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“With my taste? You don’t know me,” I say.

“Don’t all girls want the same thing?” He pushes off the balustrade and steps closer.

“Sounds like YOU have a type.”

“You’d fit right in. And me...” His eyes drag over me. “With a little stretching.”

I roll my eyes and give him a look full of pity. “I don’t play with dogs, and I don’t fuck puppies.”

That gets to him. I turn to end the conversation, but his hand closes around my arm, hard enough to hurt. His eyes are glowing, and he gets intimidatingly close. To stop him, I shove my free hand against his throat. My palm barely covers half of it.

“I’m starting to think torturing me turns you on,” he says while moving forward like my hand means nothing.

I can’t even stop him. His face reaches my temple as his other hand settles on my hip, backing me against the balustrade. I don’t wait any longer. A thin vein of darkness crawls from my fingers onto his skin.

It has to hurt like hell, but he only exhales and doesn’t move an inch. His eyes roll back for a second, almost in ecstasy, like he’s savoring the pain I’m giving him. My gift is supposed to protect me, and somehow he’s turning it into pleasure. What the fuck is wrong with him?

“You know...” A low groan catches in his throat. “Some would call this animal abuse.”

His lips almost touch my skin. His hand tightens around my waist while I fight for any space between us.

“You’re fucking sick.”

I shove his face away. He laughs and finally lets me go.

I head for the exit before I do something regrettable.

“Definitely my type,” I hear behind me.

When I return to the ballroom, I find Ezra and give him one look. He understands immediately. We’re leaving. It has been a long night, and I can’t hide the truth from myself anymore. Being close to Caruso does something to me I don’t like. Even with stardust in my veins, I can’t calm down around him. I never reacted like that to Piro.

Maybe I just need more sex.

CHAPTER 9

UNWANTED GUESTS

The next day, I can’t stop thinking about the dead witch. Something doesn’t fit. If Julian killed her, why take stardust afterward? He didn’t look full when I saw him. He didn’t look like a vampire who had just drained a witch dry.

Voss Institute sits in the back of my mind, right next to Marcus’s bounty. One hundred thousand dollars. Enough to fix the roof, maybe buy me a month of breathing room. Maybe more, if I stop making expensive choices for five minutes.

Perhaps it’s time to look around.

I go back to the Crown during the day, when the hotel feels emptier. It looks even posher during the daylight, all bright marble, fresh lilies and fake staff smiles. I find a manager I know and give him a tip large enough to let me into the Von Battens’ apartment. Ten minutes later, a housekeeper lets me into the suite where I met Julian.

The room looks clean. Of course it does.

I walk through the living room, trying to feel the space. I look for evidence of blood. If Julian drank from a witch, it should have left some kind of trace. Even the smallest one. If someone else was there afterward, if they wounded Julian, there should be traces of that too.

Blood always tells the truth. And sometimes it speaks to me.

I crouch where the girl’s body had been and reach with my blood magic, searching for anything left behind. I push my magic deeper, but there’s nothing. No trace. No residue. I walk around the room but everything is clean. Too sterile for a hotel room. Like nothing happened here, or someone made sure of that. Not a single drop. Female, male – any kind. A cold shiver moves across my skin.

“No one bled here,” a voice says behind me.

I turn. Kosta stands near the door.

For fuck’s sake. Who else is involved in this mess?