I hadn’t mastered the reverse speed dial. The few times it worked was more by chance than skill. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on Misha, but only darkness shadowed my mind.

Maria touched my shoulder. “Do you see anything?”

“Not a thing.”

She wiped her face irritably. “He’s probably in too much pain to contact you. De bastards will pay for our master’s suffering.”

Hank sped through the opening metal gates and over the stone bridge. Danny and Chang raced down the steps, with Ying-Ying floating in lotus pose behind them. I sprinted past them and toward Misha’s office with Agnes and Maria at my heels. “Get me Uri on the phone. We have to get Misha back.”

Chapter Sixteen

Uri took Misha’s kidnapping as badly as I knew he would. Fury and agony accentuated every syllable of his words. “My son! The evil ones have my son!”

His anguish was heartbreaking and caused the Catholic schoolgirls to break down. Except that wouldn’t help Misha, I needed him to focus. “Tell me how to get him back.”

He worked to rein in his sorrow. “With the shape-shifters involved, we need the Alliance behind us. I’m in Sweden, but I shall contact the current leaders.” He sighed. “In the meantime, I need to entrust you with Misha’s family.”

“Yes, Uri. I’ll look after them.”

“And his home.”

“Yes, I know. I’ll take care of the house.”

“And all of his real estate.”

“Er, okay.”

“And the companies.”

“Companies?”

“Of course. You cannot allow the bankruptcy of a twenty-billion-dollar empire in Misha’s absence.”

I waited for Uri to laugh and tell me he was only joking. He didn’t. So of course I flipped out. “You’re putting me in charge of a twenty-billion-dollar business? Are you nuts? I can’t keep track of my ATM receipts!”

Uri’s contemptuousness quickly pimp-punched his misery. “Celia, my son chose you as his bride for many reasons. If your strength and intelligence failed to rival his, he wouldn’t have bothered to entertain your company.”

I screamed into the speakerphone. “But why do I have to run his entire domain? Can’t you handle that?”

“Celia, as head of the House of Aleksandr, it is important that you assume complete charge, if for nothing else, for the sake of appearances. Once Misha’s rivals become aware of his absence, they will plot to take control of his family and his empire. The sooner they sense weakness, the sooner they shall strike. Do not fail him.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Uri,” I grumbled, but he’d already hung up.

Emme and Danny had sat in on my phone call with Uri. I thought their eyes would literally launch out of their heads and little people would climb out waving white flags. They were scared stupid and none of this was even their problem. The Catholic schoolgirls, Tim, and Hank remained unusually tight-lipped. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What exactly did Uri mean when he said Misha’s rivals will plot to take control of his family?”

Hank stepped forward, his jaw clenched tight enough to snap bone. “It means the current masters will conspire to kill you so we, and all that’s his, will become theirs.”

My expression must have been priceless, because Hank stepped back. “That’s fantastic, because, you see, not enough supernatural predators want me dead!”

Emme rose slowly. “I’ll call Shayna and Taran. We’ll protect you, Celia. Don’t worry.”

Liz shoved her hands on her hips and loomed over her. “That’s our job. She may be your sister, but she’s our mistress now. We’re strong. We’ll handle it!”

Emme’s face reddened, but my little sister met Liz with equal force. “If you’re all so strong, then why can’t one of you take over as head of the family?”

Good point. Why the hell did it have to be me?

Liz hissed at her. And although she knew better than to attack Emme, both Hank and Danny moved to her side. I held a hand out. “Liz, back off. She’s not familiar with your ways.”

Liz withdrew her fangs, but it did nothing to squelch her temper. “It’s not that we couldn’t fight a master, it’s that we couldn’t win. It takes a master or another powerful being to kill one. That’s why ours selected Celia to take his place. Only she can protect us.”

I drummed my fingers against the desk. “Does Misha have any masters under his control?”

The vamps all shook their heads. Hank furrowed his brows. “Why?”

Maria answered for me. “She’s worried someone in de family will turn against her.”

“Yup.” I leaned back in the leather seat that was more like a throne than an office chair. The thought of the vampires betraying me had crossed my mind. “Still, if something does happen to me, I’d want one of Misha’s own to take over—one strong enough to face another master.”

“There are no other masters,” Hank answered. “Once a vampire is created, his or her status is immediately known. The elder master then either kills the newer one for power or releases him to begin his own dynasty. Either way, they don’t continue on in the same household.”

Interesting. “So technically Uri could have killed Misha upon recognizing his master status.”

Tim ran his hand over his shaved head. “Yes, like he had so many others before him. However, Grandmaster Uri was always fond of our master, even before he turned him vampire. He saw his potential and gifted him a small piece of his fortune. Our master in turn transformed his and the Grand Master’s businesses into a vast empire.”

Danny stood and paced, unable to remain still. “What about the age of the vampire? Doesn’t that factor into his strength? If there are no masters available, maybe Celia can appoint the oldest in Misha’s keep.”

Liz whipped out the file she kept tucked into her tiny plaid skirt and passed it over her claws. “Age adds to our strength and makes us harder to kill. That’s why a vampire older than two hundred years requires both a stake through the heart and decapitation. Otherwise she could still regenerate. Despite age, no mere vamp can match the strength of a master.” She shrugged. “Besides, the oldest among us were devoured by the shifters.”