Katie had dismissed the housekeeping staff and was on her way to the kitchen to make a cup of herbal tea before bed. She walked downstairs to the kitchen, and only Dane and a junior chef were left.

“Evening, Katie, can I get you anything?” Dane asked.

“No, I’m just going to make a cup of tea.”

Dane stretched her arms and yawned. “We’ll leave you to it then. Goodnight, Katie.”

Once Dane and her junior chef left, the large old kitchen was quiet as a grave. Katie pressed the kettle on and got a mug, teabag, and spoon. She brought them back over to the kettle and waited for the kettle to boil.

Katie liked this time of night for its quiet solitude. The Debrek house was always a busy place with vampires and housekeeping staff milling around, not to mention the decorators they had in at the moment causing mess everywhere.

But this was her quiet time. She would often sit here in the empty kitchen listening to the radio, alone and absorbing the quiet, but tonight she was tired, so she was going to take her tea back to her room and look at her iPad in bed.

The night before she hadn’t had much sleep after the incident with Josie, the pain in her wrist and the nagging feeling that Alexis was right about being careful keeping her awake. It was annoying when Alexis was right—plus, she had to admit her body wanted Alexis. Since she was a teenager, she’d had complicated feelings over Alexis. Now her crush had developed into need and want, then hurt, anger, and frustration.

“Alexis.” Katie sighed.

No matter what stage she was at, Alexis always managed to stir up her passionate emotions, whether anger or want.

Katie filled her cup up with water. Hopefully the camomile tea would soothe her to a restful sleep. She felt a breeze and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

There was someone behind her, and she felt fear. It couldn’t be one of the Debrek clan—she would never feel fear because of them—and Alexis was more likely to make her heart speed up with excitement than fear, she was loath to admit.

She heard heavy breathing and forced herself to turn around slowly. It was Josie. She looked worse than when she had last seen her. Her eyes were red and dried blood was caked over her mouth and chin.

“Josie? Hi, aren’t they looking after you in the basement?” Katie knew this was a dangerous situation. A dangerous situation of her own making, she heard Alexis say in her head.

She had to keep Josie talking and hope either someone came down to the kitchen or she found her chance to run.

“They were, are, but I had to see you, Katie. Last night is engraved on my mind, and I wanted to thank you for looking after me and giving me your blood.”

Katie could see Josie’s eyes fix on her jugular vein. Her heart beat furiously. This was bad. How are you getting out of this one?