Even though Cinn thought Dacian was the most gorgeous guy she knew, she was still part of the collective “woman.” And that part of her couldn’t help admiring Ganymede. She hadn’t understood Sparkle’s love for him before. Now she did. And yes, Sparkle would applaud her shallowness.

“Who is this Rabid?” Taurin seemed to have accepted Ganymede.

“A rogue cosmic troublemaker.” Ganymede threw Dacian a pointed stare. “He creates insane rages in his victims.”

Dacian made the connection. “He works with Stephan. He’s the one who’s causing my problem.”

“I don’t mean to change the subject, but Airmid is near. I sense her. She’s waiting for the battle to begin so she can slip in here and destroy the plants while everyone is occupied elsewhere.” Asima was lying next to Teddy. The cactus seemed calm tonight. “I’ll remain here to protect the plants.”

Ganymede nodded. “If we need you we’ll call. Luckily, we don’t have as many rooms as a regular hotel, so Stephan probably only got in a couple dozen of his vampires.” He scanned the rest of his small army. “I asked Holgarth to check on something before he came here.” He nodded at his wizard. “Tell them what you found.”

“Almost all of those who’ve checked in during the past few weeks have been in groups of three. No nonhumans were around when they checked in so we can’t verify if they are indeed human. I suspect not. Only one member of each group has eaten in the restaurant regularly. Perhaps the other two have eaten at another restaurant. I doubt it. During the time they’ve been here, they’ve asked that they be allowed to clean their own rooms. Fresh linens have been left outside their doors.” Holgarth glanced at Ganymede.

“Translation: The night feeders checked in and brought their own takeout with them. They stayed in their rooms and their sorcerer wove some kind of crappy spell so we wouldn’t sense their presence.” Ganymede looked grim. “The night feeders alone wouldn’t worry me too much, but they brought along two big guns. We can’t even guess at how powerful their sorcerer is.”

“And Rabid? What’s his range of power?” Edge’s expression hinted that he’d heard of the rogue.

“Not wide enough.” Ganymede smiled, and everyone backed away from him. “We both go back almost to the dawn of time. I kicked his ass then, and I’ll do it again. If he hurts my woman, I’ll do it slowly and painfully. And if he kills her…”

The emergency lights flickered and went out at the same time the whole greenhouse shook and rattled. The power flowing from Ganymede seemed to fill the small space and expand outward. Cinn expected the greenhouse windows to explode in a shower of glass.