Blood Kiss (Legacy 1)

"You didn't do anything wrong tonight."
Butch nodded. Then looked over his shoulder. "Doesn't mean I'm happy about introducing a bunch of children into the war."
"We either make the introductions or the war will find them on its own terms."
"Yeah, this shit might be necessary- might even be for their own good. Doesn't sit well with me though."
-Butch and Vishous after First Night

Blood Kiss is the first book of Black Dagger Legacy, which is a spin-off from the main Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. This series follows the lives of young vampires enrolled in the Brotherhood's training program while intertwining the ongoing stories of characters from the main series because happily ever after isn't the end to a story. Legacy starts off with Paradise and Craeg and includes Butch and Marissa's mated relationship.

Legacy and the main series alternate both in terms of timeline and release dates and should be read in order of publication. It's preceded by The Shadows and followed by The Beast with the second Legacy book, Blood Vow, following that. While The Black Dagger Brotherhood can be read on its own, Black Dagger Legacy incorporates much of the main plot and is not a stand-alone series.

Synopsis[]

Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself...be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong.

The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate.

Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated--and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power...on the field, and off.

Main Characters[]

Other Characters[]

Black Dagger Brotherhood and Trainees[]

Others - Speaking Roles[]

Mentioned or non-Speaking Roles[]

Plot[]

Warning[]

Readers should be aware that this book contains themes of rape, assault, and murder.

Reminder that this wiki contains spoilers so please proceed with caution.

Chapter 1[]

The night before try-outs for the training program, Abalone is meeting with Wrath, Butch, and Vishous at the Audience House. Since they usually go home after work together, Paradise is waiting for her father and worrying that she won't be allowed to since it had already been a struggle to convince her father to let her apply in the first place.

At Safe Place, Marissa is on the phone with a female of the glymera who's trying to coax her into being chairperson for the Twelve Months Festival Ball since Havers had suggested Marissa for the role. Mary enters her office covered in blood, at which point Marissa is blunt with the female on the phone and tells her no, but if she's so enthusiastic about the position then she should do it herself and hangs up. Mary had found a severely injured female crawling across the lawn when the motion was picked up on the cameras. She managed to get the female safely inside, but she's so badly beaten she's barely recognizable as a person and Mary can't reach either Jane or Manny by phone.

Chapter 2[]

Butch and Vishous want to make sure that Abalone's fully aware of what the training program involves because they don't want Paradise's success or failure to affect his relationship with Wrath. He assures them that he fully expects her to succeed or fail on her own merits, although personally he's torn because he'd rather she wash out, but at the same time he doesn't want to see her disappointed in herself.

Marissa's finally able to get through to the clinic and gets Ehlena because both Jane and Manny are performing emergency surgery on Tohrment. She suggests Marissa call Vishous since he has medical training, but she only gets his voicemail. Left with no other choice, Marissa has the residents move to the Wellesandra Wing and calls her brother. Havers arrives shortly with his head nurse, who performs the physical exam in order to avoid more emotional trauma for the female. Although she's still hurt by how cruel he'd been towards her, Marissa's impressed that he intends to feed the female himself while en route to the clinic in the ambulance.

Chapter 3[]

It's Last Meal back at the mansion and Butch is worried because Marissa isn't home yet nor is she answering his calls. His concerns are eased when she arrives shortly, yet he can tell that she's bothered by something that happened at work. He tries to get her to talk to him about it, but since the female's situation is too close to what happened to his sister, Janie, Marissa distracts him with sex. However, that brings up other issues since he refuses to ever let her finish him orally because of his virgin-whore complex; he feels guilty for even indulging behind the bar in the billiards room while everyone else is in the dining room because he thinks that anywhere other than the sanctity of their bedroom is treating her like trash. He refuses to talk to her about his hang-ups, preferring instead to keep her on a pedestal, which is causing a rift between them.

After Last Meal, Bella mentions she heard a rumour that Marissa is organizing the ball and offers to help.

Chapter 4[]

On a bus to orientation with the other recruits, Paradise is still angry at Peyton for telling her that the training program was no place for females of the glymera, who should be kept protected and treated as prizes awarded to males like him. She refuses to forgive him and he thinks that she's being unreasonable.

Marissa goes to check on the injured female at the clinic and things are again awkward between her and Havers as he tells her that she hasn't regained consciousness and that he's done all he can. While Marissa is there, the female dies despite attempts to resuscitate her, and she promises to find justice for her.

Chapter 5[]

At the gym in the training centre, the recruits are fêted with a cocktail party, which Paradise finds odd but is distracted when Craeg walks in. The lights go out just as their eyes meet.

Havers apologizes to the female he was unable to save and promises Marissa that he will have her cremated and give the ashes to Marissa.

Chapter 6[]

The gym is plunged into pure darkness, startling Paradise and she assumes it's part of a dramatic entrance for the Brotherhood, but she starts worrying when it's apparent it's not for theatrics. Craeg finds her by scent and warns her that it's the first test and they hear buzzing and cries as others test the doors and find they're electrified. Those who ate any of the food or had anything to drink start vomiting. Sensing fresh air, Craeg leaves her to make her own way. There's a sound of ticking that grows faster and seems to indicate a countdown. Blind, surrounded by booby-trapped work-out equipment and exits, not to mention sick people, Paradise begins to think that maybe Abalone and Peyton were right and she's not cut out for this. Then, to add to the chaos, explosions in the rafters start going off and she really starts to get scared.

Craeg is ruthlessly cunning and observant, noting that the first to start puking are already starting to recover and the explosions are merely flashbangs. He and a female named Novo cautiously find their way towards an open door in the corner. A knot of people run through it, the door slams shut and they hear screaming from the other side. Craeg finds climbing ropes a short distance away and they climb them up to a scaffolding that sways with every slight movement.

Chapter 7[]

Determining that there's no actual danger, Paradise finds Peyton curled up on the floor vomiting and tells her to leave him. She resorts to slapping him, which is so out of character for her it shocks him out of his self-pity and then he throws up on her. Determined to get him out of there, she dead lifts him and carries him towards the scent of fresh air even though he barfs down her back. She bumps into some of the weight-lifting equipment and goes down when it shocks her. Getting back up and picking up Peyton again is even harder and she thinks about giving up, but they make it to the door, which is closed and without a handle. Seeing the ropes when the lights continue to flash, Paradise tries to talk Peyton into climbing them when the door opens and they're grabbed, hooded, bound, and dragged away.

Up on the catwalk, Craeg's getting zapped every time he bumps into the metal apparatus, which is often thanks to the swaying every time he or Novo moves. They hold onto each other so they move in tandem and can better judge the motion, but then it suddenly stabilizes and they fall into the railing, getting shocked again before being dumped into a pool. After the warm-up from the climb and the painful zaps from the scaffolding, the cold water makes Craeg cramp up. He manages to more or less float and realizes that the tests are designed to force them to fight their natural instincts and reactions to stress; in a fight, someone who's unable to overcome their body's innate reactions is a liability to everyone, not just themselves.

Chapter 8[]

Butch and Tohrment are wearing night-vision goggles and earpieces for communication to monitor those in the pool for safety, pulling out those who in danger of drowning. Since there were 60 in the pool of applicants, an untenable number, Butch and Vishous were largely behind the tests designed to winnow them down to under ten recruits, a more feasible number; two loads of dropouts were already headed home. As brutal as the tests are, it's better to weed out those who won't make the cut now than to put them in the field and find out then.

The hood and bonds are yanked off of Paradise and she's swung between two people into the pool. Having recovered, Peyton holds Paradise up in the water so she can conserve her strength after carrying him across the gym. The water level starts dropping and Lassiter appears, glowing in the dark. If the light wasn't enough to catch everyone's attention, the hot pink slingshot swimsuit, scuba mask and snorkel, flippers, and kid's blue and yellow floaty around his waist does it. He cannonballs into the pool, which rapidly begins draining, and then dematerializes out.

Chapter 9[]

The overhead lights come on to reveal the Brotherhood, all dressed in black leather and black hoods, surrounding them with guns aimed at the recruits. Paradise recognizes the one aiming at her as Rhage due to his size; she is having problems reconciling the males she knows and likes with what they're doing after they've acted like protective uncles towards her for months. Craeg yells at Rhage and waves his arms to draw the Brother's attention away from her. It works and he goes down. Paradise goes berserk and launches herself at Rhage, fighting with him for the gun, but he pins her easily.

Novo tears her shirt to apply a rough bandage to Craeg's gunshot wound. Peyton attacks Rhage to get him off of Paradise and others follow suit, attacking some of the Brothers and getting shot for the attempt. Someone uses a sound system to announce that anyone can run for the door and leave without being harmed. Following Novo's example, Paradise makes a similar bandage for the glancing wound on Peyton's arm. Seeing her friend hurt is the last straw for Paradise and she presents herself as a target and screams at the Brothers to shoot her if they want to shoot someone.

The lights switch to black-light and the Brotherhood opens fire.

Chapter 10[]

To avoid the rubber bullets as best they can, Craeg and Novo bellycrawl to one of the metal ladders out of the pool only to find it's electrified. It takes a lot of focus, but they manage to dematerialize out of the pool and into a corner near an exit and are soon joined by some of the others who manage to do so as well. The door opens to the outside and Craeg sets Anslam, Boone, Novo, Paradise, Peyton, and himself in a defensive formation.

Outside they find a bonfire and a table with fruit, bottles of water, and granola bars and the door shuts behind them. Craeg inspects the items and finds that the seals have been cracked on some of the bottles and packages, but there's plenty that hasn't been tampered with. They use the opportunity to dry off some, catch their breath, rehydrate, and fuel up. There are electric chain-link fences on either side of them, leaving the only exit through the woods. The fencing keeps them to a specific track that loops around where the fencing near the bonfire had been rearranged to form one continuous circuit. Whenever they stop as a group, they hear gunshots nearby.

Chapter 11[]

It's a chilly night and they begin dropping from exhaustion and/or pain. Anslam was the first to go. When Novo falls, Paradise tries to keep her going, but Novo tells her not to worry about her and keep on going herself. Peyton's so dehydrated that when he stops he appears to be hallucinating. Paradise stumbles across Craeg lying in the middle of the track where he's fallen and she tries to offer him her vein, but he refuses. In order to get her to leave him, he tells her that he doesn't want a "dumb, weak, bumbling female" who never should have gotten into the program. She knows he's lying because when they'd met at the Audience House a few months before he'd encouraged her to apply, and if he was so self-serving, he wouldn't have stopped anyone from consuming the adulterated food and water at the bonfire. He admits that he'd inspected the safety seals for her sake, no one else's.

Since there's nothing else Paradise can do, she continues shuffling around the circle, her own thoughts going odd places due to exhaustion, solitude, dehydration, and her body screaming at her for the abuse it's been put through. She thinks she's hallucinating when she comes across the Brothers standing in a line across her path; they applaud and Butch announces she's the Primus just before she passes out.

Chapter 12[]

Butch feels like scum for putting Paradise through that ordeal because she looks far too much like some of the victims he used to work with as a cop, both those who survived and those who didn't. Moreover, he sees it as enlisting kids for war. Vishous reminds him that one way or the other, war will find them and it's better to prepare them. Butch still doesn't feel right about it, though, and goes to church.

Paradise wakes up in a bunkroom wearing a hospital gown and robe instead of her torn and filthy clothes. Peyton brings her food and coffee and apologizes for what he said before, admitting that she was right to call him out for his prejudice and proved he was wrong. Worried that she'll be treated differently, or accused of it, she asks him not to tell the other recruits that not only is she from a Founding Family, but that her father's First Advisor to the king. He gives her his word and promises to pass along the request to Anslam, who runs in the same circles they do.

Chapter 13[]

At St. Patrick's Cathedral, Butch finds Marissa sitting in a pew, crying. He gets her to finally tell him about the female, which she'd been avoiding since she didn't want to bring up bad memories for him. As they talk, she receives a message from Havers informing her that the cremains are ready for pick up and he drives her to the clinic.

The recruits are recovering in the breakroom and chatting, but Craeg's avoiding developing any connections, preferring to keep silent and to himself. When the others go in search of food after having picked the kitchen clean, he tries to push Paradise away like he has the others, then feels like an ass when she tells him that she'd leave him alone if her feet didn't hurt too much to walk. Looking down, he sees that her bare feet are swollen, blistered, and generally torn up; he hates seeing the damage and despite himself, he wants her.

Chapter 14[]

The room is full of sexual tension and Paradise asks him if he doesn't like her because of their connection. He confirms her guess, but the training program's his only future. He has no family, no job, no prospects and can't do anything to risk his spot in the program, which means he can't give into his feelings for her.

On their way to Havers', Marissa talks about how she feels like the unknown female's family until she can find them and how she feels responsible for her. She admits to Butch that she wants to have sex when they return home, which is not something he's going to turn down, and that she feels guilty about it. It makes sense to want to feel alive in the face of death, he tells her, since he knows from experience. She's worried he'll hurt Havers over how her brother's treated her in the past and Butch promises not to hurt him for her sake.

As they're waiting at the clinic, Marissa's surprised by Butch's familiarity with the new facility and he tells her that he hadn't wanted to upset her by bringing up her brother, which would have been inevitable in discussing the new clinic. She asks how the program's going and he tells her that they're staying the day in the bunkroom, mainly so their parents don't see them looking like crap; he's teaching the first class at nightfall. They talk about how the deaths he worked still haunt him and he warns her that the unknown female will continue to affect her. He tries to downplay it when she asks why he doesn't talk to her when him keeps him awake during the day. She comments how they've been tried to sever parts of their past.

Along with the ashes, a nurse gives Marissa a key that was found in the deceased's bra.

Chapter 15[]

Peyton looks down on nearly all of the other trainees. Like Paradise, he assumes Axe is a nascent serial killer based on his looks alone. He thinks that Boone's a showoff with his acrobatics, which he doesn't think will be useful in a fight. Anslam's just another from the glymera, and not even from a Founding Family at that. Craeg he hates most of all because everyone, including Paradise, sees him as a leader so Peyton presumes that, that's gone to Craeg's head. When it comes to Novo, his only opinions so far involve her physical appearance.

Butch and Rhage give the trainees a heads up to shower and be ready in uniform. Recognizing Butch as the Dhestroyer, Peyton goes complete fanboy, which Butch shuts down pretty quickly. Paradise wonders aloud about the uniforms and Craeg snarks that it's not a fashion show. Peyton snaps at Craeg, warning him away from Paradise, not even to look at her. Craeg asks Paradise to call off Peyton before he gets himself hurt, at which point Peyton loses it and attacks Craeg. Paradise tries to stop the brawl, worried they'll get kicked out of the program. Novo tells her to let them have their little social-posturing fight for dominance, Anslam cheers them on, while Boone and Axe just watch. Craeg wins when Peyton gets knocked out. Instead of penalizing them for fighting, Butch and Rhage bet $5 on the outcome; Butch won.

Chapter 16[]

The trainees are paired off in the gym, except for Peyton who watches from a stretcher due to his injuries from the fight. Paired with Paradise, Craeg refuses to spar and when she protests, he tells her that she can't possibly take on a fully grown male and will only get hurt. She repays his condescension with a knee to the groin, a knee to the face when he doubles over, and then a double-fisted haymaker to one side of the head. The others mock him as he's recovering on the mat. He's kind of turned on by her, which feeds on her own arousal and he's totally ready for an erotic sort of hunt.

Butch puts himself between Craeg and Paradise and offers himself up as an opponent. Seeing him as an obstacle to getting towards Paradise, Craeg takes him up on that and goes all out whereas he'd held back quite a bit with Peyton. Fifteen minutes later they're still going and have gathered a crowd of Brothers and the household. Daggers are added into the mix and Butch is wearing him down with small slices, letting Craeg come at him. Craeg's tiring, blood's pooling on the mats, but he refuses to give up.

Eventually, Paradise tries to get him to stop, even Peyton tries to talk sense into him. Ehlena, Jane, and Manny are not happy about watching more work being created for them unnecessarily, but Vishous prevents Jane from interfering. A full 42 minutes after they started, Craeg falls facedown in his own blood. Butch helps him up, hugs him, and tells him that he's proud of him.

Chapter 17[]

Just as Butch predicted, Marissa couldn't sleep for thinking about the female and that there are no leads on the key that was found on her. Mary gets her to open up and Marissa asks her how she managed a clean cut between her life before and the life she has now. Mary explains that she'd always expected the cancer to return and since she had no family, she'd already had her existential bags packed, but that's not the same for Marissa. Crying, Marissa tells her that she still keeps in a drawer the money Havers gave her when he kicked her out and how he'd placed it on a bureau as if he couldn't bear to touch her by handing it to her. She feels ridiculous for being upset over her own issues since she can't find the dead female's family or murderer. Mary points out that she'd had to go to her brother for help for the first time since the estrangement so it's only natural that it's going to bring up issues for her. And how does the difference between his attitude towards his patients and the way he treats her make her feel? It can be a relief to have a fresh start, but it doesn't erase one's experiences, things will come up sooner or later. Marissa admits that she's been having problems connecting with Butch, to which Mary of course since he's the catalyst of the break between Marissa and Havers. She needs to make peace with Havers, the glymera, and even Wrath because she faced a lot of pain and rejection from all three. Marissa doesn't have to forget the female, but neither should she use it as an excuse to not deal with any of it.

After Mary leaves, Marissa bites the bullet and calls the female from the glymera who'd asked her to chair the festival to tell her that she'll do it.

Chapter 18[]

Rhage takes Paradise to see Manny when she dislocates a finger in class and she's startled to find he's human since she's never seen one in person before. Although she's seen him around the Audience House, they'd never actually met and she'd assumed he was a vampire like everyone else there. Ehlena sticks her head in to tell Manny that "he" is refusing the vein of a Chosen, which Paradise assumes means Craeg and she follows his scent to the room where he's recovering.

Paradise offers her vein to Craeg, but he refuses and calls her a pain in the ass with a need to play saviour. Trying to convince him, she tells him it'll get him out of the clinic and back home faster and she'll feel better for hurting him when he refused to spar with her. He tells her that he'd already turned down a Chosen and she tells him he's an ass when he feels threatened. He says that it's a learned behaviour from witnessing the murder of two family members. She scores her wrist with her own fangs and he warns her to yell for help before latching on.

Chapter 19[]

Craeg is insanely aroused and desperate to do something about it. Noticing, Paradise gives him permission to take care of it and has to reassure him that there's nothing between her and Peyton. Afterwards, he tells her to go to save some of her virtue since it would reflect poorly on her if she came out of a room that reeked of sex. Reverting to form, he tells her that she's had her titillation, what more does she want? A proposal? She tells him that she might be naive when it comes to sex, but she does know that only cowards tear down others when they feel threatened. Apologizing, he tells her that he doesn't have the energy to soften his edges and has nothing more to offer anyone. As he talks, suggesting that she hook up with Peyton since he's wealthy, it's apparent that he thinks she's a working class female who's looking for options other than office work since she was the receptionist at the Audience House when they met. He admits that he does care for her, but it's plain he has no intentions of acting upon those feelings.

Chapter 20[]

On the way home Peyton's worried about Paradise because something's obviously bothering her and tells her he'll call when they're both home. When he does, they talk about how strange it feels to be home again, like they're different people.

Marissa's handling everything for the ball and she knows that the scandal of having her involved would entice more of the glymera into attending; she's almost looking forward to showing them how their judgment hadn't affected her life one whit. What is bothering her is that no one's come forward to look for the female and there are no leads on the key. Back at the mansion, the other shellans help her address invitations and then have a girls' night watching Magic Mike XXL.

Chapter 21[]

The hellrens of the mansion are having dinner alone since the females are having their girls' night and they're all morose that their shellans are watching humans strip because, as V puts it, "it's like being shown up by a pack of dogs." Lassiter's added commentary isn't helping their insecurities. When the shellans are done with the movie, they find their drunk males all sitting or laying in the hallway outside the movie theatre. Butch and Marissa have sex and they're probably not the only couple doing so.

Marissa asks Butch to help her find the murderer and he tells her that when they do, he's not likely to let the guy continue breathing, especially since there's really no codified criminal codes within the race.

Chapter 22[]

The next night Craeg wakes up feeling a million times better, due in no small part to taking Paradise's vein, which scares him a little. Over breakfast, Butch pretty much strong-arms him into staying at the centre because his basement apartment is severely rundown and there's no escape in case of fire. Craeg's resistant because he sees it as charity until Butch points out that the Brotherhood will be investing a couple hundred thousand dollars in him over the next year and they don't want to see that go to waste over his pride; if he refuses, then he's out of the program.

Paradise gives her father a heavily edited summary of the night and day she spent at the centre; she worries that giving Craeg her vein will make her unmateable in the glymera and how that might affect her father. On the way to class, Peyton asks Paradise to the ball and she takes him up on it since they're both going to need a friend to make it through the night.

Chapter 23[]

In class, Craeg's distracted by Paradise and the worst nightmare of every teenage boy ever comes true when Tohr asks him up to the board; the loose white pants they're all wearing won't hide his erection. Peyton volunteers in his stead.

During a break, Novo and Paradise talk in the locker room where Novo admits to Paradise that she's pansexual. Paradise thinks it's amazing that Novo's free to be who she is.

Chapter 24[]

Butch and V are pretty sure that the key found on the dead female is to a sex club, but they don't know which one and he's not sure how to broach the topic with his mate. Butch pulls the trainees aside to ask them questions for a psych eval and they're recorded so Mary can review the footage later and make assessments, he also takes the opportunity to ask them if they recognize the key.

In the gym, Novo's spotting Craeg on the bench-press and gives him a heads up that he's erect, which V also notices as Craeg leaves for the locker room where he tries to talk some sense into his dumb handle.

Chapter 25[]

Butch is interviewing Axe and gets his story; getting him to talk is like pulling teeth. Axe's mom abandoned him and his dad, Theirsh, when Axe was a pretrans and married a rich male. Axe is pretty sure that the only reason Theirsh didn't leave him, too, was because Axe would have ended up on the streets; if that didn't kill him, then his transition surely would have without support. One night Axe was high and ignored his dad's multiple phone calls, getting annoyed with him and erasing the messages without listening to them. Later, he discovered that Theirsh had been murdered by lessers while working at an aristocrat's house and he'd called Axe as he was dying. Butch asks Axe to stay at the centre same as Craeg, albeit with less strong-arming, and Axe asks if it's because the Brother's afraid Axe will commit suicide. Butch confirms his suspicion and Axe agrees without a fight.

Chapter 26[]

Novo tells Paradise, who hadn't noticed Craeg's little problem, that Craeg just left looking upset and could probably use someone to talk to. She goes looking for him in the locker room and realizes what's going on. If she has sex with him, which is what he warns her he wants, then she'd be unmateable, but simply being in the program makes her less desirable anyway. After talking to Novo, she decides that the easiest solution is to not get mated and live her life as she chooses rather than by high society's exacting standards. They kiss and she gives him her number.

Chapter 27[]

As Butch drives Axe and Craeg to grab their things, the two trainees realize their fathers died together while working as tradesmen at a glymera estate. During the raids, the family for whom they were working locked them and the rest of their employees out of the safe room, leaving them to be slaughtered while they remained safe.

Chapter 28[]

Axe admits to Butch that he recognized the key as he'd been on a bender there when his dad died.

At the mansion, Lassiter distracts Marissa with his antics to cheer her up in her grief and sense of helplessness over the unknown female.

Chapter 29[]

Butch tells Marissa that the key is indicative of membership to a BDSM club and when she says she wants to go, he shits a brick and tells her she can't handle it, so no, she's not going. Disliking how he shuts her down, she asks him if he's really the one who can't handle the thought of her being in a sex club. He tries to say that she'll distract him, but she tells him to cut the crap and take some Valium because she is going. Unless he's actually scared she'll like it?

Chapter 30[]

Peyton's getting stoned with Anslam when Paradise calls and mentions that she found a blurry Polaroid on the bus that she assumed was his. It's not.

Chapter 31[]

Talking over the phone, Craeg tells Paradise of how his father was working for a glymera family laying a floor when Lash's lesser raids happened. The family retreated into a panic room and locked their doggen and staff out to be slaughtered. When Craeg went looking for his father, he found the bodies of the commoners huddled outside the safe room and the footprints of the glymera family tracking through their blood when they escaped unscathed. He makes it clear that he hates everyone and everything associated with the glymera because even before the raids they treat everyone else like shit.

Chapter 32[]

That day, Butch didn't sleep at the Pit and Vishous tells Marissa that he didn't return at all. She admits to him that they fought over a sex club, which shocks the shit out of V, and explains how she's tired of being kept on a pedestal. It's not fair or right to keep her confined in a defined little box and prevent her from doing what's important to her and well within her right. While trying to reassure Marissa, V tells her that Butch and Xhex had a one-night stand.

Vishous rushes into the billiards room where Butch got drunk and passed out on the couch; he confesses what he told Marissa, thinking that she already knew, but what really made him lose his shit was when she got up and calmly went to work, which was when he knew that things were bad. V goes on to relate what she told him and he reminds Butch that seeing some humans having kinky sex won't fundamentally change who she is, she won't suddenly become like V, and Butch realizes that Marissa was right.

Chapter 33[]

Distracted by Craeg, Paradise falls while running on the treadmill and gets a cut near her eyebrow. Craeg in turn gets territorial over her. When they have a moment alone, Peyton asks Craeg when he bonded with Paradise, which Craeg hasn't even realized has happened until Peyton points out his bonding scent and how he'd bared his fangs at everyone who got too close to her while she was injured. Craeg starts beating his head against the wall. Peyton wants to hate him because she's the best female he's ever known and she chose Craeg, but Peyton feels bad for him if he's fighting it. Then again, it'll be fun to watch and if Craeg is an idiot and walks away then that gives Peyton a chance.

Chapter 34[]

While waiting for Butch, Marissa uses the computer in the centre's office to check the RSVPs for the ball and finds that the expected turnout is well beyond what she had anticipated. She notices the video of Butch's interview with Axe and watches the part where Axe asks Butch what it's like to see death. She hears for the first time Butch describe what working homicide was like and seeing all those bodies.

After getting twelve stitches in her brow, Paradise asks Jane if she can stay the day at the centre because she doesn't want her dad to see her injury. By now well familiar with the protective nature of vampire males, Jane thinks that's a good idea.

Chapter 35[]

Butch admits to Marissa that he should have told her about Xhex, he just saw their one-time thing as a part of the life he left behind and unimportant compared to the life he has with her. She asks him why he never shared with her like he did with the trainee in the video, what else is he protecting her from knowing about him? She admits she didn't talk to him out of protection for him about the unidentified female and how it destroyed her. Then seeing Havers broke her heart all over again and she misses parts of her old life. She tells him to be honest and stop holding back or else she's going to Safe Place; hiding things from each other and glossing over the ugly bits hasn't been a good strategy for either of them. Yes, that's an ultimatum because she'll mow down anything that gets in the way of their relationship, even him.

Stunned, Butch takes that as criticism of him and how he's behaved in their relationship, but Marissa says she's equally to blame for not being open either. Beating themselves up or placing blame isn't going to help them, only honesty will, like why he refuses to talk about why fellatio is an issue for him instead of just telling her she's a good girl and shutting down the conversation. Does he honestly not enjoy it when she does that for him?

He dislikes talking about his nightmares when they're not actively haunting him because he's pissed it still haunts him and he feels that talking about it gives them power. As for fellatio, it's because he's ashamed of himself, he was raised to think that only "sluts and whores" do that sort of thing and he wants her to finish him. So his desires are in conflict with what he's internalized and he feels like he's sullying her in the act.

Some of those same teachings that he's absorbed bleed over into how he remembers his sister, Janie, and how he feels about her death. A part of him wonders if she died because she wasn't being a "good girl" what with all the boys she went out with and then he hates himself for placing the onus of her death on his sister. If, heaven forbid, it was his own daughter and anyone said anything of the like he'd rip them apart with his bare hands. With wisdom that might have come in part from Mary, Marissa gives sound advice on how to deal with intrusive thoughts instead of fighting them by processing and looking at them from every angle, comparing them with what he knows to be true and right before setting those thoughts aside.

Chapter 36[]

That morning, Paradise heads off to bed after playing cards with Axe and Craeg. Axe also thinks Craeg's an idiot if he doesn't want to be with Paradise; the two males, once they got over their judgment of the other based on outward appearances, are developing a rapport.

Joining Paradise in her room, they have outercourse, but he refuses to have sex with her and has her take his vein instead.

Chapter 37[]

Getting ready to go to the Keys, Butch feels a helluva lot better after talking things out with Marissa. He's wearing his usual muscle shirt and leathers with a trenchcoat, New Rock boots, and a skeletal mask, the latter additions courtesy of Axe. He's struck speechless, in a good way, when he sees Marissa in a full body latex suit and gas mask.

Abalone still is struggling with the idea of Paradise sparring in class, yet doesn't naysay her, although he does confess that he's trying to deal with her change in goals. His own mating was arranged as is customary within the glymera, but he and his shellan loved each other and the only thing he won't budge on with regards to Paradise's future is her finding love; she interprets this to mean that he wants her to find love the same way he did, preferably with Peyton. He tells her that he misses her and is proud of her progress from what little the Brothers can tell him. She dislikes lying to him about the program so he doesn't worry and over Craeg since she assumes that if Abalone knew he would pull her from the program and forbid her from seeing Craeg because of his social status.

Chapter 38[]

Craeg, Novo, and Paradise go to shAdoWs for a night out. One human grabs Paradise and gets throat-punched for his trouble before Craeg can come to her rescue.

Chapter 39[]

At the club, which appears to look more and more like searching for a needle in a haystack, Butch tells Axe the truth about where the key came from and the trainee's sickened to hear of what happened to the female and that Marissa had to see it.

Chapter 40[]

Craeg and Paradise have sex at shAdoWs.

Chapter 41[]

Peyton calls Paradise in a panic because he went to check on a cousin of his since no one's heard from her in a few days and found blood all over her apartment and no sign of her. She and Craeg meet him at the apartment and seeing the obvious signs of a struggle, Paradise calls her dad. Craeg starts to protest that the Brotherhood should be notified first and Peyton tells him that since her dad's First Advisor to the king, it is the fastest way of getting a hold of the Brotherhood. Stunned by the revelation, Craeg realizes he never noticed her aristocratic accent before.

Butch, Marissa, and Vishous arrive at the apartment piece together the timeline to get enough of a confirmation that the deceased female was Peyton & Paradise's cousin, Allishon. Then Butch and V get a request for help from Rhage and Tohrment who are in a fight with lessers nearby. Butch gives Marissa instructions on what to do next and is extremely proud of her.

Chapter 42[]

While they're searching and photographing everything in the apartment, Paradise finds a Polaroid like the one she found on the bus, nothing discernible just colours of pink and red.

Craeg seems off when they say good-bye. He follows her home, using his blood in her system to track, and confirms that by the size and grandeur of her home and the way the doggen treat her she is of the glymera. He's pissed because according to the Old Laws, a commoner who takes the virginity of a female from a Founding Family could be put to death. Plus, she lied to him and he allowed himself to get distracted from his goal.

Chapter 43[]

After returning home from informing Allishon's parents of her death, Marissa takes care of Butch, who's dealing with the aftermath of inhaling lessers. In the shower, he asks her to finish him.

Chapter 44[]

The next night, Paradise is worried because he was acting strangely earlier and then he didn't call her like he usually does. Peyton calls to let her know that class is cancelled so he and Anslam are going to Sal's and he's inviting classmates.

After getting off the phone with him, she calls Craeg who tells her that he knows she's glymera. Was she ever going to tell him? She asks why he would think she was like that other family just because she was born into the same strata, something over which she has no control? He tells her she put his life at risk because she wanted to get laid. She hadn't told anybody because she didn't want to be treated differently; as for her station, that means she doesn't have any choices, which Craeg takes to mean that he was just an exploratory phase of hers.

Frustrated, she thinks he's being closed-minded. So was she going to take him to the ball as her date? She snaps at him, "I love you, asshole," only as a female of the glymera, she's not supposed to say it first, she should wait for the male to say it first. Nor is she supposed to be alone with any male, or have a job, or pretty much be anything other than a trophy wife and pop out babies. He thinks she's playing poor little rich girl because she never had to worry about where her next meal was coming from or had anyone look down on her because of what family she was born into. Paradise points out that he's looking down on her right now because he's acting just as superior as any member of the glymera ever has so he can fuck off with the holier-than-thou attitude.

Hanging up, she decides to meet the guys at Sal's and looks for her wallet, finding the Polaroid she picked up at the apartment. Aghast that she forgot about it in the angst with Craeg and somewhat confused that she can't find the first one in her backpack that she'd originally thought was Peyton's, she calls Peyton back to tell him that she's coming as soon as she delivers the picture to the Brotherhood.

Once dressed and ready to leave, Anslam shows up and said that Peyton sent him to pick her up, but Paradise is too nice to just tell him to leave because she's in a hurry. She greets him and hears a noise, seeing Fredericah, the butler, and Vuchie, her maid, tied up and gagged in the study off the foyer. Anslam slams her to the floor and goes through her pockets looking for his Polaroid. Like many human serial killers, he likes to keep trophies, in his case, pictures. He hadn't planned on targeting her, but she's too smart and conscientious not to put it together since the first picture found on the bus implies that the murderer was in the program.

Anslam draws a syringe and using what the Brotherhood taught her, Paradise slams her head into his face and grabs the syringe from him, emptying it. They fight until Anslam's pulled off of her. Craeg uses her father's ceremonial sword to kill Anslam. She tells Craeg not to leave because she wants to yell at him some more. He asks her if it's because he interrupted the fight? He was pretty sure she was going to win, but he's not the type to gamble. Then she passes out.

Chapter 45[]

Craeg had gone over to Paradise's to fight with her some more and prove that he's right that every one of the glymera is evil; he's still processing that he just killed a classmate for attacking Paradise. Abalone walks into the study and Craeg's scared stiff because he recognizes the family resemblance and knows that he's Paradise's father. He wraps Craeg in a fierce bear hug, who's stunned and looks over at Butch like "what should I do?" Butch gestures that he should hug Abalone back. Abalone asks how can ever repay Craeg for saving his beloved daughter.

For his part, Craeg's speechless and Peyton comes to his rescue, after a fashion, by extolling Craeg's greatness to Abalone. Then he informs Abalone that Craeg loves Paradise and she loves him in return.

Chapter 46[]

Jane determines that Paradise has a concussion and wants her to talk to Mary about the inevitable mental and emotional fallout of the attack. She's shaken because she's known Anslam, even if in passing, for some time and he's always seemed normal.

Craeg stops by to see her before leaving and she tells him not to bother repeating why they won't work out in relationship because they've already gone over that. Instead of that, he asks her why she chose him. Anyone would kill to tie their bloodline to hers, she could have her pick of anyone in the species. He can't give her a mansion, a tiny cottage at most, certainly not cars or jewellery. She doesn't think that way, nor should he, and she's not going to suddenly change and start caring about wealth. It's clear that he's vulnerable and scared of how he's bonded with her.

He apologizes for being an asshole and he should have known better since she's demonstrated who she is since the first night of try-outs when she didn't want to leave anyone behind. She wanted to keep everyone together and even argued with them when they told her to leave them behind. She'd give up her own spot in a safe room if it meant someone else would be safe. He still wants to ahvenge his father and she asks him not to not out of any sense of obligation to the family, who are distantly related to her, but because there's been so much death already. She asks him to consider options other than death.

Chapter 47[]

One week later, Butch is helping Craeg get dressed for the ball at the Pit while Vishous gives them a hard time. Butch lets Craeg know that he, too, mated up so he knows what it's like to make sure they look good for their females. V gives Craeg advice on how to handle the glymera and reminds him that she chose him over anyone else.

Marissa comes in, dressed in a white Reem Acra gown and dripping with diamonds. Butch tells Craeg he'll meet him at the car in ten, maybe twenty, minutes. Once they're alone, Butch tells Marissa that maybe Havers not attending the ball is an olive branch of a sort by reducing the amount of gossip in being absent. He won't forgive her brother, but he promises not to kill him, either.

Chapter 48[]

Paradise is also getting ready in a pale blue gown and dealing with some PTSD. Abalone gives her, her mahmen's rivière of 48 antique diamonds, one for each of the first 48 years they had together. He tells her that he presents it with all the love and respect he holds for her, but she stops him, admitting that she's in love with a commoner. She starts off on the defensive, but Abalone cuts her off with a cry of "finally!" He tells her that Peyton told him a week ago, but he was waiting for her to tell him herself. He agrees that Craeg is a male of worth that he approves of as a match for her and he gives them all his blessings. Astonished, Paradise reminds him of their recent conversation of his own arranged mating and how he wanted that for her. He clarifies that he meant true love and it doesn't matter to him whence it comes as long as he is good to her. Abalone is unimpressed with the glymera in general and believes that a solid relationship is more important than the trappings of high society. Now, is she finally going to admit that Craeg will be her escort for the evening?

Peyton shows up solo and plays clueless when she asks why he didn't ask Novo. She's been worried about how closed off he's been since everything happened with Anslam.

Paradise's jaw hits the floor when Craeg appears in a tuxedo wearing her father's sword, the same one he used to kill Anslam, which Abalone insisted he wear. As they make their entrance, the doggen announces them and that Craeg is the recipient of the King's award of valour, which is news to him. Paradise explains that Abalone told Wrath of how Craeg saved her life and it was decided the night before. He was supposed to notified tomorrow, but apparently the butler was overly excited and spilled the beans early. Technically, that makes him nobility now.