“Your death would have meaning, my lady.” His brows came together, irritation showing on his gaunt face. “Stay here, and you will die only to satisfy the capricious lust and self-glorification of a tyrant; if you come with me, you will die on your own terms.”

“I will die on your terms,” she corrected. “I’ve had quite enough of acquiescing to the demands men make of my body in order to further their private ambitions, Herr Kramer, and what you’ve not done is convince me that my needs are best met by your proposal.”

“You have a daughter. My people would gladly pledge to protect her.”

“She has people pledged to protect her now. What benefits me from leaving behind a legacy of invulnerable revenants?”

His mouth turned down. “My people would also quite gladly target your daughter.”

She surprised him with a throaty chuckle. “I’ve no doubt! And you certainly wouldn’t be the first. Those who guard her include Knights from the Brotherhood of Perseus, and I understand they have safeguards against even the peculiar seduction your kind exerts over human minds.”

“I could force you,” he noted darkly.

“Physically, perhaps, although if it were that simple, we’d already be well away from here. I believe, however, that you require my allegiance—which you can neither force without leverage, nor compel with even the sorcery you worked to infiltrate these apartments.” Of the many tales she’d heard from the Persean Knights, this one detail had been particularly interesting. To look into a revenant’s eyes, they said, was to fall under its control, but magic required desire and intent to work, and no spell could succeed when worked by one without free will. “The small bowl that sits at the forefront of your mind, the one you wish my finger to bleed into while you speak the words that will seal us together … I’m afraid it shall remain empty.”

A storm passed across the man’s face, his angles lengthening and a baleful light smoldering to life in his eyes; but just as quickly, the storm cleared, and Herr Kramer took a step back. “I suppose, then, it is time for me to depart. Again, please forgive the intrusion.”

“Just like that?” It was her turn for surprise. “You’re conceding defeat?”

He shrugged serenely. “I am a better fortune-teller than my lady wishes to acknowledge. And although you are one of a precious few to bear the gift of the Dark Star … you will not be the last. And your death shall simply mean a new beginning.”