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"And I think I'm gonna like being your bodyguard, lass," he says without missing a beat.

He holds a hand out, and I stare at it for a long moment before I realize he's offering me help to stand up. I honestly cannot remember the last time anyone helped me stand up, or even asked if I needed it—and considering I've puked on a vampire, found out I've inherited a seat at the Council I thought was not only extinct, but is also full of creatures I thought never could exist, I'll take the help.

I place my hand in his, and it's calloused, twice the size of mine easily. His fingers close over the back of my hand, and it's like an electric jolt shoots through me. Like my blood recognizes his. Which is ridiculous, of course, and probably a result, again, of having too much cheap wine on an empty, pissed-off stomach before sweating my ass off in a disgusting, humid underground tunnel.

I take my hand away the moment I'm upright. "I take it you've been here before?" I ask him.

"I've been just about everywhere," he says easily. "Would you like me to show you around while we drink the Scotch?"

"I think I would," I answer, surprised at how much stronger my voice sounds already. "But you're going to have to continue giving me this history lesson while we walk."

"All work and no play makes Vivienne a dull girl," he says.

The rhyme sounds pretty charming in his accent, and I allow myself a small smile.

"I don't understand what it means to be on the Council," I say. "What is that? I'm... I'm a student, and I⁠—"

"You're a student?" he repeats. "Is that why you were doing all this research? Or do you think maybe Midnight House has been calling you since you came of age?"

I blink, because I sure as hell don't have an answer for that.

"Let's go ahead and drink some Scotch," I say. "I'm not sure it's going to make me feel any better, but it might make whatever strange truths are ahead go down easier."

"So when you say bodyguard," I ask slowly as he casually leads me through the massive room, "that's like an honorary title, right? An honorary position. It's not like I need a bodyguard."

I laugh at myself at the mere idea of it. But when Lachlan turns around, his eyes don't hold any humor.

"It's an honor to be your bodyguard, yes, but there's nothing honorary about the title. Your life was in danger the minute you grabbed that thing," he says, jerking his chin toward the astrolabe still clutched in my hand.

"Oh," I say breezily. "Delightful."

Four

VIVIENNE

"So..." I drag out the o. "Should I put it down? Is it safe for me to let it go?" I say, holding the strange object as gingerly as I can.

It's heavier than it looks, especially considering it's not very large at all. And as I look at it, the etchings all around the metal begin to glow a bright, unnatural cyan.

"Lass, you don't have to hold it, and you don't have to put it down. Och, but you really shouldn't be trying to summon anything with it until you know what you're doing."

"Summon anything?" I repeat, my face blanching.

Lachlan gives me a slow grin, shaking his head. "Give me the damn astrolabe," he says, making a gimme motion with his hand.

I do as he asks, watching curiously as the runes go back to the dull etchings they were when I first saw it.

"It's not an astrolabe," I say.

"Of course it is," Lachlan answers, staring at it, the object now inert in his hands. "What else would it be?"

"That's what I'm asking you," I say easily.

"Aye, and now you're asking the right questions. Problem is, I have too many things to introduce you to before we spend too long getting into the what and how of the magic of Midnight House."

"Right," I say, the ight lingering on my tongue.

"Come on now, that Scotch ain't gonna pour itself. Or maybe it will—don't know how weak the house is yet."