In the center of the room sat a thin waif with stringy brown hair and sunken cheeks on a metal folding chair. Her skin had a sickly gray pallor. At a guess, this was the newborn, fresh from death. Behind her stood a man with blondish brown hair and clear blue eyes. When he had been reborn, he appeared to have been no more than eighteen or nineteen. While it was hard to pinpoint in a room with so many nightwalkers, he didn’t feel very old. In fact, he felt a lot younger than I had expected.

Mira paused not far from the foot of the stairs and lifted my hand from her shoulder. She looked up at me one last time and winked. Stay here. Don’t move unless I say to, she silently directed. While I wasn’t fond of the idea of following her commands, I had a feeling we would both live a lot longer if I did.

Yes, mistress, I hissed back.

Mira nearly choked on the bubble of laughter she fought back and failed. Shaking her head, she turned her back on me and walked over to stand in front of the fledgling and her maker.

“Welcome, Keeper,” the male vampire said, his hand tightening on the back of his child’s neck. There were lines of tension around his eyes and mouth.

“David,” Mira replied stiffly, her hands resting on her hips. I couldn’t see her expression any longer, but I could hear her draw in a long, deep breath. Expelling the unnecessary air, she made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. “She smells more of death than life.”

“She must feed,” David quickly countered, looking a bit confused.

“Blood drawn tonight won’t fix that,” Mira snapped. “You made her too quickly.” She placed her right hand under the girl’s chin and lifted it so that the fledgling was forced to meet her gaze. “You both are too young.”

“She will survive,” David stated, as if by sheer will he could keep the newborn vampire alive. But I doubted it truly worked that way.

“Will she?” Mira shot back. The threat hung heavy in the air. Around the trio, the vampires seemed to lean in, intent on the conversation. When Mira continued, her voice had dropped to a whisper. “You didn’t heed my advice. You sought me out; asked if you should turn her. I said no.”

For the first time, David’s strong voice wavered. “I don’t need your permission to create a companion.”

“No, but you went against my direct wishes,” Mira hissed. David tried to take a step backward, but it was too late. Mira’s hand flashed from the fledgling’s chin to David’s throat. With little strain she tossed him across the room and into the wall behind her. At the same time, the gathered vampires scattered, allowing David to slam into the cinderblock wall.

I tensed, waiting for the others to attack Mira, but no one moved. The excitement in the room doubled, thickening until I could nearly taste it like honey. Several vampires were now smiling, eagerly watching the display. The emotions pounded against my brain. And with it grew a red haze. They were hungry and the bloodlust was growing. The room suddenly grew hotter and there was a buzzing in my brain. The dark creature that seemed to live inside of me stirred to life, as if the potential for bloodshed had awakened it.

Coming here had been a very bad idea. Mira was aware that I could sense her emotions and thoughts, but she seemed to forget that I could also sense the emotions of other vampires. I had been around other vampires when their lust for blood filled them, but only a couple at a time, so I could fight off the feeling, suppress it so that it didn’t overwhelm my own thoughts. But here in a small room with more than thirty vampires, it was swamping me.

The monster wrapped around my soul dug its claws deep and roared, demanding release. It demanded bloodshed and violence, and my hands ached to wrap around the handle of a blade. At the same time, the vampires’ bloodlust beat against my brain, leaving my teeth throbbing, my tongue searching for nonexistent fangs.

With my jaw clenched, I drew in a slow, deep breath through my nose, and pushed the demon back down. I forced my attention back to David as he picked himself up off the ground. He kept one hand on the wall as if he was too scared to move away from it and closer to Mira.

“She didn’t wish to grow any older,” David said.

There was a gasp in the air at his admission and the vampire near him sidled away. The bloodlust ebbed under the weight of the shock and I was able to get a grip on myself again. Mira had been in the process of turning to look at me when David’s words stopped her, allowing me to see a faint glow filling her eyes in the dim light.

“So you obey a human over me,” she said in a deceivingly calm voice.

“No!” he cried. “Please, I love her.”

“I have a remedy for your loyalty issues,” Mira replied. For half a breath, David’s eyes flitted over to me and then back to Mira. Enraged, she lunged at him, grabbing the front of his white button-up shirt. She threw David to the ground with a heavy thud and straddled him so that she could more easily wrap her hands around his neck. The vampires shifted; the excitement building, but I was ready for it this time, strengthening the walls around my mind. I couldn’t read their thoughts without forcibly pushing my way into them, but a call for David’s death hung ominously in the air.

I found myself leaning forward, my heart pounding in my chest as I waited to see if Mira would kill him. She had destroyed others of her kind as a test of power and skill. The Fire Starter was teetering on the edge as she battled her own bloodlust that was screaming in her mind. I could feel her frustration and her anger at David’s choices, but there was something else gnawing at her thoughts that I couldn’t quite define.

“Your problem lies with me,” she growled through clenched teeth. “Not with the hunter. You are weak and you have created something less than chum. Neither of you will live long.”

“No! David!” the fledgling cried, leaping from her small, metal folding chair. Mira launched herself off of David and into the young woman. Catching her by the shoulders, Mira slammed her into one of the metal columns supporting the main beam in the house.

“Who is your master?” Mira snarled.

“David,” the girl cried, bloody tears streaming down her pale face.

“Wrong answer.” Mira pulled the girl back and slammed her into the column again, causing a deep, hollow bong to echo through the silent room. “One last try.”

“I—I don’t understand,” the fledgling cried.

“Mira!” David shouted. He had rolled over onto his stomach, but froze in the act of pushing to his feet. “Mira is the keeper of the city and member of the coven. She is your master below our liege. I am your sire. Next to Mira, I am nothing.”

“Very good,” Mira murmured. She released the young vampire, letting her slide to her knees as tears poured down her cheeks. Turning on her heel, she gazed down at David, who remained lying on the dusty floor, afraid to move. His neck had been cut where Mira had grabbed him, staining the collar of his shirt red. “She has much to learn. I am going to be merciful, though I should kill you both. Teach her, David. Teach her everything you know.” Mira lifted her eyes and slowly looked over the assembled group of vampires that surrounded her. “The naturi are here and we cannot afford to be weak.”

The excitement drained out of the room to be replaced by a tremor of fear. Several vampires drew their human companions closer as if suddenly desperate for their warmth. The subterranean room grew cold and the air was stale. No one met another’s eyes. Mira wasn’t the only one haunted by the threat of the naturi. While I had a feeling that she was the only one who had experienced the dark threat of the naturi firsthand, the assembled mass could sense her fear and hatred when she spoke of them. That was enough.

Squatting down before him, Mira grabbed a handful of David’s short hair and jerked his head up so that his wide eyes were locked on hers. “For now, you belong to me. You serve me and obey my wishes to the letter until I choose to release you.”