“You want me to become your next owner?” Red sparks crackled from Smudge’s back, either from the anger in my words or my driving.

“I knew you were attracted to me, when we met before. You appreciated my body, but you also liked me. Your file confirmed that you’d make a good partner.”

“And you didn’t think you should let me in on this plan?”

“Sorry, I got a bit distracted saving your ass from those sparklers.”

“Lena, I can’t—”

“Nidhi was conflicted, too, when she learned the truth about me. This is what I am. I can’t change that. And there are a lot of people out there who . . . well, their fantasies aren’t something I ever intend to become.”

I couldn’t even figure out who I was angry at. Whatever hack had written Lena’s book couldn’t have known what he was creating. From the sound of things, whoever pulled her acorn from the pages had been an untrained amateur. Otherwise, why leave it in the woods? As for Lena herself, she was simply trying to survive, to take some kind of control over what she would become.

Of everyone she had met in her time with Doctor Shah, she had chosen me. She was entrusting me with her life and with her self, with who she would become.

I thought back to her unwillingness to kill, the way she had described vampires as victims of magic, shaped and defined by their magical nature. “I’m sorry.”

Her answering silence lasted long enough for me to realize how inadequate my words were, and then she shrugged. “Everyone has problems.”

“Couldn’t you—”

“Don’t try to fix me. I am what I am.” Her sudden, mischievous smile eased the mood. “It’s a lot to process, I know. I’m thinking of putting together a pamphlet. ‘What to do When a Dryad has the Hots for You.’ What do you think?”

How had Shah lived with herself? Yet if I said no, Lena Greenwood could become far more dangerous than any vampire. “So what are you supposed to do?”

She took a deep, slow breath. “I’m not asking you to make a decision, or to commit to anything. Just please think about it.”

I was going to have a hard time thinking about anything else.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I WAS NO LESS CONFLICTED when we reached the Mackinac Bridge three hours later. I pulled into line at the toll booths and asked Lena, “Do you have an M&M?”

She fished one from the bag in her pocket, her head cocked in confusion.