Winter's POV:

Kristoff's house was picturesque. One of those places they show in the movies or on the cover of magazines. It sat at the end of a long dirt road flanked with trees leaning towards each other in a makeshift natural tunnel. Lush, green, and vibrant

The house itself was huge. Two stories with eight windows on each floor facing forward, perfectly symmetrical. The white, wooden pillars sat between every window from the bottom floor to the top, all the way around the house.

It was old, but Kristoff took care of it. Said it belonged to someone he knew a long time ago. I didn't ask for details. The beauty of our arrangement was never asking details.

Kristoff dropped Thaddeus's still passed out body on the chaise as we walked inside, then continued on to the back room on the right. It was his study. I'd been here plenty of times I knew what every room was.

The study's walls were made up of bookshelves from floor to ceiling. Every shelf was full of mostly older books with worn bindings. The shelves were actually overfull, as some of the books had to be stored on their sides on top of the others.

And this wasn't even the library.

"Here," Kristoff said, opening up a large envelope that was resting on his wood desk and adding cash to it before tossing it to me. "Extra for the trouble of my brother."

I tossed it back. I didn't want paid in money this time.

"What have you got, then?" He asked, coming closer and holding out his hand.

I pulled the crumpled paper from my pocket and attempted to smooth it out against my knee before handing it to him. "Can you read it?"

I had terrible handwriting.

"I've gotten used to your chicken scratch, yes." He scanned the paper, frowning. "You know Corin isn't dead?"

I nodded. He raised his eyebrows then continued skimming the page. I could tell he wanted to ask how I knew Corin wasn't dead. His clan put up an impressive effort to make it look like he died, but I wasn't an idiot. Kristoff's gaze shifted to me a couple times but I knew he wouldn't ask. He never did, no matter how curious. Like I said, the beauty of our relationship was never asking details.

"Very well," Kristoff said, sliding the paper in his pocket. "I'll have answers for you by tomorrow evening. Will you be attending the party?"

"Will your brother be here?"

"I'm afraid my brother will be here quite a while," he said, leaning back against his desk and crossing his arms. "He's after some empath and unsure on where to start but confident the target is no longer in Europe."

"Empath?" I repeated, frowning. "I thought you were protecting empaths." If they weren't, I needed to stop telling Kristoff when I found one.

"We're protecting empaths that are not evil," he corrected. "This one works for The Elders, has killed other empaths for them and done even worse. Disgusting person."

"I see."

"If you do want to come tomorrow, I promise protection from my idiot brother. I'll have a talk with him when he wakes up."

"He's not going to be happy."

Kristoff shrugged. "He's never happy."

"Am I interrupting?" The words came seconds after a quick knock. I glanced back at Selene, offering a smile. Her brown hair was short again and her blue jeans and worn, brown jacket were splattered in blood, as usual.

"Not at all," Kristoff answered. "Did you find him?"

"What is that smell?" I said, wrinkling my nose.

"Oh, it's him," Selene grinned, pulling a brown, burlap bag in with her and hefting it up on Kristoff's desk.

The loud thud was nowhere near as bad as the smell.

"Oh God, you decapitated someone again, didn't you?" I sighed, plugging my nose.

"Oh, did you burn someone again?" She countered, looking back at me with teasing eyes. "I saw a fire at the end of its life on the old Jones farm on my way in. That wouldn't have had anything to do with you, would it?"

"Of course not," I said, feigning offense. She snorted and I smiled.

"Selene," Kristoff said.

"Yes?"

"While I appreciate you proving to me you got the job done," he said, pushing the bag off his desk and onto the floor. "I ask again, please refrain from bringing the heads inside."

"It's odd to me that it bothers you when you literally feed on people to survive," Selene said, hopping on the desk and holding out her hand. "Money, please. I have a vampire waiting outside. To fuck, not to kill."

"Didn't need to know," Kristoff sighed, opening one of his drawers and pulling out another envelope. He handed it over to Selene and she beamed at him, leaned over the desk to peck him on the cheek, then hopped off the desk and grabbed my arm on her way out.

"Goodnight, Kristoff," Selene sang, pulling me out of there with her. I let her. Kristoff and I were done anyway. "So, my friend has a friend..."

I shook my head. "Gross. I don't fuck vampires, I only stake them."

"Burn them you mean," she corrected.

I shrugged. "Depends on the day."

"You're seriously missing out," she sighed. "But fine, I'll take them both myself and... Oh," she paused, her eyes fixed on Thaddeus's still sleeping form. "Hello gorgeous," she said, her eyes going wide. "Who is this?"

"Kristoff's brother."

"Thaddeus?"

The way she said his name had me rolling my eyes but I nodded. Most people knew him by name alone. It was usually a name said with either reverence, lust, or fear. Of course, in my case, that wasn't how I heard his name because I heard it from Kristoff. It was nothing short of completely annoyed the first time he said it.

"Oh my God, he's delicious," she said, licking her lips. "What's he like?"

"Horrible, disgusting, repulsive," I said, pulling her away from her ogling and towards the door. "Arrogant, condescending... I could keep going if you don't get the idea."

Selene let out a low whistle, raising her eyebrows as she glanced over at me. "What'd he do to piss you off so fast? I mean, I know it's not difficult to do but still."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned.

"Oh, Winter," Selene sighed as we stepped outside. She waved at the vampires waiting near her car then turned towards me, setting her hands on my shoulders. "You have the temperament of an angry hippo. Anyone can piss you off depending on the day. You sure you don't want to try a vampire? They're so good in bed. I can't even explain to you how much it pains me you won't try it."

"I don't get myself in vulnerable situations and I can't think of anything more stupid- no offense," I said quickly. She shrugged and nodded. "-than letting a vampire be that close to you when it would take seconds to have your neck snapped."

"I would say, you're fun at parties, aren't you? But I unfortunately do know you are," she sighed, shrugging and pecking me on the cheek. "Oh well, have fun at home by yourself, loner." She walked down the porch steps then turned towards me as she backed to her car. "I'll see you tomorrow. Pick you up for the party?"

Glancing back at the house where Thaddeus was, I weighed my options. If he wasn't here, I would definitely come. The problem was I didn't doubt he meant it when he said he wanted to kill me and he'd be wanting that even more after he woke up from the forced coma I put him in. On the other hand, he was the kind of person that got off on being scary and intimidating to people. If I were to skip the party because of him, he'd get some misguided sense of having power over my decisions.

Well, I'd just have to be ready to kill him. It helped Kristoff promised protection. It wasn't that I fully trusted him, but I happened to be the only person that knew where something was he wanted. He didn't even know where it was because when he gave me the knife, he specifically said to not tell anyone, including him, where I hid it. Ever. The only time I could disclose the whereabouts were to his sister I hadn't even met yet. I wasn't sure what importance the knife held but it was valuable enough Kristoff would not want me dying and taking the secret of its location with me.

"Sounds good," I answered Selene. "I'll meet you at the end of the road."

"You better," she laughed. "I don't want to navigate your property."

I couldn't blame her. I rarely even took my car all the way to the house because there were too many traps set. It was easier to park the car in the hidden garage and walk to my house. I memorized every step I needed to take to get there safely, so it was second nature.

Selene left and I got in my dad's 1967 black Camaro to drive home. It still ran, and I would keep it that way no matter how many times the local mechanics told me I was wasting my money. I'd put millions of dollars into this car if I had to, but I was never letting it go.

Grabbing the bottle of whiskey from the backseat, I got out of my car and took careful steps through the dark, blackthorn forest blocking the view of my house from the road. When I reached my porch, howling filled the otherwise quiet night.

A smile pulled on my lips as I rushed up the steps and unlocked the door to find my Doberman sitting there, his tail whacking against the floor.

He jumped up on me the second he could and I stumbled back, wrapping my arms around him. "Hey, Hugh."

Hugh was only a ten week old puppy when my dad got me for my twelfth birthday. When I had to learn to live on my own, Hugh was the only conversation I could have. The night of the fire, I lost everything. Not just my family, but everything else. Every reminder I could have was burned up in that house, except for Hugh and the car.

They were the most precious things in the world to me.

"I missed you too," I said, scratching his ears once he was off me.

He stayed right by my side as I got ready for the bed, except when I was in the shower trying to wash off the long day. I treated the bites from the vampires, grimacing at myself for letting them get so close. If I wasn't drunk, I would've done better. I knew that. But sometimes timing sucked.

As soon as I got on my pajamas, I climbed into bed and Hugh followed, nestling up beside me. I draped my arm over him and pulled the blankets over both of us.

"I think I'm getting close," I whispered to Hugh. He grunted and shifted, pushing his head against my chest and sighing, his eyes staying shut. "Do you think they're still alive somewhere?"

Hugh groaned and set his paw over my arm. Sighing, I closed my eyes, and will the nightmares to stay away. They probably wouldn't. "I hope they are, too."

A/N:

Heyyy loves, i hope you enjoyed this chapter!

This book and the next 3 are complete on Patreon and we're over 20 chapters into Darius's book. Link in my bio 💜

Ooh, Winter's getting information 👀

Sounds like Thaddeus plans to stick around. How do you think he'll react when he wakes up?

Selene has entered the chat, first impressions?

Hugh has entered the chat! It was time for another puppy in this series and I've gotta say... I adore Hugh. First impressions?

Take care, loves 💜