They had wounded wolves who needed tending to, and they hadn’t refused magical assistance.

It was daytime now, and everyone was settling, letting the weight of the night sink in. Diana was leaning on him, eyes half closed. When her head fell to his shoulder, he chuckled.

“All right. Time to get you home.” She needed sleep, and blood. They all did.

“You can stay in Skyhall,” Chloe offered. “There’s plenty of room.”

Mikar shrugged. “I doubt they torched my house.”

Chloe’s eyes bulged. “You have a house?”

He laughed. “Where did you think I slept, all this time?”

“In Levi’s place, like Sylvan.” Chloe shook her head. “I can’t believe you never invited us around for dinner.”

Mikar rolled his eyes. “You can come for dinner any time. Bring Levi’s wine.”

“I don’t have wine anymore,” Levi reminded him. “They burned it all, remember?”

Mikar growled. Now that was just nasty.

Aftermath

Diana woke under a soft quilted blanket. She couldn’t remember how she got in bed at all. It took a moment to realize why she wasn’t home. The Helsing house had been burned to a crisp.

Which wasn’t nearly as sad as it sounded.

The white and brown room was tidy, and homey. Two walls were made of large wooden beams, a third was a floor-to-ceiling window, giving an incredible view of the woods, and beyond, the lake, still and quiet under a moonlit sky. The last wall was piled-up red stone, with a fireplace at its center. An open door led outside the house. But while she had never stepped a foot inside this place, she knew it was Mikar’s.

She sat up, grimacing down at herself. She was still in the white dress she’d had on yesterday, but it was so disgusting no one could have guessed the original color. At least her bloodstained boots had been removed. She spotted them on the floor.

She got up, following her senses down a flight of spiral wood stairs to a large living room.

Mikar was spread out on a red velvet sofa, watching TV. Somehow, this sight seemed entirely out of place. His place was in the middle of a battle, or in the shadows, watching over everyone. Not sprawled in front of a silly vampire flick.

And yet, she loved everything about it. If she could forever keep this moment, she’d frame it and stare at it every day.

A warrior at peace.

“How did we get here?”

“I walked,” he replied, grinning. “You were carried. You passed out while we were walking. I didn’t think it was possible for someone to just collapse like that.”

She glared at him. “Well, not all of us can be first generation vampires—blue blood and all.”

He paused his movie. “Are you thirsty?”

She hadn’t even noticed until he mentioned it, but now her empty stomach growled. “Parched. Hungry, too.”

“Thankfully, I keep a full pantry.” He moved to a mini fridge, and retrieved a bottle of plain, boring AB neg. It wasn’t Olla, but it’d do. “You want to take a shower while I make breakfast?” He tilted his head to the wide window. “Well, supper.”

“Are you saying I smell?” she challenged, just for the sake of it.

She was disgusting, and she knew it.

He chuckled low. “Oh, I’m not biting into that one. The bathroom’s upstairs, right next to the bedroom. I had Chloe bring you some clothes. They’re in there. You’re around the same size.”

Eager to shed the layer of grime on her skin, she opted to stop teasing him.

Showers were one of her favorite inventions, and Mikar’s double-headed, full-pressure glass shower contributed to making this one the very best she’d ever taken in her life. Although, given how filthy she felt, a boring old school-gym shower would have felt like a luxury.

As promised, there were freshly laundered jeans and a black turtleneck on the towel rack.

She returned to the bedroom to retrieve the boots she’d seen next to an oak dresser. They’d been cleaned, and someone had removed the weapons that had been attached to them.

That wouldn’t do at all. Diana wanted them back, stat.

There was something she wanted more, though.

She returned downstairs.

“This way.”

Following his voice to the kitchen, she sat at the breakfast bar, enjoying yet another portrait of peace. Mikar was flipping pancakes, stacking them on a plate with strawberries, chocolate sauce, and bacon. “Bacon and chocolate?”

He shrugged. “Eat it, or I will.”

She practically growled. “My bacon.”

Her stomach wholeheartedly agreed.

He slid the full plate in front of her. “Thank you.”

Truthfully, food hadn’t been the first thing on her mind when she’d joined him, but now that the plate was in front of her, she attacked it with gusto. Half of her stack gone, she swallowed to ask, “You aren’t eating?”

He laughed. “I haven’t stopped eating since I woke up about two hours ago. You crashed for longer. No wonder. I didn’t have to deal with Death last night, at least.”

It had been one hell of a night, for sure.

The food stuck in her throat as she remembered all of it. “How is…” She didn’t even know where to start. “How’s everyone?”

“Bewildered. Sad. Fucking aggravated. Ruby didn’t deserve to go like that. No one does. And Luke…” The words weren’t coming for him either. “They were friends,” he finally said.

Diana forced herself to get back to her food. It was so delicious that after a while, she managed to enjoy it.

“We’ll be burning Ruby in a few hours. I would have woken you up soon, if you hadn’t emerged.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t know Ruby all that well—not compared to him—but she wanted to pay her respect all the same. For a few weeks, she’d been a friend. Quirky, honest, and strong, Ruby had been a pearl—unique and beautiful.

“I need to tell you something. It’s going to sound strange, and you may not believe me at first—”

Diana cut off his prelude. “I’m your mate. I know.”

She’d figured it out in the middle of the battle. Her own safety had been second to his as far as her instincts were concerned, and that was all the proof she needed.

“How do you feel about that?” Mikar asked.

Leaning on the countertop, he was the picture of casual, but his eyes betrayed him.

“Like an idiot,” Diana admitted. He lifted a brow, and she explained, “I should have figured it out sooner. You…”

Gosh, she wasn’t great at this. Spelling out her thoughts, her feelings. She’d never had a chance to practice it with friends or crushes as a young girl, hence why she generally hid behind a wall of sarcasm and abrasiveness.

Not with him, though. With Mikar, she could be vulnerable. She could be herself.

“From the first moment, I felt something toward you. Something that scared me. And I was drawn to you like I’ve never been drawn to anyone. I was frustrated with myself, because, well, I can tell you’re not the kind of guy I can control. I’m used to being in control. And how do you feel?” she echoed challengingly.

“Honestly? Like a lucky bastard.” He smirked down at her. “I’ve never done relationships because I lost everyone who was close to me once, and I couldn’t deal with risking that again. So, girls came and went. But fate found the strongest woman in the world, and gift-wrapped her for me in a gorgeous package.” He leaned forward, thumb reaching her mouth and rubbing against her lower lip. “You’re everything I never knew I needed.”

Oh.

“Well then.” Diana shoved her plate aside, and leaped off the bar stool, clearing the breakfast bar to jump into his arms. Laughing, he caught her in midflight. She locked her legs around his waist and lowered her mouth to his. “I suppose that makes you mine.”

Mikar growled his assent into her mouth, pushing her back to the breakfast bar and caging her in with his arms. “And you’re mine.”

She’d thought their first and only kiss had been the best in her life, but this one took the cake. He devoured her hungrily, his rapture evident in every touch of his skilled fingers along her arms, her back, her hips. She greedily tightened her legs around him, needing to feel more. His hard length rubbed against the apex of her thighs through layers of fabric. The pants needed to go. His and hers. She fumbled with the metallic buttons of his jeans, opening two before he clasped her hands and lifted them in one hand.

She started to protest. “But…”

“Not yet.”

Diana pouted. Ignoring it, Mikar lifted her to the breakfast bar and worked her skinny jeans down her hips and legs, then parted her thighs.

“Oh. All right then.”

She wasn’t wearing any panties—Chloe hadn’t lent her any. Not that Diana would have worn borrowed underwear. Her glistening folds were staring right back at Mikar, who stuffed his nose between her thighs and smelled her, inhaling deeply. Then he lifted his chin and his mouth closed in on her clit. She bucked under him. Steadying her with one hand on her stomach, he lapped at her, licking her out. His tongue explored each fold leisurely, as though he had all the time in the world. Diana’s breath caught when it returned to her clit and circled it softly. Then the tongue lashed at it, with one hard hit that had her screaming. Her insides were turning into an inferno.

“Please!”

He laughed against her. “Oh, I’m not even close to done.”

His free hand joined his tongue; he edged two fingers inside her, curving them just right. “Fuck, Mikar!”

“That’s the general idea.” His fingers moved in and out of her, fast and hard. She curved her hips upward, wiggling aimlessly, but his hand pushed her back down against the countertop. He sucked hard on her clit, and kept moving his fingers so fast. She’d never been fucked so deep, although his cock hadn’t even touched her yet. Hell, he was still dressed.