When Evonne saw the sign welcoming them to Florida, her first thought was of amusement parks and how she wanted to ride her first roller coaster. But her second thought scolded her for being so childish. Now wasn’t the time for being silly or searching for some distraction. She came face to face with a true evil this night and walked away with her life. She wanted to trust Saros’ promise that Jovan wouldn’t come for them. But a monster, however chained, would find away to stalk his prey. Jovan made it clear that he wouldn’t stop.
     The black Tahoe pulled up to a sleek, steel gate. The guard looked at Gabriel and nodded as he pressed a button in the guardhouse. It was a familiar scene; the long driveway ended in front of a grand house, with a handful of cars parked out front.
     “We’ll stay here for a while,” he said, turning off the engine.
     Evonne looked at the other cars. “Why not park underground?”
     “This is the only place to park.”
     “Why so little? I assumed this was a haven.”
     “It is a haven, but only for permanent residents. They don’t cater to those passing by. I called ahead so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
     She raised her eyebrows. “You made a reservation?” The notion almost made her laugh. Stepping from the vehicle, she helped him with the bags. She was surprised to see her black duffle bag, laptop and all. “How did you get out of there with these?”
     Before he could answer, a vampire greeted them with a slow bow. “Welcome to Katherine’s home. We have been expecting you.”
     “I will take those for you,” a human said, reaching for her bags.
     Evonne turned sharply. She didn’t even notice him approach. How weak was she? Forcing a smile, she handed him the bags.
     Inside, the haven was noticeable smaller than the layout commonly found in most havens. The place also carried more personality. It didn’t look like a hotel at all. It looked like a home.
     The vampire led them deep within the house’s underbelly, one of the traits harkening back to every haven she’d been in. The vampires resided downstairs, away from the sun’s touch, while the humans lived upstairs. But the carefree atmosphere found in other havens was absent here.
     The room they entered was more like a private suite, mirroring the aristocratic feel of the house. Evonne was afraid to touch anything. And in the presence of such high society, she threw on the veil of a well-mannered guest, trying her best not to offend anyone she passed.
     Placing their bags in the room, the vampire addressed Gabriel, “Katherine will be up here shortly to officially welcome you.” He bowed and left the room, with the human obediently following.
     A steady blanket of silence settled within the room. Evonne waited for Gabriel to speak, but if their past conversations proved anything to her, she would be the one to speak first.
     “It was my fault,” she finally said. “If I hadn’t left with David then I wouldn’t have led him to you.”
     Gabriel sat on the bed, taking his time in answering her. “This wasn’t a result of what you did. I think he’d been following us since we returned from Europe. He was looking for the right moment to make himself known.”
     Evonne crossed her arms as she replayed Jovan’s words. “So it was him. He was the one who killed my father’s first wife.”
     “Abigail was a random victim. He had no plans to harm Alex any further. But in some twisted view, Jovan sees himself as Alex’s creator, and therefore he can do whatever he wants with him. If it wasn’t for that one event, Alex would’ve died before the turn of the century.”
     “He has to know. My father has the right to know who did this to him.”
     “We’re not contacting him anymore. He didn’t listen to you last time, so what makes you think he’ll listen now?”
     “Because this is about Abigail and his original push for this mission of his.”
     Torn between his loyalty to Alex and his duty to protect Evonne, Gabriel weighed his options. “Knowing this doesn’t change anything. He’ll only have a name to focus that anger on.”
     Evonne saw something he was hiding. “Is it because he’s your sire? Are you afraid that he’ll hate you even more because if this?”
     Gabriel remained adamant. “He doesn’t need to know.”
     “Why are you doing this? It’s like you’re protecting him.”
     “There’s nothing about Jovan I want to protect.”
     “I meant my father.” She saw his eyes drift from her. “I picked up on it earlier when we visited him. There’s more history there than what you’ve told me. You had plenty of opportunities to kill him but didn’t. And it wasn’t because of me that stopped you. What aren’t you telling me?”
     His eyes finally returned to her as he began to reply. But as the first word left him, a light knocking came to the door. Gabriel abruptly stood up and opened the door. A tall woman with long, wavy blonde hair entered. Her clothes were of exquisite taste and wealth, leaving Evonne to feel like a pauper by comparison. At the tall vampire’s side stood a human, he, too, dressed in fine clothing.
     Gabriel gave a respectful bow. Evonne followed his lead and did the same.
     “Welcome to my home,” said Katherine. “For my records, I will need your names.”
     Gabriel spoke as the human readied the leather-bound book. “My name is Gabriel. No last name.”
     A flutter of nervousness churned within Evonne’s stomach. She was worried that her name carried more weight than Gabriel’s in this moment. Sucking in her lower lip, she replied, “Evonne Ingram.”
     Katherine looked surprised. She motioned to the human beside her, silently ordering him to leave. The human closed the book and stepped out of the room.
     She calmly addressed Gabriel. “I don’t want any trouble watching up on my doorstep. News travels fast and I’m sure SEVEN travels faster.”
     Evonne shot Gabriel a worried look.
     “No one knows that we’re here,” assured Gabriel. “There is no way SEVEN can track me to your home.”
     “But someone is already searching for you. He has sent word to all remaining havens.”
     He gave her a confused look. “Who?”
     “No name was given, only the title of ‘Nauvia’s Guardian.’ ”
     Gabriel relaxed. “What did he want?”
     “An audience with you. That’s all we were told.”
     “Send word that I’m here. It must be something important for Arden to seek me out like this.”
     Katherine recalled the name. “A Guardian of Nauvia. I should have guessed it was Arden. I will honor your request and send word.” Her eyes landed on Evonne. “It’s strange to see that the rumors are true. I didn’t believe you would go through with it. I’m pleasantly surprised by your decision.” Giving a half bow, she addressed both of them. “My rules are the same as other recognized havens. But there is one rule that stands out above all. No outside humans may enter these grounds. The humans living here have been thoroughly screened. I will send two well-rested humans to your room before sunrise. Please, enjoy your stay at my home.” With a another bow, Katherine gracefully left the room.
     Evonne waited before speaking. “Who’s Arden?” she finally asked.
     Gabriel answered as he began moving their bags to the other side of the room. “An acquaintance. I’ve worked with him in the past.”
     “You never mentioned him before.”
     “He never traveled with me. I saw the information irrelevant in our previous conversations.” He sat the last bag down and returned to the bed.
     Evonne, however, remained standing. “The night I left with David… How did you escape?”
     “One-hundred percent luck.” He looked at her, realizing his simple answer wasn’t enough. “Some havens have been upgraded with emergency exits. That haven happened to be one of those.”
     “Again, I’m sorry that I left.” She moved to the bed and sat beside him. “I know you’re mad at me, probably disappointed and second guessing all of this.”
     “I’m not mad at you. I saw you leave with him.”
     “Oh. But why didn’t you come after me?”
     “I had to get Brian out of there. I made sure he was all right before I left to find you. That reminds me…” Gabriel went over to the bags and removed an object from inside. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.
     Evonne looked at the silver cross in his hand, then at him. “Where did you find it?”
     “Hanging from the mouth of a dead werewolf,” he explained as he placed it in her hand. “It was by chance that I happened to see it. The chain’s broken, though.”
     Touching her collar bone with her other hand, she recalled the wolf’s attack. “Thank you,” she said as she inspected the chain, finding the broken link near the end. “It shouldn’t be that hard to fix.”
     Gabriel returned to his bag and grabbed a change of clothes.
     “How long are we staying here?” asked Evonne, placing the necklace in her pocket.
     “As long as you like.”
     “Really? I thought you would want to keep moving.”
     “I know you don’t like moving around a lot. And since we’re safer here than anywhere else, I thought you would like a break from it all.”
     “And no more fighting,” she quickly added. “It could be like a vacation of sorts. We could just veg out and forget everything that’s happened.”
     He let out a small laugh. “Sounds like you want a honeymoon.”
     Evonne scoffed at the comparison. “Just a vacation. We’re not married in any sense, so it’s not a honeymoon by a long shot. Plus, if that were the case, the time has long past for one. And I don’t even think we like each other enough to call ourselves ‘married’ one day.” Her swift deflection hinted at her uneasiness. She saw him watching her as he refused to answer. The uneasiness doubled. “Well? Go take your shower.”
     Suppressing the urge to play more with the conversation, Gabriel entered the bathroom and closed the door.
     Evonne heard the shower kick on. What was he going to say? She could see it in his eyes. He wanted to say something. Probably a silly comeback or some twisted play on her words, something to catch her off guard.
     As curious as she was to hear his response, she decided to abandon the conversation altogether.