Frederick's POV
I didn't think twice. In the blink of an eye—moving with the speed only a vampire possessed—I was standing in front of her. The small bag barely had time to shift before I ripped it from her grasp and flung it into the corner of the room.
Selene startled, half-turned, and for a second she looked so small and scared I hated myself a little for the way my hunger twined with the urge to protect her.
"You're not leaving," I said in an authoritative voice.
She swallowed. Her voice trembled when she answered. "I… I can't stay here. I don't want to cause trouble."
"You caused trouble the moment you walked in," I shot back, but the anger in me was fractured now, threaded with something else I couldn't name. "You will not walk out that door unprotected. Not when you—"
I stopped. The words I'd been about to say sounded ridiculous in my head. "Not tonight."
She looked at me, worry in her eyes. "Please. I—"
"No," I said sharply, then softer, "No more leaving. You stay."
