“Mr. Steele, let me just allow you to…” Mr. Tom stepped forward with a tub of baby wipes he’d retrieved from God only knew where. He opened the flap for Austin to grab one out.

“Thanks.” He wiped the lipstick from his lips and asked me, “Good?”

A tear slipped down my cheek. My ex had liked seeing my face done up, but he’d always refused to kiss me when it was. And if I forgot and kissed him anyway, he’d get cold. This easy, no-big-deal approach nearly undid me.

“You okay?” Austin asked. Time was ticking, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at him. He was in no hurry.

“Yes. Sorry, I’m good.” I beamed at him and gave him a tight hug. “Really good.”

Austin turned and cocked an elbow, and I slipped my hand through his arm.

“Miss, we’ll refresh your lipstick when you get there,” Mr. Tom said, grabbing my clutch.

“Thank you, Mr. Tom.” I laughed for no reason.

With a stupid smile, walking on air, I headed for the door. Mr. Tom fell back, taking his place between Jasper and Edgar. Sebastian would meet us there, hanging around the edges, hopefully invisible. Only my crew and Austin’s crew should be able to see him. I’d made plenty of potion to go around. It had taken most of the day.

“You’re going to knock ’em dead,” Austin said as we slowly sauntered down the walkway.

Parked at the curb was an incredibly sleek sports car in metallic midnight blue, low to the ground, the tires large and wide, the price tag probably enormous. Behind it waited a black stretch limo, and another sat at the curb in front of Niamh’s house.

“What’s…” My eyes followed the smooth curves of the sports car. “Is that…?”

“It’s a McLaren. I just got it. It goes very fast.”

“What happened to the Jeep?”

He stopped by the passenger door. “It’s at the house. If I’ll be escorting you to fancy parties, I better look and drive the part, right?” He opened the door for me and held out his hand.

“Or I could drive? I have a beat-up old Honda that kind of matches the speck of dirt on your shoe.”

“I have no dirt on these shoes.” He winked and handed me into the car.

After he closed the door he crossed to the other side, his hand still in his pocket, his shoulders swaying, his vibe smooth and debonair. I just stared in mute fascination for a moment. I knew he was playing a part, but holy crap, he was playing it well. That raw, primal quality of his was still there, but the rough edges had been smoothed away into a glossy exterior. His power pulsed in waves, heady and tantalizing, and his swagger mixed with his rock-solid confidence nearly caused me to combust.

He got into the car, which molded to him like that suit, an extension of the persona he’d created. He pushed the button to start it and threw it into gear, the car chirping as it jumped forward.

“Jacinta, your beauty has me entranced,” he said, speeding to the end of the street. “You are perfection.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, my heart expanding until it didn’t feel like my body could contain it anymore.

“May I please ask that you be careful about touching other males tonight, and allowing them to touch you? I know I sound like a jealous—”

“No, I get it. I understand that shifters are weird about that. Kingsley makes it awkward.”

“If you knew Earnessa, you’d know why. She’s as possessive as any alpha. Kingsley loves that about her.” He took a deep breath, whipping the car around the corner. Unlike with Damarion, his speed didn’t bother me at all, probably because I knew he was in complete control. He was always in complete control, unless someone was threatening me. Or when we were twisted in each other’s bodies, not knowing where he ended and I began.

“I will control myself to the best of my ability. I trust you implicitly…I hope you know that. Logic fights my beast most of the time, but at a certain point, my animal takes over. Especially now, since we’ve made love…”

“Austin, trust me, I do not want random guys touching me. You’re not asking much, and I understand why you’re asking at all.”

He jammed the gear stick up and stepped on the gas, the car shooting forward as it climbed the onramp to the highway.

My lips pulled to the side of their own accord, half a smile. “But I hope you know this goes both ways—you can’t ask me to follow a rule you won’t follow. That’s not how I roll.”

Shadows passed through his eyes. “I remember my mom and dad fighting about that when I was a kid. He’d fly off the handle when she so much as smiled at a male, but he used to cheat on her left and right.” He shook his head. “It was a messed-up situation.”

“I won’t let you turn into your father. Not only out of duty to you, but mostly because no one has time for that. I will be treated well, or I will leave.”

“If I ever act out of turn, do as any alpha female would. Make me submit to you. You have the power to do it.” He rolled his shoulders, the dash lights highlighting his handsome face. “I will do anything for you, Jacinta. And that includes fighting my animal to do right by you, at every turn if I need to.”

I placed my hand on his thigh. He pulled his hand from the shifter and covered mine.

“You still don’t give yourself enough credit, but okay,” I said. “I’ll keep you in line if things ever go topsy-turvy.”

A smirk played on his lips, his dark mood lifting a little. “And if you get out of line, I promise to throw chocolate at you and run.”

I laughed. “Yes, good thinking.”

The closer we got to the restaurant, the more my stomach twisted.

“Have any of your people seen them yet?” I asked, leaving my hand on his thigh when he changed gears and slowed the car, pulling into a long driveway with dense trees to either side. I knew he had shifters patrolling the area in animal form, watching in case anything went wrong.

“Yes. We’ve been monitoring their team closely. It looks like they brought about a hundred people, though we’re not yet sure what they’re capable of, magically speaking.”

“A hundred people?” I cried out. “Is that normal?”

“Kingsley doesn’t think so. I wanted to ask Sebastian about it.”

That didn’t bode well for our “friendly” meetup.

I blew out a breath. “We definitely needed your brother’s help.”

The trees opened up and the restaurant glowed and twinkled ahead, pixie lights on poles lining a red carpet leading into the establishment. A perfect line of muscle-bound people waited on one side, hands clasped in front of them. The men wore black suits with red ties and matching pocket squares, and the women wore red dresses with loose bodices and long slits in the skirts. They’d be easy to get off in a hurry. Kace stood in the second position of the line, and Kingsley waited at the front, looking straight ahead, the broadest of them, his very stance and posture easily communicating that he’d give someone real trouble in a fight.

A line of limos waited in the parking lot beyond them, the first half-dozen long and black, just like those used by the Ivy House crew. Huge SUV limos took up residence on the other side of the parking lot, dwarfing the others, their number identical.

“Which limos did your people take?” I asked.

Austin pulled into a spot directly in front, next to the sign reading “owner.” “The larger ones. Kingsley and Sebastian both said mages often think shifters are the animals they turn into. That we live in filth, don’t have money, don’t have a sense of status or the ability to play politics, don’t have class…”

“You’re going to rub their faces in it.”

“Yes, I am.” He grinned at me before grabbing the door handle. “And I’m going to scare the ever-loving shit out of them while I’m at it.”

I pulled a vial of pink revealing potion from my clutch and drank it. “Do you want one?”

“Not at the moment. I’ll let you know if I think I need it.”

“Did the other shifters take it?”

“Those who’ve already shifted have, but Kingsley wanted to see if his people that are out in plain view could sense the lurkers. They all have a vial on their person, though, so if they need it, they have it.”

In the weeks leading up to this visit, Sebastian had been testing the shifters in every way he could think of. His findings had made him even warier of shifters, something that, conversely, increased his delight in them. With a superior ability to hear and smell, and sometimes even a preternatural sense for foreign presences, the shifters weren’t hindered by most concealing spells. Not all shifters were created equal, of course, but Kingsley’s team and those Austin had selected to help with this endeavor were better than most. Still, shifters already in their animal form would have a hard time taking a potion without hands. Better to be safe than sorry.

Austin exited the car and adjusted his suit jacket before sauntering around to my door. After opening it, he bent to help me out of the car. He shut the door behind me and slipped his hand into his pocket, bending his other arm for me. His face was stern as his gaze zipped around the edges of the parking lot.

Figures stood near the trees, still as statues, silent as the grave. I couldn’t see their faces within the shadow.

“Vampires,” Austin murmured, escorting me to the top of the red carpet and stopping. Kingsley’s eyes darted over. His very slight movements communicated something. Austin made no movements to answer that I saw or felt. “Younger ones, by the smell of it. Cheap labor. Not as dangerous.”

The limos transporting my team stopped in front of the walkway, one at a time. The driver of the first opened the door, and Cyra climbed out, stumbling a little. The driver held out his hand, but she waved him away. She stepped to the side, sucked in a breath, and then sneezed, throwing her hands wide as she did so. Fire blew out of her mouth and nose. A shock wave of heat shed from her skin, not bothering her dress.