“Well, that looks . . .”

“Ominous,” I said, pausing next to Magda as we emerged from customs at the Vienna International Airport. Three men stood waiting at the end of the hallway for us. All three were tall, clad in black or midnight blue, and each wore the same identical suspicious expression. Two were dark-haired, one blond. All three were gorgeous enough that more than one woman’s gaze lingered on them.

“They look familiar,” Magda whispered to me as we walked toward them.

“They should. The one on the left with the scowl is Andreas, Kristoff’s brother. The middle one is their cousin Rowan. And the guy on the left is named Sebastian. I don’t know what his connection is to everyone else, but he seems just as unflinching as the others.”

“Oy,” Magda said under her breath.

I thought for a moment of turning and running back to the plane to demand that I be taken back to safety, but I had a feeling that Julian, the messenger, would grab me before I took more than a few steps. “You’re the one who begged to come with me,” I reminded Magda in an equally soft voice.

“I didn’t beg. I just had you suggest to your watchdog that if he ponied up tickets for Ray and me, you would be less inclined to smite him with that blinding light you can summon up. And you have to admit he didn’t really protest much once you told him you changed your mind.”

I glanced behind us. Ray walked alongside the messenger, the former chattering happily and looking about with bright, interested eyes, while the latter stared at me in stony silence.

“I just wish we didn’t have to involve an innocent bystander in all this. You’re sure Ray is OK with the whole vampire thing?” I asked Magda.