“Your proclivities are so well-known,” Inaya said, “that if I didn’t smell your blood in her, I wouldn’t believe she was your lover.” The water vampire leaned in and let out a long sigh. “Delicious. I want to taste her, but I know I can’t.”

“I’d say don’t even think about it, but clearly you already have,” he muttered.

“It would be like taking both of you as lovers,” Inaya said. “One bite and I’d have you at the same time. You gave her your blood to tease me, didn’t you? You know I’ve always wanted to taste you.”

Makeda turned dark eyes toward Lucien with an expression that clearly questioned Inaya’s sanity. Is she serious? Makeda’s eyes seemed to say.

Lucien tried not to laugh, mentally cursing Makeda’s reserve. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate the attention in public.

Inaya’s coquetry was why Lucien didn’t understand those willingly involved in politics. Inaya was as keen a player as any of her peers. The four-hundred-year-old immortal was a shrewd businesswoman and a skillful warrior, but she practiced flattery the same way she had in the human courts where she’d been raised. It must have remained effective, or she wouldn’t play the game.

Lucien preferred microbes to manipulation.

“Keep your fangs to yourself, Inaya. Makeda is neither your plaything nor mine. Besides being under my aegis, Kato is her mentor. Surely you wouldn’t anger the old gods.”

Inaya rolled her eyes. “If Ziri has taught me anything, it is that the ancients are very far from gods.”

A roll of the earth under their feet signaled Saba’s entrance. The three of them rose as Lucien’s mother came into the room.

“You’re speaking of Ziri and Kato only, I’m sure,” Saba said to Inaya. “Greetings, daughter, and thank you for the excellent meal. Your hospitality is nearly flawless.” Saba glanced at Makeda, then back at Inaya. “Nearly.”

Inaya bowed her head, accepting the chastisement, but Lucien saw the edge of a smile on the woman’s face. Inaya was still playing.

“Are your quarters adequate, Mother?”

“They are. Makeda, are your quarters sufficient?” Saba asked Makeda directly. “And have you fed?”

Sparks flashed in Inaya’s eyes. She didn’t like Saba questioning her hospitality.

Makeda said, “Lucien made sure I was taken care of, Saba.”

“Good.” Saba sank onto a silken pillow. Kato sat beside her. Ziri didn’t sit but leaned against a pillar behind them both. “Inaya, I suspect you know why I am here.”

Inaya inclined her head. “I wouldn’t presume to guess your purpose, Mother. I am only honored by your presence in my home so soon after your previous visit.”

“Kato?” Saba nodded to him. “Inaya is a queen of your line. Would you like to start?”

“I am taking Alitea back,” Kato said simply. “I ask for your pledge this night, Inaya, daughter of Lagides, or I will destroy you and erase your line from the face of the earth.”

The announcement dropped like a rock in still water, but Inaya’s face remained impassive.

After a long moment, she said, “Should I be insulted, my king, that you would question my loyalty? Am I a servant of Athens, bowing and scraping before a council that feeds only their own hunger?”

Kato didn’t budge. “Will you give me your pledge, Inaya?”

“You have my pledge, great king. I am your servant in this matter.” She bowed from the waist, and when she rose, the calculation returned to her eyes. “But let me be your valuable servant, Kato, for I am no weak leader.”

Kato smiled indulgently “What is your request, daughter? Your loyalty was given without question, and that will be remembered.”

“Let me continue to serve you as a faithful regent. For no other has held this territory and made our kind prosper as I have.”

Kato’s eyes narrowed. “Your immortal population prospers. What of your humans?”

“A work in progress, my king, for they are a weak race and vulnerable to manipulation,” Inaya said smoothly. “But as I continue to prosper, so shall they.”

Kato made a pretense of considering her request, but both Kato and Inaya knew that Kato had no desire to rule North Africa. He would be busy with other matters in Athens.

“I will allow you to serve me in this manner, Inaya, daughter of Lagides, and I will leave you to my trusted son, Lucien Thrax, to negotiate the details of our partnership.” Kato rose and held out his hand. Inaya knelt before him and kissed it. Then Kato turned to Ziri. “A word with you, my brother?”

“Of course.”

The deferential mask Inaya wore slipped as the two ancient vampires departed, leaving Lucien, Makeda, Saba, and Inaya on their own.

“That was unexpected,” Inaya said to Saba as she rose to her feet and went back to her pillow.

Saba shrugged. “What did you expect me to do?”

“I expected death and destruction,” Inaya said. “I expected volcanoes and earthquakes swallowing continents.”

“Would you prefer that to conquest?” Saba asked.

“I said this was unexpected, not unwelcome.”

Lucien found himself wondering what Inaya and his mother had spoken of during their previous visit. Clearly, Inaya knew some change was coming. It made her provocation of Makeda even more confusing. But then Inaya had always loved being contradictory.