“You won’t need to punish her, Lazarus,” said Sam. “That’s our show.”

He stilled. “They, including Imani, are my vampires. The punishment is mine to deliver.”

“Wrong. Come on, Lazarus, did you think I brought them here for tea, cakes, and a pop quiz?”

“I have witnessed via V-Tube your idea of interrogations. I do not want my vampires subjected to that—not when at least two of them are innocent.”

“I’m not asking for your permission, Lazarus.”

“I do not appreciate you taking over this situation.”

Sam leaned forward. “Do you really think I give a flying fuck about what you appreciate? Whoever injected Imani did so believing the serum would kill her. I take an attack on my vampires very seriously. An attack on my friend? That’s a mistake of epic proportions, so do not fuck with my patience.”

Sinking back into her chair, she went on, “It’s really not me you should be worried about. Butch is exponentially pissed, and there won’t be any way of holding him back from slaughtering the person responsible for what happened to Imani. Not that I’ll try to hold him back.”

“No one could hold me back,” Butch told him. “And I don’t fucking like it that you don’t seem as anxious to find out who hurt Imani as you should. Part of me wonders if you’re just so curious to understand how Imani survived that it’s overridden your concern. And part of me wonders if what you’d love to do most right now is take her to a lab and perform test after test until you finally find out why she survived what others didn’t—and just what exactly she’s become.”

If Annalise’s downcast expression was much to go by, Butch was right about the latter. And he clearly knew it, because a growl rumbled out of him that caused the siblings to tense. “She’s a person, not a fucking lab rat. There’ll be no testing her; she’s been through enough.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Annalise assured him. “And so does Lazarus.” Her brother didn’t confirm that but nor did he deny it.

“It’s hard to trust the word of someone who has potentially lied to her since the night he met her.”

Lazarus blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Did Marco really abandon me, Lazarus?” I asked. “Or was that a lie?”

A heavy sigh left him. “He told you.”

“No, Juliet did the talking. But you should have told me.”

“I did not lie to hurt you, Imani. It was part of his punishment. He Turned you to keep you. He is not the first vampire in history to have done that to someone of course, but I was determined that he would be the last of my nest to do it. You’re a good person, Imani. Compassionate. Forgiving. If you had forgiven Marco and the two of you had reconciled, what do you think that would have taught him and the others in my nest?”

Sam was the one who replied, “That it would all work out fine in the end.”

“Yes. It would teach them that braving my punishment would be worth it because, in the end, all would be fine between them and the vampire they Turned. So I made you hate him. It stopped you from going back to him, and it was something he had to live with. He did not abandon you. People are interchangeable for him, but I think Marco sees you as a person in your own right. I believe something in you…spoke to him, if you will. But that was not a justifiable reason for him to do what he did, and for that he was punished.”

Okay, I sort of understood that. There was no point in getting riled about it, because it hadn’t been personal to me; the whole thing was much bigger than me and Marco. Lazarus had needed to set an example. “Did it work?”

“No one has since committed such an act,” replied Lazarus. “I am sorry if you feel hurt that I lied to you. But it was the best for all concerned. And it has potentially saved a lot of humans from unwillingly being Turned.”

That wasn’t something I could or ever would be angry about.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

(Butch)

I didn’t think I’d ever gawked before, but Imani had a way of shocking the shit out of me. I wasn’t in a great mood since she’d insisted on partaking in the training session. In my opinion, she needed more time to recover. But as she looked just as good as she claimed to feel, I didn’t push her on it. I decided that I’d keep a close watch on her instead.

As the session went on, it became clear that her speed and strength weren’t as good as before she was injected with the serum. Halfway through the session, I suggested that she take a break. Her response was, ‘I can’t afford to take breaks and go easy when there’s a battle coming.’

She intended to be part of the battle? “You can’t be serious.”

“Why? I told you I feel better.”

“That doesn’t mean you are better.”

“Stop fretting, I’m fine.”

I advanced on her. “Tell me you honestly don’t plan on being part of this battle.”

“I could, but it would be a lie.”

Her bored tone was pissing me off. “You’re weaker now, Imani. You might feel good, baby, but you’re not a full vampire anymore. Your reaction time isn’t as fast. You can’t rely on your speed and strength in the same ways that you could before. That means you need time to adjust to that and find ways to compensate for it.” Then she’d be fit for battle. Now? Not a chance, and I couldn’t risk her.

“I’m not denying that my strength and speed is more like that of a Sventé, but I may not need time to adjust to that because it’s possible that the change isn’t a permanent thing. I could just need more recovery time. Lena couldn’t read my DNA properly, so we don’t know anything for sure.”

“Exactly. We don’t know. That’s not good enough.”

She sighed. “Butch—”

“No, Imani, you shouldn’t be part of this battle.”

“Hey, do you remember that time when I asked what you thought? Yeah, me neither.” She raised a hand when I went to speak. “I let you say your piece. Now you let me say mine. Yes, I’m not a full vampire anymore. Yes, that could mean a lot of things. You saw me hurt and in pain, and I understand that it was hard for you and has sent your protective streak into hyper-drive. But you’ve got to get a grip on it.”