“I should be with you.”

“You are the only one who can deal with a demon incarnate. Plus, your past dealings with the old vampires didn’t go very smoothly. I actually spoke to Mausya and she said Senka was being measured for being faithless. Used that word like three or four times. I could almost hear a capital F.”

“But you don’t know what that means?”

“It means she is being considered to be untrue to her allegiances to the Coven that she leads,” a new voice said. They turned to find Galina, Tanya’s mother, standing with Lydia in the doorway.

“So that’s a thing? I never heard of it,” Tanya said.

“It’s rare to elect new Elders, and it’s even rarer for one to be charged as Faithless. We must go and help her,” Galina said.

“What do we do?” Tanya asked, frowning.

“She is being judged on her actions. Her own words will carry little weight. It will be the testimony of others that makes a difference.”

“Are you sure I shouldn’t come too?” Chris asked.

“No!” all three adult vampires said at the same time.

“Christian dear, you have grown on me as a son-in-law,” Galina said with a smirk. “But you left an indelible impression on the elders, particularly Mausya. This is not a time for threats or strength of forces. It will require imagination, skilled oration, careful manipulation of emotion, guile, and exquisite judgment of circumstance. The delicacy of a jeweler. You—you’re a hammer. A sledgehammer.”

“And you need to deal with that demon… you know… the one loose in Burlington where we keep the world’s most powerful witch kid,” Lydia said.

“Okay, then I’ll have Deckert get a convoy together and we’ll head up to Burlington by car a little later today. But let’s get you packed. And you are taking Arkady. Let’s go. It’s almost daylight.”

Chapter 2

“Father? Wake up, Father.”

Declan scrunched his eyes tighter as the voice intruded on meaningless dreams and comforting sleep. After a second thought, he opened them, blinking rapidly.

“What? What is it Omega?”

“Nika needs your assistance. She is outside but I have cleared her through security. She will be at your door in approximately one minute.”

The thought of getting caught in just sleep shorts got him moving. He changed into yesterday’s clothes, picking each piece from where he had dropped it on the floor the night before. Glancing at the clock showed it was a wicked early hour of the morning, a fact borne out by the darkness outside his window.

He was just pulling his hoodie on over his head when a soft rapping came at the door. He stumbled across the room and unlocked the door while disarming his wards. Of the two, the wards were a much greater deterrent.