He sighed. “I have fangs. Not sure that’d help.”

She laughed, walking down the vaguely familiar streets. She knew Edinburgh well enough. Her first stop would have been her bank if she hadn’t been completely barefoot and without ID. Unless she managed to catch an advisor who remembered her, she doubted they’d let her get to her account, whatever she said.

“When do you plan on heading back? I don’t want to keep you.”

Mikar shrugged. “I’ve been assigned to you for the day. Do your thing. We’ll head back when you’re finished.”

More favors, more kindness. She wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“All right. Shoes first, then.”

He grunted. “Shopping. Great.”

Ha! Bloodsuckers or not, men were so damn predictable.

Undead

Alexius admitted he might have overdone it with breakfast.

He was boxing the leftovers when someone knocked on his door and walked in without bothering to wait.

His house certainly was busy these days. Just a few short months ago, the number of visitors he got per month was a lot lower—mostly his cleaners and his conquests.

Chloe appeared at the kitchen door, Ruby right behind her, closely following her in a way that suggested she was her bodyguard for the day. As Mikar, her main protector, was driving the teenager and Avani, it wasn’t surprising.

Ruby was an old, crazy vampire Alexius didn’t know well. Old didn’t intimidate him. Crazy was another matter.

She was one of Levi’s slayers—the warriors he trained to serve him. Ghostlike, despite her light brown skin, each of her movements eerie and calculated, she was the image of a gothic vampire. She wore a long white dress that was cleaner than usual. Alexius suspected she might have two or three identical ones, but it could just be the same one that got a fresher look when she swam in the lake. She lived outside and didn’t drink any synthetic blood, hunting small game in the woods instead. Her eyes remained bright red at all times—the same color as her hair. Sometimes, he wondered if she dyed it with blood.

Probably.

In short, she was a hair shy of feral. Alexius knew to be wary of her. Despite everything, Levi trusted her—enough to leave his mate in her care. That counted for something. Protective as he was, there was no way he would have let Ruby anywhere near Chloe if the other ancient was as unstable as she looked.

“Eirikrson. How can I be of service, my lady?”

“I smelled bacon,” she said with a sigh of delight. “Levi likes fancy food. He only orders duck and fillet and makes broccoli velouté. It’s delightful, but sometimes, a girl wants her bacon.”

He laughed. “Well, there’s some extra. Sit down. Ruby, can I get you anything?”

The woman tilted her head. “I do not believe I am familiar with bacon. Pray, what is this invention? The scent around your house was certainly …” She bared her fangs in a grin that was plain terrifying. “Appetizing.”

Jesus, that vamp was scary. Her suave, thick accent only served to accentuate her otherness.

“Cured salted pork,” he explained.

“Ah. I’ve eaten something like that once.”

The way she said “once” suggested she was talking about the Middle Ages.

“Well, take a seat. Let’s see if food has improved in the last few hundred years.”

He restarted his stove, heated a few pans, and warmed up a bit of everything, serving them two full plates.

Alexius, Levi, Mikar, Luke, and the other older vampires didn’t eat much, but as a fledgling, Chloe would still have an almost human appetite. As for Ruby, well, Alexius doubted she knew the definition of moderation.

“Thank you, Lex. You know, the first time we met, I thought you were a bit of a poser.”

“Accurate,” he admitted without shame.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s the thing. You aren’t. You’re nice—when you want to be. And not in a calculated way, either. If anything, it feels like you calculate your attitude to appear like an asshole. Why is that?”

Because he didn’t want anyone to get too close. Instead of replying, he asked, “Anything to drink?”

“Please. Water’s fine.”

“Do you have blood?” Ruby asked. Though he’d given her cutlery, she’d ignored it, eating with her fingers. She’d already demolished all of her bacon and most of her eggs.

“I find myself parched. Your cured pork is a delight.”

Alexius grinned. “Blood and water coming right up. Would you like more bacon?”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “The fledgling is right. You’re a good man. Now, feed me.”

He wisely opted to obey.

Alexius was warming up the rest of the bacon when his phone buzzed. He divided the bacon strips between the two women, served one water and the other human blood—he knew better than to dare offer synthetic to Ruby—before checking his messages.

Greer.

There’s something up with the zombie. He’s banging against the refrigerator door.

Alexius replied immediately.

Get out of there. Don’t open it. I mean it.

He knew his apprentice was too inquisitive for her own good—she was probably dying to analyze the phenomenon. Greer could take care of herself, but they were talking about zombies. The zombie of a highly trained sup hunter at that.

“What’s up? You’ve gone all pale.”

He glanced between Chloe and Ruby. Ordinarily, he would have simply explained the matter, but he knew Chloe would have insisted on coming along—she was as bad as Greer. If he put her in danger, his ass was going to get in serious trouble with Levi.

“Nothing. I have something to take care of at work.”

“I can tell you’re lying. You’re dreadful at it, by the way.”

She was right. Deception had never been his forte. What you saw was what you got with him.

“What’s going on?” Chloe pressed, her voice changing. It became slower, lower, and contained a compulsion that made her impossible to ignore.

Alexius didn’t think she even knew she was using her inner power, the whisper. He sighed. “It appears that the huntsman’s not good at staying deceased.”

As expected, the woman was immediately on her feet. Ruby followed her lead—though she did fist all of her bacon before getting up. “Let’s go.”

He decided to do what he could to avoid a beating later, and messaged Levi with an update.

At vampire speed, the five miles between his house and the Institute took under two minutes. When they reached the heavy wooden doors of the old castle inside which the school had been built, Levi was already waiting for them, Luke in tow.

“So, our dead man isn’t so dead after all?” he asked casually, eyes on his mate. “Come closer, Chloe.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you have to be this protective? We’ve already established I can kick ass.”

“Protective would be keeping you in the house under lock and key. I just want you next to me.”

Alexius did his best not to laugh. A hundred years ago, if someone had told him Leviathan could say anything half as cheesy, he would have recommended they stop funny mushrooms.

Chloe blushed and stepped to his side before they entered the school, heading straight to the tower reserved for the immortals, north of the building. Alexius opened the red door and walked down the spiral staircase to reach his underground laboratory.

Everything was too still and silent, and the lights were off. It didn’t matter. Vampires could see well enough in the dark.

The mortuary fridge was a few rooms away; its door was open.

“Greer?” he called.

There was no answer, not a sound.

What was going on?

He rushed forward, entering the room, noting it had been trashed. The fridge where Easton’s body had been was in bad shape, with a large hole out of which the creature had no doubt been able to crawl.

Dammit. Where was Greer?

He closed his eyes to focus his senses and listened to the silence, smelled the air.

Vampires had heartbeats, but they were weaker than humans’, slower and steadier. He detected one faster than theirs—hectic, in fact.

Greer was scared out of her wits.

Dammit.

He followed his sense of smell through the rows of rooms—his chemistry lab, his alchemy lab, his dungeons, all interspersed with reinforced cells…

To his surprise, that was where his nose directed him. Frowning, he entered a cell in the middle, scanning it.

“Greer?” he asked, confused. “It’s me.”

“Oh, thank God!” The words, muffled, came from above.

She opened a ventilation grill and jumped down. She was in a state, her clothing dirty, messy, and torn. “I promise I listened to you, I didn’t open the fridge, but he got out, and he was chasing me…he’s fast, Lex.”

Smelling blood, Alexius got to his knees and looked at her leg; it had been scratched at the shin. She’d made a quick tourniquet out of her sleeve. Clever girl.

“We need to look at that, make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

“We need to kill the fucking zombie,” she retorted.

That might prove difficult, given the fact that it was already dead.

The other vampires had followed suit.

“I don’t hear him anywhere. I don’t even feel a presence.” Luke was baffled.

“There’s a faint smell, though,” Levi said. “He’s still here.”

“Let’s hope so. We can’t have that thing roaming the school.”

Greer was right.

Alexius turned to the others. “Can you take care of it? I want to look at Greer’s wound.”

It smelled wrong. Rotten. If there was something poisoning her blood from a fucking zombie, he needed to take care of it, and now. Every movie he’d seen said so. And it wasn’t like he had much else to go on when it came to zombies.

“You got it.”

“I’d like to carry you, if you don’t mind. It’ll be faster.”