Chapter One: Stefanie Salvatore

Present day

Atlanta, GA

Sorry, Dad! No, I haven't been avoiding your video calls, my camera's still broken. No, I haven't got around to fixing it yet, and, yes, I know it's been weeks. I've just been busy since graduation. I've got myself a great new career in...

Stef gritted her teeth as the yelling behind her became louder. Her thumbs hovered over the keypad, her word-finding ability lost. How was she supposed to text her dad a string of excuses, playing a ridiculously wholesome version of herself, with this kind of commotion? She looked over her shoulder, glaring at the men on the other side of the bar.

A small crowd formed around the pool table where two men were fighting over the cue. The smaller one, Handsy, was furiously pulling at the cue while grunting like an angry Chihuahua playing tug-of-war against a Rottweiler. A slightly older man was trying to part them. Given their physical similarities, he was likely an overburdened brother, and clearly on fraternal autopilot when it came to giving a shit. Two more had committed themselves to being spectators, crossing their arms and shaking their heads like they had warned Big Bro that this would happen. A more ambitious young man, possibly new to the friendship group given his inability to read the room, was about as successful at getting Handsy to release the cue as he was at keeping his overgrown hair out of his own eyes.

Pity. It seemed Handsy's friends were now involved, delaying the inevitable and giving her a headache. Mildly disgruntled, Stef turned back to her phone and tried to concentrate. What to call her current employment? Its name, Salty Jack's, didn't exactly scream 'Fortune 500' and there was no way of squeezing 'top executive' out of 'bartender'. She didn't want to lie to her dad, she just needed to be more vague. Finally, she typed out a word.

...hospitality...

I know you're worried about me living in the city now that I'm back from Oxford, but you don't have to be. I'm completely safe. I'm taking your advice and staying away from men, bars and alcohol...

Sensing the wooden stool beside her being lifted up, Stef reached out and took her glass of bourbon away from the target range. She gulped it back just as the stool slammed downwards onto the counter, one of the legs splintering off into two pieces.

...and I've definitely been staying away from vampires...

"Damn it, Stef!" Phoenix yelled, appearing from the backroom. "Did you compel him?"

"He got too handsy with me," Stef retorted, placing her glass down.

...anyway, give my love to Mom, I'll call soon...

Phoenix ran out from behind the bar towards the man who was screaming as he blooded his own hand – and the pool table – with repeated blows from the leg of the stool. The friends stood by uselessly, looking like they might vomit out the entire contents of tomorrow's hangover. Big Bro's hands shook as he fumbled with his phone, which Phoenix promptly snatched from him before striding over to Lil' Bro and grabbing his hand mid-strike. Handsy howled torturously, pressing all his weight against the immoveable force like his life depended on winning this arm wrestle against a battle tank disguised as a slim, dirty-blond male.

Despite the distraction, Phoenix didn't miss the trilling vocals coming from his opposite hand. He glanced at the name across the phone screen.

"You called 'Momma Bear'?" He shot a disappointed look at Big Bro who stood wide-eyed and frozen, wondering whether the crime of being over-coddled came with a beating. Phoenix tutted as he placed the phone to his ear and spoke calmly. "Hello 'Momma Bear', I'm calling from Salty Jack's. Your son is in the hospital. He's just had a harsh lesson on consent."

Handsy growled, "That bitch –"

The phone crushed effortlessly within Phoenix's palm. This guy clearly had a death wish! Grabbing him by the shirt, Phoenix drew him closer.

Stef smiled, intrigued. Phoenix wasn't a fighter. Was that about to change? She added proudly to her message:

...P.S. Phoenix is still looking after me.

Up close, Phoenix saw pain and tears pool in the man's eyes – not from regret, no, he was far too egotistical for that – it was fear. This guy didn't have a death wish; he had nothing: no filter, no backbone, no woman, an unforgiving hairline, a social circle held by a thread by a brother who barely tolerated him, and no self-reliance if his mother's nickname was anything to go by. Now he was scared he was going to lose his life too. Phoenix had intended to wipe his memory, but he couldn't let him forget this lesson. He sighed and released his grip. "You'll remember this but you won't tell anyone about it," he instructed, overriding Stef's compulsion. "Now stop hurting yourself, leave, and get to the nearest hospital."

Stef rolled her eyes. Damn do-gooder.

[delete, delete, delete, delete...]

...P.S. Phoenix is still annoying the shit out of me.

Stef hit send, immediately regretting not adding some exclamation marks. Phoenix locked eyes with her. Her disappointment took the shape of a resigned facial shrug. His intentions were more forgiving than hers, but just because Phoenix could undo her compulsion over humans didn't mean he should. No wonder she was out of practice. What was the point? Stef turned her back to him, ungracefully bending across the bar to seek the bottle she desperately needed for a refill, while Phoenix shook his head and turned to lead Handsy out the door.

"One moment, boy." Another vampire brought Phoenix to a stop before he'd managed a second step, a hand calmly resting upon his shoulder. "Stefanie, which hand did you say he touched you with?"

Stef slid back onto her stool, swiping her loose brown hair behind her ears, and narrowing her eyes. "Gabe, what are you doing here?"

He continued, undeterred. "I asked you a question, my dear."

Stef rolled her eyes and answered. "The right one."

Gabe looked confused, inspecting both the man's hands. "Yet he's broken his left?"

Stef pouted, let out a frustrated huff, and then began to babble. "It seems he's right-handed, and I don't do this often, I didn't really specify –"

Gabe slammed the man's right arm down onto the pool table, bringing him to his knees. The attack was too fast to witness. Despite the painfully distinct crunch of bones, it still took the man a moment to register the damage as Gabe lifted the cue ball from his newly-mangled right hand. He gasped in shock, face drained of colour, staring blankly while his body decided whether he should take a break from screaming to hyperventilate or pass out instead. He unfortunately resumed screaming.

"You done?" Phoenix scolded. Gabe raised his eyebrows and held an open palm out towards the door in response. Yanking the man to his feet, Phoenix pulled him towards the exit.

"Don't forget to get the door for him," Stef mocked in a baby-tone to Phoenix. "Broken hands and all."

Phoenix shot her a final glare before, indeed, needing to get the door, and shoving the man outside.

After heading behind the counter, Stef paused, remembering the man's stunned friends, eyes fixed on her as they shuffled towards the door. "Oh, no, no, you're staying here," she compelled, pointing at each of them with an empty bottle of bourbon that she did not remember finishing. "You're going to forget about gropey whats-his-face. He stayed home tonight trying to find his dick so he could take a leak. He didn't succeed. Now continue your game. Don't mind the blood, but do..." She had to wrap up this compulsion before she started rambling. She gestured towards the broken stool. "...mind the splinters."

Phoenix surveyed the damage around the bar as he walked back. "That was out of line." He swung an authoritative finger between the both of them. "You're helping me clean up this mess." At Gabe's raised brow, Phoenix's finger stopped solely on Stef. "Well, perhaps just you then."

Ignoring Phoenix, Gabe took a seat opposite Stef. "You know, your ability to compel groups of humans from a distance really is an envious skill," he observed. "Such a shame you're so bad at it."

Stefanie poured herself a drink, avoiding eye contact with him. "You know, if I'd wanted to compel the whole bar, I would have just broken his hand myself."

Gabe took the glass from her hand before it reached her lips, then drank it himself. "You know, if I'd wanted a bad-tempered employee who drank bourbon all day, I would have just hired your father."

Phoenix's mood instantly cracked at Gabe's retort. He had barely reached the counter before he collapsed over it, falling into a fit of laughter. After surprising Gabe with a camaraderie back slap – which earned Phoenix a look of disgust – Gabe resignedly unstacked a nearby empty glass, slid it in front of Stef, and waved his own glass at her impatiently. Perhaps he did understand her drinking habit after all.

As Stef smugly poured them both a double, her phone vibrated against the table and Phoenix's head shot up in panic. "Gabe said that, not me. Rat him out but don't tell your dad I laughed."

Stef quickly texted a reply. "I won't, I'll just tell him that despite being a vampire, you're still terrified of him."

"I have absolutely no shame in that. He was one for way longer than me, a way better one," Phoenix pointed out. "His canines are probably still bigger than mine. Bet he never slurped on someone's neck the first time – do you know how unattractive it is to slurp blood, Stef?" Phoenix grasped at his teeth. "They just didn't extend properly, I think I was nervous –"

Stef's phone buzzed again.

"What did he say?" Phoenix asked hesitantly.

Stef read from her screen. "He said there's no more words left in the thesaurus for 'coward' so just pick one he's previously used..."

"Yes!" Phoenix elated, fist-punching the air. "He's finally ran out of insults for me!" He pointed excitedly towards Stef's phone. "Tell him I choose 'scaredy-cat', that one's kind of cute."

Stef continued to read, "...then add 'Good-for-nothing' in front of it..."

Phoenix flattened his lips. "Oh."

"...and 'barely reanimated corpse' at the end of it."

"Well, now that's just superfluous," Phoenix complained indignantly.

Stef went rigid, her eyes widening down at her phone like it had just turned into an extremely volatile weapon. "Dad's sent a voice message, he hardly ever does that."

"Except when you've screwed up and avoid his calls," Phoenix reminded her ominously.

Stef glanced nervously at Phoenix, lowered the volume, and winced as she hit play. Her father's tone had her holding her breath.

"Let me get one thing clear," the voice thundered through the speaker, "I never would have saved that good-for-nothing, scaredy-cat, barely reanimated corpse if it weren't for the insistence of my wife. And, yes, I already know you chose 'scaredy-cat', Phoenix, you humongous puss –"

Phoenix snatched the phone out of Stef's hands and stopped the recording. "Okay, we get the picture."

Stef breathed a sigh of relief.

"I hesitate to say that you're far more scared of your father than Phoenix is, Stefanie," Gabe commented.

Stef clenched with indignation. "And I don't hesitate to say that's ludicrous."

"Then how come your dad's aware that I'm a vampire, while you," Phoenix teased, booping her on the nose, "my suddenly-sharped-toothed bestie, can't admit to him that you're also one?"

What was this, an intervention? From the two people that were the entire reason she was hiding her vampirism from her father? Really? She felt a rising pressure behind her eyes and closed them. No, she couldn't get into that. It had been her choice, she reminded herself. Her choice to follow Phoenix that night. Her choice to complete the transition. Her choice not to give up the name of the vampire who turned her, losing all chance of ever getting her life back. Her choice. She had to believe that. Even if the vampire blood in her system hadn't been her choice.

Stef took a calming breath, slowly opening her eyes but still focusing on nothing. "Since my dad rushed me to the hospital rather than trying to heal me using his vampy friend's blood, I'm going to go on a hunch and say he'd have risked anything to avoid his daughter becoming a vampire." Stef's face suddenly softened as her eyes ran over Phoenix, realising that he had also not been given the choice. She relaxed her shoulders and added to him gently, "Sorry Caroline couldn't save you, by the way."

Phoenix crossed his arms over the counter and shrugged. "Me too, but I'm here, and since the alternative was staying dead, I can't complain."

Gabe rotated the base of his glass back and forth within his fingers, lowering his eyes. "That might still be a possibility." He finished his drink in preparation for the onslaught of questions. "Zara's back."

"Here? In the city?" Phoenix panicked, grabbing hold of Stef's sleeve. "Rip my heart out, Stef – if you don't then she will."

"She rejected you, 'Nix. Heartbreak's not going to kill you." Stef peeled away Phoenix's fingers and turned back to Gabe. This certainly explained why he was here. "But I'm guessing the High Coven might?"

"Zara's still got eyes on Raid and Adam, but if they remember anything, you and everyone you know could become a target." Gabe looked Phoenix up and down, then waved his hand at him dismissively. "Though, in my opinion, Phoenix is expendable."

Phoenix sneered. "Thanks."

"If they find out who Raid and Adam are, it means my ability to compel witches can be broken," Stef pointed out. "I'd no longer be a threat to the Coven. Why would they care?"

"Cristian cares," Gabe reminded her. "He's only protecting you from his father because he's convinced you can be cured. Do you want a list of reasons Dimitri would prefer you dead? Let's see, you're a vampire who can compel witches –"

"The jury's still out on that one."

"– you're also a witch, which makes you an insult to nature –"

"I've been called worse."

"– Vervain has no effect on you –"

"Aphrodisiac."

"– You're on the Vampire Council's paycheck –"

"Everyone needs a second job nowadays."

"– And his son is still madly in love with you."

"Has he considered therapy?" Stef enunciated flatly.

Gabe slammed his hand down on the counter. Glasses clinked and shuddered. One tipped, rolled and fell to the floor, shattering at Stef's feet. She remained resolute, unfazed; he could feel her scolding eyes on him as he stared at his fist throughout the resulting silence. He clenched his fist as tightly as he could, attempting to crush his loss of control within it, then urged his fingers to relax and loosen. There would be no benefit to losing his temper at her flippancy. Still, he had to remain firm. "Need I remind you that you're being paid a lot of money to ensure the Vaziris live out the rest of their natural lives in safety. If they are killed by anything supernatural –"

"Yeah, yeah," Stef scoffed. "The Council loses me –"

"I lose you!" Gabe snapped. "Your father loses you! You may not consider me your family, Stefanie, but I have been by your father's side since the day you were born, I watched you grow up, I gave you a normal life –"

"And look how that turned out!"

It was a low blow and Stef immediately regretted the words as soon as she saw Gabe's eyes drop. Even Phoenix shook his head in disappointment and backed away from them to begin cleaning. Stef had promised herself that she wouldn't place blame, but it still churned deep within her like it was her father working the paddles. Gabe had loved her family like they were his own and he had let them down. It was something he wouldn't ever recover from and yet she'd just twisted the knife. It was time for her to finally put that knife away.

"I'll do it," Stef uttered quietly.

Gabe was finally able to look her in the eyes. "You will?"

"Just tell me where they are."