Tatiana’s gaze snapped onto Daciana. “Not a monster.” No matter what her child had become, she was not a monster. “A new kind of vampire. A race above the nobility. I always said she was a vampire princess. Now she’s become the vampire queen.”
Daci recoiled. “Aren’t you afraid of her?”
Yes. But so were the Castus, and unlike them, she wasn’t about to show her fear. “She’s still the child I held in my arms, isn’t she? The baby I rocked to sleep? I’m the only mother that child has known. Why should I fear her?” Tatiana stood and walked to the helioglazed windows. The sun would be up in less than an hour.
“I don’t know. She seemed very different. Even the ancient one seemed afraid of her.” Daci shuddered.
Tatiana wrapped her hand in the raw silk drapes and leaned against the window frame. “He did, didn’t he?” There was little point in denying what Daci had seen for herself. Then a thought occurred to her. “Do you know why that is? Because the ancients know Lilith’s loyalties lie elsewhere. She called me mother. Recognized me instantly even though they tried to take her away from me.”
Daci twisted, throwing her arm over the back of the leather settee to see Tatiana better. Some of the trepidation left her eyes. “She did. You think the ancients fear they’ll lose Lilith to you?” She stood, visibly excited. “All that power. Yours to command.” She rolled her lips in and a stifled squeal barely escaped. “We must call her back. You must talk to her, suss her out.”
Tatiana glanced out the window again. A hint of purple colored the horizon. “I agree. Daysleep will be upon us soon. I would like to know where I stand before another day passes. For all we know, Lilith could be waiting for me to rescue her from the ancients.”
“For you to bring her home again.” Daci’s hand went to her mouth. “We must help her!”
Tatiana pushed away from the window and directed Daci toward the door. “Lock it. I don’t want to be interrupted.”
She looked crestfallen. “Are you dismissing me?”
“No. You were here the first time and Lilith didn’t object. You helped care for her as a baby; she must know that.”
“Good.” With a smile, Daci ran to the door and locked it, then leaned her back against it. “Ready.”
Tatiana took her place in the middle of the room and opened herself to the possibility of a new future. A new, more powerful future. “Lilith, my child, if you hear me, come to me. Grace me with your presence.”
A snap of electricity charged the air, lifting the small hairs on Tatiana’s nape, and the shadows pulled together in the center of the room. Lilith stepped out of them. Or they became her. The change happened so quickly it was hard to tell.
“You called, Mother?”
Tatiana smiled and began carefully. If the ancients were listening, she didn’t want them thinking she was trying to take Lilith back just yet. “Yes, I did. Thank you for coming. I thought we might sit and talk. Get acquainted now that you are grown. I’ve missed so much.” The sadness in her heart over that was genuine. She’d lost years because of the Castus, a gap that felt unforgivable.
Lilith cocked her head to one side. “And that makes you unhappy? Why?”
Tatiana walked to the settee and sat. “Because you went from being a baby in my arms to a beautiful young woman and I wasn’t a part of that. Watching you grow up was taken away from me.”
“And you wanted to be a part of that?” Lilith seemed confused by the idea. “Why?”
“Because I love you, Lilith.” Truthfully, Tatiana loved the child Lilith had been. This adult woman seemed like a very different creature, but that was to be expected. “I had hoped we would rule the vampire nation together, as mother and daughter. That we would be an unstoppable force.”
“Love?” Lilith sat close enough for Tatiana to see the map of delicate blue veins beneath her translucent skin. “I don’t understand love.”
Daci snorted and came closer. “Love is not something the ancients know much of.”
Lilith watched her. “You also knew me as a child?”
“Yes.” Daci nodded and sat across from them on the matching couch. “You don’t remember me?”
Lilith stared at her. “Perhaps.”
Tatiana tried to help her remember. “Daci used to take care of you sometimes.”
Lilith frowned. “There was another, a male…”
“Yes, Octavian,” Daci said. “He’s gone now.”
“He was a traitor,” Tatiana spat.
Lilith turned sharply. “A traitor?”
“He tried to give you to our enemies.” Tatiana’s fingers dug into the leather. “He was the reason you were taken from me.”
Lilith seemed instantly curious. “What happened to him?”
Daci shook her head. “He killed himself so he wouldn’t have to face your mother’s wrath.”
Lilith’s eyes brightened. “Explain.”
Daci laughed softly. “Most vampires are smart enough to fear your mother. She is a great and powerful vampire. That’s why the ancients gave you to her to raise. If Octavian hadn’t killed himself, your mother would have done it for him. Without hesitation.”
“Yes,” Tatiana said quietly. “No matter how much it would have hurt me.”
“Hurt you? Because… you loved him also?”
Tatiana nodded. “Yes, but not as much as you. Not nearly as much. There is no greater bond than that of a mother and her child. I would do anything for you.” She reached out and took Lilith’s hand. Her skin had lost none of its baby softness.
Lilith looked down. “You love Daciana.”
“Yes, but not as much as you.” Tatiana stroked her thumb over Lilith’s knuckles. “Do you wish to live with me again?”
Lilith lifted her gaze. Her eyes had gone almost completely black, the way nobles’ eyes went silver. Then she was gone from Tatiana’s side and seated next to Daciana. She’d moved quicker than Tatiana could track.
Daci reared back with a nervous laugh, her hand at her throat. “You frightened me. My, you move faster than any vampire I’ve ever seen.”
Lilith’s hand closed over Daci’s arm. “My mother must love only me.”
“What?” Daci pulled away but Lilith held tight. “I love you too, Lilith. I helped raise you, remember? I—”
“I remember you laughing with Octavian.” Lilith tipped her head and bared her fangs. “Are you a traitor too?”
What little color Daci had drained from her face. “No, of course not.” She struggled to get out of Lilith’s grip.
Tatiana jumped up. “Lilith, she’s not a traitor. Please let her go.”
“Please?” Lilith sneered. “That does not seem like the word of a feared vampire.”
“Let her go now,” Tatiana commanded.
Lilith laughed. “That’s better.” She dropped Daci’s arm.
Daci slumped against the sofa, trembling. Tatiana relaxed, feeling like she’d just stepped back from the edge of a precipice.
Lilith’s eyes narrowed as she spoke to Tatiana. “You care for her too much. I do not like it.” With that, she drove her hand forward, plunged it into Daci’s chest, and yanked out her heart.
Daci’s eyes rounded a second before she went to ash, the heart in Lilith’s hand dissolving at the same time.
Tatiana’s jaw dropped as a pit opened up in her belly. She teetered toward numbness, unable to believe what had just happened. “What-what have you done?”
Lilith stood, wriggling her fingers to shed the last bit of ash. “She was unnecessary for your plan.”
“My plan?” Pain wracked Tatiana’s body and darkness edged her vision. Daci was
