I stood in the sitting room of the ancient Amadis mansion, stared at the giant tapestry spanning the entire stone wall, and wondered how I could change the future it told for my son. A long vine, embroidered with gold and green thread and with leaves on each side, wound and climbed its way across and up the wall-hanging, a golden name on each leaf. These were the names of my ancestors. The Amadis Family Vine only showed the mothers and their children, the fathers deemed irrelevant in our matriarchal society—most had died young, long before their widows knew their real heritage.
Silvery-green thread outlined most of the leaves—the ones with female names, the daughters—but some were brown and separated from the vine. The names on the brown leaves were all male, a twin to a green-leafed sister, and each had an asterisk next to it. A seemingly insignificant little symbol ominously marking the fate of each boy. Though in a tiny, embroidered font in the corner, the meaning seemed disproportionately large, commanding all of my attention:
*Converted to the Daemoni.
A much smaller rendition of the image spread across the inside cover of the leather-bound book I hugged to my chest: The History and Life of Alexis Katerina Ames Knight. My history. The book explained that not only Angel blood coursed through my veins, but so did the blood of vampires, were-animals, and mages. I was the ultimate hybrid. The book, which I’d already devoured beginning to end, was full of fascinating details.
I stared at the enormous vine in the wall-hanging, however, because it better reflected the magnitude of my feelings than the tiny one in the book. At the top of the Family Vine, right above my leaf, scripted in gold like all the others, was the name Dorian Stefan, my son. His leaf, unaccompanied by a female twin, an anomaly in itself, was brown, though not separated from the vine. Yet, anyway.
I had no idea what I would do to keep it that way. I was too new to this Amadis life. But I vowed to do something. I could not let my son become part of the Daemoni, our innate enemies, servants to Demons and even Satan himself.
“Ma lykita,” murmured a smooth, sexy voice from the doorway, “staring at it doesn’t change anything.”
Tristan stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, sending electric currents under my skin.
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I’m just thinking about what we can do that will change it.”
He kissed the top of my head. “We’ll figure something out. Fortunately, we have a few years.”
“According to the book and history, yes. But if he’s anything like me or you, unique in so many ways, he could go early.”
“But not tonight or tomorrow or anytime soon. Right now, we have more pressing matters to worry about.”
“More pressing than our son’s life?”
Tristan sighed. “Nothing is more important than Dorian’s life. But there’s a difference between important and urgent, and for now, the issue isn’t urgent. We have time. But tomorrow morning—in a few hours—we have a council meeting, and I expect it’ll be intense. It’s late and you have to be tired.”
My body did feel heavy with exhaustion, not surprising with the combination of jet lag and a lack of sleep. Excitement to learn about my heritage combined with being overwhelmed by my new mind-reading ability prevented me from sleeping on the flights from Miami to Athens. I’d been awake for nearly forty-eight hours, which included fighting a psycho vampire intent on killing me. I didn’t think I could shut my mind down, though. Between all the information I just learned about my history and my genetic make-up and figuring out what to do about Dorian, there was too much to think about.
“How am I supposed to sleep?”
“I put Dorian to bed. Let me take you. You might be surprised once you let yourself relax. And, if you can’t relax,” he kissed my ear, giving me goose bumps, “I can help with that, too.”
“That’s stimulating, not relaxing,” I said, my body already trembling for his touch.
“Hmm . . . good. After all, we do have that other matter, and the council will want to know we’re working on it.” He nuzzled his face into my hair, pressing his lips against my neck. As usual, my body immediately responded. I couldn’t help it—he’d always been irresistible to me.
“We do need to keep trying,” I conceded with a smile. “And it has been a while.”