A nearby seat creaked. Elyssa jerked from her focus and almost flipped her own chair over backwards with shock. A figure wearing a dark hoodie sat in the chair right next to her. She must really be slipping tonight to let someone sneak up on her.

"I'm sorry, that chair is taken," she said.

"Yes, it is," a sensuous female voice replied.

Elyssa glanced down at the woman's attire-tennis shoes, designer jeans, and the nondescript hoodie. The clothing did not fit her voice. "Who are you?" She tried to see inside the hood, but it was drawn down low and shadow covered the features.

Elegant hands with smooth young skin and an amazing manicure reached for the hood and eased it back. Golden hair the color of summer sunshine spilled out in gentle waves. Rich hazel eyes warmed the gaze of the fair-skinned woman and made Elyssa feel distinctly ugly by comparison. But there was something familiar to this face. To the eyes. The conclusion had her reaching for a sword that wasn't in its usual place.

"I see you know what I am, if not who," the woman said, her voice soothing and smooth as warm honey.

"You're spawn."

"We prefer the term Daemos."

"And a member of House Slade."

"Very good. Bonus points if you know my name." She smiled and cute dimples formed alongside her rosebud lips.

"Yeah, no extra credit for me today," Elyssa said, readying a starlet under the table and wishing she had a sword or even a knife handy. She'd been in such a hurry to get out of the house she hadn't retrieved proper weapons.

"I am Daemas Anae-Vallaena Slade," she said flashing her dimples again. "But everyone just calls me Vallaena." Her accent was complicated, roughly Italian, perhaps, and she rolled her r's. Then again, entities that lived for centuries or more often changed quite a lot from their original state.

Elyssa remembered some bits of the spawn naming convention from school. Daemos for males, Daemas for females, and they considered 'spawn' a derogatory term. Neither Justin nor his dad seemed to mind it, but that was probably because they were no ordinary spawn. "Anae" also had some meaning-something to do with position within a family. Elyssa couldn't remember and it didn't matter.

"You obviously know what I am as well."

"I do indeed, Elyssa, daughter of Thomas, House Borathen."

Elyssa tried to keep surprise from registering on her face or in her eyes. "We don't go by houses."

"Ah, yes, and such a shame to lose sight of one's titles and honors."

"What do you want?"

Vallaena's dimples vanished as a slight frown replaced the smile. "It is such a disappointment humans have lost the ways of good conduct and manners as well." She sighed. "It should be no surprise to me, I suppose, though I try to deal with humans as little as possible."

"Except when you need them for feeding."

"Oh, that requires very little talking, I assure you, and manners of a different kind come into play."

Elyssa didn't want to know. No spawn she knew of had been charged in the death of any humans for feeding, but the Templars weren't omniscient and the spawn were powerful and secretive. God only knew what crimes hid behind this woman's ancient eyes. And they were most definitely ancient eyes.

"Again I ask you, what do you want of me, Daemas Anae-Vallaena of House Slade?"

The other woman's eyes lit with delight and her dimples returned in full force. "Templaras Elyssa, Dhampyras, of House Borathen, I wish to negotiate terms for the surrender of your mate to my protection."

Elyssa's mouth dropped open. "My mate?"

She nodded. "The Castratae known as Justin Case."

"The what?"

"Ah, perhaps you were not taught proper Daemos stratifications."

"You mean your caste system?"

Vallaena shook her head. "They are not castes, simply designations indicating the import of one's title. I am Anae or first order of House Slade. Only the Paetros or Maedras are above me in position, and there are only three other Anae in my house."

"And what's Castratae?" It didn't sound good whatever it was. The thought of eunuchs came to mind thanks to its similarity to "castrate".

"It is unfortunate your mate is considered such, but surely it is his father's fault." She glanced across the room as Shelton and David spoke to the strange man. "It means 'outcast'. It means you have no house and are considered the lowest of the low."

"Yeah, definitely a caste system. You should Google it."

"I mean it as no insult to you, Templaras."

Elyssa's phone rang. She pulled it out and saw it was Justin. Vallaena touched her hand. "Can you return his call in a few minutes? I would ask you to hear me out first."

Elyssa had to admit one thing. Vallaena was nothing if not polite. But her designation as Anae meant this woman knew how to survive spawn politics. That meant she was extremely dangerous and far more experienced than Elyssa's handful of years. And speaking to Justin in front of this woman would be a terrible idea. Any little thing Elyssa said could give away too much. She slid the phone back into her pocket. "Who's the man speaking with David?"

"Such information is beyond the confines of our discussion, I'm afraid."

"Is he with you?"

Vallaena shook her head. "In some ways, but not in others."

As if that made any sense. "Is he spawn?"

A patient smile drew up the corners of the other woman's face. "As I said, details of such a nature are beyond the confines of our conversation. I would ask we return to the subject at hand. As first mate of Justin, I would do you the honor of asking permission and your help in securing him as my ward. I can assure you he would be well protected."

"From what? The way I understand it he needs protection from your kind. And I can tell you right now in no uncertain terms I will never betray him to you." She also wanted to add a few other less polite terms but the inquisitive Templar part of her brain wanted to squeeze the woman for more information.

"This would be no betrayal, Elyssa. You would deliver him to safety from those who wish him harm. Dark forces gather and it is in our best interests to shield him."

Elyssa folded her arms. "Now you're just being mysterious. I need something concrete to go on. For all I know you just want to brainwash him while he's still new to the community. Or maybe you want to get rid of him. I know how your kind is about inter-species breeding."

Vallaena shuddered delicately and pursed her lips as if she'd just tasted a lemon. "If you knew anything about our inner politics, you would know how distasteful it is to even speak with Castratae. I believe, however, this situation can be redeemed and your mate's status can be raised a notch. Perhaps even to Denae should he work hard to earn it."

It was Elyssa's turn to shudder. "Not to be impolite, but you people are disgusting and your politics belong to the dustbin of history. I won't do anything to help you. In fact, I'll do everything I can to keep Justin out of your hands."

"What if we were to offer rescission?"

"Of what?"

"The death mark upon that." She nodded toward David, a look of revulsion on her beautiful features.

"You're the ones who put out the hit?"

"I did not, no. Nor do I know who did or believe it originated from our house. But we are very good at finding information. We could find the party responsible and arrange terms for a rescission of the contract." She raised an eyebrow. "What do you say now?"

"Still no."

Vallaena sighed and gave a sad shake of her head. Men at the center table had been eyeing her for some time now though most of them looked well past their prime years, not to mention overweight and out of shape. One took out a comb and touched up his comb-over, as if it did any good. But Vallaena's beauty trapped their gazes, captivating them like flies in a glue trap. A column in the middle of the room kept David and Shelton from seeing her, and Elyssa was certain the woman purposefully arranged it just so.

"Is there anything I can say to change your mind?" the other woman asked.

A frown tugged at Elyssa's face. "Tell me why he's in danger. I want specifics. If you're so concerned about his well-being, help me protect him." It seemed unlikely the woman had specific dangers in mind and was hoping to scare her into cooperation.

"I wish I could give you specifics but our information is rather nebulous at this point."

"Nebulous information somehow indicating Justin is in danger?"

A hint of uncertainty crossed Vallaena's face. Elyssa wasn't sure if the woman meant to do it or if the question really had dislodged a nugget of honest emotion.

"He is in danger. I'm sure of it."

Elyssa's senses prickled. She looked up in time to meet David's burning glare from only a few feet away. He bared his teeth and clenched his fists as he stared at Vallaena. The other woman followed Elyssa's gaze.

She sighed. "I think this will be rather unpleasant."

Chapter 15.

Stacey woke me with a gentle nudge. "I think your Mr. Smith is here."

My eyelids stuck together, or maybe it was that I craved sleep so badly they just didn't want to open. But the urgency of contacting Mr. Smith pried them open and gave me enough energy to pull myself into a sitting position in the back seat of the car. I didn't remember going to sleep. The last thing I remembered was Stacey leaving the vehicle to go for a walk, and Ryland doing the same thing shortly thereafter.

They seemed to be competing for the gold star of good behavior, but I wasn't handing out any gold stars or smiley faces until my dad was safe from assassination. At that point they could let the fur fly for all I cared and beat each other silly. I sat up, massaging the god-awful cramp in my neck which just wouldn't go away. My super-recuperative abilities could take care of such things in a hurry. I hoped my blood regenerated fast so I didn't have to put up with feeling like crap for much longer.

The store wasn't open yet, but a medium-sized guy with pale skin and dark brown hair was sitting on a bench outside, a Popular Magic magazine open in his hands. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, because I'd never heard of this particular magazine. My eyes wandered instead to Stacey. She'd cleaned up and was wearing black yoga pants and a long-sleeve pink workout shirt which hugged her every curve. Ryland wasn't in the car. I noticed him across the road, leaning against a building, his eyes locked on Stacey. He caught my gaze and looked away.

"Where'd you get new clothes?" I asked Stacey.

"Our gym is nearby, lamb, so I ran over and cleaned up. I rent a permanent locker there."

"How 'bout you put your hotness to work and go find out if that's our Mr. Smith."

She beamed, her face flushing. "I would be delighted." She turned and left without even trying to squeeze something sexual from my compliment.

Yep, she was definitely going for a gold star.

Ryland strolled across the road and put his head in the car window. "Least that woman has some use."

"You think she's cute, don't you?"

He snorted and scratched one of his mutton chops. "Yeah, right." His eyes drifted to Stacey as she sauntered her way toward Smith, hips swaying, arms swinging.

I tore my eyes off her rear end and noticed Ryland was still looking at her as she reached Smith and started talking with him. Smith gawked at her chest, his big nose and thick glasses joining forces to put the 'n' in 'nerd'.

"Kid ain't got a chance," Ryland said.

He might be a wolf at heart, but even he couldn't deny Stacey was a spectacular-looking woman.

I pulled myself to the door and reached for the handle. Even with the door unlatched, my muscles felt like useless lead weights. "Give me a hand?" I asked Ryland.

He walked around, opened the door, and hauled me out with one of his muscular arms. I was jealous of his good health. My formerly puny arms had sprouted muscle over the past few weeks, but it was all decorative at the moment. At least the pain hadn't returned. I limped toward Smith under my own power, pulling out my phone and checking it on the way. My heart raced when I saw a missed call from Elyssa. I must have been conked out when she called.

Redialing her sent me to voicemail after five rings. I hoped she was okay. She had to be fine. Her father's Templar compound was probably one of the safest places to be. I doubted she would see much active duty for a while after my little encounter with Thomas. I tucked my phone away as I reached Smith's bench and took a seat next to him.

"-and a protein shake will give you extra energy," Stacey was saying. "Within a few months I think you could definitely put on some muscle."

"Giving workout advice?" I said with a smile. It was probably the last thing I'd expected her to be talking about.

"This is my friend, Justin," Stacey said.

Smith tore his eyes off Stacey and glanced at me. "Oh, hi."

"TP sent me," I said.

He flinched, looking at me with wide eyes. "TP Shelton?"

I nodded.

"I haven't heard from him in-hey did you send her over here to distract me?"

"Did it work?"

"Of course it worked. What straight male wouldn't fall into those beautiful amber eyes and feel his heart beat a little faster at the sound of that musical voice?"

Stacey's fluttered her long eyelashes. "Oh, do go on, Mr. Smith."

He took her hand and kissed it. "My dear, I cannot believe they would so callously use such an angel."

"Who are you?" I asked. "The Casanova of the nerd community?"

"He's so charming," Stacey said with an appreciative sigh.

Smith winked at her before turning back to me. "So, TP sent you. What does he want?"

"Actually, I'm the one in need of help."