I smile. “Let’s wait and see if I can actually dance.”

“We both know you can.” He lifts up on one elbow. “The school thing is interesting.”

“What do you mean?”

“There can’t be that many elite dance schools.”

Hope rises inside me. “You think you can find me that way?”

“It’s a long shot, but everything is worth trying.” He stands and takes me with him.

“What are we doing?”

“I want to show you something.” He snatches his shirt and hands it to me. “Put that on, and socks or slippers. The castle floors are cold.”

I pull it over my head and he drags on his jeans commando style, not bothering to zip them. I stuff my feet in my slippers. “Where are we going?”

He smiles and shakes his head, a long lock of light brown hair teasing his forehead. “It’s a surprise.” He motions me to the door and holds it open, and I follow him into the hallway, shivering with the cold, deciding I should have bought a robe today. Kayden hits a button on the wall and a panel opens. I grin. “I love this castle.”

“I’m glad you do.” He waves me forward and I step inside a small foyer to find a path with heavy stone steps wide enough for both of us. Kayden steps to my side and we start the climb that halfway up forks left, right, or straight.

“Straight up,” he says, but I am curious about every direction.

“I’m exploring tomorrow. That’s all there is to it.”

“After the doctor. I meant to tell you. Nathan called while you were in the lingerie store. He got you an appointment tomorrow afternoon.”

“For Giada, too?”

“Oh, yeah. Her too. The idea of her pregnant was enough to get my attention.”

I laugh, and it hits me that it’s truly a miracle I can laugh after all that has happened today, and it’s because of Kayden. I can only hope I do the same for him. Finally, at the top of the stairs, we enter an incredible, well-equipped gym with moonlight peeking through a giant, arched floor-to-ceiling window. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Are you kidding? One mention of the gym and Marabella will be feeding you gallons of ice cream. She’s convinced you’re too skinny.”

“She just wants an excuse to feed us all,” I say as he walks to the far right wall and punches a button; with no surprise at this point, it slides open and reveals a secret room. He waves me forward, and ever so curious, I enter to find a long, empty rectangular room with hardwood floors. “What is this room?”

He leans on the door frame. “Your new dance studio, if you want it to be.”

A dance studio. The idea hits a nerve, a piece of my past I don’t know but feel. I hug him, tilting my chin up to look at him. “This is the sweetest thing ever.”

“Something no one else would ever call me.” He wraps an arm around my waist, sealing us together, one hand cupping my face. “And he, whoever he is, will not think I’m sweet when I am done with him. That absolutely is a promise.”

The next morning, Kayden has some sort of lead on Enzo. He doesn’t seem eager to talk about it, but the result is him calling a meeting with a group of local Hunters to be held in his “War Room” in the central tower. In light of this event, he lines up Nathan to escort Giada and me to the doctor, despite my insisting we can handle it on our own. I’m not sure if that means I’m less safe than he’s claimed or if he’s just being his protective self, both of which are easy to believe.

Whatever the case, Giada and I meet in the main foyer and laugh as we come face to face in almost the same outfit of skinny black jeans, black sweaters, and boots. The only difference is her black leather coat and my trench coat.

“Twinkies,” she claims, and we exit the castle to find Nathan’s black Mercedes waiting on us. Even his car screams Mr. GQ Doctor and I relax a little. If Kayden were really worried about my safety, he’d have sent someone else with us.

Nathan steps out of the car and motions us forward, his brown hair fluttering in a cold breeze. “He’s so damn sexy,” Giada murmurs. “I get the front seat.”

“He’s at least fourteen years older than you,” I remind her.

“And a doctor. That’s hot.” She dashes down the stairs and manages to be inside the car before I even reach the vehicle.

Nathan lingers where he is, speaking to me over the hood of the car. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

“That call I got last night did not sound fine. We need to talk about that when we get a moment alone.”

I give him a quick nod and climb into the backseat, rethinking my assessment of Nathan as our escort. Kayden’s worried all right, but not about strangers attacking us. It’s about the way my past is attacking me, and us. “How far is the doctor’s office from here?”

“Only about ten minutes,” Nathan says, maneuvering us onto the narrow roadway, and since I really don’t want to spend the ride fearing for my life, I sink low in the seat.

Giada has no such issues, chatting away with Nathan. He is courteous but reserved, and I’d be disappointed in him otherwise. He also keeps eyeing his mirror, and there’s that hint of hardness beneath his surface I’d seen the day in the store. He’s The Undergound’s doctor, and something tells me he’s as lethal as he is a healer.

Once we’re at the doctor’s office, Giada and I are taken into exam rooms at the same time, and my checkup is pretty painless. The result is a birth control injection I’ll have to repeat every three months. When I’m done I join Nathan back in the lobby, sitting next to him.

“You want to tell me about yesterday?” he asks.

“Amnesia is hell. When I remember things that are painful, it’s like I’m experiencing them all over again. Instead of having years of healing behind me, the process starts all over again.”

“Are you sleeping?”

“I am, but I wake up to some pretty crappy memories sometimes.”

“I can give you something to knock you out.”

“As much as I appreciate that, there are far more reasons to remember than to forget, and drugs are only going to delay the process. And right now it seems the memories are starting to really flow.”

“That’s a good thing.”

We’re silent for a little while, and I finally broach a subject I’ve been worrying about. “How often are you needed by The Underground?”

He gives me a direct look. “That’s not your real question. What do you really want to know?”

“How often do they get hurt?”

“You’re worried about Kayden.”

“How can I not be? You told me he takes the dangerous jobs.”

“You need to have this conversation with Kayden.”

“You can’t give me an answer I like, so you aren’t going to give me one at all.”

“Talk to Kayden.”

His phone beeps with a text and he pulls it from his pocket, glancing at the screen with a frown. “How about checking on Giada? Kayden wants me in the meeting he’s holding after all, and I have a patient who was just admitted into the hospital. Not a good combination.”

I want to ask for details, but he’s already standing and stepping into the hallway, probably to make a call.

Fortunately, Giada comes into the lobby just then, looking irritated. “We need to hurry back. Adriel’s in a pissy mood for me to get back and run the store.”

So Kayden wants Adriel in the meeting, too. I don’t say that to Giada, who believes he’s retired from hunting. Whatever the case, I’m officially worried.

I try to call Kayden but he doesn’t answer, and the minute the car halts in front of the castle, I’m out of the door and darting for the steps. I’m just keying in the code when the door opens and Kayden appears. “What’s going on?” I ask.

“Walk with me upstairs and we’ll talk.”

“You’re scaring me,” I say as we hurry through the open door to our tower and up the stairs.