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To those who are searching for their true mate:

Keep your eyes open, your heart ready,

and your blood warm

Mark of the Balas

Erion landed on the fa a shit who saw hie within hiely uncontrollable Only minutes had passed since Cruen had taken the balas from theed

He uide hiht had better be there to give it to hi down in blankets of shade over the tops of the antiquated buildings and stores in the se, but Erion knew thetime In fact, it was possible he lived in the rooms above

Erion pursued the weak scent at a quicker, irrepressible pace, al him Every human he passed was an inconsequential blur Every storefront the wrong one The dire need to know if the boy his adopted father-theand well consumed his mind and his focus It was insane to think that Ladd had been snatched right out froe, liquid eyes ith fear as he was sucked back into Cruen&039;s flash Erion growled at the thought, at the vibrant er he felt It was as though a liot in his way, he would not rest until it was returned

He came to a halt outside thehim to what he had already suspected-to the male inside Just as he&039;d hoped, Raine was still at work He entered the dusty space in a rush ofin every inch He&039;d been inside the antique-furnishings shop only once before with his twin, Nicholas The Roman brother had purchased a home about thirty miles away Not far from where they had been born-born and throay, in Erion&039;s case Nicholas had wanted to put down some roots A concept Erion had never considered before, not until the boy he&039;d never known he had was introduced to hi He had to find hiet him out of the clutches of that cruel vae was done Dammit, he should&039;ve had an inside track, since Cruen had raised hiey bastard moved from one secret location to the next as often as a pair of rabbits fucked

He shouldered his way through s, and ornately framed landscapes and up to the front of the shop But before he reached the massive desk and the brass bell atop it, a huh, Beast" In the far-right corner of the store, Raine appeared behind a thick wood table that lay on its side The reptilian mutore skulked toward Erion, his brown eyes wary, his ri"

"I aood foot taller than the e

As he approached, Raine&039;s gaze moved around the store nervously "What is it you seek, then? Love seat? Chaise? Whatever it is, make it quick"

"The location of your uncle"

Raine froze halfway to his desk, his eyes blinking rapidly as he stared at Erion "Get out," he uttered tersely

Erion forced a cool smile "Your customer service leaves much to be desired, mutore"

"You are no customer here," Raine said fiercely, "only a pest that wishes to infect and destroy" Eyes down, he made a beeline for his desk, but Erion shot past him and blocked his way

"Why do you protect a aze lifted and his eyes narrowed "I see only one monster, and he stands before me"

"Then you are a fool"

"Perhaps But I remain alive, and that is all I can hope for now" He started forward again, and this time Erion allowed him to pass "I&039; his desk "Without the added muscle Where is the other one? Like you, but Pureblood?"

The sting of the male&039;s words found their mark Erion was as pureblooded as his twin, but, unlike Nicholas, he had been born a mutore-a mutant vampire with strains of other creatures&039; DNA Granted, the Ro Male, the genetically altered vampire monster, but mistakes like him weren&039;t used, weren&039;t even deemed worthy of breath Erion and his beast brothers and sister-Phane, Lycos, Helo, and Dillon-had been luckier thanrescued from the trash bin by a mad vampire and raised in a laboratory lucky Erion wasn&039;t sure what he called it Or whether the life he&039;d led thus far had been worth saving

Jury was still out, as Alexander said