"Sure."

Linda sent Rainy to Traci and walked with her to the cafeteria. Pierre trailed them at a distance just out of earshot, and Linda looked at her curiously.

"He's wearing the color of the bodyguards," she observed. "You must be someone important."

"Not really. I'm a lost sheep."

"Strange. You seem to know what you're doing."

"I'm ... new to Damian's organization. One week new, to be exact. I don't really know which way is up right now."

"Wow, Sofia. First, welcome, and congrats! These are the finest men you'll find anywhere."

"Thanks."

"Second, who's your sponsor?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, no one gets in without a reason. Someone brought you in."

They sat at a table near the windows.

"Why did they bring you in?" Sofia asked.

"Lon found me. I'm a Natural. I have the ability to levitate things."

"Really? Like anything?"

"Yep."

"So, if Lon said something stupid to you, you could toss him into the air and leave him there until he agreed to treat you with an ounce of respect. And if he didn't, you could leave him there and do whatever the h.e.l.l you wanted for the day."

Linda looked at her, and she realized she'd said too much. She cleared her throat, anger spiraling through her again.

"I guess I'd never thought of that," Linda admitted, a smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. "But yeah, I could do that."

Sofia watched her take a bite of a m.u.f.fin, at once longing and agitated. She was hungry. After her explosion at Damian, she'd have to beg for food. And she'd never demean herself to that man. She'd just have to starve to death.

"I do understand how frustrating this all seems when you first join. Well, you don't really choose to join."

"You're telling me," Sofia said with emotion. "One day I'm normal. The next, I can't stand daylight and Damian is beating down my door."

"Damian?" Linda's amazement increased. "Damian's your sponsor?"

She nodded.

"I totally have to tell Lon. Hold on a sec."

Sofia watched as she whipped out a phone to text Lon.

"You have no idea how special you are if D is your sponsor. Or how lucky."

"Lucky?"

"Yeah, sure. He's dreamy, runs his own um, business, and he's got, like, Superman powers. He's like a modern day king who's in charge of the superheroes trying to beat down the evil villains."

Sofia recalled how much her first meeting with him had scared her. His aura of power, his command and confidence, the sense that whatever he was he was something humankind wasn't prepared to face.

"He's just a good guy," Linda continued. "He's been after bad guys for thousands of years, and he's never gone to the Dark Side or quit or anything. That says a lot for someone, you know? He's good to his men. Lon and the others adore him. I like him, even if he scares me."

This world is so f.u.c.ked up I don't know why I bother.

His cranky words echoed in her thoughts, and she smiled to herself.

"They do so much to help people," Linda said, looking down as her phone dinged. "Lon doesn't believe me. Oh, well. Where is Damian?"

"I'm definitely not his keeper," Sofia said with a shrug.

The sun peaked over the horizon, reminding her that she'd gotten only a few hours of bad sleep. Linda texted back and forth with her husband for a few minutes.

"Traci's awake. I'll be right back," she said, hopping up.

Sofia gazed out the window, mulling over the night. She began to suspect Damian sent her there so she could meet the other women dragged into his organization. Or maybe he wanted her out of the house so he could kill the traitors.

Oh ye of little faith.

"I hate that," she answered.

I know.

"What do you want, Damian?"

I owe you an apology.

"Well, man up and do it in person."

"A little testy today, aren't we?"

She jumped, watching as he folded himself into the small chair across from her. His scent made her heart quicken and her drowsiness dissipate. Her breath caught as she gazed at him, and she looked for any sign he was still angry at her. His golden eyes were calm, his large frame relaxed with the feline grace that made her hormones wild. His power was checked but his unusual presence enough to draw the looks of those around them. Most moved away quickly, sensing there was something about him that just wasn't normal.

His gaze was trained on her with an intensity that made her body warm from the inside out.

"Well?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Sofia, for being a d.i.c.k."

"Apology accepted," she said and looked down. "I'm so sorry about Claire. I knew it would hurt you."

"No worries."

His aloof response made her look up. His gaze was wary and moving, and he was guarded once more. Even after thousands of years he was reliving the pain of his brother's death. If she closed her eyes, she'd see the home video of Darian's funeral pile. Her heart went out to him.

"I think I'd known for a long time and didn't want to face it," he said. "I probably could have gone much longer ignoring her."

"She would have killed you."

"She would have tried."

"You can risk your life, but I won't," Sofia retorted.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you cared."

"I do care about you, Damian, even though you're a total jacka.s.s."

"For the record, you're the only person in history who could get away with half the s.h.i.t you say," he told her.

"I know."

The warmth of his smile was not lost on her, and she thought about what Linda had said about him. Maybe the cheerful woman was right maybe there was more to Damian than she gave him credit for.

"D."

It was Lon, whose gaze went to her as he approached.

"Guess I lost that bet," he muttered. "She's ok and says thanks. The doc can't figure out what happened. He should release her today."

"Glad I could help."

"Rainy would have come, but he won't leave her side. Poor sap."

"No worries. How's Linda?"

"Good. Still won't let me live down almost dying."

His gaze went to her then Damian expectantly. Damian ignored his hint, and Lon didn't press.

"See you at the next bar-b-q?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Wouldn't miss it," Damian said, standing to shake his hand.

"Linda says you can call her whenever you want," Lon said, handing her a tissue with a phone number and smiley face written on it.

"Thanks."

He retreated.

"Pierre, you want my croissant?" she called.

"I do," Damian said and s.n.a.t.c.hed the pastry.

"It's because I'm French, isn't it? You a.s.sume we French all eat croissants," Pierre complained.

"This is sooooo good," Damian said, pinning her with a look as he wolfed down the second half.

She glared at him.

"Just when I start to like you ... you know it's amazing even a man who's thousands of years old can act like a twelve year old. Pierre. Car. Now."

Furious, she breezed past him, not surprised when he opted not to ride home with her.

She didn't see Damian until afternoon, when he strolled in from sparring, ear to a cell phone. He was naked from the waist up and sweaty, a combination that made her sit up and pay attention.

"I don't know what she's talking about," he said with a grimace and handed the phone to her before striding out.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Hi Sofia, this is Linda! How are you?"

"Good, thanks. Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah. I was telling D that Rainy went off the deep end when we told him about the girls!" she giggled. "Traci told him not to think about asking her to marry him just because she's pregnant, and he said she had no choice and he'd drag the priest to her. He almost beat down her door. They're in this horrible tiff right now."

"Wow, I didn't mean to start this."

"The doc would have noticed she was pregnant, just not the twin part and the girls part."

"Right. Totally not my fault then."

Linda laughed.

"Listen, I wanted to see if you wanted to go Christmas shopping with us this weekend. It's one of the last weekends before Christmas. I'm way behind, and Traci -"

Since when did the concept of Christmas shopping seem so bizarre?

Since I became some sort of recently resurrected fortune telling vampire.

It was something normal people did during this time of year, something she'd done every year for 27 years.

" count you in?"

Sofia covered the speaker.

"Pierre, am I allowed to go Christmas shopping?"

"I hate this f.u.c.king library."

"Is that a yes?"