“It’s Kimberly, and I am serious. Yvette’s very nice, and so is Haven—when he’s not kidnapping people.”

“We’re still in the room,” Haven said with a smirk on his lips.

Yvette used the cover of darkness to watch him without his knowledge. The memory of his words and his hands still made her shiver. No, she wouldn’t run this time. She’d keep her date with him.

“Sorry, Haven,” Kimberly apologized. “But I really don’t know why Wesley is so against your and Yvette’s relationship.”

“We don’t have a relationship!” Yvette protested instantly and noticed Haven flinch. Had he flinched at Kimberly’s words or Yvette’s protestation? She couldn’t tell. And it shouldn’t even matter. The truth was, they had no relationship. They would fuck and then go their separate ways.

“Gee, you guys are touchy. I’ll just shut up then.”

Yvette could clearly see the pout on Kimberly’s lips and wanted to comfort her. But what would she have said? Sure, I’ll go out with your brother if that makes you feel better? This wasn’t high school.

She turned her attention back to the window, trying to discern the number of shadows she saw moving in the dark. “There are at least a dozen.”

“A dozen vampires?” Haven asked.

“Oh, shit—we’re so fucked!” Wesley commented.

“Just do what Yvette said, and stay close.”

“Easy for you to say!”

“You know what, Wesley? Sometimes you really try my patience. And this is one of those times.”

A sound from the outside made Yvette turn her attention back to the window. As she focused her senses, she picked up a sensation she was familiar with. It was the same sensation she felt whenever a dog was near, almost as if she could tune into its thoughts, just like she could virtually feel what her own dog was feeling. Her dog—how strange that sounded. But now that she was separated from it, she missed the annoying stray. Yet, she knew it wasn’t her own dog out there, it was something smaller, a different breed. And that dog was approaching the building, a tall man by its side.

***

The dog trotted obediently next to him. Zane had never fancied himself to be a pet lover, but considering that they needed the animal to get the potion past the wards, he’d volunteered to guide the dog into the building, still doubtful their plan would work.

Something stank, and it wasn’t just the witch’s smell that permeated through the building, Zane thought as he reached the door and pushed it open. Why had Haven not attacked yet? By now he surely knew that an army of vampires was surrounding him. Or had he taken the coward’s way out and fled already? But then, would the wards still be in place if the witch was gone? Shit, he hadn’t asked Francine about that little detail.

Zane walked through the stale air in the corridor, the trusting dog waddling by his side as if he was its owner. He let his nose guide him toward where the witch’s smell was the strongest and entered a large room. His eyes scanned the darkness: odd pieces of furniture, some rugs on the concrete floor, book cases stuffed with odds and ends. Frilly and feminine, not the way Haven’s place in the city had looked.

A sense of unease rolled over his back and made the little hairs on his nape stand up. He stopped in his tracks, the dog mimicking his movements without making a sound. Smart animal.

Zane inhaled deeply. The scent was clearly witch, yet it was very different from the scent at Haven’s apartment, where everything had smelled entirely human. And he was never wrong when it came to scents. Reminding himself of the smell in Haven’s apartment, he tried to mutate the smell in his mind with the smell of witch, which added a certain sweetness to any human’s scent. But the mix his brain came up with wasn’t what he scented in this room.

They were so screwed.

Haven wasn’t the only witch in the place. That much was clear. They had to fight not just him, but at least one other. Had the brother that Francine had mentioned joined Haven’s fight? Zane had to assume as much.

He dug his hand into his leather jacket and pulled out his cell, pressing speed dial as he flipped it open. The moment the call connected, the cell flew from his hands, ripped from him by an invisible force.

Zane spun on his heels, but there was nobody. The dog whimpered.

“Fuck!”

“Zane?” The faint sound of Gabriel’s voice came from the cell phone on the floor.

Zane dove for it, but a blast of energy whipped him back and flung him against a book case. The dog barked loudly.