His Father’s face was stoic as always. “Did you truly believe there would only be one?”

Kerestyan shifted to stand with his arms folded behind him. “I don’t see any reason for more tests. If you’ve deemed her competent enough to become a Servio, shouldn’t one be enough?”

“Logan has the raw potential to be a very powerful and loyal servant. However, due to her minimal and modern education, she needs intensive training and guidance. She must prove her ability to learn and grow before her testing is complete. Should, for some reason, she stagnate or find herself unable to release what America has taught her are her inalienable freedoms, I won’t hesitate to end her life. However, I don’t believe that will be an issue for her.”

Kerestyan forced himself to ignore the negatives of his Father’s assessment and focused intently on what he could control. “I’m more than capable of educating and training Logan.”

His Father’s cold laughter boomed through the chamber, bouncing off the stone walls. “You will have no hand in Logan’s training, Kerestyan. It’s quite obvious you’ve an attachment to her that stretches beyond mild fascination or simple curiosity. I will not extend you an avenue in which to hold the rights of blood over her.”

Anger burned then immediately cooled in the pit of Kerestyan’s stomach. Had he been standing in front of anyone else, the animal inside him would have seized control of his body and blindly lunged for the man sitting only a few yards away.

But that same man had sent Kerestyan’s beast retreating into the darkest recesses of his soul time and time again. So now it curled into a slumbering ball, refusing to be roused in his presence, no matter how much rage boiled inside Kerestyan.

His Father’s stern face reflected his own thoughts. “You would fight me for Logan?”

He lowered his head and considered the striations in the marble floor while his mind and what remained of his heart silently warred. For thousands of years he’d bent knee to only his Father. He’d obeyed every edict, carried out every command. Not once had he questioned his words. Never had he hesitated.

Never…until now.

Backwards or not, he cared for Logan in a way that defied human explanation. She filled him with feelings and desires he hadn’t felt in longer than he could remember. He understood her detachment, identified with the emptiness inside her. Although he couldn’t declare absolute love for her, he could fight for the promise he made when she’d clung to him in the shower.

He wouldn’t leave her, he wouldn’t lose her.

Kerestyan raised his head and stared into his Father’s hollowed eyes. “Yes. I would fight you for her.”

He watched as his Father stood and descended the stairs to stand directly in front of him. “Then under no circumstances can you be her Master. You can stand here for as long as you like and try to reason with yourself, Kerestyan. I can almost hear your subconscious mind. You couldn’t possibly. You’ve only know her for a short time. You’ve not seen enough yet. But if you’re willing to fight for her, for whatever it is she represents to you, then as you once told her yourself…in some way, you do love her.”

Kerestyan stilled as a knot formed and tightened in his throat. Maybe in some non-traditional ways he did. Maybe he just wasn’t fully aware of them yet. But he would never intentionally hurt her. “I would never use my blood against Logan. No matter what, I would never take her choice away.”

The blackened gauntlets on his Father’s hands retracted before he rested his cold palms on Kerestyan’s shoulders. “That’s a very honorable notion to believe, until you realize her feelings aren’t returned or have faded. The beast desires what it desires, Child, and you will taint the bond between you without realizing you’ve done it.”

He returned to his throne and sat down. “If the request was spoken by any of your siblings, you know I wouldn’t consider it further. However, for you, Kerestyan, I will weigh the potential consequences. While I do, I leave you with but one question. If I remand Logan to you, and in a matter of weeks she comes to care for you, perhaps even love you in her own ways, how much time will pass before you question whether her heart arrived at the decision of its own accord?”

Kerestyan turned and headed for the doors leading to the main hall, knowing his Father’s question wasn’t meant to be answered now or verbally. It was meant to make his mind race, meant to make him search the dark, animalistic vestiges of his soul in ways that made his chest ache and tighten.

Damn him.

If in a matter of weeks Logan came to love him, he would wonder if the decision was her own. It would eat at him each time she smiled with her emerald eyes, every single time her smooth, pale skin touched his. He’d question whether the feelings were truly hers, or if in some twisted way his blood had forced them upon her.

He fisted his hands, his fingernails burning into his palms. Could he live with himself knowing there was even a slight chance his thoughts and emotions would erode hers away?

Kerestyan stepped into the main hall feeling worn, as though he’d just fought his way across yet another battlefield. The question he faced now wasn’t whether he could be Logan’s Master and not hate himself, it was if he could ignore the beast-driven urge to challenge whichever sibling she served.

Chapter 13

Logan stared down at her naked body and blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Where her clothes had gone, she didn’t know. What she did know was if someone didn’t come get her out of the shiny room the staircase had abruptly ended in, somebody was going to need a doctor to extract her foot from their undead ass.

It was bad enough the second she’d stepped into the room a stainless steel wall slammed into place, blocking her access to the stairs. But then, oh then, her clothes just fizzled away while some kind of gas sprayed all over her, leaving every inch of her skin stinging and cold as if she’d just been bathed in hand sanitizer.

The only bright spot, if being trapped in a cage like a wild animal had one, was the hurricane force burst of wind that followed the gas had dried her hair in a matter of seconds.

She balled up her fists and pounded on the wall in front of her, not even sure which one led to the stairs anymore. Her entire body was covered in goose bumps, her teeth chattered, and she was fairly certain had the box been glass – she could have used her hardened nipples to cut her way out.

She covered her eyes when she heard a hiss of air, but peeked between her fingers when the sound was followed by a heavy clunk. After a brief moment of silence, the wall in front of her slid back to reveal Vouclade, freak scientist extraordinaire.

Lowering her hands, Logan glared at him. “It’s about fucking time. I’m freezing my ass off in here. What the hell was that shit?”

Vouclade pushed his wire rimmed glasses up on the bridge of his nose and leaned to the side, his long black dreadlocks swinging with the movement. “It would appear your ass, although not nearly as shapely as it would be had you taken better care of yourself, is completely intact.”

She eyed his thin frame, covered in black leather with dozens of silver buckles. “I don’t think you have any room to talk about me being skinny, especially when you look like a starved bondage slave.”

He flashed a perfect but creepy smile. “Maybe I am.”

Well, what the hell was she supposed to say to that?

“For your information, Logan, I was near death when I was turned into a vampire. You have no such excuse. You chose to allow your body to deteriorate.”

“I didn’t exactly do it on purpose.”

He motioned for her to follow before he turned around. “I didn’t start the plague on purpose either, but it didn’t change the outcome.”

She walked behind him into a large room that looked exactly like a hospital laboratory, complete with pristine white walls and stainless steel tables. Bright fluorescent lights only added to the effect, along with the thick, acrid stench of bleach.

It took a few seconds before his words caught up with her brain. “You started the plague?”

He shrugged on a white lab coat then moved to prepare an exam table. “It was an accident.”

She laughed. “That’s a hell of an accident.”

He patted the table. “I agree. Would you lie down, please?”

She stood there for a minute. Dreadlocks, black leather and buckles, skin just as pale as Kerestyan’s, nothing about this screamed sanitary. He looked like a crazed scientist straight out of a horror movie.

Logan shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“If you don’t, I’ll make you.”

She stared at him when he pulled out the stirrups and adjusted them. “Oh, hell no. I’m not getting on that table.”

His grey eyes narrowed on her. “Lay down.” His voice was loud, commanding.

And just like that, she did. Eyes glazed, she walked right across the clean white floor and did as he commanded. She even put her feet in the stirrups.

It wasn’t until she felt him touching her stomach that she snapped back to life. She raised a hand to smack his away, but then remembered how unfavorably Odin had reacted. So she settled for poking him in the side. “That was rude.”