St. Louis, Missouri

Contrary to its elaborate name, The Golden Crown was nothing special in appearance. It was decent enough, with its green wooden exterior and tin roof catching the soft glow of the moon, which was partially hidden behind snow clouds. The two-story building had the sort of welcoming air meant to attract the local demons.

However, the Irish-inspired pub was at the bottom of the barrel compared to its competitors in the nearby city. The beverages were cheap and ofttimes flat, the food was bland and the layout was rather simple—a rustic bar with a handful of worn stools, metal tables clean yet unadorned and a small stage where amateurs belted out karaoke songs.

The pub catered to those who didn’t care for the over-the-top glim and glam that most demon establishments had. It had been created for those who just wanted to get out of their lairs, caves or nests for a casual night out.

Whether it was fancy or modest, Siovon would much rather spend her nights curled in front of a fireplace to exercise her art skills or brew new potions to add to her collection of medicines. She wasn’t an introvert, but as a rare demon whose ancestors had been wiped off the face of the earth centuries ago, making friends and enjoying a night out were next to impossible if she wasn’t careful.

Tonight, however, she was on a mission, and until she completed it, her hobbies would have to wait.

It’d been ten years since she’d been separated from her beloved younger sister. Ever since she’d escaped Mikhail’s clutches a few months before, she had been searching high and low for Calysta, a task that was proving to be far more difficult than she’d hoped.

Out of habit, she touched the golden hoop at the top of her right ear. One of five enchanted earrings, the cold metal didn’t do a damn thing to improve the worry twisting in her gut.

At one point in time, she’d been able to touch the hoop to locate her sister—and vice versa. It connected them, so even if they were on opposite ends of the world, they’d always be able to find one another. Of course, like all magic, it needed to be refilled every few months to keep its effect. But since they hadn’t seen each other in a decade, the magic was long gone, rendering the earring a useless piece of jewelry. So, she’d had to bust out her rusty tracking skills and search for Calysta the old-fashioned way.

After spending weeks with no results, Siovon had caught a break when an old friend had informed her of a rumor about a siren with a healing voice working at The Golden Crown. It was a long shot, but it had been her only lead, so she’d traveled from the coast of South Carolina all the way to the outskirts of St. Louis to investigate.

To add to her mounting annoyance, the rumor had turned out to be true, but Caly was long gone, right along with Keegan, who’d likely held her against her will. Siovon didn’t believe for one second that Calysta would use her singing voice for something as simple as entertaining a crowd of greedy demons.

What was worse, Siovon had learned that some vampire leeches were trying to find her as well. Whether it was for her blood or to use her unique gift for their own heinous plots, as Mikhail had done to Siovon, the sooner she found Calysta, the quicker they could go back to living their lives under the radar from the wretched demon world.

Siovon had first ventured to the pub a few weeks prior, but she’d had to leave after being harassed by two huge vampires. She’d eluded them, but several days later she’d run into them again, and when she’d learned they were looking for Caly, she hadn’t hesitated to kick their asses and send them on their way with a clear message—‘Back off.’ It wasn’t until after they’d left the pub unguarded that she’d returned.

After a quick look around the imp Keegan’s office to find any clues to their disappearances, she crept past the bouncer, who was dead-asleep in a rocking chair next to the door.

Siovon rolled her eyes. Some guard. She didn’t even have to tiptoe. A parade of elephants could come tromping through and the schmuck would snore right through it. Lazy-ass trolls. Always more brawn than brain.

She returned to the bar downstairs, drawing her hood over her head. Then, sticking close to the shadows, she made a swift exit. She took out an ink pen and a folded piece of paper from her pants pocket and scratched The Golden Crown from the list. There was nothing in the imp’s office to indicate where he or Calysta had vanished to, but she had a few addresses to places he frequented.

With any luck, she’d find the jackass, catch him off guard and do what was necessary to get some answers. If he didn’t have Caly, he had to know something.

Shaking her head, she jogged across the snow-covered fields back toward the city. She willed her adrenaline to kick into gear to keep her warm against the cold December air. Not for the first time, she was thankful for her disciplined—some might say cruel—mercenary training growing up. She’d learned to tolerate hours and hours on end of strenuous exercise, including running long distances without losing breath. Her drills had been good for something, at least.

Siovon grimaced at the dark memories threatening to rise and she shook her head again. Now was not the time to reminisce about her less-than-cheery childhood. Besides, those days were behind her. She was a new person. She was a healer, dedicated to the sick and dying.

A pacifist.

She snorted at the absurd statement. Well, she was an aspiring pacifist. She’d been trying to channel her inner peace and not be so hasty in resorting to violence to resolve every issue. I let those two vamps live, after all.

Sure, she’d roughed them up a teensy-tiny bit, but she could have killed them if she’d wanted to. Hell, in another day and age, she would have killed them.

She was learning to focus on blue skies and sunshine. That kind of progress had to count for something.

When Siovon made it to the city a little while later, she kept to the alleys as she zigzagged her way to her hotel. Even in large cities filled with varying scents to wash away her own, she was wise enough to cover her tracks. It was second nature to be cautious. As much as her newly birthed pacifist soul wanted to be trusting and look for the best in people, like Calysta could, she wasn’t stupid.

Still, having a vehicle to get around in would have made everything a hundred times simpler—and faster. And warmer. She made a mental note to find a local car rental service before nightfall.

Her hotel was an old building, but it was up-to-date with an air of cleanliness. That was a must for Siovon. She liked to keep a low profile, but that didn’t mean she had to slum about in rinky-dink motels to keep her privacy. A lady has needs, after all.

She took the stairs two at a time until she got to the fourth floor. It was her preferred method. When it came to choosing between a cement stairwell with a sturdy structure or a metal cage waiting to get stuck in a shaft, it was a no-brainer.

Polite pass on elevators, thank you very much.

Exiting the stairwell, she pulled out a keycard when a sudden chill filled the air, making her hair stand on end. The humans inhabiting the hotel would assume the dramatic drop in temperature was a result of the snowy weather outside and resort to cranking up their individual heating units.

Siovon, however, knew the source was something far more alarming than the threat of catching a cold.

There was a damned vampire approaching—and a powerful one, at that.

Cursing under her breath, she unlocked the door to her room and ducked inside, bolting the locks. Yeah, as if that will keep out a bloodsucker, she thought. They had the uncanny ability to get past any obstacle that wasn’t made of pure silver.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the particular vamp was after her. It was possible he had his own room, was meeting someone or was up to any number of things.

Possible, but not freaking likely.

After her run-in with the other leeches, it wouldn’t surprise her if they’d sent someone to avenge them. Or perhaps it was Mikhail looking to continue where he’d left off.

Either way, the vamp was far too close for comfort. She’d already escaped one maniac.

It was a good thing she was quick on her feet. If one plan failed, it would take only moments for her to develop another.

As the ice prickles from the vamp’s power danced along her skin, she grabbed her prepacked bag and darted for the window. She’d just pushed the glass open when the leech worked his powers to unlock her door.

A handy skill, no doubt, but Siovon had no interest in staying to admire his efforts.

She stood on the window’s ledge, gritting her teeth against the cold. Christ… She didn’t know which was worse—Missouri’s winter air whipping at her face or Frosty the Vampire’s powers creeping over her skin.

Her window faced an apartment building with a fire escape seven feet away, and below her was a dark alley with a solid forty-foot drop. A human would have been screwed.

Fortunately, she was a siren, which meant the demon blood in her veins provided a substantial amount of strength and speed.

She bent her knees and, with a strong spring of muscles, leaped across the distance and grabbed hold of the rickety fire escape, her light weight giving it only the slightest of creaks in protest. She pulled herself over the railing and planted her feet on the rusty landing.

Siovon shivered as she pulled off the jacket that had kept her warm for the past few days. With nothing more than a tank top covering her torso, she fought to keep her teeth from chattering. Hell, she’d endured worse. She’d once had to survive stark naked for a week outside in the snowy mountains in Siberia as part of her training. She’d endured great levels of frostbite and hypothermia before her natural demon healing could kick in gear, but she’d made it.

This Missouri weather? Easy-peasy.

Stiffening her spine, she tucked her bag inside the jacket and dropped it to the ground. Assuming her plan worked, the stalker would follow her scent.

She dashed up the crisscrossing stairs to the roof. Once there, she ducked behind the brick ledge and peeked over just in time to see a large figure peering outside her room window.

She twisted her lips in grim amusement as the schmuck looked around in confusion, trying to determine which way she’d disappeared to.