“I have other options. Did you do it so I’d have no place else to go?”

“I didn’t do it at all. If Dahlia harmed your property, then I’m sorry. The drama of fire seems to hold some fascination for her. I can’t undo what she’s done. All I can offer you is a place to stay. And a few amusements.” He reached across the table to stroke my hand.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s a lovely sentiment, but there’s this organization who’ll want to kill me if I stay here with you.”

“The Movement?” His rich laughter filled the dining room. “They’d like to cage us all and let us die.”

“You don’t think much of them,” I said.

“No. I don’t. I’ve longed for a companion for years, but because of the restrictions in place by the damned Movement, I have been unable to retain any of the fledglings I’ve sired.”

So he didn’t know about his pet and her penchant for offing the competition. I couldn’t believe he would be so dense, but if he was really lonely, perhaps he purposely overlooked her transgressions. Maybe a murderous companion was better than none at all.

Cyrus stood and moved behind me, placing his long fingers on my shoulders. “Fate has put us in a unique situation. Why not come to an arrangement that will be beneficial for both of us? You become the companion I’ve been seeking, and I’ll teach you to use the full extent of your power, power the Movement would deny you.”

“What kind of power?”

He smiled like a used-car salesman. “The power to rule, of course. The power over life and death and the strength to wield it to your advantage.”

A pang of longing washed over me. I’d loved the seemingly God-like powers I’d believed I’d held as a doctor. But that illusion had been ripped apart the night Cyrus had destroyed my perceptions of death and accidentally set me apart from both.

“I thought I had that before. I ended up bleeding to death in the morgue,” I said, shaking my head. “Why should I believe you? I don’t know you that well. You might just kill me again.”

“I might,” he said finally. “I’m not generally regarded as someone to be trusted.”

I looked over the rapidly purpling body on the table. “No kidding?”

He knelt at my side. “Search your heart, Carrie. I have faith you’ll make the right choice.”

Some choice. I could live only if I pledged my allegiance to the Movement, or I could live to be Cyrus’s little wifey. Either way, I was a slave. A prisoner. A prostitute.

“I’ve made my decision. Us meeting, that was an accident. I’m not fated to be your companion, or whatever the heck you’re looking for.”

“Tell me, Doctor, do you follow many of your patients to the morgue?” he asked with a knowing smile. “You followed me. You wanted me.”

“You were dead. That’s not my bag. Sorry.”