Damali jogged behind him and tried to call the Isis to her, but only a small tingle of spent energy crept along her palm. Carlos never looked at her as quiet panic overtook her. He just sat down heavily on the wide, low steps. The family backed up and stood waiting for an explanation on the beach, all eyes holding a mixture of deep concern and panic like hers. She neared Carlos, glanced at the family, and then sat down beside him very carefully.
"I suggest you all sit down before you fall down," Carlos said in a flat, surly tone, ramming his blade into the sand at his feet. Then he looked up at Jose. "After this meeting, you and I need to have a con�versation."
Juanita's eyes widened. Damali simply closed hers.
Lilith stood over Fallon and bent to offer him a warrior's grip to stand. He was on his feet in one lithe move and gave her a gentle�manly nod.
"It's good to be home," Fallon said with a half-smile.
"Glad to have you back, Mr. Councilman," she said with a smile, and then sashayed across the chamber to stand behind his throne.
Fallon gave Cain a grand bow. "Thank you... and eternally at your service."
"Not to spoil your sensual rush," Cain said with a chuckle, his icy gaze appraising Fallon's nude body from head to toe, "but I want you to note the name that is still etched at the top of your old throne be�fore you relax in it."
Fallon slowly turned his gaze toward the throne that he'd once cherished, and neared the table. "No..." he whispered, his form bulking to battle readiness. "Treason!"
"Now we talk," Cain said with a gloating smile. "You and I had the same reaction."
Total disbelief engulfed Fallon's expression. "The Chairman's throne? Surely you jest?"
Cain shook his head slowly, all mirth dissipating from his face. "I ripped the top of my father's throne away upon seeing it, and have shared your outrage."
"I stand before Cain... Cain of Nod? Dante's lost heir?"
Cain leaned back in his throne. "Indeed."
"I shall go to New Orleans and raise an army at your behest-"
"Monsieur,"Cain murmured in French to further taunt Fallon. "New Orleans is in ruin. The French quarter gone... mud."
"Non..." Fallon whispered, stricken. "My beloved New Or�leans...non."
Cain issued Lilith a disparaging glance as Fallon Nuit took a wob�bly step forward to brace his hands against the table for support. "For some reason, our Dark Lord's ire had been stoked to biblical propor�tions and he was very displeased."
"Even the graves are no more?" Nuit whispered.
"Anything near Lake Ponchartrain and beyond... hundreds of years of history decimated. The crypts that were topside, opened to the sunlight and were swept away when the levees broke."
Nuit lifted his chin as tears burned away from his eyes, and the shock of it all made the red glow flicker down to normal brown.
"Have a seat and reclaim your old title," Cain said calmly, nodding toward the throne. "You and I have shared the same devastation... have the same goals,oui ?"
"Oui,"Fallon murmured.
"Tres bon."Cain leaned back and sighed. "I want an audience with the Amanthras." He stared at Fallon, who had not moved. "I like the way my father operated through their form in the Garden."
Fallon smiled a half-smile. "Their mating balls are legendary. They can last up to six weeks in the swamps of Levels Three and Four."
"So I've heard," Cain said, leaning forward on his elbows, study�ing Nuit. "But I do not have six weeks. I am, however, rescinding my father's old edict of no black blood exchanges. He was a purist who hated hybrids. That is why of all those vanquished councilmen I could have raised, I raised you." Cain pushed away from the table and stood. "My father was set in his ways and did not understand the need for progress. If we are to align forces with the other realms for the offensive, preemptive strike I intend, then our bite must know no bounds." He walked toward Fallon and clothed him in a black robe. "You understood this principle, thus I understand your eager�ness for a coup. But be very clear that although I am Dante's son, I amnot Dante. Daylight is not my obstacle. In that regard, I take af�ter my grandfather." Cain leaned closer to Fallon as shock widened his gaze.
"While I was gone, theybedded the millennium Neteru to make you a daywalker?" Fallon's awed question trailed off as he slowly dropped to one knee and his voice became a reverent whisper. "Cain, you have my eternal loyalty and it would be my honor to accept your daylight strike."
Cain walked away from Nuit in abject frustration. "No. They never succeeded in that quest," he said, renewed fury roiling through him until his fangs crested. "My father failed, and the huntress took his head off at the shoulders."
Fallon stood slowly, his jaw going slack. "Damali assassinateda chairman?"
"Manipulated by the heretic, Rivera," Cain corrected, his eyes blazing black. "I had her in my arms, able to sire... and yet he had so compromised her soul that she would not drop the silver shields within her. I would have made her a dark angel, a female version of my grandfather's image... completely fallen and corrupted to sire at will... her soul mine, her progeny the greatest this empire has ever seen-black winged majesty. But access to my heirs was snatched by Rivera's treachery. However, there is still time. I want her back."