AFTER ROBBY FINALLY FELL asleep, I slipped out of bed and went downstairs to curl up on the couch and watch a light comedy. I stepped onto the landing and froze at the whispers coming from the kitchen.

“But she is a vampire.” Judy’s whispered hiss came around the corner.

“Yes. She’s that, too.”

“They why don’t you do your job and kill her?” Judy whispered. “I can’t stand the idea of staying under the same roof as a vampire.”

I took a slow breath, waiting. Johnson’s answer would dictate what I did next.

“Look. I’ve known Sarah as long as Robby has. She’s got a good heart, and she and Robby were the best damn hunting partners that the agency ever had.”

“But—”

“But nothing.” He cut her off with an annoyed hiss. “If I even attempted to hurt her, Robby would tear me to pieces. He has always protected that girl. Besides, I can’t do that to him. Or to her. She’s had my back out there. And there’s something you should know. We went after them before they disappeared. Cornered them in the woods, and they didn’t fight. They reasoned with us after she commanded us to stand down. They could have just as easily wiped us from existence. Neither of them wanted to hurt us, but they weren’t willing to be locked up.”

“So?” She didn’t sound convinced.

“Judy, they let us walk out of those woods unharmed. How many vampires do you know would do that?”

A beat of silence went by.

“None. No vampire we have ever encountered in all the years I’ve been at the agency just let us walk away. They attack. They kill. But she didn’t.”

“She is still a vampire.”

I stepped into the kitchen, squaring my shoulders. “Yes. I am a vampire.”

Judy spun around to face me, her eyes wide and filled with trepidation. Johnson’s eyes widened as well. Fear radiated from both of them.

I couldn’t blame them for their skittishness, either. “And I feel the same way you do.” I met Judy’s frightened stare. “I couldn’t fathom having a blood sucker under my roof. But here’s the thing. I am not just a vampire. And therein lies the really important distinction, one your mate has more of an understanding of than you do. While I am other, my phoenix combats the darkness, giving me control over every aspect of the vampire curse.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” she asked while reaching for the knives on the counter.

Johnson might not be willing to attempt to kill me, but his mate was not on the same page.

I raised an eyebrow. “Really?” I said when she grabbed the butcher knife and pointed it at me. I looked beyond her at Johnson.

“Judy.” He sighed. “She’ll just break your wrist.”

“How do you know?” She stepped closer, as though this conversation gave her some balls that she wouldn’t otherwise have.

“Because she’s disarmed both Robby and me before, along with countless vampires. I wouldn’t fuck with her. But if you insist, I won’t stop you, and I won’t stop her when she defends herself.”

Her steps faltered, and she glanced back at Johnson. “You’d let her hurt me?”

“No. But this isn’t her attacking you. It’s you assaulting her. She has a right to defend herself, and if she breaks your wrist disarming you, it’s on you, honey.”

“Are you serious?” she screeched and pitched the knife at me.

I pivoted and a hiss behind me had me spinning toward the entryway. Robby stood there with the knife sticking out of his shoulder, just staring at the weapon. His snarl echoed in the small space as he glared at Judy and ripped the knife from his flesh.

The smell of his blood filled the room, clouding my mind and sparking my hunger. But the look in his eyes was enough to stanch my sudden need. “She didn’t mean it.” I put my hands out toward him.

“She tried to kill you,” he snarled with his feral gaze still pinned on Judy.

“No. She didn’t.” I stepped closer, putting my hands on his chest, knowing the contact would calm him, or at least distract him enough to de-escalate the situation. “She’s angry and rightfully so. We’ve turned their lives upside down.”

Robby lowered his gaze to me. “Why are you defending her?”

I glanced over my shoulder at her now cowering behind Johnson. “Because she’s Johnson’s mate, and he is our only friend.” I turned back to Robby. “She’s scared,” I whispered. That seemed to break through his irrational fury.

“Why the fuck is she scared?”

I rolled my eyes and willed my teeth to appear. He stiffened, and I willed them back into hiding. But I made my point.

He blinked down at me and then glanced at his shoulder. Blood ran down his arm and his torso in a steady stream. The rate of blood sliding down from the wound told me the blade had hit something vital. This wasn’t just a flesh wound.

My stomach clenched, and I had to stomp out the need to lick him clean. I hadn’t fed in days and the smell of freshly spilled blood knotted my insides now that he had calmed enough for my panic to abate, leaving me salivating instead. I reached up and covered the wound with my palm, concentrating on healing him before I broke my promise never to bite him.

My hand ignited.

Robby winced and pulled his shoulder away, but my cauterization skills worked. The blood flow stopped, but it did leave a burn mark in the shape of my hand.

I shook the fire from my fingers. “Can you get me a wet cloth, please?” I asked over my shoulder and led Robby to a kitchen chair. His pallor had turned a shade of pale I wasn’t happy with.

Johnson moved, leaving Judy to just stare at us. If a stiff wind blew through the kitchen, she would fall right over.

“Take a seat,” I said to her and pointed my blood-covered finger at the far chair.

She obediently sat, still looking at me as if I could either smite her or drain her in an instant. Her sullen eyes darted between Robby and me and the puddle of blood on the floor and back. Clearly, she was not registering what happened.

Johnson came back with a few wet towels, handing a couple to me before he stepped to the puddle on the floor. He started to clean the tile as I worked on cleaning the blood off Robby.

Silence settled over us, with only the swish of cloth filling the space.

“I...I’m sorry,” Judy finally said.

“It’s okay,” I said, and Robby scoffed, glaring at me.

“It is not okay,” he said.

“She didn’t kill either of us. It’s okay.” I insisted, and then gathered up the dirty towels, including the ones Johnson cleaned the floor with, and headed down the hall to the laundry room. I hesitated over the washer, staring at the bloody towels. I could just suck a little out and I’d be fine. Instead, I dropped them in the machine and turned to the sink. Before I washed my hands, I succumbed to the need accosting me and licked Robby’s blood from my fingers, relishing the sweet taste of my mate before I shook myself out of the building bloodlust and soaped up my hands, cleaning off the remainder of blood. I glanced in the mirror at my eyes ringed with the vampire red and cursed Cassius Chase yet again.

When I returned, the same tense air still hovered in the room. Robby’s glare still pinpointed on Judy, despite how pale he now looked from losing blood.

I conjured three steak dinners at the table and sat down next to Robby. “Eat.” I pointed. “You lost blood. You need to refuel.”

He glanced at the three dinners and sent me a questioning glare.

“It sucks to eat alone.” I pointed at the meal. “Now eat.”

“I’m not hungry.” Judy pushed her plate to the middle of the table.

“Fine.” I pulled the plate toward Robby, and the smell of the steak caught my attention, making me salivate the way Robby’s blood had. It was the first food that had caught my attention since I had been turned a little over six months ago.

Robby tore into his and so did Johnson.

“Are you sure you don’t want the steak?” I tore my eyes from the succulent meat to look at Judy.

“It’s good,” Johnson said through a mouthful.

“I’m sure. I don’t like to eat this late.” She waved toward the clock.

It was a little before eleven at night, so I could understand. I hated to eat this late when I was fully human. It always gave me nightmares and restless sleep. Men didn’t seem to have that affliction or, if they did, they didn’t readily admit to it.

I had a strange urge to pull the plate in front of me and dig in, but I resisted. I hadn’t eaten anything solid since I woke the morning I had been turned, and did not know whether it would make me sick or not. I didn’t want to end up in a compromising position with a possible death threat living under the same roof.