Lazarus was seated in a brand-new wingback chair, smoking a cigar, when Marcus entered his lair shortly after sunset. As they stared at each other, Lazarus failed for the very first time to offer Marcus a cigar. Warily, Marcus looked around.

The place was pristine, with no hint of the battle they’d waged days before. Marcus, however, wasn’t sure it would stay that way for long. He knew immediately, based on the dark energy reverberating off the walls, that Lazarus was furious.

Furious at him.

“What’s wrong?” Marcus asked, striding confidently into the room.

“You tell me, Marcus.”

Marcus stopped short. There was that scent again. Female floral mixed with blood. His nostrils flared and he glanced down the hall, half expecting to see a woman standing there. Instead, the hall was empty.

“Answer me,” Lazarus growled.

Marcus turned to look at him. His creator. Not the brilliant military mind or stalwart patriot he’d long thought him to be, but a male with basic needs. And flaws. Flaws Marcus knew were now growing more and more dangerous for him every day.

“You have me at a disadvantage, sir,” Marcus said.

“Jax Cassidy.”

Marcus’s heart rate hitched up several notches. “What about her?”

“She’s not an independent at all. She works for Rowland.”

Marcus should not have been surprised. When it came to her, he’d thought with his dick from their first meeting. “In what capacity?”

“Your initial suspicions proved correct. She is part of the organization he hired to protect him and to infiltrate The Solution. She has succeeded in both. And now her mission is apparently to destroy us all. Including you.”

Marcus moved over to the sliding glass door and pushed the heavy brocade curtains aside. Subtle pink strands of the receding sun filtered through the window. He stared at the halo of the sun as it made its final descent of the day. He felt like he’d just been kicked by a mule in the gut. He was her mark? Why hadn’t she done the deed?

What a fool he’d been. He’d actually started to trust her. She was a lie. All of it, lies.

“I didn’t know,” Marcus said.

“How could you not?” Lazarus said from behind him. “Why did you offer her the contract on the Rowland girl?”

Marcus turned around and cocked his head. There was only one way Lazarus could know that: if Jax had told him. Heat filled his limbs. She’d gone behind his back? He felt sick to his stomach, refusing to believe that after what they had shared in the plane she would do it.

But Lazarus knew only what Marcus or Jax could tell him. And Marcus hadn’ t.

Betrayed again.

“A test, to see if she was what she said she was. I called her off, sir, after I realized Grace Rowland was my sister!” Marcus began to pace the room. “Her mother is the bitch who gave birth to me, then deserted me when I was less than a month old.”

“I am well aware of your circumstance, Marcus.”

Marcus pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He lowered his hands and inhaled the sultry air in the room. That scent. He’d smelled it in the Green Room at the fund-raiser. In a moment of clarity, he knew who it belonged to. His blood chilled to ice in his veins. More betrayal! This time by his maker. Marcus tamped down his skyrocketing temper.

He turned to stare at his creator. “Why, then, would you demand I destroy my own flesh and blood?”

“I suppose you could say it was my way of testing you. You have seemed . . . distant of late. I needed to know you are still focused on The Solution’s cause.”

“My focus has not wavered.”

“I am glad to hear that, Marcus.” Lazarus moved to his humidor and opened the lid. He took his time selecting a cigar. When he finally did, he handed it to Marcus. Marcus accepted it but did not move to clip it or light it.

“I’ ve done a little bit of my own investigating recently, Marcus, and, along the way, discovered some rather useful facts.” He took the cigar from Marcus and cut it, then handed it back to him.

“Apparently, the mayor who is running against Senator Rowland has some dirt on our man Rowland. Dirt that will make it impossible for the ‘Family Values’ candidate to secure another term.”

He reached into a drawer and pulled out a photo, which he held up for Marcus to view. “You can see what your little sister has been up to.”

Marcus growled.

“I told you she was not innocent. Apparently, the mayor knew it too. He’s blackmailing the senator with these pictures and a few others. Needless to say, the senator will not continue this campaign.”

“How will The Solution be funded?”

Lazarus smiled a devilish smile. “As vice president, Rowland will be able to pull a few strings.”

Marcus scowled. “I don’t follow.”

“It’s quite simple, really. The GOP candidate, Calhoun, wanted Rowland, who declined the offer. He then offered the position to Senator Bond of Missouri. They plan to make the announcement at the end of the week. But I’m afraid the senator from Missouri is going to find himself permanently incapacitated, courtesy of The Solution. Rowland will graciously accept the VP nomination, leaving the senate seat to Mercer.”

“What prevents someone else from running against Mercer?”

“Nothing, but it won’t matter. Mercer will have momentum on his side. He’s already quite popular with his fellow Californians.”

Marcus scowled deeper. “What has Senator Bond done to threaten this country?”

“As VP, he would impede our work. Therefore he must be eliminated.”

Marcus didn’t like it. “The Democratic presidential candidate is leading the polls by twenty-three percent.”

“Not for long. He has a few dirty little secrets that will surface when the time is right. Calhoun will win in a landslide, with Senator Rowland by his side, and ultimately, with me at his side, as well.”

Marcus hid his concern. The colonel was traversing a very slippery slope. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because, Marcus, I need to know I can trust you.”

“I have not broken our trust, sir.” His implication was clear. His creator had broken Marcus’s trust several times. When he’d sent him after his own sister. Now . . .

“Perhaps not. But you must understand, I cannot allow Miss Cassidy to survive.”

Marcus’s head snapped back. “Why not?”

“Because,” Lazarus sighed, “she works for an organization that is financially backed and government-sanctioned. Her sole mission is to eliminate The Solution.”

“How do you know this?”

“I have one of her fellow operatives in my possession at the moment. He’s not very forthcoming with information, but I extracted enough from his cell phone to put two and two together.”

Marcus set the unlit cigar aside. Despite his anger at Jax’s double-dealing, he understood her principles. She believed The Solution was the enemy. He would do the same in her shoes. Because of his beliefs. But could he . . . ? Mentally, he braced himself.

“I’ ll turn her before I kill her,” he said.

Lazarus smiled that nasty smile of his again. “You won’t be able to control her. I want her eliminated. Tonight. Then I want you to fly to D.C. and make sure Senator Bond has an unfortunate accident before the press conference on Friday.”

Marcus wanted Jax alive, for purely selfish reasons. She had touched something profound in him that had died years ago. He wasn’t ready to give it or her up. Not now. Marcus decided to light the cigar after all. As he did, he eyed the colonel. He could challenge him. He’d probably lose, but then again, he might beat him. And if he did, then what? Rurik would mete out his own punishment.

“I’m not going to eliminate Miss Cassidy, sir. She’d be an invaluable asset to The Solution.”

“Do you defy me?”

Marcus locked gazes with his maker. “On this, yes.”

“She may very well be invaluable to you—in terms of keeping your dick satisfied—but she could just as easily be our demise. I will not take a chance!”

“I will.” Marcus held his hand up when Lazarus made to move toward him. “I have followed every order you have issued me, sir, not only as a mortal but as I am now. I gave my life over to you that night seven years ago. I have not asked you for one thing. As for this? Do not deny me.”

Lazarus sat back, his expression stunned. “Marcus, don’t you see she has weakened you?”

“You are wrong. She has empowered me. I will take full responsibility for her change, and for her, once she becomes one of us.”

“If she betrays us?”

“Then I will destroy her.”

Lazarus puffed on his cigar, contemplating Marcus’s request. Finally, he nodded. “Turn her, Marcus. Then take her with you to D.C. Do not return until Senator Bond is no more.”

“Thank you, sir.” Marcus stubbed out his cigar. Euphoria flooded his veins. Not because he was going to turn Jax. She would hate him throughout eternity if he forced her to turn, and he couldn’t live with that. Not anymore.

No, his euphoria was bittersweet. Because on this night, he would spare her life, even if it meant he would never see her again. Even if it meant defying Lazarus, his maker and the only one who could destroy him.

He smirked. Looked like he had retained some semblance of humanity after all.

As Marcus reached to open the door, he turned to Lazarus. “Before I do this, I need you to tell me one thing. Who told you I offered Jax the contract on Grace?”

Lazarus simply smiled.

“I did, darling,” a voice from his past said.

Violent rage rushed up from the very depths of his being, cold, hard hatred infiltrated every cell in his body. Marcus turned and glared at the impeccably dressed woman. She wore a flowing white peignoir and was gliding effortlessly toward him.

The shock must have registered on his face. Oh, not that she was here. He’d suspected that. He was shocked because she was no longer as before.

Now she was like him.

Lazarus had turned her.

She laughed. The deep, confident laugh of a woman who thought she was invincible.

“Why?” Marcus demanded, turning to his maker.

Lazarus smiled and strode toward Sophia. “I could not resist. How could I when she made the ultimate sacrifice?”

Blind rage, so complete that Marcus could scarcely focus consumed him. She had manipulated everyone and was clearly willing to abandon another child—this time, Grace—for her own immortality!

“Marcus, you have grown into a man any mother would be proud of.”

He set his jaw and spoke in slow, measured words. “And you have grown into a more remarkable bitch than when you deserted me.”

She smiled a beautiful, tolerant smile. “I was young, Marcus. I thought I was in love.”

“Save your spiel for my sister. Maybe she’ ll buy it.”

“I’m afraid Gracie will become an unfortunate casualty.”

Marcus moved closer to her. “Is anyone or anything sacred to you?”

She gazed at him with a clear conscience. He could see it behind the evil in her eyes. “Marcus, you of all people know emotions cloud judgment. I cannot afford to have a lapse of judgment.” She turned and pressed her hand to the colonel’s chest. “Joseph has promised me the world. The price is your sister.”

“No, Mother, Grace will not be a pawn in your vicious power games.”

“You cannot stop me,” she said with such an air of confidence that Marcus felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. He believed her. And one day she would be more powerful than Lazarus. He looked to the colonel, who stood quietly beside her.

“Think twice,” Marcus whispered. In a lightning-quick movement, he grabbed the crystal ashtray on the sideboard next to him and smashed it in half. Using the jagged edge of the piece in his hand as a knife, in a violent swipe, he severed Sophia’s head from her shoulders.

Lazarus screamed furiously and grabbed at the crumbling body. As her head toppled to the floor and rolled several feet away, Lazarus’s screams of despair turned to rage.

Marcus reached down and grabbed the head by its short blonde hair. As he stared at the wide eyes and gaping pink mouth, he felt nothing but contempt. How could he feel anything more than hatred? She’d been evil through and through. He tossed the head to the floor, where it rolled to a stop at Lazarus’s feet. “I have just saved us both from a world of hurt.”

Lazarus puffed up. His eyes glowed molten red, and his fangs descended. “You fool!”

Marcus cocked a brow, not caring he had just destroyed his maker’s chosen one. “You cared for her that much?”

“I cared for the political positioning of her husband. As a widower, he’s far less likely to be voted VP now.”

Marcus shook his head. “So that’s all there is to you. Power, not justice. Not what we’ ve fought so hard for.”

“You have exhausted all of my patience, Marcus.” Lazarus straightened.

“Meaning?” Marcus asked.

Lazarus pointed a long finger at Marcus. “An eye for an eye!”

Realization dawned and Marcus cursed.

“By your own hand, sever Jax Cassidy’s head and bring it to me. Fail and I will destroy you both!”