The hard truth was, Tatiana liked Daci. Maybe she wasn’t cut from exactly the same cloth, but they were very similar spirits. Letting someone in was dangerous, but then, she’d let Octavian in and up until a few weeks ago, he’d been a servant. Now he was her most trusted ally.

Her fingers worried the scrollwork on the chair’s carved arm. Had power made her soft? No, not soft. She was still capable of carrying out whatever had to be done. But power had shown her that she needed a few good people around her. Trusting Daci was a risk, but not such a great one. Tatiana had been removing obstacles from her path since her formative human years. She lifted her metal hand, flipping her wrist out and transforming her fingers into blades, then back to fingers as she flicked them in toward her body. Removing obstacles now required less effort, but greater cunning.

Perhaps being Dominus would change her further. Mellow her. She laughed at the thought. If five centuries hadn’t mellowed her, nothing would.

The vile stench of brimstone and rotting flesh suffused the room, and the lamps grew dim as though something swallowed the light. She tucked her hands into her lap to keep from further digging her fingers into the chair’s arms. The Castus had arrived.

With great reverence for the creature who had just made her Dominus, she eased from her seat and kneeled without making eye contact. “My lord.” From her position near the floor, she could just see the crusted edges of his hooves.

His gnarled, raw-skinned hand appeared before her face.

She kissed his ring, careful not to touch his flesh.

“Arise, my child.”

She got to her feet, at last making eye contact briefly before looking down again. His penetrating gaze unsettled her. “Thank you, my lord, for your trust in me and for making me Dominus. I am humbled.”

“My child.” One curled nail tucked beneath her chin and lifted her head, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I saw promise in you the day you were turned.” He dropped his hand and began to pace, the shadows covering him from the waist down shifting with his movement like a funeral shroud. “The ring…” He shook his head. “The ring is gone. Destroyed perhaps. I cannot sense its presence on this plane any longer.” He reached the fireplace and turned. “For that, we will punish the comarré whore who stole it, but for now, I have a greater mission for you.”

A greater mission? Trying to obtain the ring had almost cost her her life and had left her with a metal hand. “Yes, my lord.”

He smiled, a hideous stretching of skin that displayed an inhuman number of teeth. “Always willing. This is why I chose you.”

Had there been another who hadn’t been willing? They must not have lasted long. She tried to smile back, but in the face of his frightening glory, it was difficult to pretend even for her.

“Do you have someone around you whom you trust?”

Did he mean Daci or Octavian or both? If she said yes and either of them betrayed her, it could mean her death. No, it would mean her death. The Castus would not tolerate the betrayal. “Yes, my lord.”

“Good, because for this mission, you may need the help.” The shadows around him shifted. He raised a hand toward the door. The locks clicked shut. Then the shadows rose to cover him, completely blocking him from her view with a blackness that became an abyss in the middle of the room. Things moved within the abyss, dark, horrible things that stared back at her with red glinting eyes and open mouths.

The abyss closed. The shadows returned then drifted away. The Castus stood before her, a shadow-wrapped bundle in his arms. He held the bundle out to her. The shadows melted away.

His arms cradled a baby.

“Is… that a gift?” Newborn blood was supposedly delicious, but she’d been a mother once. That was a line even she wouldn’t cross.

“No, not a gift. This child is your mission. I want you to raise it for me.” He held the child out to her.

She took it reluctantly, and as she did, the child blinked and opened its mouth to cry.

Tiny pearl drop fangs gleamed between its lips.

Her own mouth opened in utter shock. “A vampire child? How is this possible?”

“It’s only half vampire. The other half is human. Until now, it wasn’t possible.”

She cradled the little vampling. How long had it been since the precious weight of a baby had filled her arms? A barrage of Sofia images clouded her brain and turned her eyes liquid. A baby. Of all things for the Castus to present her with, this was not one she would have ever guessed. “I’m again humbled by your faith in me.”

“You had a child, did you not?”

“Yes…” There was so much more to say and yet none of it did she wish to share with the Castus.

“Then raising this one should not be so difficult.”

“What’s its name?”

“Name?” He blinked. “Pick one. I do not care.”

No point in asking the sex of the child, then. “I will take the very best care of this charge.”

“I know. Because if you do not, I will kill you.” Smoke billowed up around him, increasing the stench of sulfur to almost unbearable levels. The Castus was gone.

The baby began to cry.

Lola stood behind the podium in the main foyer of city hall, the hastily gathered press waiting expectantly before her. She knew they thought they were here because of the three murdered women. They were going to be disappointed.

John Havoc’s brother, Luke, stood a few feet to her side. John had assured her he was a capable addition to her security team. Across from him was Chief Vernadetto, who’d been briefed on the way over but was only just grasping the reality of what was happening.