“If you ever hope to lead the army I’m building or become the most powerful vampire alive, then you will hurry up and find out, so we can get them to your Principe. To give you what you want, I shall have to harness her power.”

“I will find out, I promise you, Madam Anka.”

“Make sure you do, and make it a better attempt than your vampires did trying to kill Sybil. I want her dead.”

“We got her mother and father,” Drasas pointed out.

“I needed Sybil too, before Amelia Debrek finds out who she is. Make things right, or I will find another worthy vampire, understand?” Anka said.

“Yes, Madam Anka.” She hung up the phone.

“Busy, Drasas?”

Drasas nearly jumped out of her skin at Victorija’s voice. “Principe? Just giving out the orders. Are you feeling better?”

If Victorija knew what she was doing, she’d rip her limb from limb. It wasn’t that she didn’t admire her Principe still, she did, but the events in Britain had made her soft. It was time for new, strong leadership.

Victorija looked at her silently. Her eyes were edged with red permanently now that she hungered for the blood of her bonded. Drasas held her breath. Had Victorija heard her?

Victorija looked over at the stables and said, “I’m going riding.”

Drasas couldn’t believe it. “You’re going riding? You haven’t ridden in a century.”

Victorija’s eyes went even redder in anger. “Well, today I feel like it, okay?”

“Forgive me, Principe. Have you thought of who your blood bond is yet?” Drasas asked.

“No,” Victorija said firmly. “I’m going riding.” She strode off.

She knows something, Drasas thought, but why would she try to keep the identity of that person a secret? Victorija was a woman who saw humans as simply there to feed her. Why was she not telling the whole truth?

As she watched Victorija ride off, she realized she could look around her private apartments freely. Drasas sped back into the castle.

* * *

Alexis was worried. They had been back in London for a week, and the reality of being in a relationship with a human was hitting home.

She glanced at the time on her phone and paced up and down, her worry never letting her calm down. Byron was having lunch with a government official in a private dining room of a top London hotel. It had been a long lunch. Two hours now, and the longer she waited the more her mind drifted back to Katie.

This morning when they woke, Katie told her she was going shopping in the afternoon. Despite being out on duty with Byron, Katie was all she could think about.

Alexis was so on edge just now. There hadn’t been a more dangerous time for them in a hundred years. The whole paranormal world was shaken from its slumber and it seemed there was danger everywhere.