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She stirred. “Love you,” she said without opening her eyes.
“Love you, too.”
I released a breath, and abruptly, knew what to do. It had been staring me in the face the whole time.
I simply couldn’t bring myself to allow Mila to attempt the transition. And actually, as my blood-bonded thrall, she couldn’t do it without my permission.
But sending her away wasn’t the solution. Look what had happened the last time she’d left me. We’d both been miserable, and she’d been vulnerable to any vampire who chose to use her to strike at me.
No, the only solution was for us both to go.
It wouldn’t be easy. I’d have to resign from the Syndicate, step down as crown prince. It was a hell of a time to leave the Syndicate, with things in flux as they were. Despite Father’s threats, I’d bet my favorite Jag he’d try and pressure me into staying.
And I’d be giving up everything I’d worked for the past decade.
But Mila was more important. It might not be easy, but it feltright.
She nuzzled my shoulder. “Something the matter?”
“No,” I told her. “Everything’s just fine.” Tucking her close to my heart, I shut my eyes.
* * *
It was a shadow, not a sound, that jerked me awake. Silver flashed in the darkness.
My heart slammed into gear. I threw myself at Mila, rolling off the bed with her. We landed in a tangle of sheets on the floor between the windows and the bed.
A stake slashed into the mattress where I’d been.
I fought free of the bedclothes and looked around for a weapon. But the switchblade I’d left on the nightstand was on the opposite side of the bed along with the intruder.
Everything went silent. Then a click sounded, and the window blinds retracted. The rising sun flooded in.
Even through the specially darkened windows, the sudden change in light was too much for me. For a crucial few seconds, I was blinded, long enough for the shadow to flow over the mattress and shove me back to the floor.
A woman’s powerful thighs straddled my chest. The silver stake came down again.
I managed to knock it aside with my arm, but not before the tip tore a hole in my chest. Pain screamed through me as the silver entered my bloodstream.
I dragged in a breath as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight. Growled. “Jessa?”
My housekeeper glared down at me with burning eyes. She raised the stake above her head.
I grabbed her arm, but the silver raced through me like wildfire, searing my nerves, stealing my strength.
With a sneer, Jessa jerked her arm free.
Beside us, Mila rose to her knees and gasped in horror. “You’re a slayer.”
Jessa flicked her a glance. “Take your brother and get the fuck out of here. This isn’t your fight.”
“Okay. Sure.” Mila raised her hands, palms out—and lunged for Jessa.
But the slayer tightened her thighs on my chest and, without taking her gaze from my face, slammed a fist into Mila’s throat, knocking her to the floor.
Fury rose up in me like a red-eyed wolf. Ignoring the pain, I summoned everything I had and surged off the floor, clamping both hands around Jessa’s throat just as the stake slashed down again.
The tip of the stake caught my bicep, sending another round of agony searing through me. My nostrils filled with the scent of my own blood.
