"I betthe hell he did!" Aset's golden robes lifted at the hem as fury energy began to slowly whirl down the great hall. "Did your mother-seer clear it out and assist with-"
"No, because Inever want Marlene to see something like that be�tween him and me," Damali said, grasping Aset's arms and staring into her eyes. "It wasn't him. I healed myself! That, and your powers wan�ing from Eve's dissent, is all that's probably wrong with me. His bite, my self-healing, and your power drain-a bad threesome of events. That's gotta be it. Butthis isprivate."
Aset's resistance energy began to lower, and her gaze locked with Damali's in confusion. Nefertiti suddenly rounded the pillar, breath�less, like a woman being chased.
"Queen Sisters, what has transpired?" Nefertiti placed her graceful palm flat to her chest, her gorgeous Egyptian eyes darting between Damali and Aset.
"Please," Aset said, her gaze searching Damali for permission. "Just the three of us, a trinity of privacy and sisterly support. Youmust in�form Nefertiti. She, above all, understands male energies."
Damali leaned on a huge pillar and stared at both queens. "On my husband's honor, what happens in the Great Hall stays in the Great Hall. Promise."
Both queens nodded.
"We all know Cain took a throne tumble. He went there of his own volition, which was under very different circumstances than when Carlos went," Damali said, setting the backdrop for the queens to be sure there was no way they'd blame Carlos. "My husband was sent there by angelic command to getThe Bookofthe Damned. He was manipulated to go before he was ready by Lilith, who had sent a spiritual attachment to work on his psyche, so he got the directions and messages all screwed up. But his original intention was honor�able... Cain's was not. Dude went down there on a mission."
"Yes, yes, yes, we know that, child," Aset said, waving her hand with impatience. "But we arenot about to allow you to stand here and jus�tify domestic violence in our presence or keep something that insidious a secret. That has been the horror of too many women's existence, and is a commandment from On High that we stand united to abolish... within the sanctity of marriage, no less? Do not ask me to be a party to-"
"Itwasn't Carlos that attacked me. It had to be Cain's energy. As many arguments and as much drama as Carlos and I have been through, the mannever in his life laid a hand on me or tried to hurt a hair on my head." Damali was breathing hard by the time she'd rushed out her defense.
"He slapped you once," Nefertiti said, her eyes narrowing. "Now you are saying heattacked you?"
"He thought I was Lilith when he slapped me because she was shadowing my energy-remember?" Damali folded her arms over her chest.
"I don't like the sound of this," Nefertiti said. "Sounds eerily like a woman making excuses for a violent man. Damali wouldn't be the first."
"If you all hear me out, hear the entire story, and then you can make a judgment. Okay?" Damali sighed hard and let her shoulders slump. No wonder Carlos wanted a chance to talk to the kings first!
"All right, child," Aset said, waving her hand with disgust. "Go back to Cain. But if this conversation devolves into Carlos's affront and becomes an excuse, I will go down there myself and slaughter him. No man should abuse a woman!"
"I may be many things, Aset," Damali said, looking the elder queen in the eye and then glancing at Nefertiti, "but do I seem like the kinda sister to let a man beat my ass and then hide it from anybody to pro�tect his sorry hide? If I didn't gore him myself, cops, family, a posse, whatever, would ride or die on the situation, and I bet he wouldn't mess with another sister again."
Nefertiti smiled a half-smile and relaxed. "I think we can bank on that, Aset. Let our young sister proceed about Cain-which is truth�fully the crux of her mission."
"All right," Damali said in a huff, trying to get her mind wrested back to the point. She waited until Aset seemed to stand down before pressing on. "So you know now that Cain has escaped, he's biding his time to raise an army of vampires from Level Six where he went, probably also gonna bring out his old loyalists from Nod, while he's at it. And with Lilith in the mix, who knows what other level could get into this pending war."
"Yes, we are aware," Nefertiti said, glancing at Aset. "This is what all the chaos is about. The living Neterus must stop him. He has taken Dante's throne, thus, as a demon now, he must be slain." Nefertiti glimpsed Aset again before returning her regal gaze to Damali. She smoothed her white silk gown. "Eve is distraught, but we stand with you on what must be done. Dear young queen sister, your eyes hold sheer devastation. We understand your loyalty to Eve, and she is our sister, too... but we cannot compromise on this. You must slay Cain, no mat�ter your earlier attraction to him while he was still undecided about his loyalties. In Nod, and briefly on Earth with you, he did seem good. But now all that has changed. So, you must do what you must. Kill him."
"I know that," Damali said, looking away. Nefertiti's simplistic statement turned a blade of guilt in Damali's side. She didn't want to revisit the earlier attraction or trust that had allowed her to foolishly let Cain bite her.
"Then why the long face?" Nefertiti asked, tilting her regal head. "Especially if you think he somehow came into your home as vam�pire illusion and beat you up in the image of your husband, I say gore the bastard."
"The problem may be more complex, Nefertiti," Aset murmured, gazing at Damali.
Throwing her shoulders back, Damali nodded. "It wasn't straight vamp illusion, my queen. That I could have handled, and would have seen right through it."
"I don't understand," Nefertiti said, folding her arms over her chest.
"Carlos and Cain both have a throne connection," Damali said slowly, working out major sections of the twisted puzzle in her own mind as she spoke. "They were both made from Dante, one way or another, and they therefore share the same DNA. They both sat in Dante's throne near or during their apex time, and were both Neteru brothers."
"Yes," Nefertiti said, coming closer. "But..."
"It wasn't an outright attack. Carlosbattle bit Damali, on theirhon�eymoon -so you can only imagine when the urge to bite her oc�curred," Aset said, her eyes holding renewed panic.
Nefertiti covered her mouth. "When?" she whispered, dropping her hand away slowly.
"Last night," Damali said quietly, looking at the floor. "Like Aset said, on our honeymoon."
Nefertiti grabbed Aset's arms. "Last night Cain took the throne! In an apex! With the imperative to sire clutching him in its grip? Heaven forbid this! He isn't sterile like other vampires." Nefertiti's eyes were wild as her voice briefly escalated and then dropped to a horrified whisper. "Eve's son is beyond virile. His motheris fertility. His fatherowned the pleasure principle of raw lust. If Cain was dark energy fus�ing with Carlos while Carlos was physically inside our queen sister-"