Raoul was in the gym, talking to Diego. When Xavier entered, both men fell silent and looked at him inquiringly.

He didn’t waste time on preliminaries. He said to Raoul, “In a few minutes, I’ll be leaving with Tess, and I can’t guarantee when we’ll be back.” He looked at Diego. “Would you please pull out the SUV and retrieve my overnight bag from upstairs?”

Diego’s eyes filled with questions, but he nodded. “Sure thing.”

After the younger man left, Raoul turned to face him, his expression grim. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”

Xavier regarded him with an expression just as grim. It had been many years since he had felt the need to keep a secret from Raoul, but this time, the knowledge of what Tess had done seemed too dangerous to share.

Perhaps it was unlikely Malphas would come here, but if he did, ignorance might be the only protection they had on the estate. If Malphas could sense that nobody knew of his activities or what Tess had done, he might very well leave everyone here alone.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Bullshit,” Raoul snapped. Real, rare anger clenched his body and face. “When was the last time you couldn’t tell me something? Xavier, what has she done?”

He paused then smiled. “She did the right thing.” He watched frustration slash over the other man’s face. “I’m doing the right thing. And now I’m going to ask you to do the right thing. Will you do that for me?”

Raoul ran his hands through his short hair. He bit out, “Of course I will. Goddammit. Are you sure this is right—whatever this is?”

“As sure as I can be about anything right now,” Xavier told him. “As soon as I can, I’ll tell you everything.”

“You better,” Raoul gritted. “Can you at least tell me where you’re going?”

“Probably Evenfall,” Xavier said. “I think we’ll need to enlist Julian’s help.”

The other man frowned. “I don’t like the thought of you staying at Evenfall for any length of time without some kind of backup.”

Xavier shook his head. “I’ve told you countless times before, I can take care of myself.”

“But this isn’t about just you now, is it?” Raoul’s gaze turned keen. “What if you need to meet with Julian—or anyone else—alone? What happens with Tess in the meantime? Xavier, Evenfall is not the safest or most secure place, especially when dangerous visitors are in residence. Also, if you’re gone for too long, you might need blood. Either let me come, or at the very least take Diego.”

The other man had a point. He didn’t know what he might have to do, and he didn’t feel good about leaving Tess alone, not with the level of fear she had yet to overcome. Evenfall was filled with predators, and while Julian had good guards, a Vampyre with enough senior standing could overpower them.

“Fine,” he said. “It’s a good idea. I’ll take Diego. I know he’s been restless.”

Raoul still looked frustrated, but he said, “Good enough. Thank you.”

“I’ll be in touch soon, and give you updates as I can.” Xavier touched his arm and left.

Outside, the night was deceptively serene. Waves lapped at the shore gently, and the breeze that blew off the water was cool and refreshing. Nothing in the scenery hinted at the storm that was coming.

He strode across the lawn to the parking lot, where Diego had brought the SUV. As he reached it, Diego came out of the house carrying the overnight bag he always kept packed.

When the younger man reached him, he said, “Go get your bag. You’re coming too.”

Diego’s eyes sparked with surprise. “I’ll be right back.” He sprinted away.

While Xavier waited, he called Julian, who picked up on the first ring. “I need your help with a tricky situation,” he told Julian.

The Nightkind King said, “I’ll help you any way I can, but now’s not a good time. Justine’s up my ass again, trying to claim those trade proposals that you and Melly agreed to in New York aren’t valid.”

“You’re kidding,” Xavier said. “What happened to good faith and common sense?”

“They got run over by a bus. Legally, she has a point. You weren’t authorized by the council to strike those deals. Instead of letting it slide, Justine is insisting that either Melly has to come back and strike an agreement with me personally, or the council has to pass a motion that gives you the authority in retrospect to cover the talks you had in New York with Melly.” Julian’s deep, powerful voice sounded like it was filled with ground glass. “So either Melly has to come back to Evenfall, or the whole council needs to reconvene.”

Xavier swore. If the council had to reconvene to pass such a motion, it would be another damning piece of evidence against Julian’s effectiveness.

“I’m Sisyphus, Xavier,” Julian growled. “I’m a Vampyre Sisyphus stuck in hell, damned to push the same fucking rock up the same hill for all eternity. One of these days I’m going to separate Justine’s head from her shoulders.”

He took a deep breath and said, “The thing is, this tricky situation I’ve got . . . Julian, it can’t wait.”

Silence spooled out between them. “Okay,” Julian said. “We’ll just have to fucking deal with all of it. What do you need? What’s going on?”

“We shouldn’t discuss it over the phone,” Xavier told him. “We need to talk about it in person.”

A short silence. He knew what Julian was thinking. He almost never asked for assistance with anything, and the fact that he thought they needed to meet in person brought home the urgency of his request.

Julian asked, “When are you coming?”

“Half an hour, tops,” Xavier replied.

“Find me when you get here.” Julian disconnected without a good-bye.

Xavier tucked his phone into his pocket.

Malphas, on the hunt for Tess. Justine, in residence at Evenfall.

This night kept getting better and better.

• • •

In her room, Tess changed into jeans and an old cable-knit, soft heather sweater. She stuffed other clothes into a gray canvas carry-on—another pair of jeans, two more sweaters, a couple of T-shirts, the flat black shoes she had worn at the Vampyre’s Ball, toiletries, underwear and her hairbrush.