I lay in bed and stared at Silas as he slept. I couldn’t help feeling a foreboding of what was to come.

My emotions turbulent unlike the peaceful vampire who slept beside me. I wanted to touch him, to connect with him. Allow his confidence to overpower my fears. I didn’t want to live in the anxiety of waiting for something bad to happen.

Feeling more vulnerable I lifted my hand and touched his chest softly with my fingertips. His hand caught mine, taking me by surprise.

My eyes went to his as they opened. His hold on my hand slackened to a gentle hold.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, trying to retract my hand but he held it.

I liked his touch, he made me feel safe in a world where every moment had been lived in danger and fear.

He turned his head to look at me and I bit my lip, trying to hide my nervousness.

“You were very restless,” he murmured, studying me.

There was no hiding it.

“I can’t help it,” I said, pulling my hand free and sitting up in the bed. “I wish I was as confident as you are.”

He slid from the bed and pulled on some sweats before he faced me. He studied me.

“I am not without power Avery.”

I hated every second I doubted him but I had already experienced the brutal evil of his kind on more than one occasion.

Thinking back to what I had endured by Thane and his sister brought back too much for me. In truth, it had given me a healthy fear for their kind. I lowered my eyes from his, trying to find the right way to voice my concerns.

“Talk to me.”

I rubbed my forehead before I could bring myself to look at him again.

“I know how relentless they are. Thane won’t give up unless…unless he is…gone.”

“With regard to Thane we are in agreement.” He gave a nod.

“I’m afraid of what he and Talon would do to get what they want. Your kind is used to getting what they want.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Change is necessary for the survival of our kind. If we do not adapt we will not survive.”

I swallowed, feeling unsteady. Was that all this way? Survival.

“Is the why you changed your mind?” I asked softly.

He frowned. “Change my mind?”

“You pretty much told me that we could not be anything other than what we had been before. Vampire and Sire.”

Our gazes held. I could feel the air between us charge.

“And now I’m your wife.”

“Change is needed if my kind is to survive. The most logical start was taking you as my wife.”

I wasn’t used that word being used to define me.

“Someone once told me that you come from royalty.”

He shrugged. “It is not something if felt necessary to embrace. I felt it more important to concentrate on building up the Sires we needed, than playing politics.”

“And now?”

He studied me. “And now the only way to keep you safe is to use the influence my birthright affords me.”

“Let’s hope it will be enough.”

“They would gain more from your survival than your demise.”

I was only then it occurred to me that the vampires had another way of getting at me indirectly. “What about my parents? If Rowan wanted to he could use them to get to me?”

It sent chills down my spine when I remembered when Jude had told me how vicious Rowan could be. I would not put it past any of his kind to use my family to get to me.

I could not believe I had not thought of it before. I clasped my hands together.

“I’m already having them watched. I’m hesitant to do anything to move them unless we have to.”

I nodded, understanding his reasoning.

I had tried everything to keep them far away from this world that held me in its cruel clutches.

“Try not to stress.”

It was easier said than done.

We had been through so much and there was still so much to overcome.

From the start he had been an enigma and even now he was the most complex person I had ever met. Here we were married. There had been no proposal.

There were no bold declarations of love. Just statements of power, control and possession. Even now I was still yearning for something. A softening in him, to show how he felt about me. I didn’t want to be a logical choice. I wanted to the be the illogical choice. The choice that didn’t make sense.

I wet my lips. Where he was focussed and cool, I was emotional and vulnerable.

“I need to make some calls. Why don’t you check on our sons,” he suggested.

I nodded as I watched him leave the room. Alone I pulled my knees to my chin and sighed seesawing between fear and admonishing myself for doubting Silas.

I was his wife. It did not matter that I wasn’t a vampire. To him it didn’t matter. But I had a feeling that there was more to this than Silas was letting on but I had no idea what.

There was only one person who could answer that question. Jude.

I hated going behind Silas’ back, but it was something I had to know. I couldn’t go into this blindly hoping for the best. There was a part of me that feared what Silas was risking to protect me.

I checked on the boys. They were playing in the nursery being supervised by their nanny. She gave me a quick nod as I entered. It was curt. I tried to shake the feeling that it was because of her disapproval to my union with Silas. A sire and a vampire. Forbidden. Would this be the response we would get from his kind? It didn’t feel me with any confidence that even if Silas had a way of keeping the council off our backs, we could not change years of tradition that made our union forbidden and his kind would disapprove not matter what we did. It was disheartening in a time I was trying to find something positive to hold onto. But I had learned early on that in this world, good things rarely happened.

Silas was in his study with the door firmly closed.

I paced the reception, feeling more nervous with each minute that passed, bringing us closer to the next encounter with the council. It felt like every moment I was getting closer to a showdown where there was a good possibility things would not go our way. I didn’t want to think what that would mean.

Not only did I fear for my own safety, I feared for the safety of Silas and my sons. I reminded myself they were vampires, I was the one who was in danger. I was a sire, the one who needed to fear the council.

There were so many times I wished Silas had never found me. I would still be hiding out but more important Silas and my sons would be safe but I could not change the past and no amount of wishing was going to change my current situation.

I had fleeting moments of wanting to go to the council to sacrifice myself to keep Silas and my sons safe but I hadn’t been able to go through with it. I could not bring myself to hurt Silas in that way. So there was nothing more I could do than trust that he had a plan that would succeed.

I paced from one side of the reception, glancing at the front door hoping Jude would arrive so I could corner him alone.

There was a sudden sound that seemed to come from the kitchen. Like something had been knocked over. I stopped, waiting to hear more but it was silent.

I began to pace again trying to calm my nerves when I heard glass break. I frowned. My footsteps halted as I peered toward the entrance of the kitchen.

Tentatively I took a step in the direction, followed by another waiting for any kind of sound to figure out what was happening.

I frowned. The kitchen was usually quiet.

There was movement inside the kitchen as I reached the door way and peered inside.

There was a person with their back to me.

My gaze lowered to the glass of blood that had been broken. Broken glass littered the floor with blood. I held my breath.

It was the movement of the person that seemed strange. That was my first sign that there was something wrong. Their movements were quick and jerked. And then they spun around.

It was a stranger. But the most important thing was his eyes. They shimmered red.