“She wouldn’t have been useful much longer, anyway. She was carrying Paulo’s bastard in her womb.” Andros curled his lip and shook his head, patting Jacopo’s cheek in a friendly gesture. “Remember, never keep the same woman for too long. They begin to have expectations.”

He couldn’t take his eyes from her. Andros walked to the door and opened it.

“Paulo!”

Jacopo heard the steps approaching. Had Paulo known that the girl carried his child? The young man stepped into the room and his fangs dropped again. Jacopo bared them viciously when the scent of the human’s blood reached his nose. He heard the faint intake of breath when Paulo spotted his lover’s body, but he made no protest.

“Clean this up. Take it out to the sea and dispose of it.”

The young man was frozen, his eyes fixed on Serafina’s body. For a moment, Jacopo saw his fists clench, then the young man deliberately relaxed them and bent down, kneeling beside his lover. His eyes darted to Jacopo’s in the corner of the room, and his lip curled in disgust.

Andros brought a basin and a rag over and began to wash the blood from Jacopo’s chin, neck, and chest where it had dripped down. “There, my son. Let me help you. You did well. I am proud of you, so very proud.”

Jacopo watched as Paulo closed Serafina’s eyes and smoothed her crumpled dress behind Andros’s back. For a moment, the young man’s hand halted over the girl’s belly where his unborn child had grown, then he lifted her slight frame in his arms and walked from the room.

Jacopo felt his fangs retract, and the taste of her blood was bitter in his mouth.

Castello Furio

June 2012

Giovanni stared into the hateful eyes of his son as Lorenzo accompanied Emil Conti and Ziri into his dungeon. He knew, from all outward appearances, that he was being treated well. Though he refused to speak, the two men would have seen the simple, comfortable furnishings that Livia had brought to his cell the previous evening.

He was being fed every evening. He needed it; otherwise the nightly rage that Livia loosed upon him would have been far more evident. Luckily for her, his freshly washed clothes hid the red slashes across his chest, back, and thighs from where she tortured him.

“As you can see, signores, Signore Vecchio is being treated well, despite his refusal to speak or confess his crimes. Livia provides him with plentiful meals and all the necessary comforts, and she will continue to do so until a determination of his guilt can be provided to the court’s satisfaction.”

Emil nodded. “I do see, Lorenzo. And while I am satisfied that Giovanni is well—”

The canny water vampire drew Lorenzo into a detailed discussion of Giovanni’s “case” leaving Ziri to mouth his ghostly whispers from across the room.

‘Is she feeding you? Blink once for ‘yes.’’

Giovanni blinked.

‘Is she torturing you?’

Giovanni did not blink.

‘You are lying. I can see a mark on your chest. But I will not tell your wife.’

Giovanni mouthed, Thank you.

‘She is well, and your friends are working toward your release. Do you understand?’

He blinked once.

‘Keep strong. You will be in your mate’s arms soon. And remain silent, as much as you can.’

He blinked again.

‘Your grandsire would be very proud of you, if he could see your strength.’

When Giovanni blinked, it was not in response to anything the old wind vampire had asked. A frown spread across his face.

‘Keep silent. I knew your grandsire well. We will speak—truly speak—soon, Jacopo.’

“—and so I am satisfied for now, but this matter must be resolved quickly. I do not care for this drawn-out process. It disrupts business and becomes an unnecessary distraction for the younger members of the court.”

Lorenzo nodded at Emil with respect. “I will make mention of your concerns to Livia, Signore Conti. And Ziri?”

The old vampire glanced toward Lorenzo, seemingly disinterested in his surroundings. “Yes?”

“Are you satisfied that the prisoner is being taken care of in a proper way? Do we have your testimony to this? Your opinion would go very far in assuaging some of the more squeamish members of the court.”

Ziri waved a hand. “Oh, yes. He’s fine. I was simply curious. The design of this chamber...” He looked around in an academic way. “It is most unusual. Will it hold him, do you think?”

“I cannot go into the specifics, of course. But be assured, it is very secure.” Lorenzo’s lip curled as he eyed Giovanni in the corner. “Even against a vampire as ruthless and cunning as my father.”

When Giovanni woke the next night, Livia was in his chamber, staring at him.

“I told him to kill you,” she said.

Giovanni only shrugged.

“When Andros wrote to say he had sired you to fire, I told him then that he should spare himself the trouble and kill you.”

He blinked and felt along his bare chest to see if the new wounds she had opened the previous night had already closed. They had.

“He didn’t listen to me, of course. He rarely did.”

She walked over to the side of his bed and sat on it. He lay still and silent, stretching his arms up and knitting his fingers together behind his head. Livia’s eyes roamed his chest, and she reached down to trace along the red marks she had made the night before.

“I understood, of course. You were always so beautiful. He was so proud of you. Bright. Strong.” She dug her small hands into the defined muscles along his abdomen. “So strong. Stronger than him, as it turned out.”