Colin offered to drive Sylvie to Baltimore in the Escalade to help her move. This plan thrilled Sylvie to no end, and she never stopped grinning until she and Colin pulled away from the curb. I still hadn't told Sylvie about the Valentino's non-human status, only mine, and this thought plagued me as I hunched over the kitchen counter forming ground turkey into meatballs. Yeah, turkey again.

Seated in the living room, Vincent waged a text battle with someone, and I watched through my peripherals as his fingers pounded the cellphone screen with agile dexterity. After several intense minutes, he finally set his phone on the coffee table.

"Okay, I'm done arguing with stubborn people. What's on your mind, Reese?"

Geez. 

"Who says there's something on my mind?"

"Is there nothing on your mind?" He raised his eyebrows, mocking me.

"Yes, dammit. There is."

"So, do you want to share it, or should we continue avoiding the subject?"

I huffed as I dug my hands into the turkey mixture. "I feel guilty about Sylvie. She only knows half the story. I didn't get a chance to tell her about the Valentino's super powers."

He acknowledged my dilemma with a head bob, and I thought I saw him suppress a grin. "She seems to have recovered from your exciting news. I suspect she will embrace the other news equally."

I stopped forming balls to give him a long-distance stare. "Really? That's all you've got for me? Try again."

"I'll need more context, then. What lies at the bedrock of your guilt?" Vincent held my gaze as he waited, although he probably knew where to find my guilt.

"What if Sylvie freaks out when I tell her she's been having sex with a gargoyle? What if she doesn't forgive me for not telling her sooner?"

"Why do you think Sylvie would have such a negative reaction to the best sex of her life?"

My hands hovered over the bowl as we engaged in a moment. These moments tended to happen any time sex was mentioned. "How do you know she's having the best sex of her life?"

I watched a smile blossom on his lips, which had my thighs clenching. "Are you happy with our sex life? Do I satisfy you? Do you shiver when you picture me sinking into you?"

Holy crap. The nether regions.

"Yes."

His smile widened. "I'm very glad to hear that. Trust me. Sylvie is having mind-blowing sex. When she finds out it gets bigger, she'll be ecstatic." He chuckled to himself as he reclined on the couch, folding his arms behind his head.

I felt like pointing out the crudeness of his remark, but it was also the truth, so I went back to my turkey balls. Not long afterwards, the apartment smelled like garlic and marinara, and two places were set in front of my mix-matched barstools. The normalcy felt strange but comfortable as we enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs, which lasted all of ten minutes before Vincent's phone rang. When he glanced at the screen, I knew it was important.

"Sergio Lassiter," he said. "I need to take this in private."

Vincent made for my bedroom, leaving me to speculate about the nature of the call. Were they discussing me and my not-so-perfect lineage? Did Vincent think a closed door would keep me from listening to his side of the conversation if I really wanted to? Sergio impressed me as a reasonable guy who enjoyed living his penthouse lifestyle. He also had a close relationship with Charleton. It made me wonder if the holdouts were the Cromwells. Maybe a quick listen wouldn't hurt.

I was just climbing off my seat when the door opened, and Vincent returned. He immediately got back to eating without saying a word, and while this was not unusual behavior for him, I couldn't help thinking about the promise we made to each other. The one about the loop.

"A domus meeting has been set," he said to his plate. "Tomorrow night at Twenty Exchange Place. Your presence is requested." Vincent lifted his gaze to look at me. "Whatever the outcome, don't forget that you and I are mated. Not a single soul can take that away from us."

"Do you think they'll try?"

He inhaled deeply, letting a scowl form on his face. "I hope not, but you need to be briefed on a few things before I throw you to the wolves."

"Throw me to the wolves? Is it going to be that bad?"

"I doubt it will be smooth sailing. There are a lot of egos at play, but William is an excellent mediator. Sylvie will be working with him at Harper and Smythe. You may remember, he's a corporate lawyer."

I felt the meatballs sink to the bottom of my stomach like stones. "Was that meant to reassure me, because it didn't. I'm going up against the Shark Tank, aren't I?"

Vincent immediately abandoned his scowl. "It won't be like that. You won't be asked to prove yourself, but you need to be there to defend yourself."

He stopped talking to take a bite of food and I did the same. He probably hadn't chosen the best time to introduce the topic of life-altering domus meetings, but the box had been opened and the demons were free.

"You said I needed to be briefed on things?" I said. "Name one."

"Okay." He set down his fork and turned to address me, wiping the corners of his mouth with his fingers. "This afternoon, when Colin and I finished appeasing our shareholders, my mother met with us. She needed to confess something important that she hoped wouldn't piss us off."

"Oh, crap. That sounds heavy already."

"It was, which is why I need to give you some context before I tell you what she said. You were not the only gollum my father attempted to rescue during the mission that took his life. He was trying to rescue both you and your mother. Gabrielle was being threatened by demons, and my parents agreed to give you both sanctuary in our home. I never mentioned that to you because, well..."

"Because you knew my mother was dead."

"There was no evidence to support her surviving," he said softly. "And we didn't confirm you were that child until a few days ago. I'm sorry you had to find out about her through a demon."

I touched his arm where it rested on the counter. "It is what it is, Vincent. Go ahead with your story."

He leaned forward and kissed my nose, keeping his focus on me. "Wren divulged that she and my father knew you and Gabrielle were hybrids, which means, if you turned out to be the missing child..."

"She knew I was a hybrid. And she never told you this? I thought everything was shared with the members of the domus."

"More specifically, everything is shared with the magister. Granted, I was not magister when my father died. I was ten, so my mother justified not sharing that detail with me or my brothers. We thought you were a gollum marked by a demon. Of course, my mother had an excuse for waiting to tell us. She claimed she didn't want our opinion of you to be tainted by prejudice."

Fisting my hand around my fork, my mind tried to wander to dangerous places, like blaming Wren for Heath's death, but that was not a healthy path to travel down. "Do you think it would have happened?" I asked. "Would you have pre-judged me if you had known I was a hybrid?"

"Absolutely."

I raised my eyebrows and readied my rebuttal of his narrow-minded view, but he didn't give me a chance.

"If I had introduced myself to you in my gollum form, would you have stuck around to see if I was a nice guy? My guess is, you would have run like hell."

"I believe that did happen the first time I saw you in your gollum form."

"Yes, and I should have known then what a rebel you are." A smile momentarily played on his lips before he continued. "Regardless of the prejudices I might have held, they would have been crushed under my feet as I beat a path to your door every day until you let me in."

"Gee, Vincent. That was downright romantic." I fanned my face with my napkin, and he shrugged indifference as he took another bite of food. His cellphone buzzed next to his plate, and he picked it up to read a text.

"Well, that settles it. This has officially become a three-ring circus." He slapped his phone on the counter as he shook his head over his plate. "My grandfather has decided to join us tomorrow night."

"You say that like it's a terrible thing."

"It is. Boris Seacrest is a staunch traditionalist and unswerving patriarch. His inflexible nature is one of the reasons my mother left her domus to mate with my father. It was a running joke between my parents. Did my father really win her affection, or did Boris drive her into his arms?"

I stared at my half-eaten meal as my stomach clenched around the other half. Maybe being in the loop all the time wasn't such a good thing. "So, Shark Tank for real now?"

He didn't answer for a few beats, which meant yes, then he turned to pull me into his unavoidable gaze. "This meeting is not just about you. It's about us. I know you're feeling like all the weight is on your shoulders, but that's not where it should be. I will be the one standing trial. In my grandfather's eyes, I went rogue when I rescued you from the hive, and shacking up at the cabin just added nails to my coffin."

"Okay, I get it. You don't need to use morbid analogies. We're in this together and you're not going to let the wolves or the sharks devour me when we face them tomorrow night. Do you have a speech prepared?"

"I only write speeches for strangers, but I do have a few talking points for our defense. Wren has made up for her bad judgment call by giving me all the information she knows about hybrids. She did a lot of research when she learned about the mission to save you and Gabrielle. I'm embarrassed to say, I knew very little about hybrids until just recently."

"Can you tell me more about this mission your dad when on? Why did my mom and I need to be rescued from demons?"

"It was Marco Bourdain who asked for my father's help. He also asked my Uncle Caleb and a gollum from a domus in Buffalo. Gollums he could trust with his secret. Marco wanted to get you and your mother out of Chicago because a band of demons had staked out the convent and were essentially keeping the two of you imprisoned inside. A nun was attacked during a case of mistaken identity."

"Holy smokes. That's awful."

"The demons were desperate. They were after something of dire importance."

He waited for me to decipher his clues, which didn't take long.

"The amulet."

He nodded. "Good deduction."

"Do you have any idea what happened to the amulet?"

"It's around," he said lightly. "The artifact Cecile seeks was recovered through painstaking measures and now circulates from domus to domus. Only two families know of its whereabouts at any given time."

I stared at him dubiously. "How long have you known this? That's pretty important information to share with your partner who's been tasked with finding the damned thing." 

"I knew of the artifact, but I didn't know about its origins. Contrary to what you may think, I don't need to know everything all of the time. And, finding it could be problematic, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. The thing you need to understand is, when my father agreed to the mission, the Lassiter and Cromwell magisters had to give their blessing. After listening to Wren's compelling argument, they agreed to my parent's plan with conditions that you and your mother be delivered to a church or convent within forty-eight hours. I plan to make the same argument my mother did. If the magisters allowed it twenty-one years ago, they should allow it now."

"Okay, that makes sense, but what if they require you to turn me over to a convent? They might as well slice me up with an adamantium blade and put me out of my misery."

Vincent's eyebrows shot up. "Look who's using morbid analogies now? They can't require me to do anything. The worst they can do is force me to resign as magister."

"Shit. I don't want that to happen."

"It will only happen if I'm pushed to decide between my position in the domus and you. Of course, you know what my answer will be." He smiled gently as he brushed a strand of hair away from my eye. "There are very few things of value these days, and you made me realize that love is not even on that list, because it's priceless."

I grinned at him. "Should I be writing these down? You're on fire today."

Vincent brought his mouth to my ear. "You make me hot."

My phone rang across the room and I slid off my chair. "Hold that thought," I said as I walked over to check the caller ID. "It's Colin. He's probably calling to confirm their safe arrival."

"Didn't Sylvie text you that message an hour ago?" Vincent adopted a stiff pose as he made his observation. 

"Yes. So, maybe it's something else." I ignored Vincent's blast of pheromones and answered the phone. "Hey, Colin. Sylvie texted and said you both arrived safe and sound."

"Yeah. It was a bear of a drive, but that's freeway traffic for you."

"Don't tell me you would have rather flown the distance."

"Hell no. I've made that trip before, and many of the rest stops have actual bears."

"Maybe you should find new rest stops."

He chuckled. "Bears are scared shitless of us. I've never had an altercation with one in my gollum form."

"It must be the wings. They're pretty damned impressive."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

Heat rushed to my face, and I casually swung around the coffee table to hide my blush. As I circled the living room, I glanced at Vincent. He loomed over his plate like he wanted to pounce on it, but he hadn't taken a bite.

"Did you call to gripe about the shitty traffic, Colin, or was it something else?"

"It's Sylvie. I want to tell her about my gollum nature."

"You want to tell her... now?" I stopped pacing and stared at Vincent. He hadn't met my gaze, but I knew he was listening intently.

"Yes. She already knows about you. She knows demons and gollums exist. The shock won't be as great. I owe it to her, Reese. She's your best friend. She's moving to Manhattan. We're having a lot of sex. I'm already running the risk of getting kicked in the balls when she finds out."

"I doubt Sylvie would do that, but don't rule it out completely." I started pacing again and noticed Vincent's demeanor had softened. He drank from his water glass as he watched me from his peripherals. "Actually, Colin, she'll probably be more pissed at me for keeping her in the dark, so you may get the brunt of her misplaced anger. I just didn't have the heart to tell her about the Valentinos after she passed out."

"I totally understand. Why do you think it took Vincent so long to tell you everything? There's a lot to process."

"If I remember a certain conversation on my apartment stairwell, you told Vincent to get on with it or you would tell me everything."

"Yes, well... that's why Vincent is the magister and I'm the lowly peon."

"I don't think Vincent would have given the role of temporary magister to a lowly peon."

"Temporary being the operative word, but your point is taken. So, do I have your blessing to tell Sylvie she's dating a guy with wings?"

"Yes, Colin. You have my permission to convince Sylvie of your dangerous alter ego, and tell her I give my blessing."

"Thanks. I'll break it to her gently."

"Oh, I doubt you will."

"Not so good with subtlety, are you?"

"If the shoe fits, wear it. Have a good night, Colin."

"Goodnight, Reese."

I returned my phone to the coffee table and joined Vincent at the counter. My spaghetti had cooled but I didn't plan to eat it anyway.

"So, you've given Colin permission to reveal us," Vincent said as he leaned back in his seat and polished off his water.

"You say that like I didn't have the authority to do it."

"As far as I'm concerned, you did the right thing. Colin needed to be involved in the conversation for the sake of their blossoming relationship."

"Do you think it's blossoming?"

Vincent cocked his head, looking genuinely confused. "Have I misread the situation? You know your friend better than I do."

"You haven't misread it. Sylvie likes Colin for more than his hot body."

Vincent's eyebrows rose so high they disappeared under his hair. "You think Colin has a hot body, or are you just quoting Sylvie's description of him?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, but I want to know."

"Why do you want to know? So, you can stew about it?"

"I don't stew. I meditate. You're evading my question."

"And you're making a bigger deal out of it than necessary."

"It wouldn't have become a big deal if you had answered the question to begin with." Vincent's phone rang, and he scowled as he looked at the screen. "I have to take this. It's Louis Cromwell."

He kissed me on the forehead before heading into the bedroom, and I heard the door click behind him. Apparently, his conversations needed to take place behind closed doors, while mine were... Oh, men could be so frustrating.

At least I'd been given a pardon from his petty jealousy. We were both getting used to the idea of sharing our lives together, so I let this one go. Like Vincent said earlier, mind-blowing sex could be a powerful persuader.