"I don't want to lose," she said in a falsely demure tone. "What else would there be, darling? I obviously cannot rule level seven-your father does not share power, and while I adore level six, he has forbidden me to reside here, as you and I well know. The other levels are interesting and I can rule all of them, which I have a fair shot of doing-if I win this little joust. So, I've made my peace with the available options."
"What's the real bounty, Lilith?" he asked again, casually coming up to her to trace her cheek. "We're too old for games."
"Winner takes all," she said, lapsing into their native mind-bending tongue of negotiation. "Why don't you trust me?"
"And my cut if I assist you in besting all your opponents?" He'd breathed the question against her throat inDananu , and let his hands trail down her arms.
"Wouldn't the satisfaction of killing Rivera be enough?"
He chuckled and kissed her neck. "Not hardly."
She leaned back and scooted away from him so that she sat on the table's center crest, then made her dress vanish. She chuckled as she opened her thighs and allowed her wetness to ooze down over the symbol of his realm's power. "Why are you determined to haggle with me tonight?"
"Impressive, but not worth half the world." He laughed with her.
"Touch�. I'm getting old and must be losing my skills."
"I miss sparring with you, Lilith. You haven't lost any of your skills," he said with honest appreciation as his gaze swept her curvaceous body and settled between her legs. "And I haven't lost any of mine."
She smiled a crooked smile and let her head fall back. "Half the world? You drive a hard bargain."
"Half the world," he said, dematerializing the white linen cloth around his waist. "And I want the female Neteru delivered to me with her mind bent and willing. I have a little gift for her."
He climbed up on the table and crouching above her on all fours as he kissed the gully between her br**sts, his breath warm against her cool skin. He suckled one of her ni**les and looked up at her with a wry smile. "Do we have a deal?"
She shuddered. "What is this gift you have for the Neteru?"
He chuckled and shook his head no, evading her bite. "My father is old and obsessed with power. He doesn't do this to you very often, does he?"
"You know I've always had a weakness for vampires," she breathed, arching up to him, and allowing her question to fade away for the time being. They both knew she'd revisit it later, but enjoyed the game of pretending she wouldn't. "Topside has been pathetic this generation... I've been meaning to visit council for a while... but I've been so preoccupied."
"All you had to do was call me."
"You know how he gets when I come to see you. It's ridiculous, but you're the only one he gets really jealous of. You're evading my question."
"Does he know you're here now?"
"No, you know, as they say, the Devil is always busy."
"Do we have a deal?"
"Seal it over the crest," she whispered, nearly panting with anticipation, and then slapped him hard. "And act like you mean it. It's been decades." Her eyes went to near slits as she arched again, waiting.
He smiled, touched his cheek where she'd opened a gash in his face, and came away with black blood. Bringing each digit to his lips, his hand trembled as he sucked them one by one while the gash slowly sealed and disappeared. Suddenly he slammed her wrists down hard over her head, bloodying his fists in the oozing marble table as he brutally entered her. Then he dropped ten inches of fangs and ripped out her throat.
He missed the look of cunning in her eyes.
DAMALI WALKED silently before her mother-seer, swaying from the mild turbulence of the plane. She could deal with this. What choice did she have? Millions of women had known this heartbreak, and theirs was probably worse than hers. She'd only been pregnant for twenty-four hours.
That's what she told herself as she clutched her abdomen and kept moving forward. It wasn't like she had felt life move within her. Nor did she have to face the horror of disease or senseless tragedy taking her child.
But she'd been robbed, nonetheless. The sense of loss was profound. She tried to shove it to the back of her mind; she just couldn't. Her hopes for a child with Carlos had been torn away. She'd been violated-theyhad been violated.
It was a damned vampire! Mild hysteria overtook her for a moment and made Marlene put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm all right," she told Marlene as she straightened her back. "Just laughing at my own insanity." Now she knew how Carlos felt. Laughing to keep from crying. Losing his mind slowly right before her very eyes. The psyche was a fragile thing. Get to a body and you could bend a mind. Get to a mind, and you could co-opt a body. Damage a spirit, and you could take it all.
Yeah. She had work to do, the timing had been bad, and the whole situation was messed up. That's what she had to remember. Now she'd have to allow frightened men, doctors, to invade her body, and perform the barbaric act of a D&C. She wondered, if men could conceive and miscarried, would medicine have advanced beyond the scraping out of their wombs? Probably.