under the pretence of wanting an ally of his own present given the fact that Syn was apparently staying.
Fuery had been more than angry with him when he had returned to the guild a day ago, but had been quick to forgive him when he had told him Harbin had been right about Mackenzie and that he was sure now that she was his fated one. Fuery had demanded to go with him when he returned to the vampire’s bastion. Hartt hadn’t bothered to tell him that had been his plan all along, because his friend had seemed almost happy when Hartt had agreed. Getting him to leave Shaia had turned out to be problematic though, and Hartt had been forced to teleport both Fuery and Shaia to the stronghold of the First Legion of the Preux Chevaliers so she would know where it was and could travel there every so often to spend time with her mate.
The drain of teleporting Fuery and another elf with him had been monumental. It had sent him to his knees in front of the damned vampires. He had almost lost it when several of the males who had been milling around near the fountain in the main square of the stronghold had given him looks that had plainly stated they had witnessed his weakness.
Mackenzie had thankfully chosen that moment to appear before him, a beautiful look of concern on her face.
The irritating demoness had appeared before Mackenzie could come to him though and had gotten in the way again. He was beginning to get the impression she was intent on putting a halt to things between him and her friend. It was either that or she was testing his resolve, seeing if she could break him and make him give up.
It wasn’t going to happen. Somehow, he would find a way to win Mackenzie’s heart.
First, he had to find a way to be alone with her.
He looked over his shoulder at the window there as Grave droned on about what his men had found at the old mansion Mackenzie had destroyed, which amounted to nothing. His gaze tracked a few of the vampires, picking out several familiar faces, ones that stoked the darkness inside him. He had caught those males looking at Mackenzie, had catalogued their faces so he could hunt them down when no one was watching and kill them, removing them from the picture so they couldn’t steal her from him.
Hartt sensed Fuery’s gaze on him, dragged his eyes away from the vampires and tried to smile to alleviate his friend’s concern. Whatever he managed wasn’t convincing. Fuery pushed away from the long oak table and came to him, a silent question in his eyes.
He shrugged in response and raked his fingers through his blue-black hair. Several times, he had spoken to his friend about how being in this place was driving him insane. There were too many males here, most of them unmated. He was trying to hold back his instincts, but sometimes it was difficult.
The door of the library opened and a blond male strode in, heading towards Grave. His second in command, a vampire named Asher. Hartt had met him in the corridor when he had been discussing something with Grave after one of their meetings.
Mackenzie lifted her gaze from the information the vampires had gathered, a mass of notes scrawled on parchment.
She settled it on Asher.
Every instinct Hartt possessed fired, and every dark and terrible urge that he had been suppressing for the past few days, locked away in a cage, exploded to the surface. On a vicious growl, he teleported and grabbed the blond male, and came around behind him as the black scales of his armour rippled over his hands, transforming his fingers into talons.
Poised to slit the male’s throat.
Only Fuery’s hand on his wrist stopped him from going through with it, held him firm when he growled and fought to free himself.
“Hartt,” Fuery murmured and Hartt felt the connection between them open, sensed his friend’s concern and his need to calm him.
Hartt’s eyes widened as he realised what he had been about to do. He shoved the vampire away from him and sank into the bond he shared with Fuery, using it to regain control over his darker desires. He breathed in time with Fuery, stared into his amethyst eyes and shut the world out as he focused on taming his emotions and clawing back control. It was slower to come this time, the