Dominic nodded. “It was our first real place outside of Seven and the safest place money could buy at the time. I had the deed put in her name because…” He smiled. “It was a good gift, no?”

“You had the deed put in her name because why?”

Dominic’s smile waned. “Because I knew she would leave me. And I wanted her to have a place to call her own.” He ran his finger along the seam of the chair’s leather. “I tell you this because you deserve to know the truth. You are her child.”

“But you live here now?”

“After she bought the estate on Mephisto Island, she sent me a key to this place. She knew I needed time away from Seven, knew how much I had enjoyed spending time with her here.” A hint of a smile returned, but it carried the weight of the past. “It was her way of trying to mend things between us, I think.”

Damian sat, not knowing what to say. What had Maris done to Dominic that had left him in such pain?

Dominic sighed like the burden of his years pressed down on him. “I will have my things moved out in the next few nights.”

“Why?”

Dominic lifted his head, eyes confused. “You came here to see about taking this property for your own, didn’t you?”

Damian shook his head. “Just checking out the places on the list.” Dominic had been instrumental in rescuing him. He wasn’t about to kick the man out of a place that held such memories.

Dominic’s eyes narrowed, doing nothing to hide the sudden spark of life that filled them. “You are a good man, Damian Lapointe. Your mother would be proud of you.” He stood and extended his hand. “If you ever need anything, I am here for you, just as I have been for Chrysabelle.”

“Good to know.” Damian rose, dug out the key the attorney had given him, and held it out to Dominic.

Dominic took the key. “Grazie.”

Damian headed for the door. “I won’t keep this a secret from Chrysabelle, however.”

“No, no,” Dominic added, walking with him. “There must be truth between the members of a family.” He lifted one shoulder. “She has been here. This is not such a secret to her anyway.”

Damian paused, his hand on the door lever. “There is one thing I’d like to know before I leave.”

“Si?”

“The vampire Malkolm. Do you trust him? Should I be worried about him and Chrysabelle? He won’t hurt her, will he?”

“Malkolm? There is nothing to worry about there. I trust few people, but Mal is one of them. And he loves your sister.” Dominic’s eyes took on the faraway look again. “If your mother and I had what he and Chrysabelle have, she never would have left me.”

Mal’s presence was a comfort, something Tatiana had never expected to feel. Maybe it was because everyone else in her life was gone. Maybe it was his familiarity. No matter what their past was, their history had started well. They had loved one another, hadn’t they? It was hard to remember exactly what her feelings for him had been all those centuries ago. They had at least understood each other.

Now, they were once again traveling the same path. She glanced at him and smiled weakly, not quite ready to call the maelstrom that was Lilith back into her life. “It’s funny, isn’t it?”

“What?” He stood across from her, leaning on the bar in that loose, easy way of his, but she knew well that in the blink of an eye he could become a killing machine. How many times in their early days had she seen it happen? Reveled in his ruthlessness? Drank from his spoils?

She closed the distance between them down to half. “What tore us apart was Sophia’s death. Now we’ve come back together to kill off a child.”

His heavy-lidded gaze didn’t falter. “Calling her a child is like calling a Nothos a puppy.”

She laughed softly. “Yes, of course, but you see the irony.”

“And you see that I’m not here for the mission so much as the end result. I want my status back and the wealth you promised me. An estate of my own. The position as Elder. Forget anything you promised me and you will be sorry.”

She touched his chest lightly. Playfully. “Your place as Elder is already secured. The ancients promised me I’d be rewarded for this task and their approval on your ascension to that position is guaranteed.”

“Do you trust them?”

She jerked back, his words bordering on blasphemy. “Of course. Don’t you?”

“I find it odd that they would have the child eat of the tree and not you as well. It seems to me that the child has no need for that kind of power.” He lifted one shoulder in a lazy roll. “I only wonder if she wasn’t listening when he spoke to you. If perhaps he said that knowing you’d understand to do the opposite.”

She went very still. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do,” Mal said. “You know I could be right. You said yourself that the ancients were afraid of her. How do you know she’s not orchestrating this whole thing in an effort to get rid of you? And if she eats the fruit before you, she’ll pitch a fit if you try to have one of your own.”

“Hades,” she whispered as she turned away. Doubt flooded her thoughts. “What am I going to do?”

“You’ll eat the fruit first. It’s all you can do. Once you eat it, she’ll insist on having one as well.”

She looked at him sharply. “And what if it proves fatal?”