Well, maybe not half. There had to be room for guilt. I’d banished that useless emotion for two months. Why was it leaking into me now at every available chance, like water into a sinking ship? I didn’t like the feeling. I wondered how Nathan could live with it.

Then it hit me, as obvious and absurd as a fish falling from the clear, blue sky.

He couldn’t live with it. And that was what kept him in this state. His guilt kept him prisoner.

As soon as Carrie had left the room, Cyrus found himself descended upon by the two assassins that remained.

“Make yourself useful,” Max growled, and the woman handed Cyrus a thick book with yellowing pages. As she leaned over him, he caught a whiff of what could only be described as “wet dog” smell.

He brightened instantly. “You’re lupin?”

He should have realized his mistake before he made it, he noted as she lunged for him. Her fingernails sank into his shoulders and her teeth snapped inches from his throat before the vampire hauled her off.

“Filthy, murdering beast!” She spat at him, kicking out with such vehemence that she left the floor, the vampire’s grip the only thing keeping her upright.

“Whoa, calm down, it’s an easy mistake,” Max said, turning her away.

Poor bastard’s going to get it now, Cyrus thought with an inward chuckle. If the most demeaning insult to a lupin was being called a werewolf, it was ten times worse the other way around. “I apologize, deeply. I meant no offense. In the past, my only experience has been with your estranged brethren.”

“They are not our brothers, murdering coward!” Her voice still held an edge of hysteria, but she was controlled enough to brush the vampire’s hands aside without seeking to do more damage immediately after. “I know who you are!”

“Have we met?” It was an intentionally cruel remark. He folded his arms across his chest and waited for what she would inevitably say.

“I read the files! I know of your cruelty to my kind. The hunts you arranged for the pleasure of the lupins. Only you called them dogfights when you joked with your friends!” Her golden eyes widened. Would she weep?

The vampire put his arm around her in a proprietary, protective gesture. Very interesting.

“He’s done a lot of things.” Max glared at Cyrus. “But we need him, for the time being.”