Page 43 of The Fate of Black Hearts

“They were enslaved to the queen, but there are rules to what they can do that I’m not sure the monarch anticipated. The lycans have high morals, except for the father. He’s a real piece of shit. They’re going to police paranormal creatures that have slid into insanity and threaten humans.”

“Sort of like what you do.”

“Sounds like a great excuse for me to take a vacation.”

“There was a female lycan there who works as a human contract killer.”

How would he know that?No thoughts. No thoughts. Vacant mind.

Dojin cocked his head while scouring him for emotion. “How would you react if I told you I fucked her for two nights in a row? The night of the full moon simply wasn’t enough. I took her on the bed, in the shower, and out in the moonlight.”

His jaw clenched, but he didn’t dare look away. He couldn’t reach into Dojin’s mind to sort out truth versus lie, not from any lack of skill, but a deficiencyof power.

This mage better not ask him to eliminate her. His power swelled.Do your breathing. No losing control.

“She’s a handful, but she has a thing for mages. Amazing ass.”

Dojin better be bluffing.

Dom broke the stare to examine his nails. “How did you get past her bulldog?”

“Her what?” Dojin’s face scrunched up. “Oh, you mean her errand boy who follows her around like a dog?”

Gotcha.Efrem was so much more than that. He knew nothing of their relationship.

“You know what’s interesting about the ones she targets?” Dojin crunched on a carrot while he waited for a reply, but continued when he got no response. “She only goes after the foulest humans. Often, they’re the ones other humans can’t seem to get to.” There was admiration behind his words. Dojin had watched Evie. On his own? Or under orders?

“An assassin with scruples and a great ass.” He shrugged. “What does the Conclave want from me?”

“I’m just dropping off food. We want you to eat better.”

“And?”

“They want you to stop moonlighting in human hospitals as a doctor. Puts you in contact with too many women. Also, stay away from that particular lycan. And…” He held out a copper ankle bracelet. “They want you to wear this from now on.”

An actual shackle?“No.”

“They said you have to do it. They don’t trustyou after you visited the same female lycan twice.”

“You dare seek to imprison me more than I already am?”

Do you have any idea what my life is like?

He released the storm of energy he’d been holding back. The skies darkened. Lightning hit all around them. He held out a hand and called for the bespelled sword he kept hidden in the yard. Calling forth an object wasn’t something he was good at unless experiencing high emotion. Like now. The sword raced across the space to land hilt-first into his hand, glowing with the power of the Ember elves from whom he’d commissioned it two centuries ago. He flashed his teeth in the grin he gave an enemy when about to end them. “How skilled do you consider yourself?”

Dojin blanched and backed down the steps. “Now, Dom. Let’s calm down and talk about this. You made an oath to avoid any emotional connection. We fear you’re outgrowing your current regulators.”

“They fear, oryoufear? If they want to put a binding band on me, all seven of those fuckers better show up instead of sending their minion. Then we can see how much they should fear me. Get off my porch, or I’ll unleash the dragon I befriended in New Guinea a few decades ago. I’ve got him in a state of stasis where he wanted to sleep for a few centuries, but I’m sure he’d be delighted to eat you.”

“Nope. We’re good.” Dojin ran down the steps. At the bottom he yelled up, “I’m warning you…be careful, or they’ll pick up on the special attention you give her. How far are you willing to go for that girl, Dom?”

A lot further than I already have.

Chapter Thirteen

1976.Two months later.

Efrem had picked the boys up off the beach and ferried them in the speedboat to the yacht Evie purchased last month from a Saudi prince. A mobile house seemed the best way to meet the boys and not get caught. She had secured a yacht with top notch security, easily afforded after a century of investments.