“That’s okay,” I quickly said. “Don’t hurt yourself trying to remember. Her gift protects her identity.”

After a short moment, Sam asked Rosa, “What happened then?”

“The woman and Marge discussed me like I was a cow at a market. They decided they wanted to buy me, paid the guys who kidnapped me, and then I was transferred to another van. Marge touched my arm and…it was like I was drugged. When I next woke up, I was tied to a bed. I’m sure you know how things went after that.” She averted her gaze, her face flushed with a fresh bout of shame.

Again, I was tempted to tell her she didn’t have any reason to feel such an emotion. Instead, I distracted her with another question. “Did you ever meet the owner again after that?”

“I think I did once. Everything’s kind of jumbled.” Rosa ran a hand through her slightly matted hair. “She was talking to me, told me there was no point in crying or begging them to free me. She said I wasn’t going to get out of there. Not unless someone was prepared to pay the high price of draining me dry – then I’d only leave as a pile of ashes. Every time someone came into my room, I prayed that would happen.”

Hearing the defeat in her voice was painful. Every single one of the motherfucking assholes deserved to rot.

“Did you ever hear any names?” Sam asked.

“Only Marge’s name, and the maids – Mona and Penny.”

Sam nodded. “Thanks for answering our questions. I know you must be eager to get home, but I’d like it if you would stay until all the players in this game have been eliminated. They might not like the idea of anyone living to tell the tale; I don’t want them to come after you.”

“I’m not in any rush to get home.” Her smile was bitter. “The guys in the van...I heard them talking about my Sire. He sold me. My own Sire sold me.”

“Oh, is that so?” Sam’s voice had dropped into ‘I’m going on a killing spree’ territory.

It would make a sick sort of sense that the players would be willing to buy the vampires from their Sires – it was assurance that the line wouldn’t try to track the victims down or retaliate.

“What’s his name?” Sam ground out.

Rosa studied her carefully. “You’ll kill him.”

“Yes.” No hesitation there. Rosa seemed pleased by that.

“Stephan. He doesn’t use a surname.”

“That’s fine. Just tell me where to find him.” After Rosa rattled off an address, Sam nodded. “He won’t be a problem anymore.”

(Salem)

I leaned against the wall, waiting very impatiently for Ava to come out. I knew her well enough to know she’d walk out of there with tears in her eyes, and I was going to be here when that happened. Her heart was too big for that tiny body.

“You don’t like it that she’s joined the legion, do you?” It wasn’t a question from Jared, it was a confident statement.

I shrugged. “I can’t trust she’ll be safe, she has no fear.” It meant I couldn’t relax on assignments if she was out of my sight.

“Then you’re not going to cope well when she’s going on assignments with her squad and you’re not around to protect her.”

Definitely not. “And you’re much better with Coach?”

“Not at all,” admitted Jared non-defensively. “Especially since my mate has a habit of putting the safety of other people before that of her own,” he grumbled. “The Binding link helps.”

“How?” Since I didn’t have a romantic bone in my body, I’d never wondered what Binding was like.

“The connection lets me know if she’s hurt, if she’s conscious, her emotional state, her location. It’s like having another sense; one that’s completely attuned to her. It stops my imagination from running wild, worrying if she’s okay.” Jared cocked his head, studying me. “Is Will right? Is Binding something you would never do?”

I hated personal questions. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re pretty intense with Ava. Demanding. I’m just wondering if she gets as much of you as you demand of her.”

I stiffened. “That’s between me and Ava.”

“Just be careful with her. I’m not saying I think you’d ever hurt her physically. But you could hurt her emotionally, even though it might not be intentional.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“You’re hard, Salem. Self-contained. I’m not much different, though I tend to talk a lot more than you do. Trust me when I say that unless you give instead of just taking, it won’t work between you and Ava. I held things back from Sam, and it came back to bite me on the ass because she found out from other people. That hurt her. But not as much as the fact that I was keeping her out.”

They were good points, but…“My head’s not a place Ava should go poking around in.”

“Maybe not,” he allowed. “But if you want to be with her, you have to let her see what’s there.”

“I told her I would.”

Jared gave me a knowing grin. “Just like I promised Sam I’d tell her, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. Hoping she’d drop it. And so are you.”

Perceptive bastard. “Remind me why we’re having this conversation.”

“Sam considers her a friend. And I happen to like Ava. We’ll look out for her.”

Okay, that sure got my back up. “I’ll look out for Ava.” She was mine to protect.

“I hope so. Because if you hurt her, Sam will be pissed and she’ll take it out on me – probably with her whip. Then she’ll hunt you down and do the same to you.”

“Ava wouldn’t let her.”

Jared smiled at that. “Believe it or not, I’m trying to help you here. I like you, and I don’t like many people. I trust you to not only watch my back but to watch Sam’s back – that’s no little thing; she’s everything to me. I don’t want you to screw it up with Ava because I think you make a good couple. You balance each other out. She sometimes doesn’t take things seriously enough, you take everything too seriously. She’s loud and dynamic, while you’re quiet and reserved. You’re very work-focused, and she’s always out to have fun. She’s impulsive and has no fear, while you’re cautious and level-headed. She’s good for you because she enjoys life and makes you live it. And you’re good for her because you protect her from herself and everything else without stopping her from being who she is and trying to change her.”