“I want the truth.”
Zina stood in the middle of the ruined study, staring at Damien.
Not the lawyer.
Not the man her father had trusted.
Not the vampire she’d just watched tear apart a creature that shouldn’t exist.
She wanted the truth.
“All of it,” she said.
“No more half answers. No more ‘you’re not ready.’ No more looking at me like I’m some puzzle everyone but me has already solved.”
Damien watched her for a few seconds.
Then he sighed.
“You really did inherit your father’s temper.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It wasn’t.”
“It sounded like one.”
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“There are moments when I understand exactly why Chike loved you.”
Zina’s expression softened for half a second.
Then she remembered what she had asked.
“My mother.”
Damien’s smile disappeared.
“Your mother.”
“Yes.”
He walked over to the drinks cabinet, pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass.
Zina stared at him.
“You’re drinking now?”
“I’m two centuries old, I’ve been attacked in your father’s house, and I’m about to explain the most complicated woman I’ve ever encountered.”
He took a sip.
“I think I’ve earned it.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
He poured another glass and held it out to her.
She shook her head.
“I’m good.”
“Suit yourself.”
Damien settled into the chair behind Chike’s old desk.
For the first time since everything began, he looked tired.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
“Your father met your mother on one of the worst days of his life.”
Zina leaned against the edge of the desk.
“How?”
“It was a hot afternoon.
Your father’s company was on the edge of bankruptcy.”
“He never told me that.”
“Of course he didn’t.”
Damien gave a small laugh.
“Chike Eze had an ego the size of Lagos. He would rather swallow glass than admit his empire was collapsing.”
Despite herself, Zina smiled.
“That sounds like him.”
“It was.”
Damien took another drink.
“He had just finished a meeting with his board.
They were giving him forty-eight hours to come up with a solution or start preparing for the end.”
“And then she walked in.”
“Yes.”
“Without an appointment?”
“Without security stopping her.
Without a secretary announcing her.
She simply walked into his office.”
Zina frowned.
“Who was she?”
“Your mother.”
Damien leaned back.
“Your father told me that when he first saw her, he genuinely forgot what he was angry about.”
Zina laughed softly.
“Seriously?”
“Completely.”
“What did she look like?”
Damien thought for a moment.
“Beautiful doesn’t do her justice.”
His eyes became distant, remembering a story he’d heard many years ago.
“She was dark. Her skin looked almost unreal beneath the afternoon light. Smooth and soft, like silk. Her hair fell down her back, and her eyes…”
He looked at Zina.
“Her eyes were the first thing your father noticed.”
“Like mine?”
“Exactly like yours.”
Zina instinctively touched her eyes.
“He said they glittered. Not in some poetic way. They actually caught the light.”
Damien smiled faintly.
“And for a man who had spent his entire life surrounded by beautiful women, your father was completely mesmerized.”
“What did she say?”
“She smiled and said, ‘Good afternoon, Mr. Chike.’”
Zina could almost see it.
“And then?”
“She told him she had come to make him an offer.”
“What offer?”
“One night with her.”
Zina’s mouth fell open.
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I were.”
“And my father?”
“Thought she was insane.”
That made Zina laugh.
“He probably did.”
“He asked her how she knew about him. How she knew about his company. Who sent her. Why she had chosen him.”
Damien’s fingers tapped lightly against the glass.
“She simply looked at him and said, ‘Your blood holds what I need.’”
Zina’s smile disappeared.
“And he agreed?”
“Eventually.”
“What did she need from him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
Damien looked directly at her.
“That is the irritating part of this entire story.”
“You’re telling me you’ve known about this woman for twenty-six years and you still don’t know what she wanted?”
“I’ve known vampires older than countries. I’ve met witches who could turn a man’s bones to dust with a sentence. I’ve watched kingdoms disappear.”
He leaned forward.
“Your mother still doesn’t make sense to me.”
That frightened Zina more than anything else he’d said.
“What happened after they met?”
“They spent the night together.”
Damien’s tone remained matter-of-fact.
“The next morning, she was gone.”
“Did he know her name?”
“Lenora.”
“Nothing else?”
“Nothing useful.”
“And then he started looking for her?”
“Not immediately.”
“Why?”
“Because your father assumed she was simply an unusual woman who had walked into his life, saved his company and disappeared.”
Damien gave a small shrug.
“Then things started happening.”
“What kind of things?”
“People who had been working against him suddenly backed off. Deals that should have collapsed went through. Money appeared from places that made no sense.”
Zina frowned.
“Her doing?”
“Probably.”
“But why?”
“That was what your father wanted to know.”
Damien placed the glass on the desk.
“That’s when he started digging.”
“And that’s when he discovered vampires?”
Damien smiled.
“Eventually.”
“How?”
“Your father wasn’t exactly subtle.”
Zina laughed.
“That’s definitely him.”
“He followed money.
People.
Names.
Strange deaths.
Disappearances.
He noticed patterns that most humans wouldn’t.”
“And?”
“And eventually he found himself looking into a world he didn’t believe existed.”
Damien paused.
“The first time Chike called me, he didn’t know I was a vampire.”
Zina’s eyebrows lifted.
“You mean you were the first supernatural person he found?”
“Not exactly.”
Damien smiled.
“I was simply the first one he found who didn’t immediately try to kill him.”
“That’s comforting.”
“I thought so.”
Zina rolled her eyes.
“So how did he find you?”
“He came looking for information.”
“About my mother?”
“Yes.”
“He knew you were a vampire?”
“Not then.”
“So what happened?”
“He came to my office with a photograph.”
Damien’s smile faded slightly.
“He put it on my desk and asked me if I’d ever seen the woman in it.”
Zina’s heartbeat quickened.
“Lenora?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him no.”
“Were you lying?”
“No.”
Damien’s expression became serious.
“I had never seen her before.”
“Then why did you help him?”
“Because I was curious.”
Zina stared at him.
“That’s it?”
“Curiosity has gotten me into trouble for two hundred and twelve years.”
He smiled.
“It’s one of my more persistent flaws.”
“So when did he find out you were a vampire?”
“After he followed me.”
Zina blinked.
“He followed you?”
“Your father was many things.”
Damien shook his head, amused.
“But subtle wasn’t one of them.”
“He followed a vampire?”
“He didn’t know I was a vampire.”
“Still.”
“I gave him credit for courage.”
“What happened?”
“I caught him.”
“And?”
“I asked him what he was doing.”
“What did he say?”
Damien’s smile returned.
“‘Looking for answers.’”
Zina laughed.
“That sounds exactly like something he would say.”
“He was bleeding from his forehead, had a broken watch, and was standing in an alley at two in the morning.”
Damien took another sip of his drink.
“I told him he was either remarkably brave or profoundly stupid.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘I’ve been called both.’”
Zina laughed again.
For a moment, the darkness in the room lifted.
Then Damien’s face became serious.
“That night, Chike finally learned what I was.”
“How?”
“I showed him.”
“You just showed him?”
“He was already following me around Lagos.
I thought it would save us both some time.”
“You weren’t worried he’d be afraid?”
“Of course he was afraid.”
Damien smiled.
“He nearly fell backward.”
Zina stared.
“My father?”
“Your father.”
“Seriously?”
“Very.”
Damien’s eyes gleamed with amusement.
“He looked at me for almost a full minute before saying, ‘So vampires are real.’”
“What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Apparently.’”
Zina laughed.
“You’re horrible.”
“I’ve been told.”
The smile faded.
“But after that night, everything changed.”
Damien leaned back.
“Your father realized the world was much larger than he had imagined.
He also realized your mother wasn’t simply mysterious.”
“She was supernatural.”
“Yes.”
“And that’s when you started searching together?”
Damien nodded.
“We began digging.”
“How deep?”
“Too deep.”
His voice changed.
“Deeper than either of us understood.”
Zina watched him carefully.
“What did you find?”
“Fragments.”
“Only fragments?”
“Names. Old records. Stories. Places that no longer existed. People who had supposedly died centuries ago.”
He paused.
“And warnings.”
“Warnings about Lenora?”
“Warnings about whatever she was connected to.”
Zina’s stomach tightened.
“And you still couldn’t find her?”
“No.”
“You’re a vampire.
You have connections everywhere.”
“Exactly.”
Damien smiled without humor.
“Do you know how frustrating it is to be two hundred and twelve years old, know people in almost every corner of the supernatural world, have access to information most humans would kill for…”
He leaned toward her.
“…and still have one woman remain completely invisible?”
Zina shook her head.
“No.”
“I do.”
“And my father kept searching?”
“Until the day he died.”
The words landed heavily.
Zina looked down.
“So he never gave up.”
“Never.”
“Even when it almost killed him?”
Damien’s expression hardened.
“Especially then.”
She looked at him.
“What happened?”
Damien was quiet for a moment.
“I nearly lost my life because of that search.”
Zina’s eyes widened.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“There are places even vampires shouldn’t go.”
He looked toward the dark windows.
“We found a trail.
Your father was convinced it would lead us to Lenora.
I knew it was a trap.”
“And you went anyway.”
“He went anyway.”
Damien sighed.
“So naturally, I followed him.”
“Why?”
“Because apparently I had developed a sentimental attachment to your father.”
Zina smiled faintly.
“And?”
“We were wrong.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
His voice was quieter now.
“We walked into something old. Something neither of us understood.”
Zina waited.
Damien didn’t continue.
“What happened?”
“I almost died.”
“But you’re a vampire.”
“Vampires can die.”
He looked at her.
“Some things don’t care how old you are.”
A silence stretched between them.
Zina finally asked, “Did you find my mother?”
Damien looked at her.
“No.”
“You nearly died and you didn’t even find her?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“And that is the truth, Zina.”
She stared at him.
“After everything you’ve seen…”
“Yes.”
“You still don’t know who she is.”
Damien’s eyes held hers.
“I know her name.”
He paused.
“I know she is not ordinary.”
Another pause.
“And I know she is connected to something ancient.”
Zina swallowed.
“But I don’t know where she is.”
“Do you think she’s dead?”
Damien’s expression became unreadable.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if Lenora were dead…”
His eyes flicked toward the red mark on Zina’s wrist.
“…I don’t think the things coming for you would be this interested.”
Zina went still.
“Then she’s alive.”
“I said I don’t know.”
“You think she is.”
“I think,” Damien said slowly, “that your mother is one of the few people in this world who has managed to remain a mystery to me.”
He stood.
“And I don’t enjoy mysteries I can’t solve.”
Zina looked at him.
“What about my father?”
“What about him?”
“Why did he trust you enough to put me in your hands?”
Damien’s face softened.
“Because he knew what was coming.”
“He knew I’d be hunted?”
“He knew enough.”
“And that’s why he made me marry you.”
“Yes.”
“But why you?”
Damien smiled.
This time, there was something dangerous behind it.
“Because, my dear Zina, your father knew exactly what kind of monster he was putting between you and the people who wanted you dead.”
Zina stared at him.
“Monster?”
Damien’s smile widened.
“Careful.”
His eyes flashed crimson.
“You’re beginning to hurt my feelings.”
She swallowed.
“You really are insane.”
“Probably.”
He walked past her, then stopped.
“But there’s something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“You asked me to tell you everything.”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t.”
Zina turned sharply.
“What?”
Damien looked over his shoulder.
“I’ve told you everything I know about how your father met your mother.”
His expression became cold.
“But I haven’t told you what we discovered about your mother’s blood.”
Zina’s heart began pounding again.
“What did you discover?”
Damien held her gaze.
“That is where your story truly begins.”
And before Zina could ask another question, something moved outside the broken windows.
Damien’s eyes snapped toward it.
His entire demeanor changed.
The charming man disappeared.
The ancient vampire returned.
“Stay here.”
Zina frowned.
“Why?”
Damien looked at her.
“Because whatever is outside…”
His fangs slowly descended.
“…has just realized we’re talking about Lenora.”