Brad was standing under the shade of the caravan awning as he talked to Hannah. Whatever Anzide had said to him in the caravan had him spooked but not enough to send her away. In fact, it looked like the complete opposite, which was not amusing to the huffing dragon beside me.

"I think that we can agree that any attempt at entering the portal at the moment would be foolish, so how about we just stop?"

"Fine," he grumped.

"What did you say to Brad?"

"That there's something different about her."

"Vampire?"

Anzide shook his head, then stretched out to lean against the tree trunk.

"No, something else. I can detect the fact that she is not mortal, but there's something blocking me from entering."

"Hmm, like Drakkus's house."

He sat up and looked at me with a stunned expression.

"The demon," he whispered.

We both turned our heads and looked at Brad and his would-be love interest. She was all smiles and giggles, affectionately slapping the air near him.

"Good lord," I muttered. "I don't act like that, do I?"

"Oh yeah, it's a real disgrace."

Anzide was grinning by the time I looked at him. He shrugged with his devious smile shining, then returned to the view.

"It appears that you are like your uncle. You don't listen to me."

He was looking at Brad. The smile was gone, and in its place was a deep frown that showed how unimpressed Anzide was.

"I told him to avoid interacting with her at all costs and definitely not invest time that will lead to anything progressing. That looks as if he has not paid any attention to me."

"Did he understand what you were saying? Because you do tend to talk in riddles."

"Nonsense."

"You are indirect and often confusing. Did you tell him that you detected something abnormal, or did you just say, I've got a bad feeling about this woman?"

The silence said it all. Rather than dwelling on it, I returned to watch my uncle fall victim to a demon. Well, romantically fall victim.

With another smile that seemed as if she was almost gushing at him, Hannah turned and walked out from under the awning. She looked at us and waved. It was like she had no idea what we were. We both returned the wave and watched as she turned to walk down the driveway. Brad remained under the shaded cover, also watching the bewitching blonde.

"Are you sure she's the other demon?"

"No, but I can assure you she's not a vampire."

"Shapeshifter?"

"That is possible. If she is aware of her nature, she will not willingly offer her species. Neither will a witch and yes, that's another possibility."

"What's more likely?"

"Witch."

Brad looked at us, then flicked his head, urging us into the caravan with him. We stood, crossed the lawn, and entered the caravan. Before I closed the door, I looked down the driveway and saw Hannah getting into her car.

All seemingly normal.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's not mortal. The exact details are blocked, and that is a worrying detail."

Brad sighed as he sat at the table. Rubbing his eyes, I saw the weariness that was taking its toll on him.

"You should go back to bed."

"I'd like to, but I think sleep will evade me for a while. A routine will happen, I'm sure."

Sitting down, I settled in and waited for Anzide to join us. He was raiding the biscuit jar. I think that out of all of the biscuits that had been in there, he's eaten most of them. With two in hand and one being crammed into his mouth, Anzide joined us at the table. Brad smiled and shook his head.

"We can never escape the sugar cravings."

"That's probably half your battle."

"Ah, yes. My beloved doughnuts, how I shall miss them. So, what's Hannah's deal?"

"One of three choices. Witch, shapeshifter, or the demon we've been looking for."

"We could ask Harlwood. He will know what she is."

I shook my head.

"Can't. He's not available until the information is collected, then he'll notify us of when the first death has happened. He won't even be at school. He said that he was going to take a few personal days to get the job done quickly. I think that he really wants this demon gone, and if we're associating with her, it could prove to be a problem."

"Well then, we really do have a problem because I agreed to a date tonight."

The thought of getting Brad out of the caravan seemed so tantalizing that I was almost ready to say that it was a brilliant idea and then proceed to help him select an outfit to wear. That was not going to happen, much like the date tonight or me having alone time with Anzide.

"But she might not be the demon, right? Don't you know how to detect your own kind?"

"She has it blocked."

"Why would she do that?"

Anzide shrugged. "Probably because she knows about Harlwood. It really does point to her being the demon, you know."

Brad groaned as he slumped back into the seat. His head rolled back against the wood panel behind him.

"I find a nice chick that's,"

"Please don't cross the line again." I interrupted.

His head lifted, and I got a frown.

"I was going to say, intelligent and knows what she wants in her life."

Well, yay for her.

"This is ridiculous. How about we go to every single person in this town and form a database of who I can and cannot date? How's that? We're not upsetting the precious demon, are we?"

Getting up from the table, Brad began unbuttoning his shirt as he turned and walked to the shower.

"Why is this tin can so damned hot?"

"Because you are still in the alteration process. Give it time."

The door was slammed shut, and seconds later, the water started.

"How long will it take?"

"I have no idea."

"Another one of those unknowns?"

Anzide sighed as he nodded. "Yeah, one of those unknowns."

Hearing gravel crunching, Anzide stood from the table and looked out the window.

"It's the builder. Must be the day for visitors."

Thumping on the bathroom door, Anzide told Brad that the builder had turned up.

"It looks like he's got some stuff for you. Plans, papers."

Brad opened the door, looking like he'd gone crazy with powder. Hair wet, dressed but still damp and deathly white.

"You look terrible. Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine."

His tone was clipped, pushing past Anzide. Brad opened the door and offered a welcoming smile to Henry.

"Afternoon Brad," Henry called out.

"Anzide," I whispered, urging him over with a panic that was rising. "He's hungry. This is not good."

"I know, but there isn't a single thing we can do to stop this from happening. All we can do now is make sure Brad knows that we're watching him. Put Brad into the corner, then sit next to him. I'll sit next to Henry, and then if he starts to act weirdly, I will see it."

Getting up from the table, I waited. Anzide moved to the back of the caravan, giving Henry space to sit down.

Henry gave me a warm smile as he tipped his head.

"Afternoon. I was just telling Brad that I managed to get the plans ahead of schedule, ran the figures, and came up with a number. Thought it would be a good idea to run through them and then check what's going on here with the other quote."

"Sure, take a seat."

He sat down, Brad moved, and I stepped in his way, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Not a chance in hell," I whispered. "You know where you belong."

Brad's lip twitched derisively, but he moved to the other seat and sat down. Now that he was suitably taken down a peg, he was restrained and behaving himself. I sat down next to him, and Anzide moved into place next to Henry.

As Henry talked about the quote, I tried to listen, but there wasn't much point when I was too busy trying to concentrate on Brad. I never expected to be a babysitter for my adult uncle. How long would this last? When would he learn control?

This made me wish that Niko was here to guide us. We had nothing except for Anzide's knowledge that was lacking. It also didn't help that the vampire, the shapeshifter, and the human were still duking out inside him. Clearly the vampire was the dominant but was that going to be permanent, or was this only temporary?

There was no point in asking Anzide. I knew that it would be a waste of time. I could search for Niko, ignoring Anzide's words about leaving him to rest and waiting until he emerged of his own choice. The problem was he was the only vampire that I could trust. The other choices were incredibly unwise.

Of course, there was one option, and it might be reasonable, aside from the fact that I know that he'll tell Drakkus. I could talk to Kannon, stating that I was worried for him. Regardless of whether we were here or somewhere else, Brad would still be the same. He would still struggle with these changes.

Maybe it might give us a reprieve. If Kannon thinks that setting Brad loose on the world was a bad idea, he might suggest to someone else that waiting a few weeks would be ideal. It was an interesting thought.

Henry looked up from the papers, glancing between Brad and me. He seemed concerned, looking at Brad more than me. I subtly kicked Anzide under the table.

"If this is a bad time, I can come back."

"It's fine," Brad offered in a tone that I'd never heard from him.

It was dark, deeper than it should be.

"You look sick. Have you been to see the doctor? Sharon's a nice lady. It's rough only having one doctor in this place, but she copes rather well."

I watched as Anzide's eyes widened with horror.

"That's a great idea," he murmured, getting out of the seat. "We'll take him there now."

"Sure," Henry said. "We can pick this up when Brad's feeling better."

He slid over the seat, picking up everything except the quote.

"I'll leave this for you to go through. If you have any questions, just give me a call."

Anzide showed Henry to the door while I kept a firm grip on Brad.

"Get out of my way," he hissed under his breath.

"Absolutely not. Behave yourself."

Brad frowned. His hands were balled tightly on the table.

"You know what you've done? You've delayed the process of rebuilding the house. Instead of going through the quote today, we're waiting until you feel better."

My tone was terse as I air quoted feel better. He was not ill, and it was frustrating to have such a setback.

"Get yourself together." I snapped.

Getting out of the seat, I turned my back. Perhaps a mistake, maybe it was the best thing to ever happen.

In the three years that I've been with Brad, he's never gotten so angry at me that he acted out, which was saying something because in the beginning, it was not a great time for us.

Feeling my arm pull back, I turned and looked at Brad as he got up from the seat. The ice-cold grip tightened around my wrist as he angrily looked at me. His brow furrowed deep, creasing hard. With the fangs bared, he snarled at me.

"Do not subject me to your vampire nonsense. Go feed Brad and do it so it doesn't come back to bite us on the backside."

Wind brushed over my face as he pushed me against the bathroom door. It was a blur, so fast that it shocked me. Pinned to the door, Brad exposed his fangs more.

"I could drain you," he whispered.

"And I could destroy you." I returned. "However, I choose to remember that you are my family, and I would not harm you like that. I would expect the same in return."

The caravan shifted as Anzide walked up the steps. Brad looked at the door. As Anzide appeared at the doorway, Brad chuckled mercilessly.

"Then perhaps I will destroy the one that is taking you from me."

"Why would you do that to me? Don't I suffer enough waiting for Niko to return? What about everything that Kannon did to me? All the things that are going on right now, and you think that taunting me with that threat is a good idea. That's a low thing to put out there."

Anzide disappeared, reappearing at my side.

"You're missing the obvious," he whispered.

The obvious.

For a moment, I turned from the view of flaming orange eyes that were shining with the same anger that was written all over his face. Anzide's calming features were reassuring but not helpful.

The corner of his lip turned up slightly as he faced Brad.

"We're in this together. I know that this is hard for you to deal with, and you're already struggling with all the other issues that seem to be plaguing you at the moment but understand that I am not trying to take her from you. She will always be here."

It hit me. I really did miss the obvious.

I'd spent three years clinging to Brad because he was all that I had left in this world. Within weeks of arriving in this town, I'd changed. I've grown more independent, and I've gained another person that meant everything to me. I'm sure Brad felt the same about Niko, but he wasn't around for long enough for Brad's emotions to fester into this.

Maybe the underlying vampire traits that were now surfacing were causing issues as well. Regardless, this had to be dealt with.

How? I hugged him.

With my arms wrapped tight around his waist, I rested my head against Brad's chest and held tight. Not just because I wanted to make sure he understood that he was still my world but because I feared the worst.

His body sagged as his arms wrapped around me. A soft sigh escaped, and Brad returned the love.