Wanted (The Un #2)

13. Raphael

THIRTEEN

RAPHAEL

I’ll pay him back for this.

Those words haunt me the moment she slumps in my arms.

Cradling Alena as my feet touch the floor, fear wants to tear through me.

She’s dead, and there’s no way to touch the bond.

I can only feel that her body is turning, but not what her mind is going through.

As far as I know, no soulmarked woman has ever told us what happens during the time between death and rebirth. If they even remember it.

When Asher turned Chloe, it took days for Chloe to awaken.

Every vampire’s greatest fear is that his marked will come back with hatred for him. Hatred for an eternity.

I had to turn her. It was the only way to keep her safe.

That fucking monster the Order has working for them was trying to take her. To what end, I don’t know, but his intentions were far from fucking good.

Stopping myself from staring at Alena’s face, I can’t help that my eyes want to drink in every tiny part of her features. She’s beautiful beyond words.

Frighteningly so.

It’s going to be far too easy to fixate on her. Fixate like a newborn vampire.

Closing my eyes, I clutch Alena closer to my chest. She weighs nothing compared to my vampiric strength. But at the same time, her weight is the weight of worlds.

If she hates me, it’s the cross I will bear.

Because her safety trumps my life.

Walking into the bathroom, I keep my eyes shut.

Turning the water on, I quickly clean her body of all the blood that’s been spilled on her. My blood and hers.

Even now the smell of the blood that prophet gave her is foul. As the blood rinses off her, so does all the filth.

Washing us both quickly under the water, I force myself not to peek at her body. Lest I get transfixed by her perfection again.

Drying her body without sight is… fun. I don’t even try to lie myself that this is purely clinical in nature. No, I’m enjoying every fucking second of it.

Her shape and curves call to me with their intoxicating symmetry.

Is it me that finds her body the definition of perfection because she’s my fated? Or is it because her body and face truly are perfect?

Asher said she looked enchantingly beautiful when he first laid eyes on her.

Opening my eyes now that we’re back in the bedroom, I agree wholeheartedly.

But it’s not just her body that makes her perfect.

Her soul and mind draw me like a moth to the fire.

She’s survived what most wouldn’t survive.

The strength she showed… the goodness of her heart…

Fuck, I don’t even know how to be objective here.

Is it even possible in this situation?

I grab a sleeping gown out of the dresser. It’s lacy but modest. And it absolutely looks like something Ambrose would pick for her.

Pulling out a pair of thong panties, though, gives me pause. Would she want to wear these?

Fuck it. With that juicy ass she has, she’ll look like a fucking model wearing them.

Dressing her quickly, I force myself to push away the desire to just stare at her until she wakes. I want to but can’t when there are so many other things that need to be dealt with.

Fuck. I hate leaving her here.

But moving her corpse around the house isn’t a good idea, either.

I can just see how Chloe would react to me setting up Alena’s dead body at the kitchen table.

Then waving her floppy arm at people.

Forcing myself away from the bed, I take one last look at her and wince. I truly hope she can forgive me for taking her life.

It was for her own good, but will she see it that way?

Pulling on pants and a shirt, I try to make myself somewhat presentable for the family upstairs.

“Stop staring at her,” I say to myself, and push my limbs to move to the open doorway.

We need to get the door replaced soon. Alena will need her privacy. I can’t imagine she’d enjoy the whole house hearing when I taste her over and over.

Now that I can properly focus on the world outside of this room, I hear the quiet rustle of fabric against fabric.

Stepping out of the room, I see Ambrose dancing and spinning with perfect poise.

Forever dancing, forever torturing himself in his madness.

“Brother,” I murmur to him quietly.

Twisting his dance to face me, Ambrose gives me a small smile. “I hope my dear sister rests well.”

“She does,” I say, and walk towards him. “Have you been guarding us?”

“Of course.” He dips into a graceful bow. “It is my job, after all.”

Motioning toward the stairs behind him, I say, “We need to speak with Father, and I need to eat. I’m almost empty.”

Moving ahead of me, every step Ambrose takes is like a careful dance to the music only he can hear.

“Thank you for guarding us,” I say to him when we’re halfway up the stairs.

Ambrose barely nods his head in acknowledgement as he continues ahead of me.

He’s a very odd one.

And I know I would have killed him had I been Asher.

But now?

Now I trust Ambrose with the safeguarding of my love.

Ambrose leads me directly to the kitchen.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Asher and Chloe stare into each other’s eyes. No words are spoken, but I can tell they’re communicating inside their bond.

Smiling, I head to the pantry door. Inside, I find four humans waiting.

They’ve been glamoured, of course. It wouldn’t do to have them howling and screaming for help.

Looking at the selection, the pickings are… not exactly appealing now that I’ve tasted the bliss of my bonded’s blood.

Grabbing a blonde in her mid-twenties out of the pantry, I yank her to me and bury my fangs into her neck.

Swallowing a mouthful of her blood, I wince at the taste.

Pulling away from the girl, I drag her over to the table and slump into a chair that’s vacant.

I grunt in dissatisfaction. “This one had collagen filler and fat injections.”

The flavor is awful when people put crap in their bodies. One would think humans would be more considerate of what vampires have to taste.

Turning to face me, Asher shakes his head with a chuckle. “Blame the twins. They went shopping for groceries. You’re lucky they didn’t bring back half a sorority. Why didn’t you grab the guy in the back of the pantry? He looked healthy.”

I glance back at the pantry. He’s probably right.

“Probably because I’m still used to looking at humans like I did when I was unbonded.”

I sigh with boredom. I need to taste Alena again.

“God, you guys,” Chloe groans. “You should eat to live, not live to eat.”

Andrei chuckles as he enters the room. “Says the woman who couldn’t stand the sight of blood.”

“I’m cured of that now!” Chloe grouches at us. “After what I had to do to Raph… I almost blew chunks everywhere.”

I laugh at her. “And Father, how did that go?”

“Shush.” Chloe glares at me. “Don’t make me ground you. That wasn’t my fault. And I heard you called me Slicing Beauty…”

I shrug my shoulders at her. The nickname fits how she was acting.

Leaning down, I take another long drink from the blonde kneeling beside me.

I guess the blood isn’t too bad, but it isn’t great.

I’d prefer Alena’s.

“So…” I say, pulling away from the blonde’s neck. “What’s the protocol on drinking from your bonded while she’s turning?”

“Don’t.” Asher rolls his eyes at me. “You don’t want to fuck up what’s happening during the process.”

“I know, I know,” I grumble. “But the waiting is going to fucking kill me.”

“Chloe took two days,” Asher says. “There’s no timetable for it.”

“That’s because those who have found their soulmarked hide their secrets,” Andrei spits out. “If they would share their knowledge, we could study the process and understand so much more about our nature.”

“Broadcast our findings when we’re finished with this city,” Asher says to Andrei. “Share what we’ve learned. See if you can start the process of open communication.”

“We’ll only have two cases. And I have a feeling mine will not be the norm,” I say, looking at Andrei. “That fucker feeding Alena blood is going to throw things off.”

Ambrose dances into the room and bends to sniff at the blonde kneeling before me. Wrenching his head back, he makes a disgusted face.

Spinning away from me, Ambrose stops in front of Chloe.

Bowing deeply, he asks, “Mother, would you care for a dance?”

Watching Ambrose, I’m reminded of a child in a way. He’s so oblivious to the world around him at times.

“Of course, dear,” Chloe says, and rises from her chair.

“We were spending time with each other, Ambrose,” Asher growls at the two.

Vanishing into thin air, Chloe reappears in front of Ambrose and laughs with delight.

“Show me how to do the Baroque, Ambrose,” she says.

I chuckle at their antics before saying, “Father, we need to speak about what else I saw while inside Alena.”

Asher turns his gaze away from the happily dancing pair. Tilting his head to the left, he stares at my face for a long moment.

“Your eyes have a golden hue to them,” he remarks.

I frown confusion. “What?”

My eyes have never had a golden hue. They become red when my beast is closer to the surface, but never golden.

Andrei comes around to peer into my eyes. “They’re gold, Raph.”

“It’s his change,” Ambrose says in a lilting voice.

All of us turn to Ambrose, waiting for him to continue.

Not elaborating any further, Ambrose starts to instruct Chloe in the placement of her feet.

I don’t doubt them, and think on it for a moment. “I have an idea why. It was Fred.”

Fred’s eyes were golden when he was protecting Alena inside of me.

Leaning down to the blonde still kneeling beside me, I take a long drink from her neck.

When she’s close to death, I stop. Sitting back up, I open the vein on my wrist and force her to drink enough to keep her heart moving.

Making her hazy eyes look at me, I say, “Go outside and stand watch over the house.”

The blonde stands up slowly. Her body will be changing as she keeps guard outside. Even as a ghoul, she’ll have a purpose.

“What do you mean?” Andrei asks.

I give them both a quick rundown of what happened in Alena’s dream before I was pushed out.

“But I did manage to learn one interesting piece of information before my beast attacked,” I say.

“Something we need to be wary of?” Asher asks.

I nod. “He’s got a hunter searching for her. I can’t guarantee he doesn’t know our location. The prophet was trying to find her through torture. I don’t know how he was doing it, but it was fucking bad.”

“What the fuck?” Asher spits out in anger. “How the fuck is this happening? It should be impossible for a vampire to work for them.”

I agree with him on that. “I wish I knew, Father. But we need to be vigilant. Caden and Maddox need to hunt down the hunter. But make sure they’re aware he has vampire blood in him.”

“Fuck,” Andrei says. “I’ll get them moving.”

A sharp tug on the bond practically rips me out of my seat.

Alena just woke up, and I sense her searching for me.

She screams in the basement.

Asher looks utterly bewildered. “She’s awake already?”

I don’t answer him. I’m already moving to the pantry to get her food. She’ll be starving.

She’s awake but in the frenzy.

I grab the healthy guy Asher mentioned earlier and fling him over my shoulder.

Racing down the stairs, I try to soothe her across the bond. I’m coming, my love.

Dashing into the room, I toss the guy onto the floor.

Bloody tears stream down Alena’s cheeks as she looks up from the corner.

She’s fucking terrified and the bond vibrates with it.

Alone.

Alone.

ALONE!

It’s an endless cycle that runs through her mind.

Dropping down to kneel before her, I put my hands on her cheeks and force her to look into my eyes.

Whispering quietly, I say, “I’m here, beloved. I’m here.”

Staring at me for the longest time, slow realization fills her eyes.

She fixated on her panic.

Fuck.

I should have been more careful , I berate myself.

But there was no way of knowing she would wake up so quickly.

Chloe took two days.

Alena took two fucking hours.

Moving into my arms, Alena wraps herself around me and whispers, “Hungry.”

“I brought you food,” I murmur to her. “And I’ll never leave you alone again.”

Standing us both up, I wince as Alena takes a deep breath. Instantly, her eyes snap to the male sprawled on the floor.

Oh fuck.

She’s faster than I thought she’d be. In the blink of an eye, she’s standing in front of the human.

Following, I want to give her advice on how to act, but it’s natural for her as she lifts the male up by his shoulder.

Dipping her head down, she bites into his neck, and her groan makes my anger flare.

I should be the only one she feels pleasure with.

She takes a long drink from the man, and he begins to convulse with ecstasy in her embrace.

“Alena,” I growl, my teeth grinding hard against each other. “Let me get you a woman instead. It’ll…”

I don’t finish, though.

Because Alena takes another large drink from his neck, and I smell the unmistakable scent of semen coming from the disgusting human.

Motherfucker.

Before Alena can finish him off, I rip his body away from her. A dark rage inside me building.

How fucking dare he?

He fucking came while my bonded was feeding on him.

Grabbing his head in my right hand and his shoulder in my left, I rip his head off his neck.

Roaring out in rage, I turn to look at my Alena.

If he got anything on her, I’ll fucking bring him back to life and kill him again.

Alena tilts her head at me, her blue eyes staring at me as if she can’t understand what just happened.

Growling deep in my chest, I stalk up to her and lace my fingers into her raven hair. “You’re fucking mine.”

I don’t know if she can understand that concept fully right now, but from now on she will only drink from women.

Alena’s beauty isn’t just a happy accident for her.

It’s her power as well.

I will not allow another man to sully her by ejaculating on her when she’s feeding.

She’s fucking mine, dammit!

Smashing my lips into hers, I feel the bond between us thicken with overwhelming arousal.

“Yours,” Alena says quietly when I pull away from her.

Nodding my head in agreement, I try to force away the more primal urges my body wants to demand of her, but it’s too hard. Her submissive understanding of the word feeds into my very nature.

Pushing the rage back down, I wrap my arms around her.

Frenzies in a newly turned soulmarked are yet another thing that’s not fully understood.

Chloe was almost uncontrollable.

Alena seems more subdued. There’s a yearning inside her… an ache to take care of me as much as she needs to take care of herself.

Both instincts should be at odds with each other, but they’re not.

She’s surrendering herself to what’s happening.

Her plush lips press hard against my own. And I groan at the way she clings to me, like I’m a life preserver in the middle of a stormy ocean.

Alena slides her hand from my chest to my cock. Before I even realize what’s happening, she’s used her nails to rip the pants open at the waist.

Delicate fingers wrap around me and her eyes are hooded with lust as she growls, “Please.”

Some part of me rebels at the thought of her feeling the need to beg me.

But it’s only a very minor part.

I explore the bond. She’s full of need and a desire to please. But she also wants to be loved and taken.

Taken and devoured by me.

I bite down gently on her lip until I draw blood.

Tasting her for the first time as a pure vampire is like tasting the heavens. It’s too powerful to even understand.

Moaning, she nips my lip open to take revenge.

Fuck.

The moans she makes drive me mad.

Forcing her backward, I push her down on the bed and spread her thighs with my knees.

“Do you want me?” I ask.

Looking up at me, she whimpers, “Please.”

“Do you want me?” I growl.

I want to hear her say the right word.

Not please. Not hungry.

I want to hear yes .

Pushing hard on the bond, I long to feel her mind whole again, but it’s simply not there. She’s operating on her most basic needs.

Her most basic desires.

“Please,” she answers again, staring up at me with eyes blazing with desire.

Yanking my shirt over my head, I toss it onto the corpse. We’re going to need a couple of ghouls down here to clean that little accident up.

Dropping my shredded and useless pants, I spread her thighs even wider as I move her farther up the bed.

My hand grabs the base of my cock. Stroking it slowly, I study her glossy pussy.

Positioning myself between her legs, I hold myself up with one arm as I swipe the head of my cock against her slick lips.

She’s so fucking wet for me already.

Slowly pushing the head of my cock inside her, I try to enjoy every single silky inch.

It’s like finally coming home to blissful completion.

Alena’s groan nearly takes what control I do have away. But so does the way she thrusts her hips up to fully seat me in her.

Lowering my head down to her face, I say in a deep, covetous growl, “ Mine .”

Pulling my hips back, I thrust myself hard and deep inside her. The tip of my cock pushing against the soft barrier protecting her womb.

I fully plan on impregnating her. I want to see her belly swollen with my child.

As soon as possible.

But she won’t remember any of this when she comes out of the frenzy.

She’ll remember what happened before I turned her, but none of this.

Unholy gods, I pray that she doesn’t hate me.

She’s fucking mine, regardless of what she wants.

If I have to, I will fuck my love into her.

Trying to focus on the here and now, I stare into her eyes. The color reminding me of midnight. And let all the worries about the future fall away.

Alena wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around my hips, grinding herself against me.

I’m only dimly aware of our bodies undulating in a rhythm of dominance and submission.

With each thrust, she takes my need for her and returns it with the same force.

It’s not until she throws her head back in pure bliss that I come back to my senses.

I fixated on her eyes again.

Fuck.

There’s a raw, unfulfilled ache coming from my balls.

I have no clue how long we’ve been moving together, but I can barely hold myself back.

I don’t want this to end now that I have all my senses.

But I’m on the verge of coming.

Alena, fresh from reaching her own climax, reaches up and latches hard onto my neck.

The second her fangs sink into my flesh, explosions of indescribable pleasure send me over a cliff.

As she feeds off me, it doesn’t matter how hard I try to fight it, I can’t stop myself from exploding inside her.

Over and over.

Alena finally pulls away, granting me a reprieve from the orgasmic insanity.

Blood dripping down her chin, she hisses, “Mine!”

Before I can think to stop her, she latches onto me again with her fangs.

Another extreme orgasm surges through me and I can’t contain my shout of pleasure from the eruption.

Fuck.

She’s going to kill me.

Pushing down hard on her shoulders, I force her away from my throat.

I look into her frenzy-filled gaze and growl firmly, “Stop.”

Barely registering my words, Alena tries to pull me back down with her arms and legs.

For a fucking new vampire, she’s incredibly strong.

Holding myself away from her, I order, “ Behave .”

Alena and I stare long and hard at each other before she gently tugs at me.

The bond shows me nothing but submission now. Not the wild need to feed.

She’s subdued for the time being.

I hope.

Because she almost drained me…

“Mine,” she whispers as she pulls my chest down to her own. “ Mine .”

She’s right.

I’m hers as much as she is mine.

She tilts her head to study me before saying quietly, “Hungry.”

No matter how exasperating her whims are during her frenzy, I can’t help but smile at my beloved.

“Hungry again?” I ask her.

Nodding her head, she points up to the ceiling. “Food.”

I start to push myself off her. “I’ll go get you another human.”

Alena growls so loud and deep, I feel it in my chest. “No, go food.”

Her frenzy doesn’t allow her to submit to all of my will.

Asher once told me newly turned vampires are easier to control when you guide their needs in a constructive way.

“You’ll be wearing clothes if you leave this room.” I motion to our naked bodies. “No one sees you naked but me.”

“No!” Alena shouts and points to where our bodies meet. “Hungry. Dick.”

There’s no way she means she wants to feed off my cock…

Groaning, I slowly figure it out.

She wants food then sex.

At least that’s what I fucking hope she meant.

“No,” I growl back, and slowly edge myself out of her arms and legs. “Food first. Then I’ll claim you again.”

Alena can’t lead me around. It’s too dangerous.

I push calmness through the bond, but it’s a tenuous hold. She’s in the middle of her frenzy, and when a newborn is in the frenzy, their needs and wants outweigh everything else.

I’ve heard stories of the newly turned laying waste to whole villages in their need to slake their thirst.

Alena points down to my dick. “Mine.”

“Yes, yours,” I agree. “But I’m putting clothes on. If you want food, you will put them on, too.”

I pull Alena out of bed with me. Then I make her stand next to me.

Grabbing another sleeping gown out of the drawer, I work it over her head and arms easily enough.

Trying to put panties on her, though, is another matter.

She flat-out refuses to let me put them on her.

Fucking brat. She’s going to catch a spanking for this, I swear.

Yanking on a pair of loose-fitting pants and a shirt, I hold Alena’s hand tightly in my own. There’s no telling how she’s going to react to seeing other vampires, and I don’t want her trying to drain my brothers.

Not that I’d let her touch them.

Pushing more and more on the bond, it’s frustrating that I don’t feel any real emotions.

Everything inside her is primal and unpredictable.

All I can do is push my will onto hers and force her to obey as much as she’s willing to.

This might go bad, especially if I can’t control her.

I refuse to complain, though. Because finally having my soulmarked bonded to me is a miracle.

I will not spit in the face of what the fates have given me.

Alena is my blessing, and I will never bemoan the fact I have to help her through this.

“Why do we have to go out and hunt for…” Caden’s voice trails off when Alena and I walk into the kitchen.

I point to the pantry. “We need more human women in there. Also, if possible, bring some ghouls back. The property should be properly watched when we’re sleeping.”

No one says a word. And from what I can tell, they aren’t even aware I’m speaking.

Apart from Ambrose, who is dancing around in the other room, everyone is staring at Alena.

It’s like they’ve all decided to focus their sight on her at the same time.

Like they’ve been glamoured…

Fuck.

They’re fucking fascinated.

I knew she could do it to me. But to have everyone else fixated on Alena makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

She’s in her full frenzy and looks like she’s had an all-night bender.

And yet they can’t stop staring at her.

Glancing down at the meek expression she’s giving them all, I can feel the pull myself.

The puzzle pieces are falling into place.

Alena was naturally stunning as a human, there’s no doubt of that.

Asher even remarked on her looks after laying eyes on her. Hunting his beloved, he had the wherewithal to notice this woman’s beauty.

More and more, I’m certain my brain is on the right track.

“Ambrose, come meet your newborn sister,” I call out to him with a hunch.

In a flash, Ambrose is standing in front of us. He bows so deeply, I’m surprised his spine doesn’t crack.

“Greetings, dear sister,” Ambrose says merrily. “I do hope you’ll allow me to dress you as the prettiest of all the princesses when you’ve finished your frenzy.”

As Ambrose stands back up, I note his gaze avoids Alena’s face, as if he’s purposely refusing to look at her.

Shit.

There’s more to Ambrose than I think I’ll ever know, but one thing is for certain. He just proved what I’m thinking.

Alena’s fucking power is her beauty. She can make other vampires fixate on her.

Holy fucking shit, this is… well… Fuck.

It’s going to be fun trying to control Fred’s jealousy.

Hell, it’s going to be fun trying to control my own.

Looking down to my soulmarked, I smile and say, “Hungry?”

Alena growls softly at me, “Food, dick.”

“Oh, dear sister, you are rapacious.” Ambrose laughs happily before dancing away from us.

An evil thought crosses my mind.

I may never get the chance to do this again.

Nodding at her, I say, “One moment, my love. Let me wake our family.”

Stepping away from Alena, I smirk. I’ve been waiting to pay Asher back for that time on the stairs when I had to get an eyeful of his dick.

Walking over to Asher, I make sure I don’t impede his line of sight. Just like the rest, he’s fully fixated.

Pulling my hand back, I growl, “I’m definitely judging you, bitch.”

The backhand I give Asher feels righteous as I remember all the times he tried to use young hip slang with me.

Asher’s face whips to the side and he’s instantly out of his seat.

Fury brimming in his eyes, he shouts, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Raphael?!”

From the living room, Ambrose laughs at us. “I see my brother has finally paid you back, Father.”

Pointing to the rest of the family, I say, “Alena’s power is her beauty. All of you are fixated except for Ambrose.”

Turning his head to the rest of the family in the kitchen, a large smirk crosses his features, as if he finds it amusing.

But when he looks back to me, he frowns. “So you decided the best way to snap me out of it was to hit me?”

Shrugging my shoulders at Asher, I walk back to Alena. She stares at everyone, but otherwise doesn’t move from the spot I left her in.

She has a vague sense of family and that they’re safe to be near, but she’s trying to figure out how she knows these people.

“It’s payback for talking about our mother when you turned her,” I say to Asher, and start herding Alena toward the pantry. “You get to decide how to wake the twins.”

“Ah, well, what can I say…” Asher laughs and then I hear two slaps go off simultaneously.

Loud cussing quickly follows.

I start moving the humans standing in the pantry around until I find a young woman. Stepping close to her, I smell the side of her neck.

She’s healthy and very clean.

Pulling the woman out of the group, I usher her and a growling Alena back into the kitchen.

Alena wants blood, and she’s fighting my need for her to wait.

Everyone’s aware of Alena’s power now when we reappear. All their mental walls are up to ward off her power.

Even those aren’t necessarily enough to stop them from watching her very closely.

“Mother, Father, brothers,” I say. “Alena is still quite hungry…”

“Food, dick,” Alena snaps at me, then tries to get to the human I’m keeping away from her.

“You’ve no doubt noticed her power of enchanting beauty…” I smirk at Asher, and he flips me the bird. “But I noticed something else. Something I’m not sure what to make of.”

I stare into the human’s glazed gaze and snap my fingers to get her attention. “Wake from your slumber.”

The woman’s eyes widen with terror as she takes in all the vampires surrounding her.

Pulling back from the human, I release Alena.

It’s fucking exhilarating and terrifying to watch Alena approach the woman. She doesn’t glamour her. No, she moves like a natural-born predator, sleek and full of grace.

Grabbing the woman by the shoulders, Alena tilts her head to the side and latches onto the human’s neck. There’s no pain or suffering. Only pure ecstasy as Alena begins to drain the woman of her life source.

Just like the man downstairs, Alena brings the woman to multiple orgasms before her heart stops cold.

Alena drops the body to the floor and turns to me.

Wiping her mouth off on her forearm, she says, “Dick.”

“Did she just…” Andrei coughs, trying to suppress a laugh. “Did she just make that woman orgasm to death?”

Chloe giggles. “Holy shit.”

Turning to the family, I wrap my arm around Alena and pull her to my side. “We’re going to go rest. Please get more women for the pantry. And I need ghouls to clean up the man downstairs.”

“Why women?” Caden asks before he gets roughly elbowed by Maddox. “What? I seriously want to know.”

Asher chuckles. “Would you want your woman getting another dude’s jizz all over her?”

“Oh.” Caden nods at me in understanding. “Bring back more women than men. Got it.”

“Where’s Matthias?” I ask Asher.

“He’s out hunting the hunter,” Asher says. “He’s got a thing for killing those fucks, you know.”

Turning Alena and me toward the main room, I call out to the group behind me, “We’ll just grab one of the empty rooms on this floor.”