Adam walked over and gave her the cell phone. "Micah's going to be calling in a few minutes. He wants you to go somewhere quiet for the call. You can take one of the bedrooms while Theo and I finish getting set up."

"All right." She took the phone from him and he grabbed her wrist, deliberately stroking his warm fingers over the inside of her hand. His gaze held hers. There seemed to be a world of emotion and unsaid things in his eyes.

All she wanted right now was to find the couch or a bed and curl with him. He made her feel safe, loved, protected—cherished. She wanted the world to go away, the Atrika, all of it.

In that one moment she wanted Adam with all she was.

With effort she pulled from his grasp. "Thanks." The phone felt smooth and warm from Adam's hand. She walked into one of the two bedrooms off the living room and shut the door behind her.

The cabin was posh. It was rented out to rich people who liked to hunt or go for romantic interludes, according to Adam.

It was just a vacation spot, but she'd happily make it her home if she could. It was a pity it was so nice, since with the Atrika on the way it was likely to be badly damaged.

There were two bedrooms, both decorated in dark primary colors. Overstuffed furniture with lots of pillows and throw blankets were scattered throughout the space. This bedroom had a king-size bed, a long carved wood dresser, numerous brightly colored area rugs covering the hardwood floors. It even had its own bathroom.

As soon as she'd sat down on the bed, the cell vibrated in her hand. "Hello?"

There was a long pause on the other end. "Claire?" queried a rich, low voice on the other end.

"Yes?"

"It's such a privilege to finally talk to you." Pause. The man sounded a little awed. "Wow. I have so many things to ask you I can't even pick one thing."

Claire smiled into the receiver. His voice quavered with excitement. "I'm told you're sort of the Coven archivist and you've been studying as much of Eudae and the daaeman breeds as you can."

"Night and day. It's my obsession. I'm the Coven's walking encyclopedia of all things demon. We didn't know very much before the ordeal last year with Erasmus Boyle. Since then our base of information has really exploded, but there's still lots of things we don't know."

"Well, Micah, I'd be happy to add to your knowledge whenever you like."

"Thank you so much." He blew out a hard breath. "Okay, let me organize my thoughts a moment. I called about the elium, specifically. The rest will have to wait. Our goal is to keep you alive and the elium out of the hands of the Atrika."

"I would appreciate that."