You fight like a girl.”

“So I am.”

“Not during training, not during battle. Then you’re a soldier, and the enemy doesn’t give a rat’s ass about your plumbing.”

“King had her working on her strengths.”

“King’s dead.”

There was a moment of utter silence that couldn’t have been sliced through with Cian’s battle-ax. Then Blair sighed. That, she could admit, had been unnecessarily harsh.

“Look, what happened to your pal is terrible. I sure as hell don’t want it to happen to me. If you don’t want it to happen to you, you’ll work on your weaknesses—and you’ve got plenty. You can play with your strengths on your own time.”

She planted her feet as Hoyt and Glenna came to join them. “Did you put me in charge of this?” Blair demanded.

“I did,” Hoyt affirmed.

“And we’ve nothing to say about it?” Fury tightened Larkin’s face. “Nothing at all?”

“You don’t, no. She’s the best for it.”

“Because she’s your blood.”

Blair rounded on Larkin. “Because I can put you on your ass in five seconds flat.”

“Sure of that, are you?” He shimmered and changed, and the wolf he became crouched and snarled.

“Excellent,” Blair said under her breath, with temper smothered by pure admiration.

“Oh, Larkin, leave off, would you?” Obviously out of patience, Moira slapped a hand at him. “He’s only angry because you were rude to me. And you’ve no cause to be so insulting. It happens I agree with you about working on the weaknesses.” And Cian had said the same, Moira recalled. “I’m willing to practice, but I won’t be after standing and being berated while I’m about it.”

“More flies with honey than vinegar?” Blair said. “I always wondered why the hell anyone would want to catch flies. Look, you and I can paint our toenails and talk about boys when we’re off the clock. While I’m training you, I’m the bitch because I want you alive. Does it hurt when you do that?” Blair asked Larkin when he changed back. “Shifting bones and organs and so on?”

“Some actually.” He couldn’t recall anyone ever asking him. His temper cooled as quickly as it had flared. “But it’s fun, so I don’t mind so much.”

He slung his arm around Moira’s shoulder, gave her arm a little rub as he spoke to Hoyt and Glenna. “Your girl here took out four of them in the forest. I took a fifth myself.”

“This morning? Five?” Glenna stared at Blair. “How close to the house?”

“Close enough.” Blair glanced toward the woods. “Lookouts, I figure, and not very good ones. Caught them napping. Lilith’s going to get word of it. She’s going to be unhappy.”

It wasn’t a matter of killing the messenger; not in Lilith’s long-standing opinion. It was a matter of killing it as painfully as possible.

The young vampire who’d foolishly gone back to the nest after Blair’s morning foray was now on a slow roast, belly-down, over a simmering fire. The smell wasn’t particularly pleasant, but Lilith understood command required certain sacrifices.

She circled him now, careful to keep the hem of her red gown away from the lick of flames. “Why don’t we go over this again?” Her voice was melodious, somewhat like a devoted teacher speaking to a favored student. “The human—female—destroyed everyone I’d posted, save you.”

“The man.” Pain turned the words to guttural rasps. “The horse.”

“Yes, yes. I keep forgetting the man and the horse.” She stopped to study the rings she wore. “The one who came along after she’d already cut down—what was it now—four of you?”

She crouched down, a spider of stunning beauty, to stare into his red, wheeling eyes. “And she was able to do this because? Wait, wait, I remember. Because you were sleeping?”

“They were. The others. I was at post, Majesty. I swear it.”

“At post, and yet, this single female human lives. Lives because—do I have this detail correct? Because you ran?”

“Came back... to report.” Its sweat dripped into the fire, and sizzled. “The others, they ran away. They ran. I came to you.”