“Not really.”

“It means he’s both very powerful and very independent. Vampire loyalty goes both ways. Favors go both ways. If someone owes you loyalty, you also owe them protection. If someone answers to you, they also depend on you. I come from a long and complicated line of water vampires whose blood eventually traces back to a single water vampire in the Mediterranean. One of the ancients so old he no longer remembers human life. Your blood is of that line. Any children you sire in the future will be another branch of a complicated and layered tree.”

Loyalties in the immortal world intertwined over centuries. Lucien thought about the many humans who owed his mother allegiance. Some human clans had been serving her and her children for centuries. When you added in her immortal children and their offspring, it became even more overwhelming. He’d never be able to prove it, but Lucien suspected every vampire in the world could eventually trace their blood line back to Saba.

She was the immortal Eve. The source of vampire life, not that she could remember how it all came to be.

Baojia was still explaining things. “There are some advantages to a large family tree like mine. It provides many connections in our world.”

“I don’t want politics, Baojia. I’m a scientist. All I’ve ever wanted was to do my research.” He heard her choke. “Care for my family. I can’t even see them anymore, can I?”

“You’ll be able to eventually,” Baojia said, soothing her. “And the time will pass faster than you can imagine.” He paused. “I want you to think about your family when you choose your aegis, Makeda.”

“You think I should go with yours because of Katya.”

“No,” Baojia said. “I think you should go with Lucien. Because of Katya.”

Lucien froze. Oh, the young assassin was smart.

“What?” Makeda sounded horrified. “You think I should choose Lucien?”

Was his protection really so distasteful to her? He remembered the smell of her blood—the agony and ecstasy of her bite—and his own blood rushed south.

“Lucien is a child of the ancients. His mother is the oldest vampire known to our kind. She is the source of our blood. Our power. Saba owes allegiance to none. In many places around the world, she’s worshipped as a goddess. She is not a power, Makeda. She is the power. If any came before her, they are not remembered. And if they are not remembered, they do not exist.”

The silence in the small room was oppressive, and Lucien wished he could see Makeda’s face.

“And Lucien is this woman’s son?” Makeda finally asked.

“He is.”

“So if I chose his aegis—”

“It would put you and your family under the protection of arguably the most powerful vampire in the world. If Saba ever called her blood…”

“We would all feel it.”

“I believe so.”

Not that she would, Lucien thought. His mother wasn’t interested in empire anymore. Once, she’d ruled a continent. She said the responsibility gave her a headache.

“You think my family and I would be safer under Lucien’s aegis.”

“Katya already has your father’s loyalty and obligation. If she had yours as well—”

“All our eggs would be in the same basket,” Makeda said, grasping the implications immediately. “But if I choose Lucien, my family would have both Katya’s protection and Lucien’s.”

“It would.”

“Dual protection like that would give Katya pause should my father ever fall out of favor with her.”

Lucien closed his eyes and focused on her voice.

Makeda’s mind ensnared him. A curl of anticipation tightened in Lucien’s gut when he thought of her already brilliant mind enhanced by amnis. She would be dazzling. Luminous. Captivating.

A queen.

Desire for her burned in his blood.

Lucien waited in Baojia’s office until the vampire returned. Baojia glanced at Lucien sitting in the office chair on the other side of his desk, and his mouth tightened.

“In the future, I will not hide your presence from her,” he said. “Don’t put me in the middle of your arguments.”

“Will she choose my aegis?”

“She hasn’t decided,” Baojia said. “For now, leave her alone. Your presence is too disruptive.”

“I haven’t done anything to—”

“Stop,” Baojia hissed, glaring at Lucien. “You know exactly what you do to her. Sometimes I think you delight in it. Makeda is my child whether she chooses my aegis or not. If I was worried only for her emotional well-being, I would keep her as far from you as I possibly could.”

Lucien steepled his fingers. “You know I’m the better choice.”

“I do. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I thought we were friends.”

“I don’t like it when my friends manipulate my other friends.” He didn’t sit as Lucien did. It didn’t matter. Both of them knew Baojia’s power was a fraction of Lucien’s. “You’ve made it clear you need her mind, and that’s the only reason you saved her life. How do you think that makes her feel?”

“Makeda is a rational woman. She understands why her life had to be preserved.”

“Stop pretending there is only science between you. You didn’t do this for rational reasons, Lucien. Don’t lie to me.”