After Daisy sat, the Reaper said, “I don’t know all the details, but your two mothers were close friends. They both found out they were pregnant at the same time.”

Daisy had a sinking feeling. “Before or after my dad was killed?”

“After, Lucia told me.”

“How long after?” Daisy was starting to feel her dad drifting away from her. She didn’t want that. She was a MacDougall as well as a Brassard.

The Reaper cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer to that question, my dear.”

Daisy felt queasy. “What happened after they became pregnant?”

“They ran, together at first, then separated after dark forces came after them.”

“Why did they come for them?”

“Daisy, an old prophecy said that you and Amelia will lead this world away from the darkness.”

“How will I do that? I’m just a human with the ability that I know if someone is paranormal.”

“You are trying to lead one vampire from the darkness now. I’d advise you to talk to a witch named Sybil.”

Torija sighed and started pacing. She had a long and uncomfortable history with Sybil. “I’ll take Daisy to her as soon as it’s safe, but I need to ask you about our blood bond. Can it be broken?”

“Why do you ask me, Vampire?”

“My father Gilbert came to you to ask the same thing, and he survived for many years after he should have died. He lost his mind eventually, but he did live.”

“I’ll give you the same answer that I gave him. That requires powerful magic because a vampire blood bond is meant to be permanent. The only person willing to cast that kind of magic is a powerful witch named Anka.”

“Anka?” Torija’s stomach dropped.

“Wait, is it a potion? Torija, it must be that drink she was giving you. That’s all she had,” Daisy said.

“That’s right,” the Reaper agreed. “She’s used it as a weapon of control before now.”

Torija had pinned all her hopes on the Reaper. “Is there anything else that will give Daisy freedom?” Torija asked.

Daisy shot her a look.

“Nothing, except…”

“Except what?” Torija.

“Death, you are released by death.”

Daisy and Torija exchanged a look, and then Torija said to the Reaper, “Can I speak to you privately?”

“Wait a—”

Before Daisy finished her sentence, the Reaper waved his hand, and everything froze, apart from himself and Torija. One of a Reaper’s necessary gifts was the power to pause time, so that they could retrieve the souls they took to the afterlife. Torija had seen it many times.

He walked up to her and said, “Victorija Dred, feared and hated by all.”

“That’s why I want this bond broken. I can’t trust myself to continually feed on her. She means—Let’s just say she means a lot to me.”