Makeda spoke in Amharic. “You look very handsome tonight.”

“Do you like to see your mark on my skin?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

They didn’t touch, but she could feel his amnis alive within her. It was as if he was still moving inside her. Possessing her.

The driver spoke and Lucien answered him in fluent Arabic.

“We’re being taken to Saba’s quarters,” he said. “The formal welcome dinner will begin in an hour.”

“Will negotiations—”

Lucien reached out and put a finger on her lips, glancing at the driver as he did.

She understood immediately. There was no way of knowing if their driver understood Amharic, which was related to both Arabic and Hebrew. Even a cursory understanding could be enough to put them at a disadvantage or reveal them before Saba had planned.

When they parked, Lucien helped Makeda out of the car while still keeping his distance. It was exactly what she’d wanted, but she found his sudden reserve unnerving.

“Makeda!” Kato’s booming voice greeted her as soon as they walked in. He walked over, resplendent in a long djellaba of deep blue that matched his eyes. He kissed Makeda’s cheeks in greeting before he led her to an interior courtyard covered by a high ceiling painted with blue sky and drifting clouds. Gold and emerald-green stylized birds darted across the false sky, mirroring the mosaic birds and flowers on the floor. Lush plants with fragrant blossoms lined the walls, and an orange-tiled fountain bubbled in the center of the courtyard.

“This is amazing,” Makeda said, gaping at the gold tiles and silk-cushioned furniture.

“Inaya spares no expense for her guests,” Saba said. “Nor does she need to. Her wealth has only grown since her takeover of the canal. Soon she will be one of the wealthiest monarchs on the continent.”

“Of course, she came from wealth as well,” Kato said. “I knew her sire, and he was a generous father.”

Lucien seemed unimpressed by their surroundings. He was quietly speaking with the unfamiliar vampires in the entryway while Kato offered her some rose water to wash her hands and face.

“You’ll meet Inaya soon,” Kato said, lowering his voice. “Saba has already sensed Ziri’s presence in the compound, so we’ll likely meet him as well.”

“You expected that.”

“We did.” Kato glanced at Saba. “Did Lucien receive any communication from Ireland?”

She shook her head. “It’s too soon to know.”

“Very well.”

“Are you nervous about our reception here?”

“No.” Kato shrugged massive shoulders. “Inaya is friendly and already has connections to what would become the new council of Alitea—”

“Alitea?”

Kato smiled. “Athens. The council doesn’t actually meet in the city, of course. That would be too common for them. My former seat is on a hidden island in the Aegean Sea. The island is called Alitea.”

“A hidden island?” Makeda asked. “How do you hide an island in a place like Greece?”

“In plain sight, of course. Gold and the right connections help. From the sea, Alitea looks like nothing more than inhospitable rocks.”

“Rocks where you will rule again.” Lucien walked toward them, greeting Kato with two kisses to his cheeks. “Greetings, Theio.”

“Lucien, any news?”

He shook his head. “Makeda is expected?”

“We have announced her as a new immortal under your aegis and my current protégée,” Kato said. “Nothing more was said, though I’m sure with that bite some assumptions will be made.”

“Good.” Lucien straightened his cuff. “And Ziri?”

“Is here, but we haven’t seen him yet.”

Makeda had barely found her footing or been shown her private quarters before Saba’s retinue was called to the entryway and given escort into the night. A million stars littered the night sky as they walked across another elaborately tiled courtyard, this one open to the night air. More fountains bubbled, and brass torches lit the path to the glowing hall in the distance. Saba’s guards walked first, then Saba with Kato a step behind. Lucien followed him, and he nudged Makeda to walk at his side.

“Next to me,” he said quietly. “I want you seen as my equal even though you are under my aegis.”

“Is that wise?”

“Yes.”

Makeda caught a hint of human blood in the distance, but it was moving away, not coming closer. The tension at the back of her throat died down, and her eyes rose to the intricate stone arch they walked through. Embroidered silk curtains parted before them, and they walked into a room lit with candlelight and fragrant with roses.

At once, dozens of vampires knelt down on either side of a flower-strewn pathway between two rows of tables. At the end of the room, a woman rose to her feet and stepped down from a dais with a black-clad figure at her side.

“Saba,” the vampire said, her voice rising as stringed instruments fell silent. “Queen mother of all immortals, you and your people are welcome at my table.”

Makeda watched the woman draw closer. She was delicately built and draped in a silk caftan as rich as Saba’s.

“Kato, blood of the ancient sea and father of my line”—she inclined her head—“you are welcome at my table.”

Inaya’s skin was pale with dusky gold undertones. Her black hair was braided and pinned in the front but fell to her waist behind her. Her dark eyes were lined with kohl, and jewels glittered in her ears, on her neck, and at her nose.