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to give up easily.
    Damon had done the same thing with Eve. He’d been sure that he was the one who could win her. He hadn’t known she was a witch at first, but even when he discovered that fact he hadn’t been in any way unsure of his ultimate success.
    She had been a hot seductress, well versed in the erotic arts and acts. But she ended up betraying him in the worst possible way.
    So, no, Damon didn’t like witches. Didn’t trust them. Didn’t want them around.
    Daniella reluctantly hopped up from Nick’s lap. “I’ve got to get back to work. I really didn’t get the feeling that Zoe is devious.”
    Before Damon could make a scathing reply, they were joined by Neville Rickerbacher, Vamptown’s resident vamp super-nerd. He was a computer genius and a stock market whiz. Damon knew that Neville and his elite team made most of the money that kept Vamptown going using shrewd investments. Neville was also in charge of the neighborhood’s surveillance system.
    “The cameras are back online,” Neville told them. “But they are now broadcasting Animal Planet. Here, look.” He showed them his tablet.
    Damon’s growl made Neville shiver nervously. “Wait, now it’s back to normal. Nope, back to Animal Planet.”
    “Still think she’s not going to be any trouble?” Damon asked Nick. “I gave her half an hour to get the cameras going again, and this is her response.”
    “Zoe admitted she spelled the cameras?” Nick said.
    “Her grandmother did it,” Damon said.
    “Well, that’s another matter entirely,” Nick said.
    “Why?” Damon said. “What difference does it make which witch made trouble?”
    “Come on, Damon. In the big picture, how bad is this minor thing? After all, Irma didn’t know that the cameras were ours. Give her and Zoe a chance.”
    “How many chances do you plan on giving her?” Damon demanded.
    “As many as it takes,” Nick said.
    Damon had no intention of being that generous.
    *   *   *
    “You couldn’t have put up the protective spell sooner?” Zoe asked Bella. “As in when Damon pushed us against the wall?”
    “No, I couldn’t, because it’s been decades since I’d been in such close contact with a man. You have no idea what that’s like. I couldn’t resist having that hot vampire body pressed against me. It felt sooo good,” Bella purred.
    “You’ve been a familiar long enough to know what your job is.” Zoe shoved her dark hair away from her face in exasperation. “You’re supposed to help me, protect and guide me.”
    Bella yawned daintily before replying, “He didn’t kill you so what’s the problem?”
    “The problem is that you didn’t have my back.”
    “The wall was at your back. He was against your front. And I threatened him later in the conversation. Vampires value their private parts,” Bella said.
    “How do you even know a spell like that? Most familiars—”
    “We’ve already established that I am not like most familiars,” Bella interrupted her to say. “As for the spell, we had Russian vampires at court who could get nasty and I had to use it once or twice.”
    “I need your help,” Gram called from the back bedroom.
    Zoe entered the room to find several spell books spread out on the bed.
    “I can’t remember how to undo the spell I did on the cameras.” Gram sounded flustered.
    “It’s not in the family Book of Spells?”
    Gram shook her head. “Just the standard one, which I tried.” She opened the well-worn old book and recited the spell again.
    What was done before,
    Be done no more.
    “Are you sure that didn’t work?” Zoe said.
    Gram nodded. “It’s not specific enough. Maybe it’s in here.” She reached for a thin calfskin volume with gilded edges. “I don’t remember seeing this one before.”
    “Gram, wait!”
    But she’d already opened the book. A rush of cold dank air hit them along with a howl.
    Zoe helped Gram immediately snap the book shut.
    “That didn’t sound good,” Gram said.
    “That