“There are some things that might be worse even than death, Daisy MacDougall. Without this necklace, I could use compulsion on you, and make you my portable lunch box for the rest of time. Until you can take that off with confidence, then no, you can’t trust me. I will either kill you or destroy you. So please, tell me about your life and Monster Hunters.”

There was a sad truth in that. She wasn’t ready to take off this necklace. It was her one protection. “How do you know about Monster Hunters?”

“When I was trying to figure out who you were and why you were my blood bond, I did some research, and I saw a video of you in some haunted house, but first, tell me about you and working for Amelia Debrek.”

“I worked with her at her uncle Jaunty’s tailoring shop. I was her apprentice, and we became good friends. We all became good friends—Sera, Katie—”

“I’d heard the noble Alexis had turned her girlfriend and gotten married.”

“It was by consent—Well, it was complicated, but anyway, they are happy,” Daisy said.

Victorija gave a hollow laugh. “I turned Alexis, you know.”

“I know. Katie told me. She’s always been angry because of that.”

“I made a lot of people angry. I found her on a battlefield, dying of her wounds. I thought nothing of it. I thought someone would rather live as a vampire than die, but I’m not so sure of that any more.”

“When I came in from the bathroom, you were struggling with something in your sleep. What was it?”

Victorija pinched the bridge of her nose and then rubbed her eyes. “Every time I fall asleep, all the souls that I have killed or had killed by my orders circle me, getting closer and closer. They tell me to face them. I can’t. I recognize some, not all. I don’t even remember their faces. And the rain, there’s always the sound of rain, and it feels like despair. I can’t face them because facing them terrifies me. My father was right.”

“Right about what?”

“I’m so weak without the vampire in me. Torija was weak, and he made me become the vampire Victorija, so that I would be strong. But now I’m going back to that—weakness, crying on your shoulder. It’s pathetic.”

“Can you not even see it?” Daisy said. “Your dad was a complete idiot. You were strong, loving one of your family’s sworn enemies, and now you’re even stronger.”

“How could I be?”

“Look how hard you’re fighting not to take my blood. Every single cell in your body is telling you to drink from me and make yourself feel better, but you aren’t. You’re fighting yourself to keep a promise to someone you lost so long ago. That is strength.”