Victorija took her hand. “Who are you?”

“I’m a very powerful witch who can help you. I contacted Drasas to broker this meeting. I want to propose a deal. I have dark witches, werewolves, and fae all on my side. So I should like to propose a mutually beneficial arrangement to allow us both to take on the Debreks.”

“I don’t care about attacking the Debreks just now.” Victorija started to walk away.

“What if I could tell you what’s wrong? Why you can’t seem to sate your hunger? Why you feel like you’re becoming lost in your mind?”

Victoria stopped and looked back. “Tell me.”

* * *

Later that evening, after Alexis finished with her duties, she went down to the kitchen to get Katie a cup of tea. Alexis knew this was Katie’s nightly ritual and probably no one else noticed, and she didn’t know if Katie would ask for it in her current state.

She bounded up the stairs in a flash and walked along the corridor towards Katie’s room. There was a guard now stationed outside on Alexis’s orders. Josie had run, but she might be stupid enough to return if the lure of Katie’s blood was too strong. As she approached, she heard a voice in Katie’s room and it put her on alert.

“Who’s in there?” Alexis said to the vampire on the door.

“Dr. McKenzie, Duca. Katie had a bit of an incident when the doctor arrived to check up on her.”

Alexis tuned her hearing into the room.

“I know it can be a frightening world, living amongst vampires. If you’d like to get away to recover, I mean, it could be arranged.”

Alexis had heard enough. No one was taking Katie anywhere. She walked straight in the door without knocking and saw Tyler McKenzie seated on the bed. Katie had pushed herself up against the headboard and was using her covers as a barrier.

Tyler jumped when she heard the door open. “Ah, Duca. I came to check on Katie and take out her IV line, and she seemed to think I was Josie coming back to finish her off.”

Alexis gave her a hard stare. “I’ll take it from here.”

At first the doctor met her stare for a few seconds, then looked off to the side. “I’ll just get my bag. I’ll be back tomorrow to see how she is.”

Tyler gathered her bag and started to walk to the door. Just as she was about to leave, Alexis said in a low voice, “Ms. Brekman will not be going anywhere, Doctor. A vampire attacked her, and only vampires are the correct ones to keep her safe from further danger.”

Tyler gave her a false smile. “Of course.”

Once the doctor left, Alexis approached the bed and put the tea down on the bedside cabinet. “I brought you your tea. What happened to make you so frightened?”

Katie’s knuckles were white from hanging onto the bedcovers so hard. “The window.”