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“Good morning, Charlotte,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “You look like yourself again.”

I glanced up at him. “You healed me with your blood,” I said.

He smiled—the genuine one that transformed his face into the most beautiful sight in the world. “I meant your disguise—whatever magic that was you used; I much prefer this version of you.”

I pulled a strand of matted auburn hair in front of me and sighed in relief. It felt good to be me again. “I need a shower.”

“Indeed,” Julian agreed, and I smacked his bare chest. That’s when I realized he, too, was naked.

“Did we?” I gaped at him. No way I would’ve screwed him without discussing this mess first.

“No,” he agreed, pulling off the covers so I could get to the shower. “Skin to skin contact is healing. At least, so I’ve heard. And you were shivering.”

It was likely a reaction to the trauma, but I didn’t say that. Instead, I nodded and shut the bathroom door. It was a stall shower with a good, heavy spray. At least I didn’t have to chase it to get in, I thought wryly. Though I missed my tub at home and Mama’s healing chicken soup.

When I emerged in the hotel’s soft white robe, Julian was dressed in a modern tuxedo, looking for all the world like some sort of royalty, seated at a table with what must have been room service delivery.

“Coffee?” he asked, gesturing to a pot and a cup already fixed the way I preferred, with cream and sugar. Beside it were full glasses of water and orange juice and a silver-covered platter with condensation on the outside that told me something steaming and delicious would be underneath.

“Yes, please.” I sat on the opposite side and guzzled the orange juice before diving into a stack of pancakes and scrambled eggs.

Once finished, I leaned back in the chair in a hazy food coma. “Thank you.”

“I have clothes for you,” Julian said in response and nodded toward the bed as he sipped his own cup of black coffee.

Laid out on the comforter was a sleek, sparkling red evening gown, a large ruby-and-diamond choker, and matching stilettos.

I glared at him with my eyebrows raised.

“It’s your size,” he commented and watched me over the rim as he sipped his coffee.

“Why does it look like we’re getting ready to go to a ball?”

“It’s a fundraiser, actually.”

“Julian, we have a lot to talk about before we head out for a night on the town.”

He set the cup down and leaned over the table. “You want to be an agent as well as a scientist? Then I will teach you how. We cannot afford to be captured again.”

“Then why let me try being a spy again?” I asked, leaning as well.

Julian chuckled. “Since when do I have a say? Besides, you’ve introduced yourself to MorningStar in the most spectacular way possible already. And they now know I am a double agent. What they don’t know is that they now have the DNA of Dr. Alfred Devaux’s daughter—who they have been searching for, for years. We have to retrieve or destroy it and get you to safety.”

I poured myself another cup of coffee as I worked through his words.

“You have questions,” he observed.

“You think?” I barked then drank some more caffeine. “Let’s start with why me?”

Julian leaned back and crossed his long legs. “Your father’s original backer joined with MorningStar, then was assassinated.”

I balked slightly but sipped some more coffee. That explained what happened to the vampire boss, Bouche, Dad had said was killed. But the program then knew about his research. The cup clattered against the saucer as I set it down a bit too hard.

“Julian, did my father experiment on my sister and I?”

Julian threw his head back to stare at the ceiling. “That would seem a logical conclusion.”

“How long have you suspected this?” I demanded. “How long have you known who my father was, what he was still doing, and that I might have been a lab rat?”