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beside her, Rafael grumbled, “Humans.”
    Victoria smiled and teased her captain. “Aren’t they great?”
    “No,” he replied.
    Victoria nudged him playfully and returned her attention to the floor of the Convention Center, but the handsome man, whoever he might have been, was destined to remain a mystery.

CHAPTER
3
     
    T he alarm sounded in the calm of morning, but Victoria was already awake. The pull and push of the tide had registered against her Hunter senses, leisurely lulling her from wickedly sexy dreams involving Mr. Dark and Dangerous from the night before.
    She was definitely too caught up in the spillover romantic energy from Jan’s ceaseless wedding planning. How else to explain the deliciously naughty thoughts about a total stranger? But those slightly erotic nighttime adventures had eaten away at her sleep time.
    Rolling over, she smacked the clock into silence, wishing she could sneak in just a few more minutes of rest. She had been out with Rafael and her friends until nearly two in the morning, enjoying a late-night dinner and a few drinks. That, coupled with her fantasies, meant that she had only slept for a few hours, which would not be enough to sustain her today.
    Rising, she ambled onto the balcony off her bedroomand to its edge, drinking in the views of the Shark River, inlet, and ocean. The energy of the tide pulling toward the shore and the reviving rays of the sun just creeping over the horizon caressed her life force. A slight morning chill sat in the air and low-lying gloom hugged the shore, but the fog would dissipate with the rising of the sun. Closing her eyes, she raised her face and stretched out her arms, gathering energy from those first flares of sunlight as her people had been doing for millennia. She experienced the slow seepage of power through her body, driving away some of the tiredness from the long night.
    Once she dealt with her morning obligations at the shop and made it through Salvatore Bruno’s funeral, she would paddle off in a kayak to a deserted stretch of beach on one of the smaller islands. Tucked into the waterways of the estuaries, it was there that she could most effectively recharge her life forces with a nice long soak.
    Returning to her bedroom, she quickly washed and dressed. In the kitchen she fixed a large mug of coffee and then went down another flight of stairs to her water sports business. It was barely five, but as promised, a sleepy-eyed Sammie and Jan were already waiting at the entrance to the shop.
    Their loyalty warmed her insides, and, smiling, she popped open the door. “Good morning.”
    A grumpy Jan, whose eyes were barely open, said, “What’s so good about being up at this ungodly hour?”
    “And how can you be so glowing and full of energy after last night?” Sammie groused, arms wrapped around herself to ward off the morning chill.
    For a moment Victoria was taken aback, wondering if Sammie’s comment about her energy meant she hadsomehow failed to hide her Hunter aura. Most humans usually failed to see even their own energy fields, but on occasion, and especially after a full feeding, Hunter life forces were powerful enough to be seen by humans. Snagging a quick glimpse at her hands and arms, however, she could barely detect a hint of her aqua aura.
    Sammie hadn’t seen it either. It had just been one of those regular human comments with no ulterior meanings.
    “It’s the caffeine and sugar rush,” she answered and pointed up the back stairs to her home. “Run up and grab yourselves some coffee.”
    “How about I just crawl up?” Jan said, and Sammie playfully added, “Or limp up?”
    In truth, a slight hitch marred Sammie’s steps, probably from one of the shots she had taken during last night’s roller derby match. As one of the jammers, she had avoided the other team’s defenders to snake by them for points quite a few times. Unfortunately, Sammie had gotten nailed more than once during the later rounds last night,