“We have enough danger in the house already,” Cole murmured.
Mary gave him a look suggesting the brothers themselves constituted most of it.
Her attention returned to Dax.
“I can smell trouble upon you from here. Go outside, and please keep yourself in order.”
His smile turned crooked.
“Anything for you, Miss Mary.”
Mary left with quiet laughter trailing behind her.
Dax watched the door close before slipping through the rear entrance into the wet garden.
Moonlight lay silver across the stone paths. The hedges stood high enough to conceal almost anything, while the forest pressed close to the boundary as though listening.
Dax relit the joint and began walking the perimeter.
Halfway down the path, metal glinted beneath the wet leaves near a stone bench.
Dax stopped.
The placement bothered him before he even crouched. The amulet had not fallen naturally. It rested just inside the garden path, half veiled by mud and leaves but positioned where patrol would find it once the storm eased.
He brushed away the debris.
A delicate amulet lay beneath his fingers.
Dax turned it over.
Two engraved letters marked the back.
DL.
The smoke died in his lungs.
Diablo Levélle.
An ancient heretic coven whose name was spoken carefully even by vampires who claimed not to fear anything.
Their mark had been planted inside the compound grounds.
The same night an unknown witch had appeared at the gates.
“Fuck.”
Dax pocketed the amulet and returned to the kitchen.
Malakai looked up immediately.
What did you find?
Dax tossed the amulet onto the granite.
It struck the surface with a small metallic sound.
The brothers leaned closer.
