I shook my head. I wish Nathan would get his ass back here.

Every night, I’d faithfully checked for Nathan at the gate under the guise of walking the perimeter of the lawn. If I were still human, I would have considered the long distance as good cardio exercise. Now my only concern about my heart was whether someone would suddenly give it the Big Splinter. But Nathan hadn’t returned, and as the time of the New Year drew nearer and nearer, my nerves were pulled tighter and tighter.

“Don’t you worry about our boy,” Clarence drawled lazily. “He got himself in good with the Master. He ain’t on the menu.”

He pushed a sheet of paper across the island and I snatched it up.

It was a list of names. Nearly every one of Cyrus’s pets were on it, except two. “Ziggy and Dahlia are going to be spared?”

“Guess it’s not so bad hangin’ with the boss after all,” Ziggy said as he slipped a brick of cheese into the pocket of his baggy black jeans.

I relished the thought of Dahlia being selected for the Soul Eater’s consumption. But I guess she wasn’t much of a “pure soul.”

Two guards entered and I stepped away from Ziggy. “Excuse us, Doctor,” one of the thugs said curtly. He turned to Ziggy. “The Master would like to see you.”

“Duty calls,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Hey, we gotta stop by my room on the way ’cause I’ve got a book C wants to borrow,” he told the guards as they led him away.

C? I pulled one of the stools from the island and plopped myself down.

Clarence had gone quietly to work on the block of ice with a chisel and hammer, but he chuckled at my spite. “You still gonna help rescue him, even though he stole your man?”

“He did not steal my man.” I made an appalled face, hoping it would fool the old man. But I knew it wouldn’t. “I just don’t understand why Ziggy would have such an interest, after what Cyrus did to him.”

“The Master is a good one for winning somebody back after he’s wronged them. Look at you. He wrecked your life, and you still came back to him.” He turned the ice and started chipping away on the other side.

“That’s different. There’s a blood tie. You wouldn’t understand because you’re not a vampire. But it really makes a difference.”

Clarence bobbed his head up and down in agreement. “You’re right, I don’t know about blood ties. But I do know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be. You’re not that type. If you’ve got to tell yourself it’s some magical thing keeping you at his side through all his bullshit, I’m not the one to argue with you.”

His words cut me to the core. He was right. Yes, there was a blood tie, but that wasn’t why I was here. Sure I’d made a promise to return to Cyrus in exchange for Nathan’s life, but why hadn’t I called the Movement, or even asked Ziggy for help? I’d been Persephone, eating the pomegranate seeds with delight and blaming it all on big, bad Hades. I knew what I was doing when I’d committed myself to this Underworld. I’d resigned myself to accept my plight, and now I wanted to explore the life Cyrus had offered me, but I feared his interest in Ziggy might do something to usurp my place.