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filled the space around me before the doors had time to swing shut. His grace wasn’t feline like the shifters I’d grown up around, but it was definitely predatory. And it was all male.
    He ran a finger down the side of my cheek then pressed his lips, feather-light, across my forehead.
    My heart lurched like it could propel me to step closer to him, to move into his embrace. Instead I scooted away.
    “When did you get back?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t been home long enough to note my absence. I doubted I was that lucky. Very little got past Nathanial. Besides, the pile of books on the table was impressive.
    He frowned, and I squirmed under his measured gaze until I finally looked down to escape it. My palms were gray with dust from the sarcophagus, and flakes of red rust clung to my fingers like spots of dried blood. I brushed my hands on my thighs. It didn’t help, and I scrubbed harder. Nathanial stepped forward. His hands slid around mine, stilling me.
    “Where were you, Kita?”
    I shrugged without looking up. “With Gil.”
    It wasn’t an answer. Not really. But, after a beat, he stepped back as if he’d accepted more than I said. “The council wants to speak to you.”
    He’d changed the subject? Seriously? He never let me get away with half-answers this easily. Of course, it wasn’t every day I discovered a body and got summoned by Haven’s vampiric council.
    I nodded and tugged my hands free. Without a word, he ushered me out the door and onto the porch, but when he turned, the frown melted off his face, leaving in its place a look of nonchalant arrogance. His expression, as empty of true emotion as if he’d put the opera mask back on, spoke volumes about the emotions he wasn’t sharing.
    At least, it did to me.
    It was his public face, the one he hid behind. The fact he was wearing it while it was just the two of us made my anxiety level skyrocket. “What?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’re starting to creep me out, Nathanial.”
    He blinked, as if startled. Did he think I wouldn’t notice he’d shut down and was being all secretive?
    “I am going to say something you will not appreciate,” he said, his tone as guarded as his face.
    Like I hadn’t figured that out. I tapped my fingers against the gray elbows of my coat, waiting.
    “Tatius will not approve of your current condition. He instructed you to feed. You need blood before we go.”
    My hands clenched, my fingers digging into my arms until the pain became small red points I could focus on. I wanted to stomp my feet, to yell. I’d hunted not once, but twice tonight. Can’t he be satisfied with —I cut that thought off.
    Sucking in air, I filled my lungs with the scent of night, of the nearby woods, of the spicy scent of Nathanial’s skin. I kept drawing in air until my lungs pressed against my ribs and expanded in my diaphragm. Then I let all the air rush out of me, emptying my body of every drop, every scent, every breath. If I yelled, Nathanial would wait me out. If I ran, he would come after me. If I hit something, it would break. So I stood there, perfectly still, perfectly empty.
    The mask slipped from Nathanial’s expression as his eyes warmed. One edge of his lips quirked like I’d amused him.
    What, had he expected me to have an outburst? Probably.
    But I wasn’t going to. Not this time.
    “I’ve hunted. I’m fine.”
    Nathanial stepped closer and moved into my space, filled it. He wasn’t a big man, but his presence, maybe even his power, closed around me. His fingers traced the edge of my face as he studied me, and my pulse quickened. It was like his touch pulled a girlish giddiness from deep inside to the surface, made me want to smile against my will. Focus, Kita.
    “I’m fine. I’m not even cold.” Not much, at least, but I didn’t add that.
    “You look drawn, tired.”
    Gee, isn’t that what every girl wants to hear? I backed away from him, though it felt like losing a part of myself