His lips pressed tightly together. “You’ve met her. Eisheth.”

Right. Of course. The gorgeous vampire who had hosted the party. I should have guessed. They’d been incredibly weird toward each other, and it was because of this. Clearly, they’d once been involved. Not fake involved. Real involved.

“Oh.” That was all I could manage.

“She attacked me, stole all of my funds, and stabbed Morax in the gut with my own sword.” He closed his eyes. “Morax fought back. He nearly killed her. But when we found him, she was already gone. A vampire had found her and decided to take her under his wing.”

“You mean, he turned her.”

He nodded. “That was over a hundred years ago.”

“What happened to Morax?” I asked in a whisper.

His jaw rippled as he tipped the rest of his drink into his mouth. “He didn’t make it. She destroyed him completely.”

My stomach clenched, and my hand found his knee. “I’m so sorry, Az. I had no idea about any of this.”

“I should have known what would happen,” he said in a pained voice. “Everyone assumes the worst of demons, and frankly, I don’t blame them. But I can never let someone get that close to me again. The Legion are my family. And I would do anything to protect them.”

The emotion in his voice shook my heart. Suddenly, everything was shockingly clear. Why Az was the way he was. Why he’d killed that spy. Why he’d kept me at arms length even as we danced around our strange connection. He’d been burned. Horribly so. Trusting Eisheth had cost him almost everything.

“I don’t think the worst of you,” I finally whispered as the soft edges of the robe slipped down my shoulders.

Az lifted his eyes to meet mine. “Yes, you do.”

“I don’t,” I argued. “You annoy me sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I think you’re evil.”

He slid his fingers to the ends of my hair and paused when they were mere inches from my exposed skin. “What about the situation with the vampire spy? You seemed to think the worst then.”

“I told you,” I insisted, shifting closer to him. “That had nothing to do with you being a demon. The whole thing just freaked me out, that’s all. I’m not used to your world. I’ve known about supernaturals all my life, but I’ve never been among them like this. It’s…different.”

“The alcohol is lowering your inhibitions. It’s making your emotions roll off of you in waves. I can read them perfectly,” he murmured as the scent of bonfire wafted toward me. “There is fear, intense worry, and beautiful earnestness, Mia. But there is also something else.”

“What?” I whispered.

Desire.”

23