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“I agree, you are. And you can carry on enjoying yourself if you tell me whatever it is you know. You have to have seen or heard something. Maybe you talked to them?”

She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Anything could be helpful, Lauren.”

If her eyes were daggers, I’d look like a bleeding pincushion about now. “I heard them talking about Oldwood Forest, some ritual they wanted to do out there.”

“A ritual? What kind of ritual?”

“No clue, but they said they were meeting someone there.”

“Who?” I needed to know who it was.

“I don’t know.”

The offhand way she said it, the almost bored expression, I believed her. “Oldwood’s where Amy and Marina were last seen before they vanished.”

She shrugged. “It’s nothing to do with me.”

Lovely.

I had to assume whoever they went to meet was behind their disappearances, and it sounded like they went willingly. Did that mean it was someone they knew?

“Can I go now?” she said.

Draven had remained quiet behind me, letting me do my thing. He moved in now, so I could feel the heat of his body behind me. “Sure, enjoy your night. I guarantee you’re having a lot more fun than Amy and Marina right now.”

She ignored that. “You said you’d keep your mouth shut.”

“I will.”

“Blood oath,” she bit out.

Draven grabbed my wrist. “No more fucking blood.”

“I have to.” I pulled free, then took the small knife from my pocket. I nicked my skin, and several vampires instantly turned my way, eyes bright. Draven made a furious sound. If we didn’t get out of there soon, he was going to tear this room apart.

Lauren did the same, and I swore to keep my mouth shut.

As soon as it was done, we headed for the door.

Movement on the couch beside the exit caught my eye.

A male sat shrouded in shadow, a female, blond and delicate, lay across it. Her head was in his lap, and she was looking up at him while her hand worked between her thighs. He held her hand and forearm carefully, and eyes closed, he fed from her wrist. But he sat impossibly still, not in a frenzy like the others in the room.

I recognized him even before his violet eyes opened and caught mine.

Ronan.

I glanced back at the female. In the shadows, she could have passed for Rose, at least a year or two ago, before she got as sick as she was.

My gaze sliced back up to Ronan. His eyes were closed again.

He needed this, this place, I realized. He needed to feed. I’d noticed he hadn’t looked himself for the last couple of weeks. Kind of unwell.

I wanted to say something to him, but him closing his eyes again, closing us out, told me how much he didn’t want that.

Ronan was a dhampir, half vamp, but I’d never thought about how he fed. His sister Luna had her mate Gunner to sustain her. Ronan had no one.