“All right,” I said. “Thanks, I guess.”
Damiano smiled. “Prego, Signorina Kane.” He executed a little bow. “I hope we shall meet again.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “Bye now.”
“Buone notte!” several of the vampires called as they got back on their bikes. Some even waved enthusiastically, like they hadn’t just tried to intimidate me thirty minutes earlier.
Giguhl and I waited until their taillights disappeared around the corner of the house. Once they were gone, the cat looked up at me. “That was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I lowered my brows and pursed my lips at my hairless demon cat. “Stranger than demon fight club or dark races roller derby?”
The cat shrugged. “Okay, it’s the strangest thing I’ve seen tonight.”
I hefted his bulk higher. “The night’s young. Give it time.”
With that, I walked to the black iron gate set into the stone wall at the base of the building. Through the elaborate scrollwork, I could tell it led to a courtyard. I opened the gate, not sure what to expect, exactly. Before I stepped in, I set Giguhl down on the gravel. Kneeling down next to him, I whispered my instructions. “Stay close to me but say nothing.”
The cat nodded once and streaked into the shadows to do a perimeter check. I rose and stepped inside, seeing that he’d have plenty of places to hide out. The central garden area had several intersecting paths that stretched to a colonnade around the perimeter. On the far end of the space, long steps led to a row of French doors. The windows cast a warm glow on the grass and plant-filled urns that dotted the paths.
Chiara Rossi stood in the center of the courtyard, still as a statue. The moonlight flashed against her cherry-red hair, which was pulled back into an elaborate updo. She wore a simple black wrap dress and black stiletto pumps, which seemed out of place in the timeworn villa. Both her formal posture and the opulent surroundings were supposed to remind me that I was outranked.
I raised my chin and held my ground. She might outrank me as a vampire, but in the broader dark races perspective, I was of both vampire and mage noble bloodlines. But rank meant next to nothing to me. All I cared about was if she could take me in a fight.
I took in her mile-high Louboutins.
Absolutely not.
No woman who knew the first thing about fighting would ever wear those ridiculous ankle-breakers.
I’d heard of Chiara before. I’d never interacted with the vampire leaders abroad, but I’d heard snippets of gossip about her. If I remembered correctly, Chiara hadn’t earned her title through the usually bloody means. Instead, she’d benefited from old-fashioned nepotism. Namely, she was Persephone’s cousin.
Now that I was here, standing before her, I couldn’t believe no one had thought to check here for the missing Domina. But, then, I guess we’d all assumed Persephone was still stateside. For her to escape New York and make it here to Rome so quickly told me that she had the escape plan in place long before Tanith’s murder.
“Welcome to Roma, Miss Kane.” Her words were accented with an Italian inflection but were spoken with the confidence of one used to conversing in English.
“Thanks.”
“I was disappointed you did not call on me the instant you arrived in my city.”
“I would have,” I lied, “but I’m not here on vampire business.”
“Regardless, you of all Lilim should be aware of the protocol.”
“Forgive me, but I don’t give a damn about vampire protocol. Not anymore.”
She nodded and took a few steps forward. I stayed put, content to let her come to me. “Yes, I’ve heard you turned your back on your blood kin.”
I laughed. “That’s one perspective. The wrong one. Not that it matters.” My so-called betrayal wasn’t the reason I was vampira non grata. The Lilim wanted nothing to do with me since birth because of my tainted blood. The only reason I’d been allowed to live in the first place was that my maternal grandmother and Alpha Domina, Lavinia Kane, found me useful as an assassin.
“Regardless, you’re here now.” Chiara smiled but the emotion didn’t reach her eyes. “What is your business in my city?”
I crossed my arms. “Look, can we cut the shit here? I know Persephone’s here. Surely she filled you in on the events at the treaty signing.”
“Yes, I am aware that Despina Tanith and High Councilman Orpheus were murdered.”
That’s when it hit me that Chiara and Persephone wouldn’t be privy to what happened after Persephone ran off into the night just after the Despina died. But I really didn’t want to get into the sordid details about my twin’s guilt and subsequent death. Besides, I preferred to discuss this with Persephone. Time to change the subject. Since Chiara was Italy’s most powerful vampire, I decided to see if she’d heard of the vamp Asclepius wanted me to kill.
“Do you know a vampire named Nyx?”
Chiara frowned at my mercurial change of topic. “Nyx? No.”
“You sure? I heard she was in Italy.”
“I am certain. No vampires enter Italia without my knowledge.”
I raised my brows. Either Asclepius was wrong or Chiara’s intel was seriously lacking. If I had to bet, I’d go double down on the latter.
“Is this Nyx why you have come to Roma?”
“It’s one of the reasons,” I said.
“And the other?”
I crossed my arms. “That I will only discuss with the Domina. That’s why I was brought here, right? To speak with her.”
She nodded reluctantly. “Si, my dear cousin would like a word with you.”
I raised my brows. “I’m waiting.”
Chiara snapped her fingers and a male vampire who’d been standing guard near the bushes rushed forward. The Donna spoke to him in a low tone before he ran off, presumably to retrieve Persephone. “She’ll be with us shortly. But first, I must ask you to refrain from upsetting her. She still suffers greatly.”
I didn’t bother mentioning that Persephone’s problems didn’t begin to compare to the ones I was facing. Before Tanith died, she’d had my grandmother killed so she could take control of the vampire race. In the process, she’d reduced Persephone to little more than a puppet. I found it hard to believe the last surviving Domina was too broken up about her tormentor dying. If I had to guess, Persephone’s real worry was that her own days were numbered. Which, come to think of it, wasn’t out of the realm of possibility at present.
“I’ll try to be gentle,” I said, my tone heavy with irony. After all, Persephone might have been considered the weakest Domina, but she was still an ancient vampire. Not one to trifle with in any arena.
A few moments later, a side door opened and Persephone swept out into the courtyard. Last time I’d seen her she’d been wearing dove gray, like a woman in mourning for her lost power. But now she wore a bright sapphire dress that played brilliantly against her deep auburn hair. The moonlight made her pale skin glow like a pearl. No doubt about it, Persephone was still the most beautiful female I’d ever seen.
Watching her stride toward us, I wondered if maybe I’d misjudged her all along. I’d always thought Tanith was the smart one and Lavinia was the strongest of the three Dominae. But now they were both dead and pretty Persephone had the entire dark races scrambling.
“Sabina.” She tipped her head regally in greeting.
“Domina,” I responded. While I’d lost my need to kowtow to the Dominae long ago, I’d always viewed Persephone with less contempt than her two partners. And since part of the reason I’d agreed to this meeting was the need to convince her to return to the States to take control of the vampire race, I figured I’d stack my bets and show her the respect she expected. However, I refused to bow to her. I wasn’t that desperate for her favor.
“Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”
I didn’t bother pointing out I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. “Of course. I was surprised to learn you were in Rome. Everyone thinks you’re still stateside.”
“I assume your cohorts are already in touch with Rhea and the Queen regarding my location.”
Adam’s aunt and Queen Maeve of the fae were trying to hold down the dark races in America until Persephone returned to take control of the vampires.
“You know you have to go back.”
“Not necessarily,” she said, looking thoughtful. “I have decided to renounce my right to rule the Lilim.”
My stomach dipped. While I’d known this was a possibility all along, I’d hoped that she’d suck it up and do what was right in the end. “Domina, I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit.”
“Hey!” Chiara protested.
Persephone waved her cousin down. “I am quite decided on the matter.”
“Well, that’s just perfect,” I said, my voice rising. “We were so close to finally achieving peace between the races and now you’re going to just walk away and leave the vampire race without any sort of leadership?”
“Sabina, let’s not be overly dramatic. The Undercouncil is perfectly capable of running things until a new candidate can be found.”
I sighed. Yelling at her wasn’t going to get us anywhere. “Look, I understand your misgivings. I’d be reluctant to take over, too, after my two predecessors were murdered. But times have changed.”
Persephone raised a perfectly arched brow. “Have they? Have you found Tanith’s murderer yet?”
“No, not yet. But we know who’s responsible. That’s why I’m here.”
Her forehead crinkled. “Who?”
“Cain.”
Her hand flew to her midsection. “Great Mother protect us. How is that possible?”
I quickly gave her an abbreviated version of Cain’s plot to destroy any chance at peace, leaving out the part about him using Maisie as his weapon. “So the Hekate Council and the Queen sent me here to find him and make sure he’s out of the equation.”