“Was I thinking that loud?”

   “Yes,” Nathaniel said as he went into the bathroom and closed the door. I realized that Nicky, Dev, and Damian were all in the room. There was no way that all of us were going to be able to sleep in one king-size bed.

   “They are a bounty, ma petite, not a burden. Please remember that.”

   “I will, but thanks for the reminder.”

   “Time is growing short here, ma petite. I must sleep and the demon we share must come home to you.”

   “The ardeur isn’t a real demon, Jean-Claude. It isn’t even evil, just occasionally inconvenient.”

   “It is still the power that has earned me the title of incubus, and you that of succubus.”

   “Fine, but I’ve dealt with real demons, Jean-Claude, and it’s a whole new level of bad.”

   “That I believe, ma petite, but dawn is almost upon me. Are you prepared for the ardeur to be returned?”

   “You fed it well today, right?”

   “Oui.”

   “Then it shouldn’t need feeding again that soon. I can control it better than that now.”

   “Tonight, yes, but I can feel that you have donated too much blood and not eaten enough real food, plus the jet lag and the stress of your job. You underestimate how much energy it all takes.”

   “I promise that I will eat breakfast tomorrow morning, and I will feed the ardeur without it forcing me to feed it.”

   “Thank you, ma petite.”

   “You’re welcome. I’m just exhausted. We’re all tired.”

   The four men looked at one another and then at me. “You just need to pick your bedmates so we can all get some sleep,” Nathaniel said, smiling.

   “Ma petite, they are all handsome, all good lovers, and you are in love with two of them. Do not allow the ugliness of the night to paint this moment as anything less than beautiful.”

   I sighed and knew he was right. I really did. My therapist would have agreed with him, but I was still exhausted and discouraged, and I felt vaguely like everything going wrong was my fault somehow, so why did I deserve such happiness after what had happened to the Bradys and the Royces?

   “It is not an exchange of blessings, ma petite, not an either/or. You did not create the vampire who is haunting Dublin, nor did you cause the families to fall into his clutches.”

   “I’m beginning to believe that something about killing the Mother of All Darkness weakened Damian’s old master and gave this new monster an opening here in Ireland.”

   “If that is true, then we will deal with it. We will fix any problems we have inadvertently created, but we will not take the guilt of it to heart. That we will not do, and you must not. You are the queen. It is your choice whether you are going to be a queen of joy or sorrow. I have been ruled by both, and I much prefer joy.”

   “So do I,” I said.

   “Then prove it to me, to yourself, to the men in the room with you or to the women next door to you. You have many blessings with you. Please, please, ma petite, treat them, and yourself, as such.”

   “I will try,” I said.

   I could almost feel him smile, not through vampire powers, but just knowing him, knowing us. “Thank you, ma petite. That is all I can ask. Now I must get to bed. Jason will be out of the bathroom in time to tuck us both in for the day.”

   “Have fun,” I said.

   “He is not bisexual enough for much fun, nor do we have time before sunrise.”

   “Just enjoy having Jason home for cuddles and blood, then,” I said.

   “That I will do. Je t’aime, ma petite.”

   “I love you, too.”

60

   I WOKE CURLED between the warmth of Nathaniel and the cooling skin of Damian. The vampire was dead to the world, but there’d been no more nightmares. Something about all three of us touching kept the Wicked Bitch out of all our dreams, and us out of hers. It had been what made me choose Damian to be on the other side of me from Nathaniel, but the vampire had grown cool overnight and woken me. I was about to marry Jean-Claude, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to sleep comfortably beside him or any vampire. The thought slid into the down mood that I’d gone to sleep with and that was apparently still with me.

   Nathaniel made small protesting noises and snuggled closer to me. He was almost fever warm. Damian was growing cold on the other side of me, but worse than that, he felt dead. He had that loose, heavy feel to him that only dead bodies had. I moved away from him, but his body slid into the space so that he was still touching me, so still, so dead. I started to get out from between them, but Nathaniel turned and wrapped his arms around me, trapping me between the two of them, pressing me more in against Damian’s cold body. Not icy cold, but that bloodless, lifeless . . . My heart was speeding up; my pulse started to beat in my throat so that it felt like I was choking. I had to get out of this bed and away from the vampire.

   I pushed against Nathaniel’s arm, trying to get him to let go enough so that I could get up, but he did what he normally did. The more I struggled, the tighter he held on, making little protesting noises about warm, and sleepy, and not getting up. Normally it was cute, but not today.

   “Nathaniel, let go!”

   “Warm,” he muttered, snuggling so tightly against me that I couldn’t move, but me struggling to get away had made Damian’s body slide heavier against me so that he was literally deadweight trapping me in the sheets. It threw me back to waking in a coffin with a vampire who planned on making me her servant when she rose for the night. I felt the bubbling weight of a scream. The fear was choking thick.

   There was a knock on the door, and I screamed, a small yip of a scream but a scream. It startled Nathaniel enough that he let me go and rose to look at me. “What’s wrong?”

   “It’s Nicky, Anita. Open the door now!”

   He was picking up my fear. “I’m okay, Nicky. I’m just spooked.”

   “Let me in the room, or we’ll be paying for a door.”

   “We’re getting up,” Nathaniel called, but he was looking at me. He whispered, “What’s wrong?”

   I shook my head and slid out of the bed. I was opening the door buck naked, when I realized there might be more people than just Nicky in the hallway. I was scared enough that I wasn’t thinking clearly. What the hell was wrong with me?

   “I need a robe,” I said, moving back so that no one could see me at the door. I started to close it, but a hand stopped the door. “Everyone out here has seen you naked,” Nicky said.