Syndelle only barely had enough time to take a shower and put on fresh clothing before Itai arrived. He was preceded by rage and followed by the loud slamming of the hotel door. "You've got five seconds to get your ass out here, Syndelle," he yelled outside the bathroom door.

She glanced at herself in the semi-fogged mirror. Even with the shower, Rafael's scent was still on her, there would be no hiding that from her brother, but the other...the mating. Her heart thundered like a storm warning even as she tried to convince herself that Itai was like her fathers when it came to women's fashion, that he wouldn't immediately find the sleeveless turtleneck suspicious.

A sharp bang on the door made Syndelle jump. "If I have to break this fucking door down and drag you out naked, I will. Now get your ass out here!"

Syndelle took a calming breath, reminding herself that dealing with her youngest brother was the least of her problems right now. Her heart locked in her throat at the memory of the companion medallion around Rafael's neck. She hadn't recognized it for what it was until it was too late, until it burned against her skin as the vampire's power turned it into a fiery brand.

The sun would rise in a couple of hours. She'd been weakened by the mating and had only been able to use her magic to send Rafe into a light sleep, and only then because he'd been sated and willing to escape into the oblivion that she'd offered. Perhaps it would hold...standing as a barrier between her and the vampire.

A sob caught in her throat at the thought of him belonging to another woman. Why had her body betrayed her? Why had it chosen him, when the thought of sharing him with another female was intolerable to her?

She wiped her hand across her cheeks, clearing the tears from her face before taking another shuddering breath. The delay was just long enough for Itai to lose patience and rip the bathroom door open.

"What the..." Alarm filled his face at the sight of her tears and he actually took a half step back before his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. "You've been with a man. Did he hurt you?" The last was growled with the promise of retribution.

Yes! But Syndelle shook her head no.

"Don't protect him if he raped you." Itai grabbed her shoulders and shook her. In that moment, he looked so much like their vampire father that Syndelle couldn't help but shiver in reaction. Then, as his words penetrated, color washed over her face.

She stiffened her spine and gathered what courage she possessed into a seemingly solid wall of self-confidence. "I went with him freely."

Stormy wild-ocean eyes clashed with sky-blue ones as Itai held her gaze, attempting to force his will on her, to open her mind so that he could see her memories. She turned her head and broke the contact. "Stop it! You know that doesn't work on me!"

He shook her again before dropping his hands and stepping back. "Then you'd better have a damn good reason for leaving the hotel room."

She didn't doubt for a minute that he'd tracked her to the alley, to Bangers, and knew about the girl. "You know where I've been."

If anything, Itai's face became harsher. "Why did you go there, Syndelle?"

"I sensed her pain and I wanted to help."

"And what if it was a trap? You could have ended up like her, or worse. What good would that have done?" He made a dismissive gesture. "If you want to help the humans, then become a hunter like the rest of us. Do not waste your time on the prey, concern yourself with the predators!"

His rant was halted by the sound of someone knocking on the hotel door. Fear ripped through Syndelle as awareness washed over her. She grabbed her brother's arm. "Vampire."

He stilled, accepting what she said as true without question. "Get in the bathroom."

Syndelle shook her head. She wouldn't cower in another room while her brother fought her battles for her. "This is my fault," she said as she smoothed nervous hands over her black skirt. "I'll face it."

Itai's face hardened. "What have you done?"

The knock sounded again, firm and demanding. "There's no time to explain."

Syndelle forced calm into her thundering heart. The vampire couldn't enter without an invitation, and while she expected there to be consequences, that the vampire had sought her out and not simply waited and attacked made Syndelle hope for...no, not hope. Resolution replaced the threatening despair. There had to be a way to break the Angelini bond, even if it meant she would suffer for it, even if it meant that she would never mate again. She would not share with another female.

Syndelle took a step forward, prepared to open the door, but Itai grabbed her and thrust her behind him. In three steps he had the door open. She heard Rafael say, "Oh fuck," before another male voice poured through her like warm honey. "I am Brann O'Ciardha. Your sister has claimed my companion as her mate. Do you invite me in so that we can handle this matter?"

Itai stiffened as though he'd been struck. Turning, his eyes went to Syndelle's face and then to the black turtleneck. His voice was harsh and demanding as he growled, "Syndelle?"

She nodded and felt the hot energy of his werewolf blood colliding with the cold power of their vampire heritage, forming a furious storm in the small confines of the room. "I don't fucking believe this! What the fuck were you thinking of, Syndelle! What the fuck am I going to tell Mom? Not to mention Sabin and Riesen?"

Syndelle moved back, seeing Brann for the first time. Deep inside her, Sabin's memories stirred in the presence of this vampire. But she didn't take the time to search for them.

The melody of a thousand chimes, a dark song of power and emotion, whispered through her mind, leaving no doubt that this vampire whose hair made her think of a waterfall of blood was her second mate.

Fear of the vampire warred with relief-that Rafe was not claimed by another female-and mixed with curiosity as to how Rafael had ended up with Brann. She forced her gaze away from the vampire's and sought her brother's. Her mouth was dry, but she made herself say the words, "I give my permission for him to enter."

Itai stepped aside as the vampire moved into the tiny hotel room and stopped in front of Syndelle, with Rafael halting next to him. Her nipples went to tight points, her well-used channel spasmed with need as the scent of Rafael and their earlier mating surrounded her.

The presence of the vampire had her heart roaring in her ears so loudly that she knew Brann and Itai would hear it, that both would have to clamp down on their predatory instincts, would have to force themselves to remember that she was not prey.

"What the fuck have you done?" Itai growled again, his wolf's instinct reacting to her pounding heart with the need to hunt, while his Angelini blood demanded that he mete out justice to this vampire who would dare to threaten his sister in any way.

The vampire's eyes moved along Syndelle's body and she shivered at the look of possessiveness in them. "Do you acknowledge the claim, Syndelle? Or do I force you to strip so that your brother will see the marks that my companion made when you took him as your mate? Do I have Rafael do the same, baring the marks you made on his body?"

When she hesitated, Itai reached for her, as though he would force her to deny the claim, but before his fingers could curl around her arm and shake the truth from her, Brann moved between them, his presence a barrier. "By law she is mine to punish as I will, even unto death. The bond between a vampire and their chosen companion is more sacred even than the bond between a vampire and the fledglings he sires."

Itai's nostrils flared. "Vampire law does not apply here. This is a matter for the Angelini."

Brann's smile was predatory, confident, triumphant, as he turned slightly so that he could include Syndelle in his gaze. "Then I will claim her under the custom and rules governing your race. Ask your sister what I am to her."

"Syndelle?" Itai asked, dread forming on his face as he read the answer in her eyes.

Honor required that she answer truthfully. Her words were whisper-soft, but with his wolf's hearing they were a shout that made Itai cringe in anticipation of their parents' reaction. "He is my other mate."