A Mermaid's Ransom (Daughters of Arianne 3)

"The question now," Lyssa considered, sitting back, "is what to do about you. There are few loner vampires out there, Dante. We are very structured. We belong to territories, Regions. We have overlords and Region Masters for these areas, a protection for all of us. Having you roaming free with no sense of what a vampire is or does could become a liability for us all."

Mina spoke up then. "Right now, he's on thirty days' probation here. The enchantment on his throat also prevents him from causing harm to others."

"I am more concerned with him exposing our world to more scrutiny than we desire. Not what harm he can cause to humans. That is far more easily controlled. Beyond that, there is his own well-being, if that is of concern to you." She gave the witch a shrewd look. "It is not wise for him to be in a territory without the overlord or Region Master's awareness of his presence there. It's surprising no vampire has yet found and challenged him. A loner is quickly attacked."

Lex remembered that malevolent presence near the diner, but Dante had his attention on Lyssa. "I am told humans prefer ignorance of our existence," he said. "But I do not necessarily belong to your world, any more than I belong to the Dark One world. I will choose where I belong."

"Really?" Lyssa studied him. Heat sizzled between the two vampires like a laser line. "How will you do that, youngling, if you have no idea who you are?"

"How would you propose to teach me?" The derisive challenge was blatant.

Dante, I think she's trying to help.

Lyssa cocked her head. "I could force you to concede my power over you. Is violence what you require to learn, to listen?"

I learned about power through being helpless. I learned to fight by being beaten. Alexis blanched as his words came back to her, his ability to learn through conditioned response and reaction. And he was prepared to prove it right now. His emotions were clear on that. She felt the heat gathering within him, ready to strike.

"No," she said. Before he could anticipate her, she'd lifted herself up on his legs and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her face into his throat, her body into his so he was cradling her in his lap. His only choice was to hold her or toss her to the side as unceremoniously as a sack of potatoes.

Which he might very well do, so she tightened her arms, holding on to him. Let them help, Dante. Please.

Dante's body quivered beneath hers, but his fingers curled into her back, the other hand sliding over her thighs, a protective rather than a dismissive gesture, thank the Goddess.

"How can you help me learn to live here?" No less argumentative, but the phrasing made the difference. Lady Lyssa sat back, her eyes sliding over Lex curled in his lap.

"I likely can't. Not right now. Mina is right. You are more savage beast than student, and to conquer that requires something different. Perhaps what's in your arms now, a balance to your darkness. But if you win that battle, then you would do well to consider spending some time here. We can help you understand the vampire side of yourself, what rules govern our lives, and where you might fit into that life. As I said, vampire children are rare. It automatically wins you a title, Lord Dante." Though there was mocking humor in her voice, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. "Whether you earn the respect that goes with it is up to you."

She shifted her gaze to Mina. "I will speak to Dante alone now. Jacob will show you my roses and let you meet Kane."

Twenty-one

DESPITE the fact she was a queen, getting everyone to comply with that directive was not so easy. Dante did not want Alexis out of his sight. Jacob didn't seem overly enthused leaving Lyssa alone with an unknown Dark Spawn male vampire. But in the end, her will prevailed, as did Mina's, who supported the Queen's request.

Alexis found the roses even more beautiful than the ones on the front drive. Kane likewise was a gorgeous child, perhaps two years old. He had his father's still, vibrant eyes and mother's silky black hair, as well as kittenish fangs.

The baby found David as fascinating as his parents had. When the angel squatted down, his wings curving across the ground, Kane went right for them, losing his balance on the uneven surface and plopping down upon them. As he laughed and sunk his fingers into the feathers, David twisted around, watching him play with amusement.

Angelic energy put most parents at ease, and Jacob was no exception, despite his obvious concern about what might be happening in the study they'd left. He wasn't alone in that. Alexis paced uneasily until Mina's fingers closed around her arm. The witch sat her down on a bench beneath a heavy canopy of yellow fragrant blooms highlighted by the rising moon. "She's not harming him, Alexis."

"I know."

"Of course you do." The witch gave her a sardonic look. "You're in his mind. You know what he's capable of. You aren't worried about what Lyssa will do to him. You worry what he'll do if she says the wrong thing, makes the wrong move. You want to believe in him, but you know belief isn't always enough."

Alexis bit back a retort. She was far more prepared to reassure her parents than to fence the far-too-accurate observations of the Dark Spawn seawitch. She was tired, hungry and her nerves were frayed, but she could hold it together. She would. "He doesn't understand a lot of things yet. He might interpret something simple as a threat."

"Hmm. Sounds like it might have been better to keep him in Hell, let him learn about Earth in a controlled environment for a few months before releasing him on the world. Why didn't anyone think of that?"

Surging up from the bench, Alexis faced her godmother. "It needs to be his choice. He's not going to do well anywhere he feels trapped. He's been trapped long enough. If it weren't for you, he'd have been here twenty years ago."

She stopped, biting her lip, heat flooding her cheeks. Jacob and David paused in their conversation, but Mina ignored them. "You feel his feelings," she said, "but you don't necessarily know everything about who he is, who he was."

"I know more than anyone has tried to know," Lex snapped. "Except maybe you. You didn't have to try. You knew. You gave up on him, left him there. The person who understood him better than anyone."

"Perhaps that was why I left him there." Mina's eyes sparked. "Change can be very difficult when you've chosen your path."

Alexis fought to contain her emotions, cognizant of their host's scrutiny. When she nodded to David, feigning reassurance, he gave her an even look, but spoke a word to Jacob. They returned to entertaining the baby.

"I overheard you talking, when I was under Raphael's care," Alexis said quietly. "You said Dante had changed. That he'd been a scavenger, but now he was different."

When the seawitch's expression altered, the truth of it clicked into place. "It was the closing of the rifts. You shut down the one avenue he had. Life became even more unbearable."

"Rather than giving up, he became angry, and his rage overrode his fear." Mina shrugged. "It can happen. It says something about who he is. Whether it will be his salvation or the avenue to his own destruction, only time will tell."

"How can you be so callous? I know you feel things. I may not understand all of them, but when you and David are together"--Lex's gaze traveled between the two of them, and back to Mina's face--"I know how much you feel."

"You know many things." Mina rose and met her toe-to-toe, the spark in her blue and crimson eyes becoming something far more dangerous. "You may feel what I feel, or Dante feels, but don't make a child's mistake of thinking that brings you full comprehension."

Alexis tried to draw back, but she couldn't. Mina's energy poured over Alexis's skin like hot oil, holding the girl in a tunnel of suffocating heat. That Dark One blood Mina carried, so much like Dante's, was raging over her. She couldn't speak without whimpering, but Mina wasn't done yet.

"You don't know what it is to grow up without any love, except for a mother who lived her life in torment until she couldn't bear it anymore. You don't know what it's like to be tortured by those who are amused by your pain, who revile you as a thing, not a living being. Not just one day, or two, but from t

he second you're aware of your own existence. To have that suddenly be different . . . it takes a long, long time to believe it is different. It's safer to believe it isn't." Her lip curled back, showing Alexis a hint of the witch's fangs, a sign of her own Dark One sire. "Your job is to give Dante courage through your understanding, courage to make his own decisions and face the consequences. Not to shelter him with soft feelings and wishful imaginings. Because if evil has gripped his soul deeply enough, it will take him in the end.