I chewed on my bottom lip as I stared at the four names, and a knot twisted in my gut. It seemed they had formed their own coven here in Budapest, creating a powerful force for anyone to contend with.

But the fact that there were four ruling members in Budapest meant there was always the potential for deadlock, unlike the coven, which had five members. It felt like someone had to be missing. There could be only one lycanthrope pack alpha, so the chance of another lycanthrope was unlikely. Particularly since we had slaughtered most of them and there hadn’t been another half as strong as Ferko. Another warlock was a distinct possibility. Valerio had indicated that Clarion was known to work with someone else, and that other warlock could be serving in the background with the other members of Veyron’s ruling party. If I had to take on Veyron to protect Danaus and his new friend, then I would have to destroy all the members of this group in order to survive. I did not relish the opportunity to go head-to-head against not just one but two warlocks.

“If you had just used the half-breed, you could have killed that irritating naturi with little problem.”

My entire body cringed at the voice. I didn’t need to look up. I could feel Nick’s power slowly filling the room as if he were pushing out all the air and leaving it thick and stuffy. If I still breathed, I would have suffocated in that tiny enclosure. I hung my head down and clenched my eyes shut as if I could will him away, but I knew it didn’t work that way. Nick wasn’t going to leave until he had finally succeeded in pushing me in the direction he thought I should be headed. At the moment, I didn’t care what he wanted.

“I’m done using Danaus,” I said in a low, hard voice, daring him to argue with me.

He chuckled. “You’re not done by a long shot, my dear.”

I slammed my fist against the surface of the desk and twisted around to finally face him. “I’m done! Just leave me alone.”

Nick leaned against the far wall, looking like my last memory of my father, with his simple outfit and floppy hat to protect him against the harsh summer sun. The smile was all wrong, though. There was no warmth or compassion, only evil and malicious glee.

“I can’t, my sweet daughter. We need each other.”

“I don’t need you.”

Nick walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder to keep me from rising when I tried to get out of my chair. “Without me, you will never reach your full potential.”

“I don’t need any more power than I’ve already got,” I snapped.

Nick squeezed my shoulder hard enough to make me cringe and try to shrink away from his touch, but he refused to release me. “And I need you to help me once again reach my full potential. I want to reach the stars again, escape this weakened state.”

I finally jerked out of his touch, but he had me pinned so that I couldn’t get out of my chair. “I don’t care what you want.”

“You will if it means your life,” he said, a grin growing across his horribly beautiful face. “If you’re not going to help me, I will either impregnate you so you will bear me a child that can help me, or I’ll kill you and go to one of my other children for assistance.”

“I will not control Danaus again,” I said stubbornly, daring him to contradict me. When he continued to just stare at me, I finally added, “Besides, I’ve already lost him. He won’t speak to me, won’t look at me. We’re going our separate ways.”

“Yes,” he hissed. “I saw that. Not a good move. You should have just given him what he wanted so you would have his power at your disposal.” Nick paced away from me. Some of the tension drained out of my shoulders as I watched him deep in thought. After a moment he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to me. “No matter. You still have Jabari. Once you return to Venice, you are to concentrate your attention on him.”

“Jabari? Are you insane? He’ll squash me like a bug if he gets even the slightest whiff that he can’t control me any longer, let alone discovers that I can control him.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to control him?” he asked, arching one brow at me. I couldn’t ever recall seeing that particular expression on my father’s face before.

“Of course I would love to control him. He used me for a century. I would love to have the opportunity to force him to take his own medicine. I’m just not strong enough. Jabari will kill me for even trying.”

“Then I suggest that you get it right the first time,” Nick said, and then disappeared, clearly indicating that he would offer me no help whatsoever if I failed to bring Jabari under control when I attempted it.

“Nick!” I shouted, but I got no answer. But then, that’s how things were going at this point. I was alone to clean up this mess I found myself in. Nick had helped me to alienate Danaus, and now I was to stick my head in the lion’s mouth that was Jabari.

Exhausted, I pushed away from the desk and wandered into the bedroom, where I plopped down on the edge of the bed and pulled off my muddy boots. With my legs still hanging over the side, I lay back against the thick comforter and closed my eyes. I wished for the world to fade away, and that we had never come to Budapest.

Sofia sat at the small table in the far corner next to Danaus as they shared a tray of food brought up by room service. I watched her cutting dainty bites of her chicken, wishing I could shove the fork down her throat. Danaus had risked both of our lives for this woman, and unfortunately, I was beginning to see why. In the broken, dimly lit room, she seemed almost luminous. Her features were delicate and perfectly formed, from her large innocent eyes to her button nose to her little rosebud mouth. It was as if she were a fragile, blown-glass ornament resting in the wreckage of the hotel room.

It didn’t take a genius to see why Danaus was drawn to her. It was more than the fact that she was a helpless human tied to a ruthless vampire. It was that she represented the epitome of the beautiful damsel in distress. Danaus had spent a lifetime searching for good deeds, in hopes of winning his soul back from the bori. He had searched his life for just this situation. Now all he needed to do was vanquish the evil vampire and the heroic act would be complete. Then he and Sofia could ride off together into the sunset.

If it had been possible for me at that exact moment, I would have vomited with the thought. Danaus had no business with a woman like that even if her laughter sounded like jubilant little bells and her eyes sparkled when she gazed up at him. Danaus and I were a better fit. Dark, violent, and sarcastic, we could face whatever the world threw at us and still come back for more. We belonged together. But right now all he could see was a pair of wide blue eyes watching him.

Balling my hands into fists at my sides, I searched for an even, reasonable tone. “Does Veyron know you have her?” I demanded as way of greeting.

“I slipped out just before sunrise,” Sofia said. “Veyron didn’t know where I was going.” She wiped her hands on her napkin before setting it by her plate. She rose to her feet and curtsied deep to me.

Meanwhile, Danaus sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared smugly at me. “There was no fight. No one was killed. Sofia has been safely hidden here all day and no one has come to retrieve her.”

“She’s not hidden,” I snarled. “She’s Veyron’s pet. The moment he wishes to know her location, he will. And then he will either come to fetch her himself or he will send some of his flunkies for her. Just because getting her was easy doesn’t mean that it will be just as easy to keep her.”

A flood of tears erupted from Sofia as she collapsed back in her chair. “Oh, she’s right. It is only a matter of time before Veyron comes after me. I’ve put your lives in horrible danger.”