He shook his head. “I’m not going to yell at you. I’m impressed. That thing was huge. And dangerous.”

“And killing it was the only way to bring you back to me.”

He ached to hold her. “I owe you my life. In more ways than one.” He smiled. “How many times are you going to save me?”

She took a step toward him. “As many times as I have to.” She held his gaze. “Damian, Mortalis, could you leave us alone? We can all agree Mal’s not a threat to me anymore.”

They left and Mal grinned. “I might be a threat to those clothes. How much of a burn do you think that body armor will give me while I’m tearing it off you?”

She laughed, but it faded fast. “You might want to sit. I have something to tell you.”

“Later. I’m too wound up to sit.”

She pointed at the couch. “Now.”

Reluctantly, he sat. “Fine. But you’ve got two minutes. Then body armor or not, you’re mine.”

She didn’t even smile as she took the other end of the couch, far enough that the silver mesh covering her body didn’t cause his skin to itch. Much. “You should probably hear what I have to say first.”

“I don’t like the tone of your voice. Sounds serious.”

“It is, but it’s not bad news. I don’t think.”

“Just tell me.” He swallowed. What had he done now? “I can take it.”

She reached out, slipping her fingers through his. He closed his eyes at her touch, the warmth of her skin like a kiss. “I… I’m pregnant.”

He froze.

“Did you hear me? I’m pregnant. That… episode in the plane’s bedroom on the way home from Corvinestri? Well, it… worked.” She looked slightly miffed. “As Fi would say, you knocked me up.”

He stared at her. He knew he wasn’t moving, knew he wasn’t saying anything, but he couldn’t get his body to respond and couldn’t find words that made sense.

She tugged on his hand. “Aren’t you going to say anything? Are you upset? Happy? I need to know how you feel about this.”

Slowly, he began to nod. “Happy doesn’t cover it. I didn’t even know it was possible. A child. Our child. I…” The cold realization of what that meant hit him. “This child is half vampire, half comarré.”

“Yes. Part of each of us.”

“Son of a priest.” Fear crept in over his bones. “Look at what happened with Preacher’s child. Julia wasn’t even a real comarré. Can you imagine how many people will be after this baby? The lengths they’ll go to lay hands on it?”

Chrysabelle’s hands went to her stomach. “We’ll protect it. No matter what.”

“That goes without saying, but—”

“I already know Tatiana’s in town.”

“Not anymore. She was, but I sent her home.”

Chrysabelle frowned. “You sent her home?”

“She came here to recruit me. Offered to restore my noble status and set me up as her Elder, in exchange for helping her.”

“Helping her with what? It’s got to be a trick.”

“I don’t think so. She told me the ancient ones fed Lilith, the baby, with their blood after they took her. They’ve turned her into some kind of monster. Grown-up Lilith has already killed Tatiana’s Elder and she says even the ancients are afraid of what they’ve created. Now she wants my help getting rid of Lilith.”

Chrysabelle crossed her arms. “I don’t like this. She’s setting you up to die.”

“Maybe, but I told her I would do it.”

“What? No.” She grabbed his arm. “That was the old you. You can’t.”

He squeezed her hand. “I have to. Don’t you see? If this Lilith is as powerful as Tatiana says, can you imagine the threat she’ll be to our child? She must be dealt with. And in doing so, I’ll be able to get close to Tatiana and take care of her, too. I have to go to Corvinestri. She’s waiting for me. If I don’t, I have no doubt she’ll come back here.”

She pulled her hand out from under his and slid a little farther away from him. “If you go, I’m going with you.”

“Chrysabelle, right now Tatiana thinks you and I are done and that I care about nothing but my own advancement. She’s got to keep thinking that for this to work.” He snagged her hand and kissed her knuckles. “And you have the baby to think about.” He smiled. “Our baby.”

She glared at him, clearly unmoved by his affections. Damn, he’d missed her. “She won’t know I’m there, and we’ll be stronger working together. Besides, if Lilith is so powerful that the ancients are afraid of her, then the comarré need to know about this new threat. They need to prepare. We have been taught all our lives that the future holds a day when we will be called upon to rise up and destroy our hosts.”

Her eyes took on a faraway look. “I believe that day has come.”

“I need your help, Octavian.” Lola hoped he could see the sincerity in her eyes, and the pain of losing her daughter and her granddaughter etched across her face. She also hoped inviting him to her home had not been a mistake. She folded her hands on her lap and sighed. “I am a woman in pain. A woman in mourning.”

“Why?” he asked, leaning forward from his seat on the big leather chair opposite her. She took that to mean concern. A good sign. “What’s happened?”