And in the midst of everything, oh crap, she’d forgotten her underwear.
Rhett was beaten, exhausted, and . . . furious.
He whirled on Ryder. “Did you just have sex with my sister?” His voice had dropped to a deadly whisper. “All this other shit, and you think you’re good enough to touch her?” His hands were fisted. “I don’t care if you’re a vamp, I don’t care if you’re the freaking king of vampires—”
Um, yes, well, he kind of was.
“—you don’t mess with—”
“He didn’t have sex with me,” Sabine said as she hurried to step between them. Rhett needed to seriously focus. Killers were after them. Life-and-death situations were happening every minute.
And she wasn’t sixteen. If she wanted to screw her vamp, then she would.
“Sabine,” Rhett began.
“I seduced him. And I liked it.”
Ryder gave a choked laugh. “Trust me, I liked it, too.”
But Rhett’s face was still flushed. Protective big brother. Trying to fight every battle for her. Not caring if she was human or phoenix or anything else.
Loving her, either way.
“I’m sorry,” she told Rhett, “but it has to be this way.”
“What?”
“Bite him, Ryder,” she said. She didn’t know how to control someone through the blood. Couldn’t even begin to figure that out right then. But Ryder knew just what to do.
Rhett’s face went slack with shock. “What?”
“I have to keep you safe.” There was no other choice for her.
Ryder grabbed her brother. Easily held him while Rhett thrashed. “Are you sure?” Ryder demanded.
“Sabine!” her brother snarled.
“Yes,” she said, staring into her brother’s eyes, “I am.”
And she turned away while Ryder took her brother’s blood.
Keith Adams pounded his fist against the front door of Bran’s Castle. He hated coming to this place, but his options were slim and fucking none.
The door opened.
A man stood before him. Tall. Bored-looking.
“Where’s Ryder?” Keith demanded. He didn’t have much time.
“Not here.”
Great. “He told me to come. I have information for him.”
“Do you now?” Still no real interest on the guy’s face.
Keith frowned at him. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Ryder’s friend. Name’s Grayson.” Grayson opened the door, indicating that Keith should come inside.
Why? Because he looked stupid?
“I’ve got five men with guns pointing dead-on at this place right now,” Keith snapped. “You make a move at me, vamp, and you’ll find wooden bullets in your heart.”
Now the guy didn’t look quite so bored.
“I need to talk to Ryder.” He needed the guy now. “I can help him, if he’ll help me.”
“And how can a human help a vampire?” the one called Grayson wanted to know. “Unless, of course, you’re going to bleed for him.”
“I know where Sabine’s brother is, okay? Tell him . . . I know. I can take him to the warehouse. I can get the dogs off Sabine and Rhett, but Ryder’s gonna have to do something for me.”
“Sabine,” the guy whispered her name. “Doesn’t she just come up a lot in conversation?”
“Ryder has to meet me. He and Sabine. Tell them to come to Forty-Nine Chartres. We can work out a deal.”
“Doubtful.” Grayson sounded dismissive. “Ryder doesn’t exactly deal with humans. Unless he’s eating them.”
“Tell him,” Keith snarled. He should be handling this better. He just couldn’t. Not with his son . . . Keith cleared his throat. “Tell him. Tell him to come at midnight. We can make this nightmare go away.”
“What if he doesn’t want to make it go away?”
“He will.” Then he played his trump card. Actually, the only card he had left, especially since he was bullshitting about Rhett. He had no idea where that guy was. Hopefully, the hell away from New Orleans. “And tell Ryder that Malcolm sends his regards.”
The vamp frowned at him. “What?”
“Malcolm.” He’d already been out in the open long enough. He didn’t trust the vamps not to attack. The primals were out there on the streets of New Orleans, two according to his intel, but if those two had already bit and infected other humans . . .
We have to stop this.
Ryder was his only hope.
Keith turned away. “The guns are gonna stay on you until I’m clear.” Not his first ball game with the undead.
But the coming battle might just prove to be his last.