Nathan had never been this stupidly optimistic before. The Soul Eater wasn't dead yet, and I'd learned never to believe in the logical course of the future. Logical didn't really apply in the vampire world.

The Soul Eater drew himself up straight, regaining some of his regal manner. "Dahlia is a troublesome and disobedient girl. I warned her repeatedly to stay away from you, but she didn't listen. If she turned you, it was her own initiative."

"Oh, she didn't turn me." Cyrus took a few steps toward the fire. "She bled me and left me for dead."

"Then she didn't do a good enough job of it!" The Soul Eater stalked off on his own path. It was almost comical, the way father and son paced identically, alike in their rage, "You are weak. Even a human could have fended off that cow of a witch!"

Then, as if he was struck by lightning, the Soul Eater's eyes narrowed. He turned to Cyrus. "But you did. She told me as much. She didn't turn you. How do you stand here if she did not turn you?"

And in another flash of inspiration, he rounded on me. "You!"

I backed up as he came forward, and Nathan got between us. The Soul Eater knocked him aside as though he were made of straw.

"Nathan!" Torn between wanting to dive for him, to protect him and see if he was hurt, and my instinct to flee the Soul Eater, I found the latter winning out. But I wasn't fast enough, Jacob had centuries of reflex training over me. The instant I thought about running, he had me.

"Perhaps you were the weak one." He spun me, my back pulled up tight against his chest as his clawed hands gripped my arms. Nathan and Cyrus stood, their helplessness written in the dire expressions on their faces, unable to save me. Unable to do anything, really, until the Soul Eater made his next move, and that might leave me dead. "Now your resistance toward me seems all the more peculiar. Nolen at least had some fire in him, some passion. Simon… oh, my dear Simon." His hold relaxed, and he brought one hand up to stroke my neck. "What ever are we going to do with you?"

I couldn't tell if he was talking to Cyrus or me, so I didn't answer him. Through clenched teeth, I whispered, "Let me go."

For a moment, lie seemed to consider it. Then he gripped my chin and pulled my head up. "Isn't it funny, that my son is your fledgling, and my fledgling is your sire? We're blood related, in a way."

"Then what you were proposing before would be incest," I wheezed, barely able to catch my breath.