“We both know what I meant. It’s your behavior I’m concerned with.”

“I obey the rules laid out in the treaty, Clive. Your people don’t. And when they don’t, I do my job.”

“And how does it feel that your job is killing people?” The taunt was delivered in a smooth, almost casual fashion. He watched her carefully, his body language deceptively relaxed. He was every bit the predator and she had no misconceptions about that. He’d be on her in a moment if she posed a real threat.

But he wasn’t the only predator in the room and she knew, as well as he did, that this little meeting was a show of dominance. She didn’t have a dick to take out to measure against his. But she wasn’t going to allow him to out-badass her either. Taking a calming breath, she put her hands on her knees and leaned forward. “As it happens, I like my job just fine. The dental plan is first-rate. My training started very early, I believe you know my first teacher. Let me simply reiterate this so we’re clear, because I completely agree that it’s important to be straightforward. I’m a Hunter. That means my job is to keep an eye on you all, and, if need be, kill Vampires who kill people. I don’t like Vampires who kill people. So when I have to slay them for breaking the treaty, I don’t need to go hug a teddy bear or talk to my therapist.”

“From where I sit, I come into town and find my people in utter disarray. An associate has been brutally murdered and you’re at the center of it. Surely you can understand my need to get things straight between us.” He looked so reasonable just then she wanted to smack him. But she wasn’t going to blink first.

She sighed, leaning back into the cushions. “Clive, Clive, Clive. Compared to being alive before electricity and all, I know I’m young. But I’m not new to this game. So let’s just cut the shit. You rolled into town and saw the mess Jacques made. I cleaned house for you people when you were too lazy to do it. Instead of thanks for identifying the Vampire who stole fifty million dollars—a Vampire who I hasten to add also killed multiple human beings—you pretend shock that I slayed him. You’re not werebunnies, you’re Vampires. You eat humans for pleasure, and not in the good way. I. Culled. The. Herd.” She shrugged.

His jaw tightened and a thrill ran through her that she’d affected him. Just as quickly, he forced himself to relax. Jacques would have popped a vein ten minutes ago but this one was made of far sterner stuff.

“I don’t need a rule breaker in my territory. My people don’t exist for you to make your reputation on. So we’re clear, Hunter, keep yourself in line or I’ll do it for you. I won’t abide any terrorizing of the Vampires here in Las Vegas.”

She stood but forced herself to do it slow. “I do my job. I obey the rules. I kill Vampires who don’t. Your associate Jacques didn’t. He violated the law and when he did, he stepped into my world. That’s the treaty your people worked out with the Hunter Corporation. You don’t like it, take it up with them. I didn’t make the rules, I simply enforce them. Me? I couldn’t possibly care less what you like or don’t like.” You uptight British asshole. “And as for you keeping me in line?” She looked him up and down very slowly. “The heat is making you delusional. I keep hearing what a big, bad tough guy you are, but that statement there is simply stupid.”

“You seem to have a problem with control, Ms. Summerwaite. Las Vegas is my town, I am in charge.” He held out his hands, oh-so-reasonably. “I want to be sure you don’t lose your temper and kill anyone else.”

She picked her bag up and turned, giving him her back. The message clear. Rowan Summerwaite didn’t fear him or his Nation. The minion who’d stood near the doors pretended he hadn’t heard the entire conversation and kept his eyes averted.

“Ms. Summerwaite.” His tone said he couldn’t quite believe she was walking out on him. She’d told him she wasn’t a minion and yet, he certainly liked to think so.

Turning to face him, she stayed where she was. “Yes, Scion?”

Fascinated, she watched as he unclenched his jaw. Apparently he’d never been disobeyed before. Well, she was all about bringing new experiences to those around her. A missionary of sorts even.

Idly, she wondered how much it would take to push him into developing a tic in his neck. With that ironclad control, it would be a huge undertaking but in the end, after she’d broken him, it would be a job well done. She kept her amusement inside, though, since they were playing a game of chicken like two fourteen-year-old boys.

“You have no reply?”

She raised one eyebrow at him. “To what? Your ever-so-manly threat to keep me in line? The accusation that I have control issues?”

If I had control problems, you’d be dust and I’d be covered in Vampire blood as I killed every fucking one of you people in this hotel right now. If I had anger management problems I’d have jammed the pointy toe of this lovely boot up your ass for being such a prick.

Instead of saying that, she simply smiled. “I do my job. Sometimes my job is to kill Vampires who break the treaty. That I manage to do so less often than is warranted by the treaty is a testament to my control.”

He straightened his tie but she caught the tightening of his fist for just a moment. “I’m not interested in sparring with you over this. I want to be clear about the rules here. These are my Vampires. You seem to like killing Vampires. This presents a problem. I don’t know if it’s your untouchable status that gives you the idea you have carte blanche.” He shrugged. “But I do not want to start off our relationship on the wrong foot.”

She nodded, so very understanding. “It works like this. Don’t kill humans. Don’t break the treaty. Be good Vampires and I won’t have to deal with you at all. That there is called a win-win situation.”

She moved into the hallway and the assistant called the elevator. When Rowan looked back over her shoulder, Clive stood in the doorway, watching her.

“I’m not stupid. You’re not stupid. There’s nothing more to discuss.” She got into the elevator and waved. “And this is my town. You can keep the Vampires, but stay away from my humans.”

The doors slid closed and she saw her own nearly feral smile reflected back at her.

Clive watched her go. Waited for the place to be empty for several long seconds before moving to the phone. He wanted to throw something but that infuriating woman wasn’t worth the cost of losing a vase.

He punched the speed dial and waited as the lines connected halfway across the world.

“It’s Stewart. Is He available?”

Clive waited until the other Vampire finally answered.

“Clive. I’m going to wager you’ve just had a face to face with my goddaughter,” The First said with a ragged sound, much like a laugh. “I warned you to leave her be.”

“It’s my assessment that the Nation pursue her removal and replacement with a different Hunter. The woman is impossible. She hates us.”

“Useless. All silly and useless and a waste of time better spent on issues important to us. As for Rowan, it may help if you view her as a Vampire in human skin. She’s more like us than you give her credit for. In any case, you hate her, too. But none of that matters. We have a treaty. She’s the keeper of that treaty where you are. You’re too smart to believe Hunter Corp would ever replace her. She’s one of their favored. Do not test my patience on this, Clive. She is protected. You know it. As long as she doesn’t violate the law, she has status both because of the treaty and because of who her father was. And who she is to me.” The hair on Clive’s arms stood at the menace, the warning in The First’s tone.

“Now, I suggest you make sure the Vampire citizens of Las Vegas realize she’ll kill them should they stray and then continue about your business.”

Clive erased all irritation from his voice. He was smooth as glass. “Yes, Sir. Thank you.”

The First chuckled again. “I know her better than most ever will. She will ruffle you because it’s in her nature to do so. And because she will find pleasure in it. But she’s deadly and righteous. She will kill you without blinking. She’s quite exceptional that way.” The admiration and pride in his voice were unmistakable, and, Clive had to admit, she was an astonishing specimen.

Chastened, and knowing he could only push so far on the issue, Clive thanked him and hung up.

He straightened his tie and went down several floors to his next meeting. Once the sun went down his schedule was unremarkably like a lot of other executives. He attended a great many meetings. Signed a great many documents. Since he’d fallen into a routine in Vegas it hadn’t been as bloody as his first days in town.

Five months earlier he’d come to a territory lacking any sense of moderation.

Undisciplined people had been running neighborhoods like fiefdoms. Infighting. Skimming of the books, which he’d ended within minutes of finding out of every incidence. The Nation did not tolerate theft. There were no second chances to steal from The First.

After the first few Vampires simply disappeared, they began to understand and fall in line. He’d learned several centuries earlier just how effective a beheading at a conference table or around a campfire could be at correcting any behavioral issues among his people.

Upon entering, he surveyed the room. All the most powerful Vampires in Las Vegas—the ones left alive and those who’d risen to replace those who were no longer—sat utterly still, eyes lowered in deference.

Momentarily satisfied, he nodded, smoothing his tie down.

“The Hunter has returned to Las Vegas. I’ve just met with Rowan Summerwaite. China, you need to tell those mongrels at the Vampyre Theatre to keep their activities in check and I want each of you to underline, with all of your people, the importance of avoiding entanglement with her.”

“How could they let her come back after what she did to Jacques?”

The room chilled as Clive turned all his focus on the female who’d spoken. “I believe we’ve had this discussion before, Wendela. To rehash it is a waste of my time. Is there some reason why you’d want to waste my time? Or perhaps you’re questioning my leadership?”

Wendela shook her head vehemently, lowering her eyes again. They’d all seen a demonstration of just how their Scion could be if he was angry.

Alice, Clive’s personal assistant, sighed and tapped her pen against the tabletop and he repressed a smile at her impertinence.

She looked to him and he nodded slightly, urging her to speak. “We know what Jacques was and what he did. Aside from the messy complication of the human women he killed for sport, he stole from the Nation. Jacques should have been glad the Hunter killed him before The First’s lieutenants arrived.” A unified shudder ran through the room at the memory of the five who’d arrived, silent and stinking of death, and’d gone by the following moonrise.

Clive looked each one of them in the eyes for a moment as he scanned the room. “Many of you are new to Las Vegas so I understand you may not be that impressed by stories of what the Hunter can do. But I want you to believe me when I tell you she will kill you as easily as she draws a breath. She’s a killing machine. We trained her and then the Hunter Corporation finished the job.

“The treaty allows her to kill any of our kind who break the law. I will not tolerate any rule breaking. Do you understand me? I want to be exceedingly clear on this point. I will kill you before she can if I hear about any lawbreaking. And I will enjoy every moment of it. I do not care if you fuck humans and take their blood. But if you kill them? You’re on your own and you’d best walk into the sun rather than face me. I won’t make it fast or easy.”

“What is she, anyway?” China asked. “Sure she’s a Hunter. But what makes this one so special?”

Clive sat a little straighter. “A history lesson? Why not.” He shrugged. “Brigid is a Celtic triple goddess. Which means her power is threefold—the forge and martial arts, inspiration, and healing and fertility. It’s the first one you should worry about. Rowan carries a blade, a blessed blade forged by warrior shamans and monks of silver and steel. The blade was created to kill Vampires and you shouldn’t forget that.

“Rowan Summerwaite is the first true Vessel of Brigid in centuries. There’s obviously a dearth of information on just exactly her strengths, but from what I understand, she’s able to channel the power of the Goddess in battle. She’s also arrogant and unafraid, and willing to kill us if she has to.

“Most important to all of you, however, was that she was raised by The First. He was her foster father after his personal servant, her father, was killed. The Hunter knows us all very well, which makes her all the more effective.”

Clive stood, straightened his jacket and went to the door. “Get your quarterly accounting statements to my people by the end of the week.”

carefully.