Byron lifted her cigar and took a puff, then sat back in her leather chair. “Have you been in to see Katie?”

“No. How is she?”

“Dr. McKenzie tells me she is in no danger but is extremely weak and will take some time to recover.”

“I’m glad to hear she’s well,” Alexis said.

“I wanted to talk to you about two things—”

“You don’t have to, Principe. I’ll resign and make the way clear for you to appoint your new Duca.”

“What are you talking about?” Byron said with a confused look on her face.

“I broke our most sacred rule last night,” Alexis said.

“You didn’t break it.”

“I was about to and would have if Bhal hadn’t stepped in. I was going to keep Katie alive without her consent and only to stop the pain I would feel if she died, and to tell you the truth, I’d do it again. I’m no better than Victorija. That’s exactly what you said to me last night, and you were right. So I’m not fit to be Duca.”

Byron put her cigar in the ashtray and leaned forward. “I said that to try and bring clarity to your mind, but you and Victorija were doing it for very different reasons. Victorija turned you for the sport of it and to add to her foot soldiers. You were doing it for love.”

Alexis hated to acknowledge her love for Katie out loud, but she had already betrayed her feelings the previous night.

“The result is the same. I didn’t have Katie’s consent to turn her. She could be waking up this morning having to choose whether to take the final step and turn or let herself die. I know what pain you go through making that decision, while fighting the insatiable need for blood. It was unforgivable.”

Byron stood up and walked around to the front of the desk. She crossed her arms and leaned on the desk.

“Consent is what we live by, both for taking blood from humans and turning them. They are high ideals, what we strive for, but we can make mistakes. I took blood and nearly killed Katie’s ancestors when I first became a born vampire. Where would I be without their forgiveness?”

“That’s different.”

“It’s not. I failed to reach our high ideals, and I was punished for it, and I keep making up for it to their family every day, and I have to say, if that had been Amelia before we became blood bonded, and she could have gained immortality through me, I would have probably done the same thing. Love drives us and makes us defend our lovers no matter the cost.”

“I love Katie, and I will try to make up to her for letting her down, but she could never accept me as her lover after what I nearly did. Besides, I’m not brave enough to try and love again.”

“What if the best thing for Katie, the thing that would make her happiest, make her safest, was your love?”