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The thought of telling some poor male she was older than their grandparents brought a wry smile to her face.

Picking up the blackcurrant bath wash, she worked up a lather between her palms and washed her body.

She thought of how that conversation might go. “Ah, hello, Mr. and Mrs. Whoever the fuck takes me to meet their parents. My name is Thana, and blessed be, I’m far too old to be courting your dearest child. However, I promise to love and cherish him for the next fifty years or so.” Yeah, she could imagine explaining that she was a hundred and seventy-eight-year-old vampire who’d walked the Earth far longer than any living human seemed outrageous.

Knowing there wasn’t any use in crying over spilled blood, she stood up inside the large tub and then floated out. Another wave of her hand dried her flesh, and as an afterthought, she waved toward the tub so she wouldn’t have to deal with a mess when she woke.

“I don’t regret saving Thane with my own blood all those years ago,” she whispered to the empty room. When she’d found him dying in their barn, her instincts to protect him overrode any worry about death for herself. Although Thane might have been only a couple of minutes older than her, he’d always been her protector. There was never any doubt he would have done the same. He’d beat the shit out of her ex-fiancé and driven him away from the estate with his limp dick held between his hands. The image still made her smile.

She didn’t hesitate to slice into her wrist and offer it to Thane’s mouth. His feral gaze held her locked in place until she’d blacked out from blood loss. When she’d finally woken days later, shock and horror consumed her. She’d died and been reborn into a being that could never marry a local man, but Thane wouldn’t find a woman outside their kind either. They’d had each other, though. As twins, it seemed fitting they’d discover the new world together. However, the problem they faced was how to survive as vampires without a Clan or Family.

The Caledonian Pinewood Forest had been where they’d grown up, and neither assumed they wouldn’t eventually die of old age and be buried somewhere within their family estate. They’d been rich, almost spoiled children. Now, all these years later, only the two of them remained. After losing their entire family decades earlier, they abandoned the Scottish lands once they both controlled the monsters within.

She squeezed her eyes shut, choking back the sob trying to crawl up her throat. Several tears slipped past her control. “No, I will not break down like a fucking child.” Thana was proud that her voice didn’t shake.

A derisive snort escaped her. She pictured Severin looking down at her while she broke. No, she had already shattered, and the female before her, the one she saw every day in the mirror, was tougher than that. Hell, Thane and she had been hunted and nearly killed more times than she cared to remember. Sometimes her mind overflowed with chaos, making the wails of fear and agony from the times they’d tried to rescue stupid humans the only thing she could hear.

Some days she missed her home near the Caledonian Pinewood Forest, but then she remembered the people in town who’d hunted them and wished they were dead.

“This is Severin’s fault,” she growled. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. A derisive snort left her closed lips. “I blame female stupidity. It happens to even the strongest, wisest creatures.”

As her melancholy reached a fever pitch, she moved to the large bed, went to the side farthest from the door, and folded down the velvet covering. Thana didn’t have the energy to do anything else like a human, so she simply closed her eyes and floated beneath the dark purple silk sheets. The luxurious fabric slid seductively underneath and above her naked frame. If she wanted, she could easily dress herself in a set of pajamas with a thought. However, there were things she enjoyed, and one of those happened to be the feel of silk on her bare flesh.

She let her eyes fall closed, allowing sleep to claim her.

The next day arrived with the silence she preferred first thing. She sat on the side of the bed, blinking as the sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The reality of last night’s meeting with the too-sexy Severin flashed through her mind.

He truly was handsome, she thought, smiling. If he hadn’t been such an arrogant prick, she’d love to have forced him onto his back and had her wicked way with him.

Inside her mind, the constant buzz she’d suppressed the night before became more insistent. Instead of taking down the block to keep everyone at bay, she dressed and went to the kitchen. She addressed the overwhelming thirst first, downing a refrigerated bag of donor blood while prepping a cup of coffee. After chugging the cold bag of A positive, she opened the fridge to survey options for a quick meal.

“BLTs. My favorite, it is,” she murmured to the empty room of the kitchen. The act of normalcy eased her frayed nerves as she fried the bacon and sliced a ripe tomato while several pieces of bread toasted in the toaster. Moving fast, she flipped each slice, then swiped the slightly toasted bread out with two fingers. Her body needed plenty of fuel to face the day, especially with all the bullshit no doubt waiting for her. Once she lifted the block off the mental links to Thane and the others, they’d chew her ass out.

She poured herself a large cup of coffee and drank greedily. Not that the Family needed to worry about her safety…she was a freaking vampire for fuckssake. Yet the males tended to coddle the females when emotions ran high. It was like branded in their DNA or some shit.

She wondered what they’d do in today’s modern world if all the females got their periods again. One of her hands went to her flat abdomen, wishing she could have had a child of her own. Wishes were for children and idiots. She was neither of those things. Her time in the dungeon had denied her that ability.

After she filled her stomach and drank another bag of blood, Thana opened her mind and reached for the link to Savage’s female. The Boss and his female should be awake and hopefully not doing the dirty, dirty. Of course, she made sure the link was on the mental path just in case.

“Thana, it’s so good to hear from you. Are you okay?” Aurora sighed.

Thana hummed, wishing she could reassure the Boss’s female in person.

“Aurora. I’m sorry to reach out to you so early in the morning without warning. I noticed you and the others tried reaching me yesterday. I needed to take a mental break.” Thana ran her hand through the lock of hair resting over her shoulder.

“Oh, shut it, woman. We’re Family,” Aurora growled. Her tone was cheerful but hard, as if she wanted to show she understood Thana’s reasons for taking a mental time-out.

Severin checked his wards before stepping out of the cave’s mouth. He’d secured the location shortly after arriving in the country. For the others, he rented a five-thousand-square-foot penthouse suite at one of the best hotels for their long stay. The rest of the Clan would be awake and, more than likely, eating a hearty meal in one of the five-star hotel restaurants.

He flashed to a shadowy corner near the entrance, becoming mist before reforming into a man. The moment he stepped out from the shadows, four sets of eyes caught his. He moved with purpose, eliminating the distance between him and the others, ignoring the wait staff's frightened looks.

“Hey, Boss, where did you disappear to?” Uriel asked.

Severin sat at the head of the table, waiting for a waitress to place a cup of fresh coffee in front of him. He gave her a polite smile and waved his hand when she asked if he wanted to order breakfast. “I had some things to handle.”

“You gonna tell us what those were?” Uriel sat back, calm and composed, as if he had no care in the world.

“Are you my mommy or wife?” Severin lifted the white porcelain cup to his lips, hiding the slight smile as he sipped.