Sometimes even the strongest of love can’t overcome the darkest of evil.
As a Warden destined to protect humanity from supernatural threats, Ari knows that he has to be

strong, brave and, most of all, mentally stable. Try telling that to his brain. Ever since he was held as
an unwilling blood slave by a band of feral vampires, Ari has been everything a Warden shouldn’t be
—scared, angry and unstable. While he tries to maintain a brave front for his fellow Wardens, cracks
in his facade are starting to show, especially when feral vampires attack the city and the Wardens
must eliminate the threat.

Adam hadn’t felt whole since his fellow Warden, Ari, was kidnapped. Even though they got Ari

back, he hasn’t been the same. Gone is the happy, teasing man Adam fell in love with, replaced by a
brooding, angry stranger. When Ari must face his past, both good and bad, his instability only
increases. Will Adam’s love be enough to heal Ari’s emotional wounds, or will Ari be lost to the
darkness…this time for good?

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copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI
and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage

the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is
appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the

author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Coffin Dodger
Copyright © 2011 Stephani Hecht ISBN: 978-1-7711-1-044-0
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in

whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books
Look for us online at:
www.eXtasybooks.com
Coffin Dodger
Night Wardens Two
By
Stephani Hecht
Dedicated to Jamey Rodemeyer and all of the other lost Little Monsters out there. We love and

miss you all.

Chapter One

oncentrate, Ari. You can do this.”
“C Wanting to please his Guardian, Ari tried to close his eyes and do as she ordered—one of the

hardest things he ever had to do, which was just flipping ironic given that he’d been ordered to
meditate.

Wasn’t that kind of activity supposed to be relaxing? Because relaxing was the furthest thing from

Ari’s mind. All he could think about was how the cold, slab ground felt against his ass. An ass that
was only covered in the thin fabric of his workout pants.

In addition, whenever he tried to let his mind focus on…nothing, he suddenly became aware of all

the sounds echoing from the different areas of the Warden training facility—the banter of his fellow
Wardens while they ate lunch, the drone of the TV from the nearby rec room, the insistent ringing of
the phone in Stew’s office.

“I know you can do it,” Marty’s gentle voice soothed. “You have never disappointed me yet.” 1
Stephani Hecht
That last little bit of praise pushed Ari harder than any amount of yelling ever could. He took in a

deep cleansing breath and calmly let it out, forcing his body to relax. He started with his toes and
slowly worked up, making sure to let each tense muscle go at ease. Just as he reached his head, he
finally felt himself slip into his state of Zen.

Okay, so maybe the whole meditation thing wasn’t a bunch of bull after all. In fact, Ari hadn’t felt

so relaxed in a long time. He even let out a sigh as he took in another deep breath and gradually—

Terror filled him as images began to quick-fire through his mind. Each of them a horrifying

picture of his past. Vampires attacking him while he slept, being helpless to fight them off, the
monsters taking him back to their dank dwelling, one filled with other captives, all of whom were just
as terrified and trapped as him.

Next came visions of fangs, of the white sharpness flashing in the light, before the pain came.

And, oh God, was that pain bad, too. So much so, that several times Ari had broken and begged them
to kill him, just so he could find some peace.

He lurched forward until he was on all fours and began to crawl, desperate to get away from the

memories. Dimly, he could hear Marty yelling 2

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his name, but Ari was too trapped in his pain to reply.
He opened his eyes, hoping that would wash away the visuals. Instead of seeing the soothing,

familiar sites of the training room, the only images he saw continued to be the ones from his time as a
blood slave. Instead of the ripped, battered gym mat, he saw the metal bars of his tiny cage. No longer
could he hear the noises from his fellow Wardens. All that filled his ears were the screams of his
former cellmates. Whether they were numerous voices calling out for their lost loved ones or just the
yells of agony, Ari had never been able to decide which were worse.

Most of all, he felt pain. The hurt was so raw, it was as if all the bites, the cutting and the burns

were happening for real. Letting out a guttural sob, he began to claw at his throat.

His fingers dug into his flesh, the gnarled, scarred skin only taking him deeper in his horror-filled

memories. He could feel the warm stickiness covering his fingers and a tiny sane part of himself
screamed for Ari to stop, that he was the one who was really causing the pain to himself.

As always, the insane part of his brain won out and he continued to claw at his own flesh as the

visions persisted to assault him. Next, he saw the torture room, the chair that had the restraints built
into it along with the vampire master’s leering 3

Stephani Hecht
glare as the others forced Ari into it. He felt the sensation of failure because he was a Warden and

this kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen to him.

Wardens were strong. They were brave. They were better. They sure as hell shouldn’t be a

sniveling blood-slave reduced to groveling and pleading. A tiny sob broke free as he found himself
hating what he’d become.

Strong fingers reached out and pinched his chin, forcing him to look up. He found himself locked

into Marty’s warm, brown-eyed gaze.

“Come back to me, Ari. Come on, baby. Don’t let them win this one,” she ordered in a firm, yet

comforting tone.

Thank the Oracle, Marty managed to get through the nightmare playing in his mind. Ari let out

another broken sob as the images from his slavery faded and the training room began to come back
into focus.

He swallowed, wondering why his throat hurt so much, only to have a flush of humiliation wash

over him as he realized it was because he had been screaming…again.

Damn it! When was this going to end? Why in the hell couldn’t he just get over the past? He had a

job to do and countless others depended on him having his shit together so he could do it.

“Fuck,” Ari said, the one word coming out 4
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equal parts sob and self-disgust.
She smiled at him, for a moment reminding him so much of his dead mother that Ari almost broke

down and cried. Which would be the last thing he needed, since he’d already played the wimp card
way too much as it was.

“There you are. I knew you could come back to me.” She reached out with her free hand and

smoothed back his sweat-slicked hair.

Out of habit, he started to pull away from the caress, but her fingers were still holding on to his

chin so he was forced to be still. Taking a deep breath, he tried to combat the nausea that rolled over
him. Ever since his captivity, his body had that same reaction whenever somebody touched him.

Not Adam. You really, really like to feel his hands on you. In fact, you’d like him to do a whole

hell of lot more touching.

Ari shrugged off those thoughts. They were ridiculous, because no matter how much he wanted it,

he and Adam could never be a pair. Not only was it forbidden for Wardens to play around with each
other, but who in the hell would want damaged goods like him?

“Hurts,” he finally managed to pant out.
“I know it does, but you need to work past it if you’re ever going to truly heal.” Ari wanted to

lash out at her, to scream that it’s easy for her to say that since she didn’t have to go 5

Stephani Hecht
to hell and back like he had. In the end, he held it all in, because he knew that Marty only had his

best interests at heart.

When the Oracle assigned Marty to be Ari’s Guardian, everyone, including himself, knew it was

because she was the best to handle him in his current emotional state. Marty could be a tough
taskmaster at times, brutal in fact, but she also had a gentle mothering side to her.

Ari nodded as best he could while still in her grip. “Okay, I’ll keep trying.” She released him

then, and settled back on her bottom. Ari did the same so they were both sitting crossed legged, facing
each other.

“Tell me what it was like there?” she prompted.
That question took him aback. Since he’d come back, nobody had asked him that. Sure, they’d shot

him some curious glances and stuff like that, but nobody had actually dared to make him talk about it.

Ari grunted, his stomach clenching in dread.
“You were there when I was rescued. So you already know.”
“I want to hear you describe it.” Since he had no clue what in the fuck she was going for, Ari

decided to just cave and give her what she wanted. “It was always cold. It didn’t matter what time of
the year it was, I could never get warm enough. I don’t know if it was because 6

Coffin Dodger
they kept us underground or because I was always so drained of blood that I was constantly

bordering on the edge of shock. Even now I tire easily and get dizzy sometimes.” Even though Marty
must have noticed already, it was a weakness he hated having to admit. More than once, during
training, the spells had caused Ari to lose his balance. One time, he fell and almost impaled himself
on his own sword. That would have been a fantastic way to go out. He could even see the tombstone
— Here lies the Warden who was too stupid to live.

Marty reached out and took both of his hands.
“Okay, that’s a good start. Tell me, what did it look like?”
“It was dark. There weren’t any windows so I lost track of time. I didn’t even know if it was day

or night. My cage was in the corner so I couldn’t see too many other slaves. I could see the table and
the chair though. They’d bolted the chair to the floor and there were wrist and ankle restraints
attached to it. A huge drain was in the floor under it so it could collect all the blood the vampires
spilled when they went into a feeding frenzy. I watched as several slaves died because of that.

The vampires lost control and literally ripped the poor people to death.”
“You said people. Was it only other humans there?”
7
Stephani Hecht
“No, there were some were-creatures, a few sane vampires and a smattering of other paranormals

as well. I guess I just call them people because in the end, we were all the same, helpless and at the
mercy of our captors.”

“What did it smell like?”
Ari winced and drew back a bit, slightly confused by her question. What in the hell did it matter?

“It usually reeked of blood, decay and piss. Not to mention, each of us had our own special stink
since they never let us shower.”

“Did they at least feed you?”
“Yes, while it wasn’t the best food, at least we had that. After all, it wouldn’t do for the vamps to

let their blood bags starve to death, now would it?” Ari spat out bitterly.

“What did they feed you?”
God, what was it with all the questions? If she was going to play therapist, the least she could

have done was drag out a couch for him to lie on.

“It was usually some kind of soup and bread and, before you ask—no, it wasn’t homemade.
These vamps didn’t seem the type to hang out in the kitchen and play Rachael Ray.” She sharply

tapped the top of his hand. “Watch your mouth, Warden. Just because you cop an attitude with the rest
of the world doesn’t mean I’ll put up with any lip from you.” Ari let out a low hiss, more out of shock

than 8

Coffin Dodger
from pain. “Did you actually say any lip? Nobody has said that to me besides my mother…” He

trailed off, a fresh wave of pain hitting him.

Marty’s face softened with understanding.
“You blame yourself for your family dying, don’t you?”
White, hot anger filled him as he jerked his hands away. “Of course, I do. If I hadn’t have been

there that night, then the vampires would never have killed them just to get to me.”

“How can you be so sure? Your father was a Warden, too. They could have just as easily been

there for him.”

“Don’t try to patronize me. It was my former Guardian who sold me out to the vampires so we

know that’s why they knew where to attack. Had I not chosen to visit my family that night, they’d still
be alive.”

The screams from the night rang through his head, the terror and agony behind them making a cold

sweat break out over his body. He even began to tremble as he recalled all the blood, the look on his
little sister’s face as she lay dying on their kitchen floor.

“Stew tells me they were buried with honor,” Ari rasped, his throat tight with emotion.
“You’ve never visited their graves?” Shamed, Ari shook his head. “I can’t. Not yet.”
“Okay then, let’s go to the day you were 9
Stephani Hecht
rescued. How was that for you?” Ari snapped his gaze back up. “You were there!
Hell, you helped unlock my cage.”
“Yes, but how was it from your point of view?” He closed his eyes as he recalled the relief he

felt over being rescued. Just as quickly though, that relief had been replaced with shame as he
realized just how dismally he failed as a Warden.

Countless innocents had died while he’d been mere feet away. True, he’d been locked up and

weakened, but Ari felt he should have been able to at least do something.

“You and Adam found me,” Ari breathed, his eyes still closed.
Even then, he could feel the mix of emotions that had gone through him as he’d gazed up at Adam.

They’d practically grown up together and during most of that time, Ari had harbored a secret crush for
Adam.

Who could blame him? Adam had been cute as a teen, but as a man, he was drop dead gorgeous

mixed with an equal part of fucking hot. The day of the rescue had been no different either. Even after
the hard battle, Adam’s short, dark hair had only managed to get slightly messed. A streak of blood
marred his perfectly chiseled jaw and his dark eyes looked so inviting as they gazed down at Ari.

Then Adam’s attention had flicked over to Ari’s 10
Coffin Dodger
neck and an expression of pure revulsion crossed Adam’s face. While Ari was sure Adam hadn’t

meant anything by it, the gesture still had made him want to curl up into a ball of regret.

“What were you feeling when you were let out of the cage?” Marty prompted.
Not missing a beat, Ari replied, “I wanted you to lock me back up and let me rot away, because

it’s what I deserved for letting everybody down.” 11

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Two

dam stood just outside of the training room A doors, his heart breaking a bit more with each of

Ari’s revelations.

Part of Adam knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but a larger part of him was desperate to finally

know the whole truth so he’d stayed put and listened in on every damn word, even though each one of
them had felt like a punch to the gut.

Poor Ari. What have they done to you, baby? I hate them for all they put you through. So much

so, that I wish I could bring them back from the dead just so I could kill them all over again. Only
this time I would make sure to do it as slowly and painfully as possible.

“You know it’s not nice to snoop,” a voice cooed in his ear.
Letting out a yelp of shock, Adam turned and found his face only inches from the Oracle. As

always, whenever she appeared, she wore an all-white flowing gown and about fifty pounds of
blonde curly hair. Only this time, she accessorized 12

Coffin Dodger
it with a knowing grin.
“Shhh…they’re going to hear you,” Adam whispered.
The Oracle made a waving motion with her hands. “Don’t worry. I have us in the Cone of

Silence.”

Confused, Adam cocked his head to the side.
“The Cone of what?”
Letting out a put-upon sigh, she rolled her eyes as she idly twirled one of her curls. “You know

from that show Get Smart?”

“Sorry, that was a bit before my time.” She reached over and slapped him upside the head.
Adam gasped, “What was that for?”
“For being mouthy.” She administered another one. “That’s for making me feel old by not getting

my Cone of Silence reference. Since we’re going to be hanging out a lot, I would suggest you start
watching all the classic TV shows. That way you can properly appreciate my humor.” Rubbing away
the hurt, Adam asked, “We’re going to be hanging out?”

“Oh, for sure.”
“No offense, Oracle, but why? Before today, we hardly ever saw you.”
“The world is going to hell and that requires a little more hands-on leading from my end. With

everything that is going on, you guys are going to 13

Stephani Hecht
need all the help you can get. Not only is everything messed up because of all the civil wars going

on in the paranormal world, but word has leaked out about the prophesy and that’s going to make
more trouble for all the Wardens.”

“What do you mean it leaked out? You posted it on your damn tumblr account.” She tapped her

chin thoughtfully. “Oh, yeah, so I did.”

“Besides, nobody knows for certain what the damn thing means.”
“In times of trouble and when the darkness is at its worst…” she began to recite.
“See, there you have it. The first sentence is as redundant as hell,” Adam shot back.
She continued to speak, “That is when the Wardens will be in need…”
“Well, duh. We all knew our retirement was only a temporary thing. That’s why we never stopped

training. Even during the span when the Wardens weren’t officially active.”

“But the evil will come from within and threaten to kill them all…”
“Are you trying to say that we have a traitor in our ranks? Or does it refer to Ari’s old Guardian?
Because I have to say, turning on one’s own Warden is as evil as it comes.”
“Unless the Wardens fight as one, they will die as one…”
14
Coffin Dodger
“That line is just plain clichéd.” That last comment earned him another head slap. “It’s a

prophesy. They’re supposed to be clichéd.”

“And thanks to you blabbing about it all over, people are beginning to think it refers to my

generation of Wardens.”

She pinned him with a hard glare. “And how are you so certain that it’s not?” All the blood inside

Adam’s body seemed to freeze as the implication of her question hit him like an anvil to the head.
“Are you trying to tell me it is about us?”

She began to finger her hair again. “Honestly, Adam, are you still going to deny that it’s not? I

know Stew may be your father, but you’re way smarter than him so you had to have come to the
conclusion already.”

God, how he hated her at that moment. Not for insulting his father. Even though Adam loved Stew,

he did know his dad’s many faults. Not only was Stew apt to make rash decisions, but the guy drank
way too much and that affected his judgment even more. No, it was because she was making Adam
face a truth he’d been doing his damn best to hide from.

“It can’t be us,” he still argued.
“Why not?”
“Well, for starters there are only ten Wardens.
15
Stephani Hecht
Our numbers have never been lower.”
“I hate to break it to you, but the supernatural threat doesn’t give a rip if there’s ten of you or a

hundred. They’re going to attack the human race either way.”

Panic clawed at Adam’s chest as he glanced over at Ari. The Warden was attempting to meditate

again. Even at a distance Adam could see the sweat glistening on the younger man’s face along. It also
pained Adam to note the way Ari’s short blond hair was messed up and standing on end, from when
he’d pulled at it while he screamed.

How Adam wished for the old Ari back—the one who was always smiling and showing off his

dimples. Even now, Adam could remember how Ari’s blue eyes used to dance with mischief. Just as
he could recall how annoyed he’d get over Ari’s never-ending practical jokes, while at the same time
falling in love with the brat.

“He’s not ready for this,” Adam rasped.
The Ari they had now was broken and a shell of pure anger. He hardly talked to anybody anymore

outside of Rev and that was only because they’d been roommates up until recently.

“He’s going to have to get ready. I sense the threat is approaching quicker and every minute is

counting against us now,” she replied, her voice as determined as ever.

16
Coffin Dodger
“How can he be ready? You know what he’s been through.”

“Yes, I do. Let me tell you, there are times when being all-knowing can suck. I know every damn

detail of his captivity. Trust me when I say it’s ten times worse than your worst nightmare.” A shiver
went down Adam’s spine as his heart shattered at the mention of Ari’s suffering. “So if you’re aware
of that, then you know better than anybody that he can’t face this. How in the hell is he ever supposed
to be whole again?”

“You.”
Once again, Adam found himself confused.
“Huh?”
“You are the only one who can make him whole again.”
He could feel all the blood draining from his face as he realized that since she was all-knowing,

then she was fully aware of his true feelings for Ari. “And just how am I supposed to do that? He
won’t talk to me. Hell, he hardly looks my way anymore.”

“Because he loves you just as much as you love him.”
Adam couldn’t have been more shocked had he heard that his father had turned down an offer to

go out to happy hour. “Now really isn’t the time to play mind games with me, Oracle.”

“Why do you have such a hard time believing 17
Stephani Hecht
that he may care for you?”
Maybe because Ari had never indicated he felt a damn thing toward Adam. Even before he’d been

taken, Ari had never paid any particular attention to Adam. Sure, Ari may have played pranks on
Adam, but Ari had done that with all the novice Wardens back then. Hell, Ari had even pulled them
on Kamden and that Warden was such a crab, he wouldn’t know a good joke if it came up and kicked
him in the ass.

“If he cared for me, then how come he never showed it?” Adam challenged.
She smiled brightly. “Now, you just can’t expect me to give you all the answers. What fun would

that be? Besides, even I have certain rules I need to follow.”

As she spoke that last sentence, a frown came over her face as her eyes grew haunted.
Adam glanced over at Ari, who was still attempting to meditate. He once again pulled up his shirt

collar to hide his scars, but Adam could still see some streaks of blood left behind from Ari’s self-
mutilation.

“Will he ever get better?” Adam asked, his shoulders slumping with grief.
She shook her head. “No, he’ll never be the same Ari. But you can help bring him back from the

darkness. In fact, you have to. Otherwise, he’ll finally give in and all hope will be lost.” 18

Coffin Dodger
Adam started, his heart hammering in fear.
“Lost? What do you mean by that?”
“Ari is losing his will to live, and for somebody who goes out to face life-or-death battles on a

daily basis, that’s a very dangerous mindset. If he continues on the path he’s on now, I don’t see him
surviving longer than a year.” All the air left Adam’s lungs and his head began to spin. Ari dying?
Adam didn’t even want to think about the possibility, yet by the Oracle even mentioning it, it all
became so real.

“What can I do to help him?” Adam rasped.
“Be there for him. Give him a reason to want to fight.”
“And what if that isn’t enough?”
“It has to be. There is no other option.” She hesitated a beat and Adam tensed, just knowing he

wasn’t going to like what she said next. Taking a deep breath, she continued, “There are more out
there.”

“More what?”
“Wardens.”
Adam shook his head. “How is that possible?
According to our records, there are only ten of us.”
“How far do your records go?”
“Two centuries.” Adam let out a curse, suddenly realizing where she was leading him.
“Are you saying that if we had records from 19
Stephani Hecht
before that time we’d find out there were more bloodlines? Ones that sired other Wardens?”
“Yes, there was a power struggle over the leadership and the Wardens were divided. One side

faded off and are now unknown to us while your bloodline continued the tradition.”

“So to make it simple. There is another group of who knows how many Wardens out there?” She

nodded. “And now they are in danger, too.

The evil out there is going to sense their bloodline and seek out to destroy them.”
“Okay, let’s recap this situation just so I can have an overview of how sucky it truly is. Most of

the paranormal world is in some kind of civil war.”

“Yup, except for the centaurs. They have always insisted on remaining neutral during times of

war,” she scoffed.

“And because of all that chaos, the paranormal beings can’t police themselves so now the human

race is in danger.”

“Yeah, although to be fair, most paranormals hate humans just on principle alone. But they mostly

chose to ignore the lesser beings until recently.”

Ouch, that was insulting, but he decided to let it slide. “And all we have are ten Wardens and

their Guardians to do this job?”

“Well, technically, we have nineteen Guardians, 20
Coffin Dodger
only half of them have a Warden assigned to them. And don’t forget the other Wardens who are

out there.”

“That still doesn’t make our odds any better.
Even if we do find the other Wardens, they may have no training or idea of what they’re up

against,” Adam shot back at her, wondering if that Cone of Silence extended to her brain because,
obviously, she was operating on nothing but air.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You do know that I can read your thoughts, don’t you?” Shit! I’m

so fucked.

“Yeah, and not in the good way either,” she replied, tartly.
“Sorry,” he muttered, bowing his head to her.
After all, it didn’t hurt to have some humility once in a while. Especially toward somebody who

could kill you with a blink of their eyes. Adam had seen her do just that, too…to Ari’s former
Guardian. It had been the man’s punishment for turning against his own Warden.

In Adam’s opinion, the guy had gotten off too easily. If Adam had his way, the man would have

died a slow, agonizing death. Even then, it still wouldn’t have come close to the suffering that Ari
endured.

Adam jumped in shock when the sounds of Ari’s screams ripped through the air.

“I guess your Cone of Silence doesn’t go both 21
Stephani Hecht
ways,” Adam said weakly, as tears formed in eyes.
“No, I am never free of hearing the suffering of my Wardens,” the Oracle replied sadly.
“Why in the hell is Marty making him go through all this?”
Everybody said that Marty was the most gentle of the Guardians, but Adam wasn’t seeing it.
Seriously, what kind of Guardian would put their Warden through such a painful exercise?
“It doesn’t matter. He’ll just have the flashbacks while he’s sleeping tonight,” the Oracle said as

she wiped away a tear falling down her cheek.

That comment took Adam by surprise. “I didn’t know that Ari had nightmares. Rev never

mentioned them.”

“Rev is very good at keeping Ari’s confidences.
Plus, ever since Ari started living by himself, the dreams have been getting worse.”
“So why don’t you assign him a roommate?
Surely there has to be another Warden who would be willing to move into Ari’s apartment.”
“And just who would you suggest?” Adam wanted to say me, but thought better of it and pressed

his lips together.

The Oracle still gave him a knowing look. “I guess you can make that decision yourself, since

you’re in charge now.”

God, just when he thought the conversation couldn’t get any stranger, she had to throw in a 22
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zinger like that. Giving her his best exasperated look, he asked, “No offense, Oracle, but what in

the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? You’re the new leader of the Wardens.”
He gaped at her for several moments as those stunning words slowly sunk in. “What about my

father?”

“I’m relieving him of his duties. I think we can both agree that it is high time he retired. His

drinking is only getting worse and it’s affecting his decision skills. At a time like this, I can’t have
that. I need the strongest leader I can get.”

“And all you could find is me? I just turned twenty-six. I’m way too young for this responsibility.”

Shit, any of the current Wardens were too young for such a responsibility, especially with all the bad
stuff going down.

She patted him on the shoulder. “Oh, I think you’re more than ready. Besides, it’s not like you can

do any worse than Stew.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” He swallowed hard a few times. “How did my dad

take this news?”

She cocked her head to the side, a pensive expression coming over her face. “I haven’t told him

yet, but I can foresee that he’s going to be relieved. While he means well, he’s really not up to
handling the obstacles we’re going to be facing 23

Stephani Hecht
very soon.”
“Can it get any worse than that wicked witch and her slug demons?”
“Oh, yes, it’s going to get much, much more difficult.”
Adam cocked a brow. “If this is supposed to be some kind of pep talk, you’re really not doing a

good job.”

“Okay, how about this. You need to take the leadership because I’ve foreseen that you’re that only

one who can win this battle. Without you, the Wardens will lose. Of that I have no doubt.” The room
began to spin as the weight of his new responsibility hit him like a brick to the head.

Well, shit. Nothing like adding a little pressure to an already crappy situation.
24
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Chapter Three

ven though it was late, Ari remained in the E training room. Most of the others had already gone

home for the night. Even Marty had left to be with her husband. That left only a few people remaining
in the building and they were all being just as quiet as Ari. It made for a silent, almost tomb-like
environment.

It still beat his apartment because Ari knew he had some allies close even if he couldn’t hear

them. That, at least, allowed him to relax…somewhat.

Letting out a sigh, he walked up to the large window. Since he was on the second story, it gave

him a good view of the city of Detroit. Resting his forehead against the cool glass, he gazed out at the
numerous lights dotting the dark skyline.

Regardless of what some said about the city, it still held a certain beauty that called to Ari.

Maybe because it reminded him a bit of himself. It may have been beaten, sucked dry and tossed
aside, 25

Stephani Hecht
but it still continued to live. Even if it did now carry its fair share of scars.
Hearing movement behind him, he glanced up at the reflection of the room in the glass. When he

saw it was Adam, Ari’s heart skipped a beat. Just like it always had, ever since he was fifteen and
first realized he had a crush on the other guy.

At least one thing had remained the same from Ari’s past.
Yet, just like before, his crush was a hopeless cause. Even though only a couple of years

separated them, Adam always treated Ari like a pesky younger brother, even now, and they were both
full-fledged Wardens.

“What are you doing here so late?” Adam asked, his voice seeming stronger than ever because of

the heavy silence.

Not turning away from the window, Ari replied, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I needed permission to

stay afterhours.” Adam frowned as he took a couple steps forward. “You don’t. I just figured you’d
be tired.

You were here pretty early this morning.” Ari tensed, wondering just what else Adam may have

noticed. It was already a sure bet that he’d heard Ari’s scream-fest during the damn mediation
session. Had Adam also noticed all the other cracks that were beginning to show in Ari’s carefully
constructed shield of I’m-okay-there’s-26

Coffin Dodger
nothing-to-worry-about-folks?
“The neighbors at my new place are really noisy at night and it’s hard to sleep there sometimes.”

Ari closed his eyes and prayed that Adam would buy that lame-ass excuse.

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” Adam pressed.
Snapping his lids open, Ari turned. “Of course, it is. What other reason would there be?”
“The Oracle mentioned that you were having nightmares.”
Anger and a fair share of resentment flooded Ari. “What in the hell business is it of hers?” Adam

paused, his mouth parting in shock, no doubt because somebody dared speak up against their precious
Oracle. Well, fuck it. Ari didn’t give a damn who he offended. He had issues with the chick and, if
the others didn’t like it, they’d just have to learn to deal.

“She’s worried about you,” Adam said slowly, his brow creased with confusion.

Ari let out a short, bitter laugh. “Oh, that’s rich.
Now, she’s worried about me. Yet, she couldn’t have cared less when I was being held captive.”
“Of course, she cared. Why would you think any differently?”
Because she’s omniscient. She could have warned me before the attack. Or at the very least,

she could have told you guys where the vampires were keeping me.

Instead, she let me suffer in that hell for two years!
27
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Damn, how Ari wanted to scream those words, but even he knew that would be taking his

disrespect too far. So instead, he just pressed his lips together and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

Of course, Adam wouldn’t let it go that easily.
“It does to me.”
“It’s nothing. Let’s just chalk that little outburst of mine up as another example of why I need to

learn how to meditate. I really need an outlet for my anger or my mouth gets away from me.” Adam
moved in closer so they were only a foot apart. He wore his all-black Warden uniform and Ari could
smell the leather that padded the arms and legs of the outfit. The only thing missing was the cloak and
Warden Insignia pendant.

“Ari, you hardly ever talk anymore. When you’re not on your computer, you’re training. So how

can your mouth get away from you?” Adam challenged.

Ari shrugged, even as his mind scrambled for something to say. Fuck! Shit! Damn! Why did this

whole social interaction thing have to be so hard?

It used to be that he was always in the center of things, babbling away. Now, he was lucky if he

spoke three civil words a day.

“I train a lot, because I know things are really hairy out there right now. I want to be prepared,”

he finally said.

28
Coffin Dodger
“That still doesn’t mean you need to push yourself twenty-four hours a day. Everybody needs

rest.”

Maybe other people did, but Ari would much rather deal with sleepiness. It sure as hell beat the

nightmares…or worse, leaving himself vulnerable to another attack. The only reason the feral
vampires had gotten the drop on him and his family that fateful night had been because they’d all been
in bed, asleep.

“You’d be amazed at how little shut-eye somebody can operate on when they have a couple cans

of Red Bull and coffee under their belts,” Ari replied.

Adam reached out and gently ran the back of his knuckles over the top of Ari’s cheek. “You have

bags under your eyes. Not to be mean, but you look beat.”

Ari froze, waiting for the feelings of panic and revulsion to hit him that always came whenever

somebody touched him. Instead, all that followed was a warm buzz that traveled through his body
before settling into his stomach. In fact, it was all he could do to not to turn into the caress and purr
like a cat.

All too soon it was over and Adam pulled his hand back, leaving Ari aching for more and

confused to why he’d reacted that way in the first place.

29
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“I’m okay,” Ari insisted. When Adam looked doubtful, Ari added, “I promise.”
“Yeah, but is okay good enough?”
“I could still take you out in a fight.” Ari grinned to take some sting away from his claims.
“You always were quicker than me when it came to sparring.”
“Do you remember that one time when we were kids and I lost control of a punch and knocked

you out?” Ari laughed.

Adam studied him so carefully, Ari had to resist the urge to squirm. Finally, he asked,
“What?”
“I missed that,” Adam said in a rough voice.
“Missed me knocking you out?”
“No, I missed your laughter.”
Ari sobered as he ducked his head self-consciously in an effort to hide whatever other emotions

may be playing on his face. “I haven’t had much to be happy about.”

“No, I guess you haven’t been.” Adam reached out again, this time cupping Ari’s cheek. “Look at

me.”

As soon as Ari obeyed, Adam lightly brushed their lips together. Ari sucked in a breath, whether

it was to protest or beg for more, he couldn’t be for certain. He never got to find out either because
the kiss was over almost before it began.

Brain buzzing, Ari stepped back. “What was 30
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that for?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t out of pity for the bat-shit crazy, basket case?” Ari challenged, not sure if

he really wanted to hear the answer.

Adam gave him a crooked smile. “No, if that were the case, then I would have kissed Kamden.” A

spike of jealousy went through Ari at the thought of Adam touching anybody else. “So, you go around
kissing all your fellow Wardens, or is this just a new hobby you picked up?”

“Oh, it’s a new hobby and I think I’m going to be doing it a lot.”
Angry and more than a little hurt, Ari tried to push past Adam. When the other Warden let out a

short laugh and reached out to grab Ari’s arm, that only fueled his fury. “Let me go.”

“Not until you let me finish.”
“Finish what? Humiliating me? Well, you can stop
because
your
mission
has
been
accomplished.”
When Adam continued to hold him, Ari lashed out, giving him a quick jab in the ribs. It wasn’t

really that hard, but it was precise enough to do the trick. Adam let out a gasp as he let go. Snarling
out a curse, Ari started toward the door.

He’d only made it a few steps before Adam’s voice stopped him short. “I was going to add that

I’m going to be doing it a lot, but only with you.” 31

Stephani Hecht
Ari’s mouth parted in shock and he felt unable to breathe. Taking a second to compose himself, he

turned around to face Adam again. “What in fuck kind of game are you playing?” Keeping a hand to
his side, Adam gave Ari a look so intense it made his insides burn. “It’s no game. I’ve always wanted
you and that hasn’t changed.”

“Don’t you get it? Everything has changed! I’m not the same person anymore,” Ari yelled.
When Adam didn’t reply, that only made Ari angrier. All the rage, hate and frustration that was

pent up suddenly came loose and spewed out.

“You say that you still want me, but you have no clue. Do you want to know some of the stuff they

did to me? It wasn’t just all torture and bloodsucking—no, they used me in every way possible. All of
them used me. Don’t stand there and tell me you still want me because you have no clue as to what I
am anymore. I’m a scarred, used-up blood slave and I don’t have a shred of humanity left in me.”

Ari expected to see revulsion on Adam’s face—
perhaps even a bit of hatred, but when Adam’s expression softened and his dark eyes filled with

sorrow, it took Ari aback.

“That’s not true.” Adam shook his head. “If you didn’t have any humanity left in you, then you

wouldn’t be here. You would have left the 32

Coffin Dodger
Wardens. Instead, you stayed and are fighting on the side of good.”
“Maybe it’s only so I can get some revenge on those who hurt me,” Ari challenged.
“Or maybe it’s so you can do everything you can to make sure that nobody ever has to go through

what you did?”

“Newsflash. I was in just one of many of the holes where they keep blood slaves. In fact, they

used to trade us like Pokemon cards so I know for a fact that it is still going on. What’s more, I know
that there’s nothing we can do to stop it. No matter how many bloodsuckers we kill, there will always
be more to take their place,” Ari spat out bitterly.

“Then we’ll just have to keep fighting, and we won’t stop until we have set every slave free.”
“You can’t make that kind of promise. The last time I even brought up the subject with Stew, he

said that we’re only supposed to defend the city, we’re not supposed to go out and find more battles.”

“Well, that was before. My father isn’t in charge anymore. As of this afternoon, the Oracle

relieved him of his duties.”

That bit of news stunned Ari. While he’d known for a while that Stew wasn’t up to the job, up

until that moment, Ari had just assumed the Oracle couldn’t have cared either way.

33
Stephani Hecht
“So who is our leader now?”
“I am,” Adam announced a bit sheepishly.
“You?”
“Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?”
“Aren’t you a bit young?”
“Maybe, but I’m still the oldest Warden. Can you think of anybody who would be better suited for

the job?”

Truthfully, Ari couldn’t. While Adam could have been a bit of a jerk at times while they’d been

younger, he’d long outgrown that phase. In fact, if push came to shove, Ari couldn’t think of anybody
else he’d rather have by his side in a fight. And that was even before Ari factored in his own personal
attraction to the man.

“No, I think you’ll do a good job. It’s just a lot of pressure. We’ve all just been initiated from our

novice status and now the Oracle is throwing you right into the deep end, so to speak.”

“I’m sure she would have gotten one of the Wardens from the last generation, but they’re all either

incapable of handling the job or—”

“Dead,” Ari cut in grimly, thinking of his own father.
His dad hadn’t been the most loving of guys by far. In fact, he treated his wife more like a baby

maker than anything else. Most of the time, he didn’t even stay at the family home, instead living at an
apartment several miles away. It had only 34

Coffin Dodger
been by sheer coincidence that he’d been there the night of the vampire attack. That still didn’t

mean that Ari didn’t miss the heartless bastard.

“Do the others know yet?” Ari asked.
“No, you were the first one I told.”
“Even before your own brother?”
“We all know what a blabber mouth Brad is.
The second I tell him, half of Detroit will know the news within the hour. Plus, I wanted the most

important person in my life to be the first to know before anybody else.”

Ari felt the urge to scream again, only this time in frustration. Why in the hell did Adam continue

to refuse to see that Ari was damaged goods? If Adam wasn’t careful, he’d end up getting hurt in the
end. Ari would rather anything happen, but that. He’d even be willing to be a slave again before he
allowed Adam suffer to on his account.

Before he could argue any further, Brad came rushing into the room. “We need to move out.” Both

Ari and Adam immediately moved into Warden mode, their argument put on the back burner for the
moment.

“What’s going on?” Adam asked in clipped tones.
“We just heard from one of our informants that a band of feral vampires attacked a bunch of

humans who were squatting in an abandoned factory by the riverside.”

35
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“Are the local law enforcement on scene yet?”
“Nobody’s alerted them yet. I thought that maybe it would be a good idea for us to get there before

the po-po arrive. You, know so we can check things out on our own first.” Po-po? Ari shook his head
at Brad. While the brothers may look so much alike on the outside that they were often mistaken for
twins, on the inside they couldn’t be any different. Whereas Adam had grown up, Brad seemed to
forever to be stuck in teenage mode.

Adam let out a sigh, but he didn’t go so far as to call Brad out on his unprofessional behavior. No

doubt because he’d realized a long time ago that it was a lost cause. “Okay, round up the others and
we’ll go out and see what we can find.” Brad hesitated. “Sure thing. Hey, you don’t happen to know
where Dad is, do you? I went to his office first, but the place was empty, and by empty, I mean all his
stuff is gone. The only things that are left is the map of the city that’s always been pinned to the wall
and his desk. And even his desk is cleaned out.”

Adam cocked a brow. “You looked through the drawers?””
Looking
completely
unrepentant,
Brad

shrugged. “I wanted to make sure he wasn’t out on another bender so I wanted to see if his wallet

was there since he can’t buy booze without cash or 36

Coffin Dodger
his credit card. Not only was that missing, but so were all his other personal possessions. Even

his secret stash of whiskey is gone. You know, the really old bottle he inherited from Grandpa.” Brad
turned to Ari and flashed one of his usual cocky grins. “He got that in the will along with the gift of
alcoholism.”

While Brad may have been acting as if he was kidding, there was a trace of bitterness in the

man’s tone that didn’t pass Ari’s notice. It made Ari wonder just how much pain Brad was hiding
under all the layers of cockiness.

Ari also wondered if they had a mother and if so, where she was at. More than likely they hadn’t

seen her in years, as was Warden tradition. The Wardens only needed their women to birth sons in
order to carry on the bloodline and then to raise the sons until they were old enough to train. After
that, the mothers were of no use.

It was a sucky tradition and, in Ari’s opinion, way outdated, but then who the fuck cared what he

thought?

That still didn’t mean that Brad wasn’t going to be upset when he found out that his father had

basically been fired and by the Oracle herself, no less. Ari wondered just how Adam was going to
handle the situation.

Exchanging uneasy looks with Ari, Adam glanced back at Brad. “Dad is okay.” 37
Stephani Hecht
“Then what in the hell is going on?” Brad demanded.
“Round up the others and let’s get going. I’ll tell you on the way there.”
Ari only hoped that Brad and the other Wardens would be willing to obey a leader as young and

inexperienced as Adam. While he already realized that he’d follow Adam to the ends of the earth, he
wasn’t so sure the others would be so easy to convince.

38
Coffin Dodger

Chapter Four

y the time Ari changed into his uniform, most B of the other Wardens had arrived. Meeting them

outside, Ari climbed into the closest vehicle, a van being driven by Jess, Rev’s Guardian. Marty slid
in next to Ari and immediately began nagging him.

“Did you make sure to check all your weapons?”
Ari sighed. While he knew she meant well, her questions sometimes bordered on insulting. He’d

been trained from the beginning to always take care of his battle gear, and to suggest otherwise, made
it seem as if she had no confidence in him at all.

Rev turned around and shot her a dark look.
“Ari knows what his duties are. He’s the one who taught me how to clean my weapons when I

was just a kid who didn’t know a longsword from a dagger.”

“I’m sure Marty doesn’t mean anything by her 39
Stephani Hecht
question. She’s just looking after her Warden,” Jess said, trying to smooth things over.
“No, she’s acting like he doesn’t know how to do his job,” Rev argued, his brown eyes growing

stormy with anger.

“It’s okay,” Ari said, giving his protective friend a smile of appreciation. “She just worries about

me. That’s all.”

“No, Rev is right,” Marty stunned Ari by admitting. “I shouldn’t have questioned you like that. I

sometimes forget that…” She trailed off, her face flushing as she seemed to struggle with the right
words. Since Ari couldn’t stand to watch her fumbling around almost painfully, he decided to have
some mercy on her. “Sometimes you forget that I’m highly trained and good at my job because I have
the habit of freaking out from time to time. It’s okay, I understand. If I was in your position, I would
feel the same way.”

Her eyes grew sad as a hint of regret crossed her gentle features. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll tell you what, you let me skip our next meditation session and all is forgiven,” he teased in an

attempt to lighten the mood.

Rev let out a gasp. “Oh, my God, did you just actually make a joke?”
Ari felt heat come over his face. “Yeah, what’s the big deal?”
40
Coffin Dodger
“I haven’t heard you do that since you came home.” Rev smiled. “It’s kind of nice to see that side

of you.”

That comment made Ari pause as he wondered what had caused the change because now that he

thought about it, he didn’t feel as angry or hurt as he usually did. Could all the meditation crap
actually be helping?

Or was it due to his encounter with Adam?
While Ari had done his fair share of shouting and being a jerk during that conversation, there’d

been the kiss. Plus Adam had, for the first time ever, shown that he could have some romantic feelings
toward Ari. Something Ari had never thought possible, even in his wildest dreams.

Not that one kiss could make all the painful memories go away—not by a long shot, but it did let

Ari know that not all of the world sucked and while that was just a tiny token, he planned on holding
on to it.

They were silent the rest of the way, a tense, uneasy feeling settling over the van. It wasn’t

because of the earlier conversation, but because they all knew what would be waiting for them once
they arrived at their destination.

All too soon, they arrived at a row of darkened, hulled-out buildings that were more rubble than

anything else. As Ari got out and glanced at the gaping holes in the roofs and the way most of the 41

Stephani Hecht
walls were tumbling down, he wondered how anybody could be desperate enough to squat there,

especially in the middle of November when the Michigan winter was approaching.

As they walked inside, the stench of blood hit him hard, despite all the cold air blowing through

the interior. Splatters of crimson covered the few intact walls, garbage and soiled clothing littered the
floor. Mixed in were the remains of what looked to be at least ten adult civilians. Then Ari saw what
was sitting in the center of the main room and his heart skipped from fear.

“They weren’t squatters,” he rasped.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked as he came and stood next to him.
Strangely enough, just having Adam by his side made some of the panic abide. At least enough for

Ari to breathe normally. “The people murdered here were blood slaves.”

“How can you be so sure?”
Ari nodded to the chair. “That’s the kind of thing the vampires use for feedings. It makes their

victims immobile, but still gives the vamps easy access to the slave’s neck.”

“So why did they kill the people, then?” Brad asked, his nose wrinkling in disgust. “Wouldn’t

they want to keep them alive so they could always have their food source handy?” Ari waved his
hand around to the carnage. “My 42

Coffin Dodger
guess is one or more of them lost control and took things too far. After all, since we’re dealing

with vampires who are already feral, we know their self-control is razor thin. It doesn’t take much for
one of them to get this crazy.” Brad toed one of the bodies. “If that’s the case, then why don’t we see
cages?”

Ari shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t keep their captives in cages. They could have used chains and

taken them with them when they abandoned this place.”

“But why leave the chair and the bodies?”
“Because the chair is bolted to the floor and the humans were no longer of any use to them. To the

vampires, a dead slave is of no more importance than any of the other garbage littering this floor,”
Ari replied dully.

Inside, he was shaking with fear, and all because of the sight of that damn chair. While it didn’t

look like the heavy, wooden one they had strapped him to, the thing was still close enough to bring
back the feelings of helplessness and terror.

The one in front of him was scarier looking, if truth be told. Made from thick metal with rows of

tiny holes drilled into the seat, it appeared so cold and clinical. Ari ran his fingers over the top of it,
the cool metal making him shiver as he wondered how the slaves must have felt as they were 43

Stephani Hecht
strapped to it, knowing that they might be breathing their last breath.
The others scattered out to look around, but Ari remained rooted in place, his hand still on the

chair. Adam came up behind him.

“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just seeing this brought back a lot of shit,” Ari declared, surprising himself by the

admission.

“Do you want to leave? Nobody will think any less of you.”
Ari gave a determined shake of his head. “I won’t ever walk away from my duty. No matter how

hard things might get.”

“Hey, Adam. You may want to get a gander at this,” Kamden called from across the room.
Adam and Ari both rushed over. Kamden was crouched down over a stack of papers. Like the

other Wardens he wore a cloak, but he had his hood pulled up to obstruct his mass of brown curls.
His effort was wasted since many errant strands still managed to free themselves of the heavy wool
material.

“What did you find?” Adam asked.
Kamden held up a photo. Ari moved closer to get a better look and immediately wished he hadn’t.

It was cheap paper and the quality wasn’t good, but it still highlighted all the details in their
horrifying glory.

44
Coffin Dodger
Taken sometime during Ari’s captivity, it showed him crouched down in a cage. The ground

around him was filthy, as was he. His hair hung in dull chunks around his overly pale face, the poor
lighting making his eyes look wild and almost feral as he gazed up at the camera.

It must have been taken during the first year of his captivity because he only wore the black

sweatpants he’d had on when they’d captured him. Several bite marks marred his bare chest, but
many more adorned his neck. Some of the wounds were partly healed over while others were raw
and fresh-looking, blood still dribbling from them.

Kamden turned the picture around and Ari felt as if his entire world was crashing down on him.
Scrawled on the back, in what looked to be blood was a short message:
Ari,
Missing you.
Love and kisses,
Benson
“No,” Ari whispered, taking a step back, almost as if the picture itself could jump up and attack

him.

“So I take it this Benson isn’t an old buddy or boyfriend,” Kamden quipped.
“No, he was my owner,” Ari replied, hating it that his voice wavered a bit on that admission.
“It seems like he was quite taken with you,” Kamden snarked in his usual way.
45
Stephani Hecht
“He said my blood tasted richer and was more potent because I was a Warden.” Marty walked

over and snatched the picture away, shooting Kamden a glare. “Unfortunately, Benson wasn’t lying.
Vampires have always claimed that Warden blood gives them the ultimate high. Some say it’s even
better than drinking from a witch or warlock and that says a lot since their blood carries magic.”

“Benson also told me that my blood was addictive. That’s why he never sold me, even though he

used to get offered a ton of money all the time. He would share me sometimes, but that was it.”

A shiver went through Ari’s body and when Adam came up behind him and wrapped him in a

protective embrace, Ari didn’t even think of pulling away. Instead, he found himself sinking back into
Adam’s body and drinking in the comfort the man’s touch offered.

Kamden gave Ari the once-over. “I don’t know about that. I would only offer fifty bucks for your

scrawny ass and that’s only if you promised to do the windows.”

“Fuck you,” Ari snapped.
That earned him a wicked grin from Kamden.
“Sure thing, baby. Just name the time and place.” Ari jumped in surprise when Adam tightened his

grip and let out a growl. “You better never 46

Coffin Dodger
touch him.”
Kamden’s smile only grew. “Oh, look at that.
Seems like somebody is awfully protective all of the sudden. Or maybe I should say, you’ve

always been protective. It’s just the first time you bothered to be so open about it.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Ari demanded.
Kamden may have been a pain in the ass before, but he’d never been quite this mean.
Standing, Kamden reached out and lightly ran a knuckle along Ari’s cheek, making the situation

even more confusing. “Let’s just say that Adam wasn’t the only one who missed you when you were
gone.”

Before Ari could even reply to that startling admission, Kamden walked away. Marty shook her

head as she watched him retreat. “What is it with you Wardens lately? The whole world is going to
shit and none of you can stop thinking with your privates. I swear. Some things never change.”

47
Stephani Hecht

Chapter Five

nce they finished at the warehouse, Adam O knew everybody just wanted to go to their respective

homes and wash the stench of death off them. Unfortunately, he had the whole issue of the shifting
leadership to address and he knew the sooner it was done, the better and so he ordered them all to the
training center.

As it was, Brad wasn’t taking the news well.
When Adam revealed everything during the car ride over to the attack scene, Brad had gone

through the stages of grief. Or at least the first four.

First Brad had been shocked that the Oracle would make such a drastic change during such a

turbulent time. Then Brad started to berate himself for not doing more to help his father out. Then he’d
turned his anger on Adam for agreeing to take the leadership, seeing it as an act of betrayal toward
their father. In fact, his exact words had been, “How could you do this to your own father?

48
Coffin Dodger
You’re nothing more than a power hungry douchecopter.”
Adam sat in silence and took it all because while he knew Brad was quick to anger, he was also

quick to calm down. Once he did, he’d realize that the move had been for the good of all the Wardens
and in a strange way, their father.

As they filed into the large meeting room, Adam noted his brother was smack dab in the middle of

the fourth stage—depression. Brad slumped down in one of the seats at the back of the room. He even
pulled his hood up, as if he wanted to shield himself from the rest of the group.

Once they were all seated, Adam paused a moment to gaze out at his fellow Wardens.
Besides Brad, there was Ari who gave Adam a small grin of encouragement. Kamden who looked

just plain bored. Adam’s cousin, Rev, just seemed confused. Zayne, the second oldest Warden, was
studying Adam closely. As the most analytical one in the group, he was the quickest to catch on to
things, and Adam felt certain Zayne already guessed what the meeting was about.

The twins, Haven and Sasha, were sitting next together, their dark brown heads pressed close

together as they whispered to each other. Adam had no clue as to what they might be talking about. As
flighty as the two were, the topic could 49

Stephani Hecht
be anything from what they’d found at the factory to the plot points of the latest episode of The

Walking Dead.

That left the last Warden, Teddy. Barely out of his teens and not very well trained, he was kind of

the runt of the group. Even sitting in the room of allies, he looked nervous as hell as he looked up
from under the fringe of blond hair that constantly fell into his bright green eyes.

“Are you going to tell us why we’re here?” Kamden finally called out.
Adam paused long enough to glare at him before deciding to just rip the Band-aid off the wound

and get it over with. “The Oracle has relieved my father of his duties.” A collective gasp met his
announcement…well, with the exception of Ari, Brad and Zayne, who just nodded like he’d been
expecting it all along.

“Why?” Teddy ventured in a timid voice.
“Ah…maybe because Stew has been drunk more often than not lately,” Kamden shot out with

heavy sarcasm.

“You don’t need to be an ass. The kid was just asking a valid question,” Zayne growled. He then

turned to Adam, “So I’m sure it’s safe to assume that she named you the new leader.”

“Yes, she did.” Adam braced himself for how the group would react.
Most nodded in satisfaction, but Kamden 50
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glowered. “How do we know that for sure? You could just be lying so you can have some

power.” Ari turned around and shot Kamden a murderous glare. “Adam would never lie about
something like that. If you don’t believe him, then why don’t you just go and ask her yourself?” No
one was surprised when Kamden blanched at the suggestion. While she might come off as a bit of an
airhead at times, nobody wanted to risk angering the Oracle. She could be deadly when ticked off.

“It would explain why she never assigned a Guardian to Adam like she had with the rest of us,”

Zayne said.

Now that Zayne mentioned it, Adam realized that was a valid point. Before then, he’d always

assumed he hadn’t been assigned one yet because the Oracle hadn’t found a perfect fit for him.

“Have you told the Guardians yet?” Sasha asked.
“No, I was going to talk to them next.”
“That ought to be fun.” Haven rolled his eyes.
In truth, Adam really didn’t expect any of the Guardians to have an issue with the new situation.
He’d known for a while that they’d been concerned about Stew’s leadership skills so they would

probably be thrilled.

“There’s something else I need to tell you,” Adam continued, might as well get it all out now.
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“Oh, goodie, this ought to be good,” Kamden drawled.
“The Oracle says there are more Wardens out there.”
For once, that actually made the group speechless. The silence hung in the air for several minutes

before Zayne shrugged, “I kind of figured that one out, too.”

Now it was Adam who felt stunned. “You did?”
“Well, sure. It only makes sense that some people dissented and would have left the fold over the

centuries. Even so, that would still mean their bloodlines would continue.”

“Do they know who they are?” Ari asked.
Adam rubbed a hand over his face. “The Oracle was a bit dodgy about that. She just said they

faded from memory.”

Zayne snorted. “That could mean anything from them not knowing who they really are to us having

Wardens out there who were born to hate us and them not wanting to have anything to do with us.”

“I’m thinking it’s going to be more of the second option,” Brad finally spoke up.
“How do you figure?” Adam challenged.
“Even out of the fold, they’d still be a target. I don’t see any father willingly letting his kin go

around life blind to the threats that could be 52

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coming their way.”
Adam let out a sigh. Things now looked even worse than he originally thought. Instead of there

being a group of unsuspecting, untrained Wardens out there, they may be facing a group of hostile men
who were just as skilled and trained as Adam and the others. And from the sounds of it, they wouldn’t
be very welcoming toward any fellow Wardens.

“We still need to find them and try to convince them to help us fight. This battle is growing every

day and there simply aren’t enough of us to cover all the ground we need to.”

“We could also approach some of the more friendly paranormal groups and see if they want to

help,” Zayne suggested.

“Yeah, because our history with bloodsuckers and weres is soooo fuzzy,” Kamden drawled.
“We’re so close to them that we’re two steps away from starting a scrapbooking and recipe swap

club.”

The twins snickered while Ari shot Kamden another dirty look. “Hey, I’ve had the worst history

as far as paranormals go, but even I think Zayne has a good idea. If we’re going to contain this threat,
then we need all the allies we can get.”

“How are we so sure it’s going to even get that bad?” Teddy asked. “Maybe the paranormals will

be so busy fighting each other, they’ll forget about 53

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the human race.”
“If the carnage at the factory tonight wasn’t enough to clue you in, then those damn slug demons

we had to deal with should have been,” Kamden snapped.

Adam glowered at him before continuing,
“While I don’t like the way Kamden just stated things, he’s right. I think he’s right. Not only that,

but the Oracle told me things are about to get a lot worse.”

As he continued to study Kamden, Adam couldn’t help but think of one certain line from the

prophesy, But the evil will come from within and threaten to kill them all. Could it be possible that
Kamden was that source of evil? While Adam didn’t even want to contemplate the possibility of a
fellow Warden turning on them, the guy did have a chip on his shoulder the size of the Detroit River.

Brad suddenly sprang to his feet and marched up to the front of the room. Once he reached Adam,

Brad went down on one knee and said, “I accept you as my leader. My allegiance and sword belong
to you.”

A heat came over Adam’s face as he felt both humbled and a bit self-conscious at the gesture,

especially when every other Warden in the same room got up and followed suit, each of them, one-
by-one, bowing before Adam and making the 54

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same pledge. Even Kamden did it, which nearly knocked Adam over with shock.
Ari came up last, dropping smoothly to one knee. As he gazed up, his expression so submissive

and sweet, desire swept through Adam. He was suddenly glad for all the thick layers of his uniform,
otherwise, Ari would have been face-to-face with the proof of Adam’s arousal. That would have only
made the already awkward scene all the more painful.

Then Ari spoke the words. “I accept you as my leader. My allegiance, my sword and I, belong to

you.”

Adam sucked in a breath at the way Ari altered his pledge. Going by the tense way Ari held

himself, it wasn’t an accident either.

Ari had finally admitted what Adam hoped for so long, that they did belong together. What’s

more, Ari had done so in a room full of witnesses.

Adam didn’t know what had prompted the sudden change in Ari’s attitude, but he was going to

take the offer while it was still there.

Reaching down, he grabbed Ari by the arm and gently pulled the Warden to his feet. Once Ari

was standing, Adam pressed their lips together in a hard kiss.

Damn, Ari tasted good. So much so, that Adam could have spent the next day exploring those

plump lips and sweet mouth. Since they weren’t 55

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alone, however, Adam didn’t have that opportunity so with great reluctance he pulled back.
It gave him great satisfaction to see the dazed, glossy, lust-filled expression in Ari’s eyes.
Rubbing his thumb over Ari’s bottom lip, Adam said, “And I pledge myself to you.”
“Whatever happened to us not being able to play with each other?” Sasha whispered to Haven.
“The Oracle seems to think that Ari and I make a great couple,” Adam replied, loud enough for

the entire room to hear.

“I wonder if that applies to all of us?” Haven said.
He and his twin began to eye Kamden up like he was a steak and they were a starving bear shifter.

Kamden swallowed a few times and actually began to eye the exit, as if he was looking to retreat.

Not one to miss up such a great opportunity, Adam grinned. “Oh, I’m sure it is. I hear that Kamden

is very, very lonely, too.” As the twins began to slowly advance on him, Kamden growled from the
corner of his mouth,

“I’ll get you back for this.”
Adam didn’t doubt that for a second, but he was too busy enjoying the other man’s discomfort too

much to worry about that. Taking Ari by the hand, Adam rushed for the door. On the way out, 56

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he called, “You’re all dismissed. Go home, grab a shower and some sleep and be back here in the

morning. I need to go talk to the Guardians, now.” Once they were outside, he and Ari burst out
laughing.

“Did you see the look on Kamden’s face when the twins started to stalk him?” Ari asked.
“It was priceless. Who would have ever imagined that it would be those two who knocked

Kamden down a peg?” Sobering, Adam reached out and pulled Ari into his arms. “So did you mean
what you said in there? Do you really belong to me?”

Ari gave a tiny nod. “Yeah, I did. I just need you to give me time and take things slow. I’m still

dealing with some shit so I don’t know how stable I am.”

Adam placed a kiss on the tip of Ari’s nose.
“You can have all the time you need. I’ve already waited this long for you. A little longer won’t

hurt me.”

“How long have you been attracted to me?”
“I can’t remember a time I didn’t want you.” Ari frowned. “But I used to think that you couldn’t

stand me. You used to treat me like I was such a pest.”

“That’s because you were,” Adam teased.
That earned him a swat on the chest. “I was not.”
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“Oh, please. You used to love to play pranks all the time. There were a few times where you

annoyed me so much that I almost threw you to the sea serpent in the Detroit River.”

“I only did that to get your attention. If you’d stopped long enough to notice anything, you would

have realized that ninety percent of the pranks I played were on you.”

Adam gave him another kiss, this one to the lips. “That’s a crazy way to try to get somebody’s

attention.”

“Yeah, well it’s not like they taught us Pick-up 101 along with all our battle training. I was

winging it.” Ari paused, cocking his head to the side. “Wait. Did you just say that there’s a sea
serpent in the Detroit River? I thought that was just a myth.”

Stepping away, Adam began to walk to the other meeting room. “Oh, Snuggles is very real.”
“Snuggles? What kind of name is that for a sea serpent?” Ari asked as he trailed after him.
“Don’t ask me. It was some vampire that gave it that name. Plus, technically, Snuggles is a river

serpent.”

When Ari laughed, it warmed Adam from the inside out. It had been so long since he heard that

sound on a regular basis that Adam didn’t think he’d ever take it for granted again.

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Chapter Six

ri waited outside while Adam met with the A Guardians. While he couldn’t hear what was going

on in the room, he could tell that there hadn’t been any raised voices. Ari hoped it meant things were
going well.

Inside, he was still buzzing from the few brief kisses he’d exchanged with Adam. Ari also felt

confused at his own actions. He still didn’t know what had possessed him to alter the vow the way he
had. Part of him was giddy that Adam admitted to having feelings in return, while another part of Ari
was terrified.

What was going to happen once Adam realized just how broken Ari was? Would he still want to

continue with the relationship or would Adam dump Ari when things became too hard?

Hell, Ari didn’t even know if he was ready for a relationship. Even before his capture, he’d

sucked at that kind of thing. With his current mental status, he didn’t know if he was even capable of
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caring for a goldfish, let alone being able to love another human being. For all he knew, the

vamps could have sucked all that ability out of him along with his blood.

And as for as having sex. The thought of getting that close to somebody made Ari’s stomach

clench. Just trying to picture it in his head, brought back all kinds of memories and none of them were
good. Before he’d been captured, he’d been a virgin so all of his sexual experiences had been full of
fear and pain.

Then he thought back to the way he felt when Adam kissed him and Ari felt only a happy fuzzy

sensation. By all rights, the embraces alone should have triggered a flashback for Ari. Instead, all that
happened was he’d found himself longing for more contact with Adam.

Letting out a sigh, Ari ran his hand through his hair. If he kept playing back all the emotions

running around in his head, he’d drive himself crazy. He could just go home to his place, but didn’t
relish going back to that quiet, sterile environment. Plus, he wanted to be there for Adam once the
meeting was over.

Deciding he needed something to occupy his mind, Ari grabbed his laptop and sat it on the

ground. He moved down the hall a few feet so he could have a good view of the door and know when
the meeting was over.

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Firing up his computer, he started to look for possible leads on where the Wardens from the other

sect might be. Since, he had no clue as where to start, he hacked into the paranormal criminal
database and started to poke around, looking for any crimes that involved humans. More specifically,
ones where a supernatural creature had its ass handed to him by a lesser being, which was
paranormal talk for human.

Ari didn’t uncover much, but what few items he did find, he made a note of them to investigate

further. One that really piqued his interest involved a man who somehow managed to singlehandedly
take out a band of feral vampires.

While the group of vamps had been small, numbering only a half dozen, no normal human should

have been able to do it. Not even a highly trained soldier could fight against an adversary like that.
Vampires were faster and stronger and a whole of hell of a lot meaner so the only humans who ever

really stood a chance against them were Wardens.

Wardens were gifted from birth with enhanced fighting skills and strength. They moved quickly,

too. That was why they were the ones who had been sent into battle with any supernatural threat since
the beginning of time.

Which made it all the more confusing that Ari had only ever been able to access records of their

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existence for the past couple of centuries. Before that time, all he’d been able to find was a blank

space. While paperwork got lost all the time in fires, floods and other natural disasters, something
told Ari that this wasn’t the case with the Wardens’

records.
No,
somebody
had
purposefully hidden away the past. Now the question that remained was, why?
The door opened, jerking Ari away from his musings. He closed his laptop and stood, watching as

all the Guardians filed out. While a few were frowning, most had huge grins on their faces. Adam
came out last and made a direct beeline to Ari.

“You’re still here,” Adam said in a pleased tone.
“I wanted to make sure everything went okay at your meeting,” Ari confessed, hoping he wasn’t

coming off as overly sappy.

His worries proved to be unfounded when Adam dove in for a quick kiss. “Thanks, I appreciate

the support.”

Feeling a bit bashful, Ari busied himself by putting his laptop into its case. “I guess I should get

going.”

“Did you drive here?”
“No, I live close so I usually just walk,” Ari hedged.
What he couldn’t admit was that he didn’t want 62
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to risk having a panic attack while driving. Being in enclosed spaces sometimes did that to him,

which was usually why he rode with Rev when they had to drive somewhere for a mission. Rev knew
about Ari’s claustrophobia and was really good at talking him through the rough patches.

“Why don’t you let me drive you home?” Adam offered.
God, the thought of spending some time alone with Adam was tempting, but Ari hesitated. While

the drive would be short, the last thing he wanted was to have a freak out in Adam’s presence.

Leaning in, Adam whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to talk to you the entire way.” Stunned

that his secret was out, Ari sucked in a breath. “Did Rev tell you?”

“No, I figured it out on my own.”
“I don’t want anybody to think I’m weak.” Tucking his finger under Ari’s chin, Adam forced him

to meet his gaze. When Ari saw only gentle understanding and no hint of judgment, a wave of relief
went through Ari.

“You’re not weak at all. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met a stronger man in my life,” Adam said.
Ari’s heart skipped a beat. “Really? Because I happen to think that I’m the biggest failure of a

Warden ever. In fact, I’m surprised the Oracle didn’t relieve me of my duties a long time ago.” 63

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“Ari, if you could only see yourself through my eyes, you’d see how wrong you are. You went

through something horrible, but you managed to come out of it alive.”

“That’s just it though. I watched, helplessly as so many others died. I’m a Warden and it’s my duty

to protect them and I failed at that.” Adam ran the pad of his thumb along Ari’s face and it was only
then that he realized he was crying. Great, just what he needed to add to his list of faults, public
blubbering.

“None of us have ever thought you were a failure, Ari. I know I can speak for all the Wardens

when I say that we are proud to have you as one of us.”

Ari wiped away the tears in short, jerky motions. “Shit, you must think I’m a basket case. I start

the day off by screaming from my flashbacks and end it with me crying. Let’s don’t forget my little
shout-fest in the middle of it all, too.”

“I happen to think this is the best day you had since we rescued you.”
Ari paused, hand still in the air as he gaped at Adam. “You can’t be serious.”
“It’s true. Up until today, you were shut off from everybody but Rev. You were like some

breathing, walking shell of a person. But today, for the first time ever, I finally saw some glimpses of
the old you.”

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“But I’m not the same person. I can’t be. Not after everything I’ve been through.”
“That’s true, but I think you’re going to be stronger than ever. All I ask is that you smile more.”

Adam traced a finger over Ari’s lips. “I like to see you happy.”

“Amazingly enough, for the first time ever since I was a blood slave, I think I may actually be.”

Ari blushed, thinking, there he went, being sappy again. At this rate, he might as well give up his
Warden cloak and start writing messages for greeting cards.

Adam grabbed his hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I don’t know about you, but I’m beat.”

While Ari felt tired, too, he doubted he’d be getting any sleep that night. While the day had been full
of wonderful events, the images in the factory were still stuck in his head. Even the note that had been
written directly to him had shook Ari more than even he wanted to admit to himself.

He’d been putting off his reaction by refusing to dwell on it, but knew that once he was alone in

his apartment, all those emotions would come crashing down on him.

Since he didn’t want Adam to worry any more over him than he already did, Ari pasted on a fake

smile. “Yeah, I think I’m going to crash as soon as I hit the mattress.”

They walked out, the cool air biting into Ari’s 65
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skin and making him shiver, despite the heavy cloak. Damn, while he loved Michigan, he hated

the winters. It was even worse when they had to battle out in the stuff, too. Snow and ice did not make
for the best combat conditions.

Adam led him to a beat-up red pickup truck and unlocked the door for Ari before going over to

the driver’s side and getting in. It took several turns of the key before the motor sputtered to life.

“Sorry, it’s kind of old,” Adam replied a bit sheepishly.
Ari nodded in understanding. While they get some pay for performing their Warden duties, it

wasn’t much. It was one of the reasons why Ari lived in a crap apartment, but since he wasn’t there
much, he really didn’t mind.

True to his promise, Adam kept up a light banter the entire way home. Talking about nothing of

importance, but his soothing voice still managed to keep Ari rooted. Ari tried hard not to dwell too

much on the factory or the love note that had been left there for him. He knew that if he did, he would
start to panic and he wanted to be alone and in private for that.

Soon enough, Adam was pulling into Ari’s apartment. Although even calling it that was a stretch,

since the place was only one step above an efficiency hotel. Ari opened the door and started to say
goodbye, but froze as the hairs on the back 66

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of his neck began to stand on end.
Something wasn’t right. He didn’t know what it was, but all his alarm bells were ringing. He

glanced up at Adam and noted by the way the Warden’s jaw was clenched that he felt it, too.

Ari glanced at his door and his stomach flipped when he noticed it was slightly ajar.
“I don’t suppose that you forgot to lock up when you left this morning?” Adam asked, even as he

pulled a gun from under his cloak.

Ari followed suit, the cool feel of the grip of his gun in his hand giving him a small measure of

comfort. “No, I always make sure everything is secure when I leave.”

They slid out of the truck, not shutting the doors behind them lest they alert the intruders of their

presence. Using a series of hand signals, Adam ordered Ari to approach from the left while Adam
came in from the right.

They met on either side of the door, their backs pressed against the cheap brick wall. Giving Ari a

nod, Adam readied his gun and pushed open the door.

As soon as Adam let out a muttered curse, Ari knew it wasn’t good. Walking cautiously in after

Adam, Ari’s heart sank at the condition of his apartment.

Somebody had taken what was already a pit and made it look worse. While Ari hadn’t owned 67
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much furniture, it was all now shredded and broken into pieces, wood mixing in with puffs of

stuffing. His drawers were ripped out, his clothing scattered around, and going by the ripe stench in
the air, the intruders had even gone the extra mile by pissing on his belongings.

Deep gouges marred the walls, the angle and shape of them indicating they’d been made by claw

marks. Several holes had been punched into the plaster and there were smears of blood all over the
place.

Since the kitchen and living room were basically in one open space, that left only two other rooms

in the place to check out, the bathroom and the bedroom. Ari took the lead this time, slowly advancing
toward the closed door leading to his room.

Just as he was reaching for the handle, the door sprang open and a vampire leaped out. Ari let out

a startled yelp as he fell down to the ground, his spine connecting painfully with a piece of splintered
wood.

Adam rushed over to help, but another vampire jumped out and joined in the fight. Ari heard

Adam let out a curse before the sounds of fighting followed.

The vampire on top of Ari gazed down at him.
At one time it may have passed for human, but the thing had gone so far feral it looked more like a

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zombie from the twins’ favorite TV show. Except the thing on top of Ari had freaky red eyes that

glowed.

What in the hell? Not even the vamps that’d held him captive looked this bad. Sure, they had a

more wild, scuzzy edge to them than the other vampires did, but this feral vamp attacking him seemed

to be something new altogether.

Then it bared its fangs with a loud hiss and Ari decided he could wonder to the why later, that

right now he needed to manage to get out of this situation with his neck intact.

Ari went to lift his gun, only to realize that he’d lost it when he’d been tackled. Great! Just when

he thought things couldn’t get any worse. He tried to grab for his dagger, but the vamp started to lash
out with his claws so Ari soon became more occupied with deflecting the blows.

Damn it, but the thing was fast. Strong as shit, too. At one point it may have been a woman, going

by the long scraggly, black hair, but it was hard to tell since its face was mostly grey sagging skin.

Ari and the vampire rolled around the floor, both of them exchanging blows as they fought for

dominance. Twisting to his side, Ari finally managed to wrap his fingers around the hilt of his dagger.

As he pulled it out, the vampire struck, its fangs 69
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sinking deeply into Ari’s neck. Ari howled, both in pain and sheer panic as all the memories from

his previous forced feeding came rushing in on him.

It felt as if a vice were crushing his lungs as panic flooded his body. He tried to fight it, but panic

made him freeze and all he could do was lie there, a whimper passing his lips as the vampire began
to feed from him.

No, not again. Anything but this.
A voice in his head screamed at him to fight, to use the dagger to kill the damn thing, but fear

continued to hold Ari in its paralyzing grip. Then just as he was about to give into the darkness, he
heard it—Adam’s cry of pain.

Oh, hell no!
They could do whatever they wanted to Ari, but he was damned if he would let the same thing

befall the man he cared so much about.

Reaching down deep, Ari found a strength he long thought he’d lost. Letting out a feral sounding

growl of his own, he pulled the dagger and drove it into the side of the vampire’s head.

It let out an inhuman shriek as it fell to the side, blood already pouring from the wound. Ari

staggered to his feet and gave the still twitching body of his attacker one final kick before he jerked
his blade free.

He turned around to help Adam. As Ari began to walk forward, the room tilted a bit and he 70
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realized that the vampire had taken way too much blood from him and that had left Ari weak.
That still wasn’t going to stop him from saving Adam. He’d meant it earlier when he said Adam

belonged to him and Ari would be damned if some bastard vamp would take the man from him.

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Chapter Seven

dam found himself supine, looking up into A the face of one of the ugliest vampires he’d ever seen

in his life. Not exactly the way he’d hoped his night would end.

The worst part of all was the fucker was winning. As a human, it must have been big because in

vamp form, it was humungous. Not only that, but it was stronger than any other opponent Adam ever
faced before.

It let out a snarl, then bared its yellow fangs.
Saliva dripped, the splatters hitting Adam in the face.
“Gross,” he hissed as he continued to try kicking at the thing.
He would have just shot it, but the damn thing had taken his gun. Damn it, once Brad heard about

that, he’d never stop teasing Adam.

Provided Adam lived long enough to see his brother again.
“Mine,” the vampire growled as it licked the 72
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side of Adam’s neck. “Yummy.”
“Oh, hell no!” Adam protested. “Not even if I had ten pairs of beer goggles on.” The vampire

laughed, then lifted its head in preparation for striking. Adam winced as he waited for the pain.

Ari’s battle cry filled the air as he seemed to come from nowhere. He held his longsword in his

hands. Ari quickly swung it to the side, slicing off the vampire’s head.

Adam felt a millisecond of relief before hot blood began to spray from the vampire’s body. It was

steaming, black and foul smelling. Adam closed his mouth, but wasn’t quick enough and got a good
taste of the crap. His stomach rolled as the bitter, rancid, stuff washed over his tongue. It reminded
him of the time Brad had tricked him into drinking some spoiled eggnog.

Ari kicked the rest of the vampire off Adam and knelt down. “Are you okay?” Adam rolled the

opposite side of Ari and emptied the contents of his stomach. He felt bad for adding more to the mess
on Ari’s carpet, but it couldn’t be helped. Adam had to get the tainted blood out of him.

“Sorry,” Adam groaned.
Ari ran a soothing hand over Adam’s back. “It’s okay. I think I pretty much already lost my

security deposit on this place so may as well go to 73

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town and really rip it apart.” Adam let out a strained laugh because his stomach was still doing

backflips. “Do you think your neighbors are going to call the police because of all the noise?”

“No, if anything, they’re just ticked because we didn’t invite them to the party. Although we

should probably check to make sure that they’re okay and the vampires didn’t decide to have a snack
while they were waiting for me to get home.”

Adam rolled over and, for the first time, noticed the gaping bite wound in Ari’s neck. Reaching

up, Adam tentatively touched the wound, only to pull back at the last moment for fear of further
hurting Ari.

Jumping to his feet, Adam ran into the kitchen and somehow managed to find one dishtowel that

had avoided being soiled. He ran back and pressed it to Ari’s wound.

“We need to get out of here, before more of these…” Adam trailed off as he looked down at the

bodies. “Whatever the hell these things are, show up. I thought they were feral vampires at first, but
these things are too ugly for even that.”

“What about my neighbors?” Ari argued, even as blood continued to soak the rag at his throat.
“I’ll call some of the other Wardens and have them come and check things out.” 74
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Ari nodded and got to his feet, only to wobble.
Adam reached out to help him and noted how pale Ari’s face looked.
“I’m going to have Zayne meet us at my apartment,” Adam declared.
Zayne was the only one of them who had any medical experience since he’d taken a break from

his Warden training long enough to get an RN

degree. While it wasn’t a hospital, it was the best they could do since there was no way in hell

they’d be able to explain Ari’s injuries to a civilian.

No doctor worth their caliber would ever buy that the bite on Ari’s neck came from a dog or some

other animal.

Ari glanced around. “They ruined all my stuff.” Putting an arm around Ari’s shoulder, Adam led

him outside. “I know they did, baby. I’ll have the others go through it and see if there is anything that
can be saved.”

“Saved? Those ugly fuckers peed on everything. How can they save that? Even if we wash it a

hundred times, I’ll never be able to wear it again.”

“You can borrow some of Brad’s clothes.” Ari shot him an incredulous look. “Are you kidding

me? Have you seen some of the stuff your brother wears? I swear he’s stuck in the eighties.

He’s the only person I know who has a pair of parachute pants. I didn’t even know they still 75
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made those damn things.”
Actually, Brad had two pairs of parachute pants, but Adam didn’t think that it was the right

moment to point that out. He just led Ari back out to the truck and gingerly helped him get in.

Fastening the seatbelt, Adam adjusted the strap so it didn’t rub against Ari’s wound before going

around and getting behind the wheel.

He drove as fast as he could to his apartment.
Along the way, he called Zayne and asked the Warden to meet them there before calling Rev.
While Rev sounded concerned for Ari, he promised that he and Jess would go over and check on

the neighbors and see if there was anything salvageable in the apartment.

Ari was strangely quiet, even for him, and Adam began to worry even more. A normal vampire

bite would have been bad enough, but since they had no clue as to what those things were back at the
apartment, there was no telling how a bite may affect Ari.

By the time Adam pulled up in front of the apartment he shared with Brad, Ari was in a semi-

conscious state.

“They won’t let me out of the cage,” Ari whimpered.
“You’re just having a flashback, baby. You’re safe and I have you,” Adam assured him as he

turned off the car.

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“No, I’m still there.” A shiver went over Ari’s body. “I’m so cold. They won’t give me any

clothes and my feet hurt so bad from standing on the bars on the bottom of my cage. Why won’t they at
least give me some shoes? I’m so desperate, I’ll even take them from one of the dead bodies. Just so I
can get rid of some of the pain.” Ari let out another whimper. “Why can’t they at least give me that?”

Adam got out and went around the truck, opening the door. He undid the seatbelt and carefully

gathered Ari up into his arms. Ari’s head rolled the side, his face coming to rest on Adam’s chest.

Brad was waiting for him at the door, and Adam rushed Ari in and laid him down on the couch.
“What happened?” Brad asked before he gave Adam a disgusted once over. “And what in the hell

do you have all over you. No offense, dude, but you reek.”

“It’s poisonous,” the Oracle yelled as she suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room.
She had Zayne with her and the Warden looked a little green. He put a hand to his stomach as he

took a few deep breaths. “Next time you’re going to pop a guy out of his house into somebody else’s
living room, you may want to give him a 77

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warning.”
The Oracle made shooing motions with her hands. “There wasn’t time. We needed to get to Ari

and Adam before we lost them.” Adam blinked in confusion, something he did with alarming
frequency in the Oracle’s presence.

“I feel just fine.”
“Only because you vomited most of the blood, but you still have enough in your system for it to

kill you if we don’t move quickly.” She pulled a flask from her white robes and handed it to Adam.

“Here, drink this. It will neutralize the poison.”
“What about Ari?” Adam asked as he took the flask.
Zayne was already kneeling by the couch, pulling the rag away from the wound. Adam winced

when he saw that the bite mark was now ringed with black and a spider web of gray steaks was
spreading out over the rest of Ari’s neck.

Ari’s eyes fluttered open and he gazed blearily at Zayne. “Go help Adam first. He’s more

important.”

“The Oracle is tending to him now.”
“Oh, no. You can’t leave him alone with that bitch. I don’t trust her.”
The entire room froze as they waited with bated breath to see how she would react to that. Instead

of the fury that Adam feared, a sad frown marred her beautiful features.

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“I apologize on his behalf. He’s out of his mind and doesn’t know what he’s saying,” Adam

hastened to say, hoping to smooth over the situation.

“Maybe not, but he does mean it,” she replied softly.
“Please, don’t punish him for it,” Adam begged.
“Don’t worry. I’ve known how he feels about me for a long time. If I was going to zap him for it, I

would have done it a long time ago.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Honestly, I don’t blame him for his
anger. He thinks I should have been able to protect him and his family better. He’s right, too. I should
have done better by them.” Adam opened his mouth to argue with her, but she nudged his hand. “Drink
up.” Left with no other option, Adam obeyed, opening the flask and taking a deep swig. He shuddered
as it burned on the way down, reminding him of the one and only time he’d taken a sip of his father’s
whiskey.

“Damn, this is terrible. How much of it do I need to drink?” he complained.
“All of it.”
The Oracle moved over and crouched next to Zayne. Placing her fingers over Ari’s wounds, she

uttered a soft incantation. It was in some language that Adam had never heard before and he found 79

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himself liking the soothing, almost musical lilt to all the words.
A bright golden light pulsated over her hands.
Then the glow slowly traveled over Ari’s body. It lingered for only a moment before it died

away.

When Adam saw that Ari’s skin had its healthy coloring again, his shoulders slumped in relief.
She moved her fingers away and all traces of the bite mark were gone. Then Adam looked even

closer and his jaw dropped— all the marks were gone, even the old, ragged scars from Ari’s
captivity.

“If you could have healed him all along, why didn’t you do it sooner?” Adam demanded, now

feeling his own fair share of anger at the Oracle.

She sat back on her heels and ran a loving hand through Ari’s hair. No longer in the throes of the

poison,

he’d
finally
succumbed
to
unconsciousness.
“He wasn’t ready to let them go before now,” the Oracle said as she continued stroking Ari’s

hair.

“Why is it different now?” Brad asked.
The Oracle turned and looked at Adam.
“Because Ari finally found a reason to want to live again.”
Brad let out a snorting sound and pointed at Adam. “You mean the entire reason SpongeBob

Gloomy Pants has finally decided to cheer up is 80

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because of this dork?”
Zayne let out a groan as he shook his head. “I don’t know what’s worse, Kamden’s pissy attitude

or your mouth.”

Brad flashed a wicked grin. “Oh, my mouth is much better. You should hear the guys at Ice talk

about it.”

Adam glanced at the Oracle, horrified that his brother was letting his yap get away from him in the

presence of what was basically the highest esteemed being in their life. She was grinning, however.
She even bounced a bit on her toes.

“Details! Details! Details! Tell the Oracle every naughty little deed.”
Brad cocked a brow. “But if you’re all-knowing, then don’t you already, well…know?”
“Yes, but I want to hear you describe it.” Grabbing him by the arm, she led him to the kitchen,

pausing to call over her shoulder, “Adam, I never said for you to stop drinking that antidote.

I want it all gone by the time I get back.” As Adam took another swig of the foul tasting brew,

Zayne quipped, “Are you sure you want to lead this crazy bunch?”

Shuddering as he swallowed, Adam replied, “I don’t think I have much choice in the matter. The

Oracle told me I was the new leader. She never asked me if I wanted the job.” And everybody knew
that once the Oracle 81

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spoke, there was no disobeying. Adam just hoped he was up to the task because at the moment,

he’d never felt more young and inexperienced in his life.

Later, after he showered and changed into fresh clothes, Adam went back out to check on Ari. The

Oracle and Zayne had left so the place was quiet except for the low humming of the TV from Brad’s
room.

“How are you feeling?” Brad asked as he came in.
“Fine. A little sore from the fight, but nothing major.”
“What were those things anyway?”
“The Oracle is going to check the bodies out for herself, but she thinks they were feral vampires

who were bitten by ghouls.”

Brad blanched. “I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“Me either. According to the Oracle, it has to be done purposefully by using some kind of ancient

vampire ritual. But even then, it hasn’t been done in centuries because the resulting creatures are too
wild and unstable.”

“How unstable?”
“The last time they were made, they got loose and almost wiped out half of Europe.”
“Shit, that’s really bad.”
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“Yeah, that seems to be the way things have been going for us lately.”
“So who do you think is doing it now?”
“My guess would be, some rogue vampire who’s taken control of a band of ferals. None of the

Pure Born vampires would want to risk having all that attention directed their way by the human
government and the Drones wouldn’t know how to do the ceremony. Plus, from what I’ve heard, the
Drones are the good guys in their war so even if they did have the knowhow, this kind of thing
wouldn’t be their style.”

“Do you think it was that Benson guy who was holding Ari?”
“That’s exactly who I think it is. It was not a mistake that they were at his apartment tonight.” A

shiver went through Adam as he thought about what would have happened had he not insisted on
driving Ari home. Warden or not, there would have been no way he’d have been able to fight them off
on his own. Ari could have been recaptured or worse, killed.

Brad gazed down at Ari. “Do you think we should take his boots off so he’s more comfortable?”
Adam shook his head. “Rev says that Ari only takes them off when he showers.”
“Why?”
“When he was captured, he was only in a pair 83
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of sweatpants and the vampires kept him that way for a year so Ari is terrified of ever being taken

unprepared again.”

Reaching down, Adam brushed away a lock of blond hair that had fallen over Ari’s forehead. Ari

frowned and mumbled something in his sleep, but he didn’t flinch from the touch.

“You love him, don’t you?” Brad asked.
“Yeah,” Adam admitted. “What gave me away?”
“You mean besides the kiss that you planted on him in the meeting room tonight?” Brad laughed

before growing serious. “I’ve known since that time he was missing. You were such a wreck then.

For a while, I thought I was going to lose you, too.”
Adam wanted to argue that one, but knew it was true. He recalled how wild with rage he’d been

during those two years of darkness. How he’d been reckless and hadn’t given a damn if he’d lived or

died.

“Does he love you?” Brad hedged.
“I sure hope so,” Adam replied as he continued to stare down at Ari. Clearing his throat, Adam

changed the subject. “Have you talked to Dad?”

“Yeah, I went and saw him right after our meeting tonight.”
“How’s he taking everything?”
Brad screwed up his face. “He’s acting like it’s 84
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the best piece of news he’s ever heard. You would have thought Christmas came early for him or

something. He’s even packing for an extended vacation to Hawaii. “

“Is there anything wrong with that?”
“I just thought that the job meant more to him.
Heck, I thought we meant more to him. I know most Wardens don’t get close to their sons, but I’d

hoped he was different.”

Adam clapped him on the shoulder. “He is, but he’s never going to be a normal father to us.” Brad

shrugged. “I guess so, I’d just always hoped for more out of him. I mean it’s bad enough that our own
mother doesn’t want anything to do with us.”

“That’s her loss because she’s the one missing out. You’re great and I’m proud to call you my

brother.”

Brad gave a weak smile and Adam knew a joke would be coming. It was always that way with

Brad. He just couldn’t handle it when things got too mushy. “Yeah, make sure you remember that
when you see what I did to Kamden.” Adam groaned. “Oh, God. What did you do to piss him off this
time?”

“Let’s just say that twenty dollars’ worth of shaving cream goes a long way when it comes to

filling up a locker.”

“You do know he’s going to kick your ass? He 85
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has his best weapons in there.”
“Yeah, well maybe if he has to clean them, he’ll be too busy to gawk at Ari. Nobody messes with

my brother’s boyfriend and gets away with it.” Giving Adam a playful punch in the arm, Brad left and
went back to his bedroom. Left again with Ari, Adam found himself unable to look away from the
man’s sheer beauty. And that’s what Ari was, too. Even though Adam could imagine Ari bristling
under such a term. He was a warrior through-and-through and didn’t like it when anybody saw him as
anything else.

Adam knew that he should go to bed. It was already late and they had to be back at the training

facility in just a few hours. Yet, Adam found himself unable to leave his man alone so he went into his
bedroom only long enough to grab some pillows and blankets. Taking them back to the living room,
he covered up Ari, then settled down on the loveseat.

It wasn’t the worst place he’d ever slept, but it wasn’t exactly comfy. His body was way too big

and no matter how he turned, Adam couldn’t find a comfortable position. Yet, leaving for his bed
wasn’t an option. If it meant being by Ari, Adam would put up with any amount of discomfort.

Taking one last look at the man who’d come to mean so much to him, Adam finally drifted into a

fitful sleep.

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Chapter Eight

ri woke with a start, his heart hammering as A he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings.
Out of reflex, he reached under his pillow for his gun only to find it missing.
Panic clawed at his chest and his breaths began to come out ragged and short. Then he scanned his

surroundings, spotted Adam sleeping a few feet away and all the fear ebbed from his body.

The events of the evening slowly came back.
Adam had taken Ari to his apartment, but the place had been trashed. Then they were attacked by

the freak twins and Ari had been bitten.

Everything was a bit fuzzy after that. He dimly recalled saving Adam’s life, but everything after

that was a blank.

“Well, look who’s awake,” a familiar voice called from the kitchen.
Ari turned to see Brad standing there, cereal bowl in hand, wearing only a pair of striped sleeping

pants. Ari knew he should be turned on 87

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by Brad’s toned chest and ripped abs, but all he cared
about
was
Adam,
who
looked
uncomfortable as hell sleeping on the loveseat.
“He stayed there all night. Isn’t that sweet?” Brad cooed sarcastically.
“What happened?” Ari asked as he pushed the blankets off his body and swung his feet around.
“Well, going by the fact that you both still have your clothes on, I’d say nothing worth talking

about.”

Ari glared.
Brad shrugged. “Okay, if you want to be a party dud, I’ll go along. You were bit by the ghoul

vampire last night and almost died.”

“Ghoul vampire?” Ari echoed, although now that Brad mentioned it, that would make sense,

given the creature’s appearance.

During his research, Ari had seen old tales about such monsters, but he’d never thought they had

really existed. But then again, he never thought that there was really a sea serpent in the Detroit River
either.

“I guess their bites are as poisonous as hell. You would have died had the Oracle not popped in

and saved your ass.”

Ari’s stomach did a strange flip. “The Oracle was here?”
“Yeah, and you were pretty mean to her. You may want to buy her some flowers or something 88
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because you owe her a big-ass apology.” Like that was ever going to happen. Ari would just as

soon French kiss one of those creatures from the night before, but kept that opinion to himself.

He raised his hand to his neck, pushing down his ever-present turtleneck, to feel how well she’d

healed him. When his fingers encountered smooth skin instead of the familiar sensation of rough scars,
he gasped.

“Yeah, she healed the whole thing,” Brad said, answering Ari’s unspoken question.
Wanting to see it for himself, Ari jumped to his feet. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Brad pointed with his spoon. “First door on the left. If you find yourself in a pit full of clothes and

Alf posters, you’ve gone too far.” Ari paused mid-step to ask Brad who in the hell Alf was, then
decided better of it and just beat a path to the bathroom. He found it easily enough and went directly
to the mirror. Ripping off his cloak, Ari took off his shirt to get a good look at the skin underneath.

As he peered into the mirror, his throat constricted painfully with pent-up emotion. They were

gone. All of them. Even the fainter, circular bite marks on his chest. Still not daring to believe what
his eyes were seeing, Ari ran his fingers over the flesh, only to encounter a smoothness that 89

Stephani Hecht
hadn’t been there in years.
A noise sounded from behind him and Ari spun around to find Adam standing in the doorway.

Like Brad, Adam only wore a pair of sleep pants, although his were black and hung low on his hips.
He was also bare-chested and, unlike with Brad, Ari found himself very attracted to what he saw.

He licked his lips as his gaze slowly traveled over Adam’s tan hairless chest. The muscles were

so defined and perfect that the guy must put hours in at the gym. Ari imagined just how hot that must
look, Adam all sweaty and worked up from lifting weights, his muscles tight from being used so
much.

“Are you okay? You have as funny look on your face,” Adam said.
“No, I’m horny as hell,” Ari rasped as he palmed his aching cock.
It stunned and delighted him at the same time.
All this time, he’d been worried that his abuse would have left him incapable of ever having sex

again. Yet, there he stood as aroused and ready as hell. In fact, he felt that if he didn’t get some relief
soon, he’d jump out of his skin.

Adam stared at him stupidly for a few beats before he finally seemed to catch on. Shutting the

door behind him, he locked it and then was on Ari like a man starved.

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Ari met him halfway, their mouths colliding into a hard, almost brutal kiss. Their teeth clacked

together as they both fought for dominance. In the end, Ari let Adam take over, but only because it felt
so damn right to have somebody else in charge of his pleasure for once instead of his pain.

Carding his fingers through Ari’s hair, Adam gave a slight tug, forcing Ari to look up. When he

saw the hunger in the other man’s face, the almost wild look in his eyes, a shudder of desire went
through Ari. Oh yeah, he was going to have fun submitting to this fight.

“I meant what I said last night. You’re mine and I better never see Kamden even look your way,”

Adam growled.

“He can look all he wants, but he’s never going to have me,” Ari vowed, meaning it with every

fiber in his body.

Rubbing his aching cock against Adam, Ari allowed a small whine to slip past his lips,
“Please.”
Adam gave him a savage grin. “Is my baby wanting?”
“Yes, and stop calling me that. I’m a full grown man, not some brat anymore.”
“You still don’t know when to keep quiet.” Adam nipped at Ari’s bottom lip in a gentle

reprimand that went straight to Ari’s cock.

Reaching between them, Adam unzipped Ari’s 91

Stephani Hecht
pants and lowered them to his hips. Adam then jerked down his own pants so both their cocks

were free.

Ari glanced down at Adam’s dick, the most delicious shiver going through him as he saw how

large it was. A drop of pre-cum glistened at the tip and Ari wanted to taste it so bad, he let out a soft
whimper.

As if reading his mind, Adam shook his head.
“We don’t have much time. I promise later that we can spend the whole night exploring each

other.”

“But I’m horny now.” Ari pouted, knowing he sounded a bit like the spoiled rich girl from Willy

Wonka.

“I’ll take care you. Don’t ever doubt because I will make sure you’re satisfied.” Properly

chastised, Ari clamped his lips together and nodded. That good behavior earned him an approving
smile. Adam reached over and grabbed a tube of lotion from the top of the counter. Squirting some in
his hand, he reached down and wrapped his fingers around both their cocks.

Ari let out a gasp. “Fuck, that’s cold.” Adam shut him up with another kiss, this one so scorching

that it made Ari’s head buzz. At the same time, Adam began to slowly stroke them off.

Pleasure ripped through Ari’s body and he was helpless to hold in his cries. It’d been so long

since 92

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he’d gotten off that he knew he wouldn’t last long, yet at the same time he didn’t want the moment

to ever end, especially when Adam began to whisper the most wicked things in Ari’s ear.

“You’re so fucking hot. I dreamed of this moment for so long. I can’t tell you how many times I

jacked off in that very shower over there, all the while imagining it was you who was touching me.
When I get you home tonight, I’m going to pound you into the mattress so hard you won’t be able to
walk for days. Then I’ll make you suck me off for the rest of the night. And if you’re good, I’ll return
the favor.”

“Yes! All of it, yes!” Ari screamed as he came.
He thrust up into the surrounding grip once as his cock seemed to explode, hot semen covering his

stomach, some of it dribbling onto Adam’s hand. No sooner had Ari finished shuddering, then Adam
let out a shout of his own as his cum spurted out and joined the mess.

Adam still continued to stroke them a few moments as they slowly came back down from their

orgasm-induced high. Ari rested his head on Adam’s shoulder as he caught his breath, a wave of
giddiness flowing over him.

“Wow, that was fantastic, “Ari declared.
Adam chuckled. “Just fantastic?” Ari lifted his head and lightly pressed their lips together for a

brief kiss. “Okay, how about 93

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amazing, mind-blowing and earth-shattering?” Cocking a brow as if thinking it over, Adam finally

said, “That sounds better.” Stepping back, he gave Ari’s bare thigh a light tap. “Hop into the shower
and I’ll grab us some breakfast. We only have an hour until we’re due back at the training center.”

Ari groaned, but obeyed. As he stripped off the rest of his clothes and stepped into the shower,

Adam washed his hands and then left the bathroom.

Ari showered quickly, only pausing to breathe in the scent of the shampoo. He recognized it

immediately as Adam’s and it gave Ari a sense of satisfaction to know that he’d be spending the rest

of the day smelling like the man.

Getting out, Ari dried off and went out to find some clothes laid on the bed for him. Ari

recognized them as some of Adam’s workout clothes. He put them on. Since Adam wasn’t that much
bigger, they only hung on Ari a bit. He rolled up the legs of the pants before putting his boots back on.
He bagged up his uniform to be cleaned, then went out to the kitchen.

As soon as he walked in, Adam shoved a bowl in his hands and grunted, “Eat, quick. We have to

leave in a couple of minutes.” Ari started to scowl over the brash treatment, but Adam softened it
with wink and a smile.

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Feeling warm inside, Ari sat down and started to eat. He was further delighted to discover that it

was Fruity Pebbles which happened to be his favorite.

Brad gave him a knowing smile. “So, Ari, how are you feeling this morning?” Not about to let the

jackass get one up on him, Ari shot back, “A lot happier than you.” Instead of getting insulted, Brad
just laughed.

“Yeah, so I heard.”
“Leave it,” Adam growled at his brother.
“So does this mean that Ari is moving in now?” Brad goaded.
Ari paused, not sure how to answer that one.
He did know one thing for certain, there was no way he could ever go back to his old place. Even

if he did clean it up, he’d never be able to get the memories of those freaks out of his mind.

He couldn’t move back in with Rev either. Not only were they no longer going to college, but Rev

was with Jess now and Ari didn’t want to butt in and be the unwanted third-wheel.

Adam looked at Ari. “How about it? Do you want to move in here?”
“Where would I sleep?” Ari hedged.
Brad hooted with laughter. “If you have to ask that, my brother didn’t do his job right in the

bathroom a few minutes ago.”

Ari felt himself blush to the tips of his ears.
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“Adam was fantastic. I just didn’t want him to feel obligated to take care of me.” Adam reached

out and took Ari’s hand. “I’m not asking you because I feel I have to. I want you here. I know that
things are going a bit more quickly than normal, but given the circumstances, I think we can break
some rules.” Ari thought that over. Was he ready to move in with Adam? While Ari felt pretty certain
he’d loved the guy for a long time, he was still scared of how Adam would react when he saw some
of Ari’s newfound quirks.

“I have nightmares sometimes. Really bad ones.
Plus, I freak out during storms. And I still have to sleep fully clothed. I have such a hang-up over

it that I would shower fully dressed if I could.” He put his free hand over his mouth, stunned that he’d
just blurted that all out. Adam just smiled at him.

“That’s okay, babe.”
“Yeah, if we went through some of the shit you did, we’d be the same way,” Brad chimed in.
“So does that still mean you want me?” Ari asked timidly.
Adam got up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “There is nothing that could ever make me not

care for you.”

“Thanks,” Ari whispered, making sure to glance at Brad so the Warden knew the gratitude 96
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was directed at both of them.
“Hey, you’re family now,” Brad said with a shrug.
Adam sat down and they ate in silence for a few moments before Ari asked, “So what did the

others find at my apartment last night?”

“Well, first off, your neighbors were okay,” Adam said.
Brad snorted. “They were so stoned out of their heads, they didn’t hear a damn thing. Which is

amazing considering the damage that was done to your place.”

“Were there any other creatures there?” Ari shuddered at the thought of there being more of those

things.

“No, but get this. When Rev and Jess got there, the bodies were gone.” Brad made a poofing

motion with his fingers. “There wasn’t even any ash or anything like with normal vampires. All they
found were some streaks of blood, like something or somebody came in and dragged the bodies
away.”

“Gross,” Ari wrinkled his nose. “Were they able to salvage any of my stuff?”
Adam gave a sad shake of his head. “I’m sorry, but no. They did a good job of ruining your

belongings.”

A lump formed in Ari’s throat. While he couldn’t have cared less about the clothes and 97
Stephani Hecht
stuff, there were some old photos of his family and some weapons his father had gifted him that

Ari would miss.

Then he realized that he could have lost Adam last night and all the other stuff didn’t matter

anymore. He had the most important thing sitting in front of him and Ari thought any sacrifice was
worth that.

“So now what do we do?” Ari asked.
Adam kissed the top of Ari’s hand. “We hunt down that pack of vampires and the things they made

and kill them all.”

Just the thought of Benson made Ari burn with the need for vengeance. Oh, yeah, killing the

bastard was a plan that Ari could get on board with. Nodding, he said, “I can’t wait to get started.”

98
Coffin Dodger

Chapter Nine

s they walked into the training facility, Ari A felt as if every gaze was on him, and judging by the

knowing looks on their faces, they all knew exactly where Ari spent the previous night.

Of course, Adam wasn’t helping matters out by keeping a firm grip on Ari’s hand, almost as if he

was flaunting their relationship and daring somebody to interfere. He just about dragged Ari through
the place while flashing a neon sign to attract more attention.

Once they reached the meeting room, Adam let go of Ari’s hand, but only so he could take a seat

while Adam went to the front. Glaring at Brad snickering from two rows over, Ari slouched in his
seat and tried to ignore the fact that every Warden and Guardian in the place was staring at him.

The twins in particular seemed to think the situation was just a riot. They kept whispering to each

other and pointing at him. Ari gave them the 99

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finger before returning his attention to the front.
Then the Oracle popped into the room and Ari couldn’t repress his growl of frustration. Great,

just what he didn’t need at the minute—having to deal with her and all her damn probing questions.

Adam began to speak to the group, giving them all a rundown of the situation of the night before,

but Ari barely listened. Not that he really needed to since he’d lived it, so he allowed his mind to
wander, which was never a good thing.

Why had Benson come to Detroit and why in the hell did he have such a hard on for Ari? There

were nine other Wardens so if it was the blood thing, then Benson could have just as easily taken one
of them. Hell, the vamp could have snatched one of the twins and nobody would notice for a week,
tops.

Then Ari heard his name being tossed around and that slapped him back into the conversation.
“So the Oracle was able to heal Ari then?” Teddy asked as he smiled up at the female.
“Yeah, if you look, she even took care of the scars,” one of the twins said, pointing at Ari.
“So…big fucking deal. It was her fault the scars were there in the first place,” Ari blurted.
Everyone gasped in shock and Ari couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes. Damn, they really

thought the sun rose and set on that female.

Walking over to him, the Oracle stood in front 100
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of Ari and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why don’t we just have this out and get it over

with?” Ari jumped to his feet and turned to leave.

“And why don’t you get bent?”
He made it two steps before he found himself frozen in place. He fought with all his strength, but

was unable to even move a finger. “Oh, this is so unfair.”

She walked back around so she was facing him again. “You want to move again, then you’ll talk.”
“Since you’re all-knowing, you should already be aware of why I’m mad at you.” She arched a

brow. “Now you’re just being bratty. I thought you outgrew that phase a while back.”

“How would you know? You never noticed me at all.”
“And how can you be so certain of that?” Something snapped inside of Ari and all the accusations

he’d been keeping at bay over the years finally spewed out. “You could have stopped it!”

“Do you mean the attack on you and your family?”
“Yes! If you’re supposed to be some all-knowing, super powerful being, how in the hell could

you have stood by and did nothing while they were killed? If you were mad at me for something, then
it should have been me that paid 101

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the price not them. But no, you had to do nothing while they came in and cut down my mother, my

sister and my brother. All of who were innocent.” She shook her head. “I was never angry at you,
Ari.”

“Then why!” he demanded, he voice rising even higher. “And after, when they were torturing me

and using me as some plaything, you had to have known where they were keeping me. You could have
popped in to rescue me or, at the very least, sent the others to help, but again, you didn’t.

You just left me there to rot for two years. Do you know what they did to me? How they used me?
What I went through?”
Tears began to fall down her cheeks. “Yes, Ari. I know every single thing they did to you and

each one broke my heart. Had I been able to I would have prevented any of that from happening to
you.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Ari yelled. “Why did you forsake me? What did I do that made you hate

me?”

The entire room watched in rapt silence, even Adam seemed to be unable to think of anything to

say.

The Oracle reached out and gently cupped Ari’s cheeks. “My sweet Warden. I would never

forsake you. I was with you the entire time. I just wasn’t able to help you. Trust me. If I could have, I
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have stormed that place myself.” Then she locked gazes with Ari and he saw it.
All the times she wept for him. How she’d railed as he suffered. The way her heart had broken

each time he’d been hurt.

“Even I have rules that I have to follow and sometimes the powers that be don’t let me intervene.

Had I been able to, nothing and I mean nothing would have stopped me from saving you, Ari. I love
you as if you were my own child.” Ari let out a sob and before he knew it, was enveloped in her
protective arms. As he buried his face in her chest, Ari finally let loose and cried. He wept for the
loss of his family, his innocence and of the man he once was. Most of all, he wept away all the hate
and anger that had been trapped inside him for so long.

The entire time, she held him, her fingers running up and down his back in a soothing matter. “I

had you. This entire time I had you. I would never, ever forsake you, Ari.” For the first time since that
horrible night, Ari believed her.

Hours later, Ari took Adam’s hand as they walked back into the apartment. After a fruitless night

of searching for clues on Benson and coming up with zilch, Ari knew he should feel tired and
frustrated.

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Instead, he felt light and almost giddy. After unloading on the Oracle, it was as if a hundred pound

weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

During the night, Ari had found himself even laughing at the twins’ antics and they normally

annoyed the hell out of him.

“You seem awfully chipper,” Adam observed as he unlocked the door.
Ari grinned up at him. “I guess yelling at the Oracle was really cathartic. I haven’t felt this good

in…well, forever.”

Adam grunted. “Just make sure you don’t make a habit out of it. Don’t forget, that woman can fry

you with one look, and I happen to like having you around.”

Once they were inside, Ari glanced around.
“Where’s Brad?”
“He’s finishing up the search on that warehouse.”
Feeling a little bold and a lot naughty, Ari ran his hand up Adam’s chest. “So that means we have

the place to ourselves. Whatever will we do with all this privacy?”

Adam frowned. “That line was so bad it sounded like it came straight from a low-budget porn.”
“That’s the best kind of dirty movies. Besides, do you really care how I put it?” Letting out a

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wrist and began to drag him to the bedroom.
“Hell, I wouldn’t care if you sang it to me, baby.
Just so long as you’re naked and under me in the next five minutes.”
“There we go with the nicknames again,” Ari groused, but he eagerly followed Adam.
Once they got to the bedroom, Adam kicked the door shut before he turned on Ari, pinning him to

the wall and kissing the breath out of him.

Desire coursed through Ari, and he found himself spreading his legs so he could give Adam more

access. This time, there was no fighting for dominance. Ari immediately gave everything over to
Adam.

Reaching between them, Adam cupped Ari’s cock. “Mine.”
Oh, yeah. Ari could go along with that one.
Especially if he meant that he would be getting off soon. He gave an eager nod, “Yes, all yours.”

Adam stepped back and began to tear at Ari’s clothes. When a ripping sound filled the room, Ari
laughed. “Careful, you’re going to ruin these.

They’re yours, after all.”
“I don’t care. I can just buy more,” Adam declared, his gaze heated as he bared Ari’s skin for

view.

“Unless you get a bigger paycheck than me, you can’t afford any more.”
Ari started to laugh, only to yelp when Adam 105
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dipped his head down and began to nibble Ari’s nipples. Letting out a hiss of pleasure, Ari fisted

his hand into Adam’s hair and arched up toward his touch.

“Oh, this is nice,” Ari said, moaning.
Adam glanced up, a wicked expression dancing over his usually serious face. “Just nice? We’ll

have to see about making that better.” Picking Ari up by the waist, Adam tossed him onto the bed, then
began to take off his own clothes.

Ari ripped off the tattered remains of his own outfit before he laid down on his back and crooked

a finger. “Get your ass over here.” Adam climbed on the bed, making Ari feel a bit like a mouse being
stalked by one hell of a sexy kitty cat. Crawling up Ari’s body, he caught him in a kiss so blistering
that it was a wonder they didn’t leave scorch marks on the sheets.

The kiss seemed to go on forever as their tongues slid against each other. All the while, they both

let their hands wander, exploring each other.

Ari had waited so long for this moment, he wanted to burn every detail into his memory.

His cock begged for release, but Ari gave it a silent calm down message. There would be plenty

of time for him to get off later, but right now, this moment was for him and Adam to finally get to
know each other in every way possible.

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Trailing kisses down Ari’s neck, Adam whispered, “I love you. I think I always have.” Ari froze

at the declaration for only a moment before his heart melted and he realized he could no longer deny
his true feelings. “I love you, too.”

“I promise to spend the rest of our lives making you happy,” Adam vowed.
Taking Adam’s hand, Ari put it on his aching cock. “You could start with this.” Adam laughed.

“You sure can get bossy sometimes.”

“Only when I don’t get what I want.” Leaning up, Ari gave Adam’s shoulder a love bite. “Now,

get to it.”

Adam groaned. “I should torture you. Make you want it so much that you’re begging for me to let

you come. Maybe then that would teach you who’s in charge here.”

Ari grinned. “Ah, but you’re not going to do that because you want this just as much as I do.”

Wrapping his fingers around Ari’s cock, Adam purred, “Yet that still doesn’t mean I’m not going to
make you scream.”

Adam then proceeded to lightly torture Ari by kissing, licking and nipping every inch of exposed

flesh. The entire time, he slowly stroked Ari’s cock, making him almost mindless with pleasure.

Ari fisted the sheets and began to thrust up into Adam’s hand. It was all almost too much, but at

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the same time, it was so damn good that Ari wanted it to go on forever.
Even still, he found himself reaching the crest of his pleasure and he was damned if he was going

to come before he had Adam’s cock in him.

Letting out a long moan, Ari said, “Lube.
Condom. Now!”
Adam scrambled to grab the items.
Ari snatched the bottle of lube and ordered,
“Get the condom on while I stretch myself.” It was almost worth the price of admission to see the

stunned, yet lustful expression on Adam’s face. Laughing, Ari opened the bottle. Squeezing some of
the liquid over his fingers, Ari reached down and slid one finger in his ass, wincing a bit at the bite of
pain because it had been a while since he had sex.

Adam swallowed hard, his eyes growing wide.
“That looks so fucking hot.”
“Condom,” Ari pointedly reminded.
He added a second finger, moaning in pleasure as the pain began to give way to pleasure. Damn,

if it felt this good with his own fingers, Ari couldn’t wait to find out how it felt to be filled with
Adam’s thick cock.

Eager to get to the good part, Ari added a third finger, a whimper slipping past his lips as he

watched Adam slide the condom on.

“Please, give it to me now,” Ari panted.
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“See, I knew I’d have you begging,” Adam boasted. He batted Ari’s hand away. “Now, it’s my

turn to get at that ass.”

Lining up the tip of his cock, Adam surged all the way in. Ari gasped, both from pleasure and at

the sensation of being so full. It hurt so bad that it was good, and Ari only wanted more.

“Fuck me. Hard,” he commanded as he looped his legs over Adam’s shoulders.
“I take back everything I said. You’re still a brat.”
Ari grinned up at him. “It took you long enough to figure that out. Now are you going to pound me

into the mattress or not?”

“My baby always gets what he wants.” Ari started to protest the endearment, but ended up

screaming out in pleasure as Adam began to thrust into him. He was true to his promise, too. He set a
pace that was so hard and brutal that Ari was barely able to catch his breath.

Not that he was complaining. Quite the opposite, he reached out and grabbed Adam’s shoulders,

his nails biting into the other man’s flesh, no doubt drawing a bit of blood.

Adam seemed to like a little pain with his pleasure, too, because he picked up the pace. The bed

squeaked as the headboard pounded into the wall and Ari was glad that Brad wasn’t there or else he
would be getting an earful.

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“Stroke yourself. I want to see you come,” Adam growled, the cords of his neck standing out.
It was hard since he was currently having the snot fucked out of him, but Ari managed to reach his

hand between them and grab his own cock. It only took a few strokes and his orgasm slammed into
him so hard that he met Adam’s prediction and screamed the Warden’s name so loud that the sound
echoed through the room.

Hot ropes of semen splashed between them, coating both of their stomachs. Adam gave a few

more thrusts before he roared his own pleasure, his cock pulsating in Ari’s ass.

After Adam finished, he fell on top of Ari, their sticky, sweaty bodies pressed tightly together. Ari

knew that they should get up and clean off the mess, but he was loath to move at the moment. In fact,
he felt quite certain that if he tried to stand his legs would give out from under him.

So instead, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep—in the nude. Something he hadn’t dared do

since before his capture. As he felt Adam’s arms tighten around him, Ari knew he was safe and for
the first time in what seemed like forever, he was able to make it through the night without the bad
dreams plaguing him.

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Chapter Ten

s Adam walked into the training center the A next day, he couldn’t keep the big, goofy grin off his

face. Not only had he spent the previous night making love to Ari, but the man was now by his side
and it didn’t look like he’d be going anywhere soon.

Best of all, Ari had admitted to loving Adam.
Never had Adam hoped to have all that happen and in the matter of a few days, too.
He’d even managed to talk to Stew that morning, and Brad had been right, his dad had never

sounded better. He was even planning on taking an extended vacation—to a rehab center to get help
with his drinking.

The place was already buzzing and Adam was confused to see Zayne talking to some tall man.
With dark skin, chocolate eyes and a short buzz cut, the guy screamed soldier. The black fatigues

and guns strapped to his sides only added to the badass look.

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Then the guy smiled, showing off a flash of fang, making Adam freeze. What in the hell was Zayne

thinking, bringing a vampire around Ari?

Adam turned, worried about how his lover was reacting to the visitor.
Ari’s eyes were huge, his mouth parted with shock. Adam spun around, ready to rip Zayne a new

one, when Ari yelled, “Jonas! What are you doing here?”

Ari let go of Adam’s hand and ran to the vampire, launching himself into the man’s arms.
Adam’s confusion turned to a jealous fury as he watched the vampire return the embrace, even

going so far as to spin Ari around in a circle.

Approaching them, Adam got there just as Jonas put Ari on his feet again. Turing to Adam, the

vampire flashed a big smile. “So you must be the guy Ari told me about.”

“What’s going on?” Adam demanded.
Ari smiled as he went back over to Adam’s side. “Jonas was held captive with me. We got close

while we shared a cell for a few months.”

“How close?” Adam demanded.
Jonas laughed. “I see you finally got your head out of your ass and claimed Ari. Otherwise you

wouldn’t be so jealous.”

Adam started to deny that he was jealous, but clamped his lips shut since he knew everybody

would see through the lie.

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Clapping him on the shoulder, Jonas said, “No worries, man. Ari and I are only friends. You’re

the only one he’s ever wanted. You should have heard the kid go on-and-on about you.” Ari blushed
as he glared at the vampire. “Do you have to tell him everything?” Jonas laughed, the booming sound
filling the room. “I promise to keep some of your secrets.”

“How did you get free? The last time I saw you was when they were transferring you to a new

prison,” Ari demanded.

“My Drone clan freed me. We heard that you guys were having some trouble with ferals, so they

sent me to help you since this used to be our old stomping ground.”

Much as Adam hated to admit, they could really use the guy’s help. He then grunted,

“Thanks, we appreciate it.”
The twins came running up, both of them yelling in unison, “There’s been another feral attack.”
They came to a skidding stop as they spotted Jonas, their eyes widening in shock. It was so

comical, Adam didn’t know whether to laugh or groan in embarrassment. Instead, he made the get-on-
with-it gesture with his hand.

Sasha jumped. “Get this, it’s at the same exact factory they killed all the other humans. Only this

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“How did you find this out?” Adam demanded.
“Some stinky werejackal came to the door and told us,” Haven said, his gaze still locked on

Jonas.

Adam shook his head. He didn’t like the situation at all. It just screamed setup. Yet, at the same

time, they couldn’t stay in and do nothing.

Not if there were captive lives at stake. He turned to Ari. “You need to sit this one out.” Ari

snorted. “No way in hell.”

“Come on, Ari. We know it’s Benson and he’s doing this to draw you in. It’s always been you

he’s been after.”

Ari gave a savage grin, a look of fury glistening in his eyes. “Then he’s getting me. Let’s go kill

the fucker.”

Adam started to argue.
Ari cut him off, “Look, I know you’re worried about me, but I need this. It was me who was

tortured and held captive, and Benson was the one who was behind it so I deserve to be the one who
finishes him off.”

Adam wanted to deny the request, so badly his chest ached from it. Though he knew he loved Ari,

he also knew that Ari was a warrior—a warrior who had been wronged and needed justice.

“Fine, but we stick together.” Adam only hoped that he hadn’t just signed all their death warrants.
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* * * *

Ari’s heart hammered in his chest as they pulled up to the ruined building. As they got out, a cold

sweat broke out over his body, despite the cold temperature. While it’d been a while since he’d seen
Benson, Ari could just sense that the vampire was in there. What’s worse, he was lying in wait to kill
them all.

Oh, goodie. Let the fun begin.
Rev came up and handed a bag to Ari. Opening it, his chest swelled when he saw his sai inside.

“I thought you said they stole all my weapons?” Rev smiled. “Well, they don’t know all your secret
hiding places like I do. I went back to your old apartment and found them this morning.” Pulling them
out, Ari gave them an experimental spin, a surge of power going through him the way the hilts of the
twin blades slid perfectly into place in the palms of his hands.

Smiling, he turned to the others. “Let’s do this.” Not even bothering with stealth since Benson

already knew they were coming, Ari stormed through the gaping doorway. He was dismayed, but not
overly surprised to find several of the ghoul-vampires staggering around the room.

Benson sat on a chaise in the middle of the room. The vampire looked as handsome and well-115
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groomed as always, his blond hair groomed to perfection and his suit clean and pressed just so.

At his feet were two male civilians wearing police officer uniforms.
Brad made a tsking noise. “Taking cops off the road. Not cool, man, with all the layoffs, the force

is already stretched too thin as it is.” Benson smirked. “Oh, we have a wiseass. Why does there have
to be one in every group?” Turning to the creatures, Benson said, “Kill him first, then take care of the
rest. Make sure you leave Ari alive though. He belongs to me.”

“I don’t think so, asshole. You may have held me captive, but I never was and never will be

yours,” Ari returned.

A smug look came over Benson’s face as he stood. “Really? You act all tough now that you have

your friends with you, but I wonder what they would say if they knew how you used to cry for mercy.
How you would beg for scraps of food.

The way you cried when I whipped you. Do you think they would stand by you if they knew about

all the times you pleaded with me to kill you, just so your suffering could end? Now how brave is
that? You’re no Warden, you’re just some weak blood-bag who wears their cloak.” Kamden let out a
mocking groan. “Oh, can we please kill this asshole? I’m sick of listening to him blather on.”

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Ari smiled and spun his sai around. “Gladly.
And it’s not going to be hard at all because you missed something very important, Benson. I’m no

longer weak, beaten and in chains. I’m free, at full-strength and most of all, I am a Warden. And what
really sucks for you is I’m a pissed off one.” Letting out a battle cry, Ari charged. Benson bared his
fangs and met him halfway. They met with a horrific clash, the sound of Ari’s sai scrapping across
Benson’s claws filling the room.

That seemed to be the cue for the others because soon, the entire room was engaged in battle as

the Wardens and Jonas took on the creatures.

Taking comfort that Adam was still nearby, Ari allowed himself to focus on his own fight. It

wasn’t an easy one either. Benson was a Pure Born ancient vampire, which meant he had a lot of
experience under his evil belt. He also was as fast as shit and strong as fuck.

But Ari had something Benson didn’t, the need for vengeance, and it burned hot inside him. Not

only was he fighting for himself, but for all the other slaves who’d lost their lives to the vampire.

They parried and dodged for several moments, each of them scoring small points here and there.
Benson’s claws raked into Ari’s cheek, drawing blood. Ari was so hyped up on the adrenaline

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bother to wipe it away as he continued to lash out with his sai.
He swung one blade sideways, smiling in grim satisfaction when he sliced a hole into Benson’s

nice suit. Next, Ari made sure to cut off some locks of the man’s perfect hair.

Benson let out a gasp as he glanced down at the damage in his clothes. “That was Armani, you

little shit.”

Ari began to charge, slicing out with his weapon, each time striking flesh. “And that was my

mother.”

Slice.
“That was my siblings.”
Slice.
“That was my father.”
Slice.

“Those were innocent people and supernaturals you enslaved and killed.”
Slice.
“That was my pride and dignity.” Slice.
“And that was for having your ugly freaks trash my place and piss on my favorite Lions jersey.”
By this time, Benson was bloody and full of cuts. Ari knew he had the vampire finished, but he

had to get in one last thing. “And this is for taking me away from the man I love and making us lose
two years together.”

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Pulling back his sai, Ari plunged it into the vampire’s heart. Benson let out a shriek before a flash

of light filled the room and the vampire dissolved in a pile of ashes. Kicking the remains to the side,
Ari spat on them for good measure before turning to help the others.

He was somewhat disappointed to find the battle was over. The rest of the Wardens were looking

at him, all of them wearing identical looks of awe. Except for Adam, who was beaming with pride.

Kamden let out a low whistle. “Damn, remind me never to piss you off. You are one mean

fucker.”

Adam came running over and wrapped Ari up in a tight hug. “Come on, babe. Let’s get you

home.”

Home. That sounded nice. Letting out a sigh of sheer happiness, Ari nodded and returned the

embrace.

A couple of evenings later, Ari and Adam stood on the edge of the Detroit River.
“I still say you’re shitting me,” Ari said as he peered into the murky water.
“Yeah, let’s hear you say that when you see Snuggles,” Adam replied.
Ari nodded over to Jonas. “What’s he doing here?”
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“Snuggles will only come to shore when she’s summoned by vampire’s blood.”
Ari wrinkled his nose. “Ewww…” Not that he minded Jonas being there. In fact, Ari was thrilled

that the vampire had decided to stay indefinitely to help out the Wardens. He’d even taken over Ari’s
old apartment.

Ari glanced over at Brad. “So why is he here?” For once, Brad was being quiet and hanging back

from the rest of the group. If Ari didn’t know better he would have sworn that Brad was acting shy,
but that couldn’t be possible since that kind of behavior was completely at odds with the Warden’s
normal cocky attitude.

“Brad said he wanted to see Snuggles, too.” Adam leaned down and whispered the next part,
“I think that he really came along to see Jonas instead though.”
Ari let out a small gasp of surprise as he gazed over at Brad. Sure enough, the Warden ‘s gaze

was locked on Jonas. Brad even winced in sympathy when Jonas made a cut in his hand and dribbled
some blood in the water.

They all waited with bated breath for several moments, but nothing happened. Just as Ari was

about to call bullshit, the water began to ripple and a brown head crested to the surface.

“Crap, it does exist,” Ari breathed, taking several steps back as the creature swam closer to 120
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shore.
“Told you so,” Adam gloated.

Ari tried to give him a dirty look, but failed because he just couldn’t stand to be angry at Adam.

Not when he was showing Ari something so wonderful.

Snuggles lowered her head and Ari took a few tentative steps forward before reaching out to pet

her snout. She felt wet and slimy, and he noticed numerous scars marking her long neck.

“Hey, we’re kind of alike. Or at least the way I used to be,” Ari said, still petting her.
Snuggles let out a huffing sound that Ari took as agreement. Turning to Adam, Ari said, “Thank

you so much.”

Adam shrugged. “It’s just Snuggles.”
“No, you gave me way more than that and you know it.”
“Yeah, well that goes both ways, babe,” Adam said as he pulled Ari into his arms.
“Stop using pet names on me,” Ari groused.
“Quit complaining and kiss me already.” So Ari did just that and, as he wrapped his arms around

Adam’s waist, Ari knew he’d never let go.

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About the Author
Stephani Hecht is a happily married mother of two. Born and raised in Michigan, she loves all

things about the state, from the frigid winters to the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. You can usually
find her snuggled up to her laptop, creating her next book.

Contact her at:
Email Address:[e-mail] Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StephaniHecht FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profil
&id=1109353859
MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/stephanihecht Blog:
http://stephanihechtauthor.blogspot.com