He sat on the bed, giving her words some actual thought. “And if I do this, I get my noble status back. No other strings.”

“No strings, but more than that.” She trailed her fingers on the covers as she moved toward him. “I’ll give you everything you’ve been missing. Think of it, the two of us, ruling the noble houses.” She stopped when her knees touched his thigh. “Like the old days, but with more power and no fear of reprisal.”

“You were the only thing I had to fear back then.”

She looked stricken. “Lord Ivan forced me into betraying you. I never would have done anything to hurt you. I did it to protect you. To keep them from killing you.” She tipped her head coyly. “I loved you, Malkolm.”

“Fat lot of good that did me.” He was almost enjoying this. Almost. “Why should I trust you now?”

“Because having a baby to look after, even for the short time I had Lilith, made me realize that…” She looked down and swallowed, letting a little half-sob escape her lips. “I missed what we had when we were a family.”

Son of a priest, she was a good actress. She could have made a fortune on the stage. He leaned back and studied her. “I don’t know.” Actually, he did. He’d do it because it was a chance to regain everything he’d lost. “I need some kind of proof.”

She reached up and opened the locket around her neck, then lifted the portrait so he could better see it.

Sophia. A tiny part of him felt ill.

Tatiana raised the portrait higher. “On Sophia’s good name, I promise I will do nothing to harm you.”

He refused to look at the picture. Couldn’t, really. Instead, he stood and pushed past her to walk to the other side of the room. “I’ll do it, but on my terms.”

“Like what?” She actually sounded relieved.

He stopped beside his reading chair. At least twelve swords and sixteen daggers were mounted within arm’s reach. He turned slowly, contemplating his options. Maybe he’d test her. “I want some good-faith money. Whatever you have on you.”

Her mouth opened slightly. “I don’t usually travel with money.”

He crossed his arms. “You came here to persuade me to work for you and didn’t bring any money. Did you think I was going to help you out of the goodness of my heart?”

“No, I—”

He held out his hand. “Give me the locket.”

Her eyes rounded. “What?” She snapped the locket closed, pressing it against her heart. “No.”

“No locket, no agreement.” He told himself he wanted it because it was the thing she held most dear, not because it contained a picture of his only child.

Reluctantly, she unfastened the clasp and let it fall loose into her hand. She took a few slow steps toward him and held it out. “You had better kill Lilith.”

“And you had better not lie to me.” He closed the locket in his hand. “Again.”

Octavian was working out beautifully, even better than Lola had anticipated. He seemed to know what she needed before she knew herself.

He looked up from typing the last of her notes into his tablet. “Anything else, Madam Mayor?”

“No, that’s it. What else is on my agenda?”

“There’s a report from the police chief about a couple of murders, but I took the liberty of skimming it and there’s no new information, so I filed it. I hope that was all right.” He looked at her, waiting for her approval.

She nodded. “That’s fine.” She checked her watch. “Seems we’re done early.”

He smiled. “I strive to be efficient. Would you like to see if any new e-mails have come in?”

“Not in the slightest.” What she wanted was to loosen him up with a few drinks, and then see what she could find out about the ancient ones that might help her recover her granddaughter. So far, he’d been vague about what he knew of them. Almost scared to talk about them. “There are a few hours left before the sun comes up. How about we take the rest of the night off and have some fun?”

“Like what?”

She winked and said, “Follow me.”

Half an hour later, the two of them and Luke Havoc stood in front of Seven. She leaned toward Octavian. “I’ve been here once before, but I was human then and didn’t get to enjoy it. I have a feeling it’ll be a very different experience now.”

He seemed curious about the surrounding crowd. “This place is pretty popular, I take it.”

“The taxes alone pay city hall’s electric bill.”

A bouncer opened the rope for them and welcomed them in. “Good evening, Madam Mayor. Have a good time.”

Inside, they entered through a gorgeous pair of red double doors painted with crouching gold dragons. Through those doors and they were in the thick of the club.

A server came up to them almost immediately. She did a kind of half-curtsy that Lola found amusing. “What’s your pleasure this evening? Which of our sins would you like to enjoy?”

Lola glanced at the doorways stationed along the perimeter of the club. Through the crowd of dancers, servers, and comarré, she could make out the words Vanity, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed above each door. She looked to Octavian. “Which one should we try?”

He pointed toward Greed. “What goes on in there?”

The server glanced back to see where he was pointing, then smiled. “Games of chance, sir.”