“You don’t go anywhere alone until we figure out who it is that wants you and why.” The words were an order. “I’ll speak to Janvier and Ashwini, see who best to assign you.”

“I can babysit,” said the aggravating vampire beside her, the one whose power kept sliding around her, the feel of it warm, living snakeskin across her body.

4

“Thank you for your generosity,” Holly said in her politest “nice young lady” voice, her smile wide enough to cut into her cheeks, “but I’d rather shack up with a flea-infested rabid dog.”

Venom’s eyes did that fascinating thing they did sometimes—they nictitated. The flash of the membrane coming horizontally across his irises was so fast that no one else believed her when she told them what she’d seen. It was like they couldn’t see it, the speed was so rapid. Instead of being creeped out by the act, she wanted to lean in close, see if she could track the movement.

She also wanted him to do it slower so she could fully appreciate the beauty of it: the membrane that came across his eye wasn’t totally transparent or milky white like she’d seen in images of birds when she’d looked up the topic online. The translucent membrane was cracked through with white, creating a fine net through which the green of his eyes could shine. The effect was incredible.

And only visible for a millisecond at most.

“You’re not exactly my first choice, kitty.” A leisurely scan down her body. “I prefer to spend my off time with women.”

Holly didn’t rise to the bait. “I’m sure Ashwini won’t mind if I hang with her.” If she had to have a bodyguard, either Ash or Honor or Janvier would be her choice. Since Honor was teaching a class at Guild Academy this semester, and Janvier had extra duties while Raphael and Elena were away, that left Ashwini.

“Ashwini is in advanced combat training, as is Janvier,” Dmitri told her. “They also have a heavy schedule of duties.” He looked over at Venom. “I was planning to ask you to take over some of their tasks while Illium teaches them what they need to know.”

“Isn’t Galen involved?”

“What do you think?” Dmitri’s smile was sharper now. “I think they’re both already ruing the day they agreed to be in Elena’s Guard.” A glance at Holly, his amusement fading before he shifted his attention back to Venom. “This situation needs to be brought quickly to heel. It’s your priority—keep an eye on Holly and find out who’s after her. I’ll split the other duties between the stronger vampires like Trace until you’re done.”

Holly folded her arms. “Sorry to break into your cozy little chat,” she said, struggling past her desire to obey Dmitri, “but I’m a grown adult. Don’t make decisions for me like I’m not here.”

“You sure you’re full grown?”

“Venom.” Dmitri’s cool voice cut Venom off before he could needle her any further. “Talk to Vivek, then get some rest. Holly can shadow me for the rest of the day.”

She managed to keep her mouth shut until after Venom had left. “Dmitri, I won’t fight a bodyguard”—no matter how much the extra leash chafed—“but don’t stick me with him.”

“No one will dare touch you with Venom nearby. He’s one of the Tower’s strongest—and he’s light-years ahead of you in utilizing his abilities.”

“He’s also an asshole.”

“So, according to many people, am I,” Dmitri said, clearly not bothered by that. “It’s either Venom, or I confine you to the Tower.”

Her hands fisted, her heartbeat accelerating. The world began to gain a hard clarity washed in acid green. In front of her, Dmitri watched her with no indication of fear or worry. “Holly, shut it down.” The words were mild.

She screamed instead, the frustration inside her snapping out into a loud sound. “I’ve earned my freedom, Dmitri! I’ve done everything the Tower has asked, everything!”

Walking around his desk, he leaned back against it, his arms folded across his wide chest. “And you’ll keep doing it,” he said in a tone that demanded obedience. “Four years is nothing in an immortal existence, less than a heartbeat, less than a child’s first breaths. You have no idea how dangerous you might be.”

“So you plan to watch me forever?” He’d put her officially under Contract, but unlike normal vampires, she wouldn’t automatically walk free after a hundred years of service in return for the “gift” of vampirism—the Tower would decide if she was ever safe enough to be freed.

“If that’s what it takes.” His words were pitiless. “But I have a feeling that once you have total control of your abilities and over your urges, you’ll take the choice out of my hands.”

The acid green continued to pulse in her vision. “Are you immune to my poison?” she asked, so angry it was a hum in her blood.

“No, but it won’t kill me. I’m also fast enough to snap your neck before your fangs ever get close.”

Holly blinked. The green faded.

Suddenly, her body wanted to sag. She was so tired of this. Of fighting a world that viewed her as an unknown threat. Of fighting the cancer inside her that wouldn’t let her be normal. Of fighting to stay alive, stay sane. “Venom and I think they might’ve wanted my blood,” she said, forcing her tired brain to think. “Or maybe just to collect me.”

“Possible. It’s also possible they want to re-create the effect that Made you.” Cupping her face in his hands, Dmitri spoke in a voice midnight with age. “Hate me if you want, Holly, but remember this: you’re one of the Tower’s now. You’re one of mine now. That might mean chains, but it also means you have hundreds of vampires and angels at your back.”

Emotion was a hot burn at the back of her eyelids. “All for a weird Chinese girl who had the bad luck to survive a massacre?”

A deep smile that reached the hard intensity of his eyes. “Let’s go, my little weirdling. I’m Ash and Janvier’s teacher for the next hour. You can watch.”

Her sudden tiredness faded. Dmitri was lethal in combat, and neither of her two bosses was exactly a slouch. However, as she watched the session that hour, she realized she’d never before seen Dmitri at full speed. “That’s insane,” she muttered to herself where she sat at the very top of the bleachers that ringed the internal sparring area.

“Even many older immortals have trouble tracking him with the eye.”

“Drat. I was hoping if I ignored the crawling sensation up my arms, you’d poof back to the hole you slithered out of.”

Venom sat down on the top bleacher beside her, the freshness of his just-showered scent washing over her. He’d changed into black pants and a long-sleeved black shirt with the sleeves rolled up. For him that was casual attire. “Kitty’s in a bad mood. Missing me again?”

Her skin felt his heat across the bare inches between them, absorbed it. “Like I miss the giant blister I had on my foot in tenth grade.” Again, she didn’t manage to spot what Dmitri had done that left Janvier groaning on the floor.

The chestnut-haired vampire called out something in Cajun French that made his wife laugh and Dmitri grin. Then he accepted Dmitri’s help to haul him upright and swapped positions with Ashwini. Oddly, the hunter proved to be better at sparring with Dmitri than her older and more experienced husband. Ash was a vampire, too, but she hadn’t even crossed the three-year mark since being Made.

“She’s predicting his moves,” Holly whispered, leaning forward, her eyes wide. “I didn’t know she could do that.” Ashwini had precognitive abilities; anyone who was around her long enough figured that out. But this . . .

“No,” Venom murmured, “neither did I—it looks like she’s glimpsing his move half a second before he makes it. In combat, that can change everything.”

For the next ten minutes, they sat in complete harmony, watching Ashwini and Dmitri dance like demons. It was incredible how long-legged and lithe Ash was keeping up with a vampire who was over a thousand years old and who’d spent nearly all of that time as a warrior in one way or another. The hunter compensated for not being as fast or as strong by making idiosyncratic moves that had Dmitri grinning.