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on a human—draining her of every
drop of blood she had—or worse, he was going to take her back to his lair,
impregnate her, and force her to undergo a gruesome ritual which would end in
her agonizing death and the birth of his twin sons.
    Marquis shook his head. He didn’t want to think
about that. He didn’t want to remember his youngest brother’s recent death at
the hands of Valentine Nistor—a son of Jaegar who had done the exact same thing
with Shelby’s destiny, leaving the youngest Silivasi brother to die at
the hands of the Blood Curse.
    Fortunately for Kristina, Kagen had slain the son
of Jaegar and brought her back to the Dark Moon Health Center before the Dark
One could carry out his plan. After learning of her circumstances, he had given
her a temporary place to stay and worked with Marquis to find her a job at the
casino.
    Kristina had worked out beautifully.
    And over time, she had become an ally if not a
friend.
    Due to her deep gratitude and absolute ability to keep
a confidence, Kagen had not erased her memories. He had allowed her, instead, to
retain full knowledge of who and what the sons of Jadon were, knowing that
every now and then, having a human who could go human places, do human things,
and move undetected in the deepest arenas of the human world came in handy. Having
a second set of eyes at the casino had proved to be especially useful.
    Marquis scowled, thinking about Kristina’s idiot
boyfriend, Dirk. The man was a human menace, or at least he wanted to be. He
rode around on a purple Harley with a tattoo of a scorpion on the side of his
neck, another of a python on his steroid-enhanced left bicep. He smoke, drank,
cursed like a sailor, and tried way too hard to convince the world that he was
the scariest thing next to Satan. Marquis scoffed. He could have squashed the
human like a bug on several occasions, drained the blood right from underneath
that ridiculous scorpion, but Kristina had strictly forbidden it. In fact, she
had begged Marquis to stay away from him. What she saw in the imbecile, Marquis
would never know. Still, he had always respected her wishes—
    Until now.
    Enough was enough.
    “Where is Kristina now?” he asked.
    Chad sighed. “She’s in your office. We cleaned her
up, but she needs to see a doctor.”
    Marquis restrained an instinctive snarl. Chad had
no idea he was a vampire. “Where’s Dirk?”
    “Don’t know—probably down at the bar getting drunk.
He’s not in the casino, but that’s just a matter of time, especially if she
doesn’t come home after her shift.”
    “Well, keep her in my office; I’ll be right
there.”
    “Will do. Oh, and boss—”
    “What?”
    “Sorry to bother you away from work.”
    “I’ll be there in a minute.” Marquis hung up. He placed
the phone in the inner pocket of the light-weight jacket he wore over a
well-fitted, black muscle-tee and turned around just in time to catch the beautiful
sight of Princess Ciopori stepping out onto the front veranda.
    Her hair was twisted to one side, the ends collected
in a thick, looped braid that hung enticingly over her bare shoulder, and she
was wearing a sleeveless, ruffled dress that hugged her curves like it had been
made just for her—another thoughtful contribution from Napolean.
    Marquis placed his hand over his heart. There were
no words.
    Ciopori instantly brightened. “Do you see
something you like, warrior?”
    Marquis stepped toward her and purred, a deep
throaty growl rising from his broad, muscular chest. As he bent to taste her
lips, his hands found their way to the small of her back and he pulled her
tightly against him. “Mmm,” he moaned, his tongue sweeping over hers. “Yes, I
do.”
    Ciopori smiled, and then she took a step back. “Something
troubles you, warrior, and it is more than the concern you share for myself and
Vanya.”
    Marquis shook his head, not wanting to let go. “It’s
nothing—just business...work. Just something I need to take care of.