But, like his sister, he too was weak.

Still, Vateria had her son and that was all that mattered.

“Mother?”

“Am I hurting you?” she asked, slightly panicked. “Are you hurt?”

“No . . . I . . . Father.”

Shit.

She hadn’t shifted back to human before going through that doorway. She hadn’t shifted back to Duchess Ageltrude Salebiri. The very human wife of Duke Salebiri. A pretense she had been keeping up for years.

Slowly she lifted her head and saw her human husband and his elite guard across the enormous Main Hall, staring at her.

In horror.

She carefully placed her son on the ground, but didn’t push him away. He was old enough now, at eleven, to learn what his role would be one day. And what that role would entail.

Vateria moved until she was sitting back on her hind legs. Then she thought of the spell that would shift her to human. In an instant she was covered in flames that also engulfed her son, but those flames would never harm him. They were part of him. When the flame was gone and she was in her human form, she smiled at her husband.

“My dearest . . .”

“Kill it!” the head of his elite guards screamed out.

Swords were pulled and men charged.

Vateria raised her hand and, with the power of Chramnesind, the eyeless god, she tossed them back with a flick of her fingers.

Still staring at her husband, she said, “Call them off or I’ll kill them all.”

The duke gazed at her, their eyes locked.

His voice low, he growled, “In the name of our mighty god . . . kill that bitch.”

The men got to their feet and charged her again. This time, she folded her arms over her chest and unleashed another gift from her loyal god.

Multiple tentacles snaked out from between her legs and out her back, shooting across the room and impaling the guards in their chests—near their hearts but not through them.

With a shove, she pinned their screaming bodies against the stone walls.

Shaking, filled with rage and loathing, Salebiri unsheathed his sword.

Vateria watched him, her son moving behind her. Hiding behind his mother. If she died, all her offspring would die, and she would not allow that.

But as Salebiri neared her, he suddenly froze midstep. His eyes widened in shock; his head fell back; his breath came out harsh.

She saw it, too. The spirit of their god moving through the human, filling him up, empowering him with His blessing.

Still shaking, Salebiri lowered his head and looked straight at her.

“Now do you understand, my husband?” she asked. “Now do you see?”

He dropped his sword and came to her, standing in front of her. He slid his hands into her hair, looked deep into her eyes.

“I understand everything . . . my wife.”

She turned her head and kissed his hand. “He’s never broken a promise to us. He’ll give us everything we’ve ever wanted. Blood. Revenge. And the unrelenting suffering of others. We just need to be loyal to Him. To bow before Him. To promise Him our souls. Can you do that, my love? Can you love me? All of me?” she asked, letting one of her tentacles stroke the back of Salebiri’s neck. “Love me and commit to me as you do our god?”