“Well except that in the battle between a Vaktare and a Gargoyle, the Vaktare totally won.” I did a little barstool dance.

Cole shook his head. “Rematch?”

I laughed. “Maybe later, definitely not now. It was scary.” I had a feeling if he would’ve stayed and continued to fight I wouldn’t be sitting on a chair dancing.

“Fine. We’ll wait a week. Then it’s round two.”

“Deal.” I put my other hand over his. “I’m so glad we met. You’re amazing.”

Cole’s stormy eyes studied mine. “I feel the same way about you.” He leaned in and I realized he wanted to kiss me.

I didn’t want to anger him again, but I wasn’t ready. Gently, I put a hand on his chest. “I’m not ready for that,” I whispered.

Cole whipped out of the chair. “Afraid I might turn you to rock? Don’t worry, it only happens when I want it to. I can control it.” He smacked the bowl of fruit off the counter. The bowl shattered and fruit went everywhere.

I stood. “No, Cole. That isn’t it. There’s—”

Troy walked into the kitchen. “Cole, chill. There’s someone here to see Beatrice.”

“Really?” I wondered who it could be. No one knew where I was.

“Hello, Beatrice.”

“Adam.” He strode in confidently. The lights from the kitchen lit him up. My heart froze. I’d never been so eager and so petrified to see someone in my whole life. “Hi.” Our kiss flashed through my mind and I felt myself blush. “What—How did you get here?” I knew he hated to fly. Had he driven?

Or did he run the whole way in his werewolf form?

“I drove,” he said, coming around the counter. “It’s good to see you.” Adam’s blue eyes sparkled with happiness.

He wouldn’t look so happy if he intended to kill me, right? Or maybe he was happy because he was close enough to commit murder.

I shivered. “I’m so surprised you’re here. I thought you were going to stay in Utah and wait for my return.” The speed of my heartbeat picked up.

Adam came close and leaned in. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

“Do you mind, we were in the middle of a conversation,” Cole snapped, putting his hand on Adam’s shoulder.

Adam grabbed Cole’s hand and spun away from him. I was surprised he could move like that. I knew Adam was strong because he’d carried me from the pool up to my room, but that was different than having fighting skills. Not to mention Cole was hard and sturdy as a giant boulder.

He’s a werewolf, that’s why he can fight.

Cole’s hair started to change and I knew I needed calm him down.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Adam’s hand and dragged him out of the kitchen toward the front door. Troy followed us out. “Tell Professor Pops I’ll be back.”

“Yep,” he said coming around us and opening the door.

I heard a crash in the kitchen, along with some swearing, and shouting.

“And could you tell Cole I’ll see him soon? Please?” Another loud crash sounded from the kitchen and I flinched.

Troy patted my arm. “He’ll be fine.” He gave me his mega-watt smile. “Cole just needs to break a few things and then he’ll be back to his mellow self.” He chuckled at his own joke and I laughed with him.

“It was so great to meet you, Troy.”

He winked. “Maybe one day we can see who would win in a battle between a Vaktare and a dragon?”

I felt my eyes get big. Was he trying to tell me something? “Are you—” I began, but he put a finger over his lips.

“Say no more. Even the trees have ears.”

I wasn’t sure whether to take him seriously or not, but I didn’t have the time to really talk to him. I needed to talk to Adam. “We’ll talk again soon.”

I went down the steps. Adam was already at the car. He had driven the Lykan after all. I was glad to see he’d told the truth about that. Adam opened the passenger door.

I climbed in.

Troy waved. “See ya.”

Adam closed the door. I waved through the window.

“Why are you so crabby?” I asked.

He kept silent while the motor roared to life and he peeled out of the driveway.

I waited, giving him a chance to say whatever he needed to say. We got on the interstate. He weaved in and out of traffic like the rest of the cars weren’t moving. I held on for dear life and was about to ask him where we were going when he pulled off the interstate into Boston.

A few minutes later he pulled the car up to the entrance of the Boston Plaza.

As soon as Adam put the car in Park a guy in a hotel uniform came up to the car and opened the door. I got out. He gave me a once-over and I remembered I was shoeless, had barely freshened up in two days, and still wore the black workout clothes.

“Welcome to the Boston Plaza,” the guy said.

“Thank you,” I muttered.

Adam handed the guy his keys. “Drive it carefully. There better not be a scratch on her.”

“Yes, sir,” the guy said, climbing into the car.

Even though whatever Adam needed to say was urgent, he still took the time to watch the Lykan drive out of sight.

We walked into the hotel lobby and up to the front desk.

A perky blond was behind the desk. When I walked over, she stopped typing on her keyboard, gave me a once-over, and turned back to her computer screen. “Can I help you?”

It didn’t matter that I looked like a homeless person and probably smelled like one too. I was also Beatrice Cavanaugh, considered American royalty. People knew me and I would be heard.

The receptionist’s nametag said her name was Diane. I slammed my fist against the counter, causing Diane to jump. “Yes, Diane you can. My name is Beatrice Cavanaugh. You have a reservations for me and I’d like to check in.”

She typed some information into her computer. “I’m seeing a reservation for a Beatrice Cavanaugh checking in last night but she never arrived so the reservation was cancelled.” She glanced up. “The room is now reserved. We’re full.” She smirked.

I was about to slam my fist again, but someone grabbed it. I gasped. Adam patted my hand, taking it, and tucking it under his arm. “Diane, my name is Adam Haddox. I’m here to check in.”

She smiled. “Let me check.” After a few seconds, she said, “It looks like you’re in the suite.” She winked. “I’ll just need a credit card and a driver’s license.”

“Right.” He took his wallet out of his back pocket, opened it and handed her the black American Express card I’d given him, along his driver’s license.

Diane took them, casually brushing her fingers against his hand and smiling.

If I hadn’t been in complete shock, I might’ve punched her. Instead I clamped my mouth shut, held on to Adam’s arm and waited while Diane did whatever she had to do.

“Please sign here,” she said, placing a piece of paper on the counter in front of Adam.

He did.

She handed him a key card. “Take the elevator to the top floor. Do you have luggage?”

“Not now. Thank you.” Adam pressed his hand into my lower back and steered me toward the elevator.

Something about his behavior brought back all my worries from the previous night and I wondered again if he really was the same “Adam” mentioned in my parents’ book.

The thought hit me with such paralyzing force that I stumbled, only just catching myself before I hit the highly polished floor. Reaching out, Adam took my hand in a gesture of apparent concern that, only an hour ago, I would have trusted was entirely genuine. Now I wasn’t so sure.

A tiny voice at the back of my mind told me to run, to get away from Adam now. But my thoughts were spiraling so completely out of control that I was helpless to escape.

I allowed myself to be led, barely noticing the beautiful ceramic floors or the way the sun struck the chandelier, making thousands of tiny rainbows dance everywhere. I barely knew when we entered the elevator and felt Adam guide me to the room.