By the time we pulled up to Spade and Denise’s house, the sun was setting, though jet lag and traversing several time zones in the past two days had me feeling like it was the crack of dawn. Spade was already waiting at his front door, causing me to wonder which had alerted him to our arrival first: sensing other vampires’ presences or hearing our car pull into the driveway.

“Crispin,” Spade said, referring to Bones by his real name since, like Ian, he’d known him back when they were all human. “Cat. Welcome.”

The words were gracious, but Spade’s tone was more cautious than cordial. I gave the tall, black-haired vampire my most winning smile, which earned me an instant scowl.

“Now I know your visit brings trouble, as if your telling me to clear out our staff before you arrived wasn’t warning enough.”

“You’re not wrong, Charles,” Bones said, also using Spade’s birth name. Then he clapped him on the back. “But you need to hear this nonetheless.”

I followed them inside, glad to see a friendlier face coming down the hallway.

“Denise!”

She grinned, giving me a hug when she reached me. I squeezed back, not worried about hurting her with my strength. In many ways, the demonic essence Denise was branded with had made her tougher than I.

When she pulled away, though, her grin had faded. “What’s going on? Is your mom okay?”

“She’s fine,” I said, making a mental note to call her soon. “We’re here about something my uncle started a long time ago.”

We filled them in on the details while sipping coffee in their living room. Spade’s handsome features were set in hard lines by the time we finished.

“He’ll cause a war if he succeeds,” he stated. Then he gave Bones a measuring look. “The answer is yes, Crispin. I’ll fight with you to prevent cross-species contamination from ever happening.”

Bones snorted. “I never doubted that, mate, but that’s not why we’re here.”

With that, I cleared my throat. “We can’t storm the base where we think Madigan is running his experiments—and holding our friends—until we know who his government backer is. And we can’t find that out without getting inside the base, so it’s been a Catch-22 until now.”

I glanced at Denise before I fixed my attention back on her husband.

“Only Madigan can waltz into that facility and get the information we need without arousing suspicion. Or someone who looks just like him.”

I’d always thought Spade’s eyes resembled a tiger’s. Right now, seeing them fix on me in a way that made every survival instinct scream “Red Alert!” I was sure of it.

“Charles,” Bones said.

Though the single word was soft, the crash of power that instantly flooded the room was anything but.

Spade let out a sound; half growl, half hiss. “Don’t threaten me, Crispin.”

“Then don’t glare at my wife that way,” was his instant response.

“Hey.” Denise stood up, waving her hand to break their staring contest. “Remember me, the person this is about?”