Byron was quite sure that her great-great-grandmother knew exactly what was happening to her, but thought she needed to verbalize it. “I have an unquenchable hunger for her and her blood, yet my attendants’ blood only takes the edge off, never sates it. The hunger is making me want to hunt, to drain, to kill, and my mind is getting so clouded I nearly did. I see Amelia in every woman I see, and I’m going to hurt someone if I can’t conquer this.”

“You can’t conquer love, Byron. This family was born of love.”

“It’s more than love!” Byron felt her fangs erupt and the veins on the side of her head pop out. “It’s a form of madness.”

Lucia hit her stick on the floor, and commanded, “Sit.”

She sat just as Archer came in with the drinks. He poured out the blood in a glass and served the tea, then left them alone.

Byron drank the blood greedily. “I need you to help me, Lucia. You know what I did the last time I lost control. I don’t ever want to hurt people like that again.”

Lucia took her hand and squeezed it. “I know. Tell me about her.”

“Amelia is beautiful, good. In fact, I think her goodness and innocence are what attracted me to her. She is my shining girl, or was. I can’t compel her, and the small bite I gave her won’t heal.”

Lucia took a sip of tea. “So, her DNA is compatible with yours. She could be your Principessa.”

“She could be, but she isn’t. I can never take her as such. The Dreds have resurfaced and have been building an army of turned vampires. If they knew I loved this woman—” Lucia seemed quite unperturbed by the news. “Forgive me, Lucia, but you must know all this already.”

“Of course. I know everything, as I always told your father when he tried to hide something from me. You tasted her blood?”

Byron hung her head low. “Yes, I didn’t mean to, and I didn’t hurt her, but we became passionate and my fang pierced her skin. Please, Lucia. You must know a spell to help me control this.”

Her great-great-grandmother was not a vampire like the rest of the family, but she was their cornerstone, a witch her great-great-grandfather Cosimo had fallen in love with. Lucia had helped Cosimo introduce the Debrek rule of blood by consent. Everything they had was because of a spell Lucia had cast long ago.

“Do you have the item I asked you to bring?”

Byron reached into her suit pocket and brought out a hairbrush. “This was hers. She left it in my bedroom.”

Lucia held the brush and closed her eyes for a moment. She grasped the arm of the couch. “She’s here. At last.”

“What? Who’s here?”