I think of Roman’s cold hand in mine, and the things he’s taught me. The anger’s still there, but it’s where it belongs—directed at one vampire. One killer I’ll probably never find.

“As for the why,” he continues, “it might have been the magic. They’re always out sniffing for magician blood, but I suspect they started hunting for her the moment she left—the moment she made herself vulnerable. It was part of the reason I searched so hard. I wanted to offer protection.”

“Why would they hunt her?”

“To hurt me.”

“For killing them.” My voice comes out harsher than I mean it to.

His stare zeros in on me. “Your tone suggests there’s something wrong with that.”

I don’t answer. I’m walking a dangerous line with a killer.

“Who have you been speaking to?” he asks slowly.

I shake my head. “Nobody. I’ve just seen movies and stuff.”

“Ah.” He leans back. “Naive, then.”

I bristle but don’t answer. Better for him to think I’m a silly little girl than to suspect the truth.

“We can fix that. You’ve killed one, yes?” He raises a brow in question.

I nod.

“Then you know what they’re like.”

“I do,” I say, but I’m not just thinking about the vampires that tried to tear me to pieces. I’m thinking about the one that saved me as well.

“And you want this life?” he asks, but he doesn’t seem particularly interested in my answer. He snaps his fingers, and a glass of wine appears in his hands. He swirls it around, sending the liquid in the glass spinning.

“Does it matter? I was born for it.”

“Your mother wouldn’t like it.” He sips the wine and waits for my reaction.

His words shrink me for a second before I puff my chest out. “She isn’t here. You are. What do you want for me?”

A slow smile spreads on his face. “Everything.” He flicks his hand, and a throne of ice rises from the ground next to him, but he waves a hand toward the door. “As long as you can win.”

CHAPTER 28

lucius’s—my father’s—words echo in my head: As long as you can win. He wants me only if I can be exactly what he needs me to be. He’s made that perfectly clear. That’s not family. That’s what I’ve dealt with my entire life since Mom died—people wanting me to be something else, whatever fits their lives. Except Deb. She never really asked me to be anything other than myself, but even with her, it was clear that Parker was the one she truly wanted. Still, I’m surprised how much I miss her sometimes.

My father wants me for my power.