I reached for one.
“Hungry?” Joy laughed as she handed me a latte.
“Always.” But not for what she thought.
I bit into the beignet, letting the sweetness dissolve on my tongue. Steve’s tongue. It was strange, wearing a vampire’s body. Everything tasted muted compared to when he’d been human. But the hunger—that was still there. Just different now.
A little girl at the next table shrieked with laughter, her dark curls bouncing as her father tickled her. I watched her over the rim of my cup. Such a pure soul. Untouched. Uncorrupted.
So fucking tempting.
But she wasn’t on the menu. Not today anyway.
I dragged my attention back to Joy.
“So...” She leaned forward, a teasing smile on her face. “How’s Zoe?”
Zoe. I searched Steve’s memories. Ah. A woman. Dark hair, green eyes. Someone Steve wanted but hadn’t claimed yet.
“Fine.” I kept my voice casual. “She’s on a cruise with her parents.”
“That’s fun.” Joy sipped her latte. “Where to?”
“Caribbean islands—St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Monique. Those are the three I know.”
“And you didn’t go with her?” Joy raised an eyebrow. “Steve, you’ve been hung up on this girl for months.”
I shrugged. “She didn’t ask.”
Joy shook her head, clearly disappointed in her brother’s lack of initiative. “You need to make a move. What’s been up with you anyway? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“Knee deep helping Serenity with Noelle. Angelo’s driving her crazy.”
Joy’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“He won’t let her leave the Manor. Says it’s not safe.” I rolled my eyes—a gesture I’d seen Steve make a hundred times when I’d worn him before. “She’s going stir-crazy. The baby too. But Angelo’s paranoid. Won’t budge.”
Joy shook her head. “That man. I get that he’s protective, but Serenity needs to get out sometimes. Fresh air. Sunlight. Well—“ She smirked. “Moonlight, I guess.”
I smiled back, but inside I was cataloging every word.
The baby couldn’t leave the Manor. Not yet.
But eventually, she would. And when she did, I’d be ready.
“Angelo will figure something out.”
“Enzo says he has. They found some kind of shard. Supposed to keep demons away.”
I set my coffee down and tensed. “Really? What shard?”
“Something called theLapis Umbraestone. Supposedly Angelo has a lead on it. But that’s all I know.”
Fuck. That stone was supposed to have been destroyed centuries ago. Balthazar was supposed to have destroyed it.
Supposed to.
But I guess the great and powerful Balthazar missed a piece. Oops. How embarrassing for him.
