“You are Aidan’s woman. His lifemate. Where is he that he would allow you to wander unprotected?”

His voice was the most hypnotic, compelling sound she had ever heard. So pure. So enticing. No one could resist that soft, musical voice. If he told her to throw herself into the roiling ocean, she would do so. She curled her fingers tightly into fists.

“Who are you?” she asked. Silently she warned, Aidan, be careful. There is another here. He knows I am with you, your lifemate. She tried not to allow the trembling that was seizing her body to creep into her voice.

Look at him,piccola. Do not be afraid. I am close. I will see what you see. Keep your mind open. As always, Aidan sounded calm and in control.

The stranger’s beguiling mouth curved, but there was no warmth in the slashing silver of his eyes. “You speak to him. Good. I am certain he can see me now. But he is a fool to allow his feelings for you to blind him to his duties.”

Her chin lifted. “Who are you?” she repeated.

“I am Gregori. The dark one. Perhaps he has told you of me.”

He is the most knowledgeable, the most powerful of all our kind,Aidan confirmed. He was very near. He is the greatest healer our kind has ever known and my teacher. He is also a master of destruction and bodyguard to our Prince.

He terrifies me.

He terrifies everyone. Only Mikhail, the Prince of our people, knows him well.

“I trust Aidan has good things to say about me.” He was facing her, those brilliant eyes seeing right into her soul, but Alexandria had the feeling his attention was elsewhere. His voice was so pure, so perfect, she wanted him to go on speaking.

A rush of wind stirred up a whirling eddy of sand that spun and swirled until it enveloped Alexandria, driving her backward. When she finally regained her balance and uncovered her eyes, Aidan was directly in front of her.

“Very impressive, Aidan,” the stranger said with a trace of satisfaction.

“I have not seen one of my own people for many years,” Aidan said softly. “I am pleased it is you, Gregori.”

“Do you now use your woman as bait?” The tone was mild, but the reprimand was clear.

Alexandria stirred, furious that this man would try to make Aidan feel guilty about her independence. Aidan’s fingers unerringly found her wrist behind him, closing around it like a vise. Do not, he warned. She subsided immediately, sensing danger thick in the air.

“This one, this betrayer to our people.” Gregori nodded toward the man lying so still on the rocks where he had fallen. “He sought to take her from you.”

“He could not have done so,” Aidan said softly.

Gregori nodded. “I believe that to be true. Still, she takes a risk that should not be permitted.” A network of iridescent white veins lit up the sky, sharp, brilliant, a powerful display. The arcing lightning cast a peculiar shadow across the dark, handsome face and flashing silver eyes, making Gregori look both cruel and hungry.

The fingers around Alexandria’s wrist tightened even more. Do not move, do not speak, no matter what, Aidan cautioned softly in her mind. “Thank you for your assistance, Gregori,” he said aloud, his voice gentle and true. “This is my lifemate, Alexandria. She is new to our people and knows nothing of our ways. We would both consider it a great honor if you would accompany us back to our house and tell us the news of our homeland.”

Are you out of your mind?Alexandria protested silently, horrified. It would be like bringing home a wild jungle cat. A tiger. Something very lethal.

Gregori inclined his head at the introduction, but the refusal to join them was clear in his silver eyes. “It would be unwise of me to join you indoors. I would be a caged tiger, untrustworthy, unpredictable.” His pale eyes flickered over Alexandria, and she had the distinct impression he was laughing at her. Then he turned his attention once more to Aidan. “I need to ask of you a favor.”

Aidan knew of what Gregori would speak, and he shook his head. “Do not, Gregori. You are my friend. Do not ask of me what I cannot do.” Alexandria felt Aidan’s sorrow, his distress. His mind was a turmoil of emotions, fear among them.

The silver eyes flashed and burned. “You will do what you must, Aidan, just as I have done for over a thousand years. I have come here to wait for my lifemate. She will arrive in a few months to do a show, magic show. San Francisco is on her schedule. I intend to establish a house high in the mountains, far from your place. I need the wild, the heights, and I must be alone. I am close to the end, Aidan. The hunt, the kill, is all I have left.”

He waved a hand, and the ocean waves leapt in response. “I am not certain if I can wait until she comes. I am too close. The demon has nearly consumed me.” There was no change in the sweet purity of his voice.

“Go to her. Send for her. Call her to you.” Aidan rubbed his forehead in agitation, and his obvious upset alarmed Alexandria more than anything else. Nothing ever seemed to get to Aidan. “Where is she? Who is she?”

“She is Mikhail and Raven’s daughter. But Raven did not prepare her for what was to come on the day of the claiming. She was but eighteen years. When I went to her, she was so filled with fear, I found I could not be the monster I needed to be to claim her against her will. I did not press her. I vowed to myself to allow her five years of freedom. After all, joining with me will be rather like joining with a tiger. Not the most comfortable of destinies.”

“You can no longer wait.” Alexandria had never heard Aidan so agitated. She stroked her thumb in a small caress across his wrist to remind him he would not have to face the future alone.

“I made a vow, and I will keep it. Once she is joined to me for all eternity, her life will not be an easy one, so she runs from it, and from me.” Gregori’s voice was so beautiful, so clear. There was no trace of bitterness, no regret.

“Does she know what you suffer for her?”

The silver eyes flashed at the implication of his lifemate’s selfishness. “She knows nothing. This was my decision, my gift to her. The favor I ask is that you do not hunt me alone, if such becomes necessary. You will need Julian. He is of the darkness.”

“Julian is like me,” Aidan instantly protested.

“No, Aidan,” Gregori corrected in his mesmerizing voice. “Julian is like me. That is why he seeks out the high reaches, why he is always alone. He is like me. He will help you defeat me should there be need.”

“Go to her, Gregori,” Aidan pleaded.

Gregori shook his head. “I cannot. Promise me you will do as I have requested. You will not attempt to hunt me without Julian.”

“I would never be so foolish as to hunt the most wily wolf without the aid of another. Stay strong, Gregori.” There was real sorrow in Aidan’s voice.

“I will hold out as long as I am able,” Gregori replied, “but in the waiting, there is much danger. I will be unable to destroy myself should it become too late. I will be too far gone. You understand, Aidan. The burden of this decision could fall on your shoulders, and for that, I ask your forgiveness. I always thought it would be Mikhail, but she is here, in the United States. And she will be here, in San Francisco, when my vow has been honored.”

Aidan nodded, but Alexandria could feel the tears burning in his mind, in his heart. She made an effort to comfort him, to send him warmth, but she remained as still as he had asked her, not completely understanding what Gregori was saying but knowing it was grave.

“I will attend to this one, destroy all evidence of his existence.” Gregori gestured toward the body at the bottom of the cliff. “But, Aidan, he was not alone. There was another. I thought it best to stay and protect your lifemate rather than hunt him down. So close to turning myself, I did not want to chance two kills in one evening.” The soft, musical voice could have been discussing the weather.