Makeda forced a smile, but she was angry that Lucien hadn’t even consulted her before he’d made his decision. She might not be as experienced a soldier as he was, but she had a good idea what she could handle. As Lucien broke away to strategize with Brigid, Tenzin, and Baojia, Makeda stayed behind, sitting next to Carwyn.

“Be kind,” Carwyn whispered. “Taking out the plants is more dangerous than going into battle with four of the most ancient immortals in the world.”

“I know.” That’s why I want to go with him.

She was sitting on the rocks below the fortress, watching the fishing boats as they made their way into the open ocean. Dawn was two hours away, and their navigation lights dotted the harbor as the boats headed south into the black water.

She felt Lucien walk down to her. He sat on the damp rocks and leaned his elbows on his knees.

“We’ll leave tomorrow evening.”

Makeda was silent.

“Are you angry with me?”

“I don’t like being ignored.”

“I’m not ignoring you.”

“Disregarded then.”

He reached over and took one of her hands, playing her fingers between his own. “Do you understand why?”

“I understand you’re being very high-handed and I’m the junior partner here, so everyone is ignoring me.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You have every right to be angry.”

“But not sorry enough to take me with you.”

“No.”

She fell silent and watched the boats.

Lucien’s fingers suddenly gripped tight. He folded both his hands around her own and brought them to his mouth, pressing his lips against her fingertips.

“Lucien?”

“It’s an odd sensation,” he said quietly, “to give your heart completely to another. I feel as if my soul is tied up with yours. If something happened to you, I genuinely don’t think I would have any motivation to continue living.”

“Stop,” she whispered. “That’s not fair.”

“But it’s true.” He relaxed his hands. “I can live with your anger, Makeda. As long as I don’t have to live without you. I don’t have a human family. I don’t have offspring who depend on me. I have only Saba, and soon she will have many other children. But if something happened to you, I would have nothing.”

Makeda was reminded of the angry, arrogant man she’d first met, the focused vampire who lived only for his patients. The intense man with a shadow of despair behind his eyes. “Have you ever tried to end your life?”

“Yes.”

Fear stilled her heart. “Why?”

“I was sick. It wasn’t just that I was losing my mind, though that was bad enough. I was… tired. I’m so old.” His face, though unlined, had never looked more ancient. “I’ve seen nearly everything you can imagine. I’ve had thousands of lovers and friends, and most of them are gone. I was so very tired, Makeda.”

“You can’t be tired.” She felt the tears at the corners of her eyes. “Don’t you know? I’m depending on you to keep me company.”

“My mother saved me. Finding a cure for the Elixir gave me a focus. Baojia and Natalie made me curious again. But it was you, Makeda…” He smiled a slow smile and pulled one of her curls. “You brought me back to life, yene konjo.”

“You lived to irritate me?”

He shrugged. “Everyone has to have a purpose. Do you understand why I don’t want to imagine the world without you?”

She turned and kissed him slowly and thoroughly. “I will be your purpose. And you will be mine. We will live together. Explore together. You can show me your world.”

“There are wonders,” he said. “Things you would hardly believe.”

“I want to see them all.”

He nodded. “I can live with that.”

“You’d better.”

They fell silent again, but this time they were in each other’s arms.

“You’re still angry with me, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Take me to bed and give me a reason not to be.”

She felt him smile against her temple. His fangs were already down. “You drive a hard bargain, Dr. Abel.”

“Then you’d better deliver, Dr. Thrax.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

They took the plane to Bulgaria after a heated farewell between Lucien and Makeda. He left his new mate in his mother’s care and flew away with an unstable Irish fire vampire and a water vampire as reluctant to leave Italy as he was.

The crazy wind vampire refused to board the plane and insisted on meeting them in Plovdiv.

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but it was the right call,” Baojia said, leaning up against the insulated bulkhead of Giovanni Vecchio’s plane. “Carwyn will keep her safe.”

“She’s angry with me.”

Baojia smiled. “Would you like me to list the number and ways in which I’ve pissed my mate off in the short four years we’ve been together? Makeda will get over it. According to Brigid’s intel, the human presence is high, even in the middle of the night. You made the right decision.”

Lucien tapped his foot. “Laskaris will be expecting something.”

“He won’t be expecting Tenzin and Brigid.”

Lucien shook his head. “But he’ll be expecting something. Our move is overdue. Saba suggested we take out the plants after we left Turkey.”