Roger didn’t want to open his eyes. He knew the pounding in his head would only get worse with the intrusion of light. “Oh shit,” he moaned. This had to be the worst hangover since the night he celebrated his acceptance into the Service.

The Service. The one he was now ostracized by and no longer an active part of. “Shit…”

When had he drank so much? And where?

The bar down the street. His eyes popped open. Light wasn’t as much a problem as he expected it to be. Candles, almost burned out, dimly lit the room—not his room. The décor was decidedly gloomy. The bedding, the curtains, appeared black in the muted light. Even the walls were dark.

The woman…at the bar. The two men. The memory of his actions flooded his aching brain.

He’d let a strange woman give him a blow job in public and he watched two men going at it while he shot come in her mouth. “Great,” he mumbled, “I’ve completely lost my mind.” He sat up slowly, hoping his head wouldn’t explode.

“I wouldn’t say that.” In a nearby chair, a dark figure moved.

“Fuck!”

“We can if you want.” The low throaty growl was familiar.

He scooted to the edge of the bed. “Look, I don’t know what came over me but this is not the way I am.”

“You are what I want you to be.” She stood and walked toward him.

Well, he didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe she had recorded his little indiscretion. Maybe she planned to blackmail him? “Look, lady. Whatever I did, doesn’t mean you have any hold over me.”

“But I do. Just not the way you think.”

Roger pushed off the bed to stand.

“Oh you can leave. But you’ll be back.” She chuckled softly.

He glared at her as he walked past her to the door. When she made no move toward him, he yanked open the door and stepped out into a hot muggy hallway. Looking first in one direction and then the other, he spotted a dilapidated exit sign. The red lettering, faded and worn, pointed the way out.

The narrow stairs creaked under his step. Dim light bulbs hung from wires barely lit the way. As an afterthought, his hand patted his back pocket for his wallet. The jangle of his keys in his pocket comforted him.

He emerged on the street next to the entrance to the bar. Evening had already fallen. A quick look at his watch revealed the time to be just past nine.

The thought of drugs crossed his mind. Maybe a quick trip to the medical clinic a few blocks away was a good idea. Although he couldn’t explain his earlier actions, he didn’t think he’d been slipped something. Or he didn’t want to think he had. Instead, he headed for his apartment.

Even now, as the memory of his earlier actions returned, his cock took interest. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time in definitely the wrong frame of mind.

Right now a shower, some sleep and a fresh prospective would set everything back to rights.

* * * * *

Adria smiled to herself after Roger stalked out of her apartment.

“You can come in now,” she called out.

A door, hidden behind thick dark drapes, creaked open. The curtain moved aside revealing Estefan and Cardin.

“You did well.”

A frown creased Estefan’s brow. “Where did he go?”

Adria stood and walked over to the confused man. Her fingers smoothed his brow. “He’ll be back. Don’t worry. Once the transformation kicks in, he won’t be able to resist.” Adria’s sharp memory swept her back to her own change. Without someone to explain the process, she’d struggled for more than a year after her first encounter with another Watcher. Roger wouldn’t understand what drew him back but on an instinctual level, he would know Adria had the answers he needed.

Estefan almost wiggled with excitement. He craved her approval more than anything. Both he and Cardin had been with her for a long time. She knew their loyalty was more to her than to her cause and that suited her fine. She needed them regardless of why they stayed.

She was confident Roger would be similarly bound to her. Although… She turned away to keep them from reading the concern on her face. There was something different about Roger. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

She’d watched him for the last couple of years. So few men had the genetic makeup needed for her plan. The verification process took so long.

Silently she cursed the convoluted method. Finding other Watchers was never easy. Finding one like Roger, whose strength radiated an almost visible aura, was rare. The last three she’d lost to the evil stalking her dreams. This time she’d make sure this one was safe. Until—

“Is everything okay?” Cardin’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Yes. He’s the one and he already has a reason to hate the demons. This time we’ll succeed. This time…