Bella didn't admonish him for interrupting. "Of the three, Titus was the least pleased with his change. He had begun to accept the blood debt we inherited from Pontius Pilate, and had secretly been studying the gospels with another pack of werewolves. When he revealed his new nature to them, they shunned him. Word spread quickly through the Jerusalem faction. They grew mistrustful of all Roman wolves and declared war on them. The Roman wolves scattered again, but they vowed to destroy the werewolves. One by one, they were turned, either by Cicero or Lucius. Titus disappeared, though a rumor surfaces every now and then that he runs a monastic sanctuary for lupins who have changed their ways and wish to repay the blood debt."

"By killing other lupins." It was all becoming too clear. Horrifyingly clear.

Bella nodded.

"And Julia? The noblewoman who started it all?" Max asked, dreading the answer.

"Why do you think the Movement did not share this information with you? She is the Oracle, whom you helped hold captive all those years." There was no mocking in her tone, but Max still felt like a fool.

"Sons of bitches. They knew all along what the lupins were and they never told us? Why?"

"I do not know. When the Order of the Brethren formed, they attempted to apply their code to lupins. The lupins were… not pleased. That is why the Brethren turned to the werewolves, instead. They offered help in exterminating lupins as long as werewolves—"

"Kept their mouths shut and killed some vampires, and lupins, which should have paid the blood debt." It seemed all too clear now. But why had they kept the Oracle? She'd made powerful predictions, but they were often too abstract to really understand until after the foretold event had taken place.

As if reading his mind, Bella said, "The Oracle was an insurance policy. We knew we could not win the fight if they had her on their side. After the Movement captured her, they kept us under their control with the constant threat of her release."

"Wonderful. I'm glad it worked out so well for them." Max yanked at his restraints. "So, lupins are half werewolf, half vampire. Stands to reason that our baby—"

"Is a natural-born lupin," she answered sadly. "The only one of its kind."

"Which is why the Oracle wants her." Just great. He'd never wanted kids until he found out he was going to get one whether he wanted it or not, and now she was going to be taken from him.

"Her?" Bella asked, her amusement audible. "I thought you said it looked like a shrimp."

"It did. I just… " He hung his head. "We've got to get out of here."

She looked away. "They told me, after they brought me here… you are to be an example."

"And example of what? The most stupid vampire on earth?" He flopped back on the cot, wincing as the cuffs bit into his wrists.