Prologue
Her eyes were on fire, not actually of course, though with the pain she felt they might as well have been. Visions flickered to life, searing her eyes with possibilities, the gift, though nowadays it felt more like a curse, she had been born with.
As the world settled back into reality, she sighed, rubbing her aching head, brushing achingly cold fingers over her still boiling eyes. When the pain faded, the meaning of the vision becoming clear, she rose to her feet and headed into the hallway. I want to know whatever you see, regardless of the time, come to me. The order was branded into her soul, she couldn’t disobey, even if she had wanted to.
“What is it, Lily?” Her master looked up as she approached, raising his head from the slender neck he had been feeding on just moments before, a tint of blood still visible on his fangs. He dismissed the human without another look when he took in the red of her eyes, swiping his tongue over his lips. “What did you see?”
Lily strolled into the parlor, flitting her fingers over the expensive red velvet furniture that was her master’s favorite. Remnants of an earlier time. She grasped his face in her hands, then trailed fingers down his chest. Hunger flared in his silver tinted eyes. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she purred.
He spun her around, pulling her back against his chest in one, strong, fluid movement. “What did you see?” he asked again, before burying his teeth into her neck.
Lily groaned with pleasure at his touch, momentarily forgetting her vision, until he removed his fangs from her skin.
“We’re going to have a guest,” she replied breathlessly.
He laughed against her. “What kind of guest?”
“A wolf.”
He stopped being playful, spinning her once again in his arms, so he could look her in the eye, surprise covering his face. “Why would we have a wolf as a guest?”
“She is broken,” Lily whispered, then shook her head, that was wrong. “No, she will be broken, and we will put her back together.”
Her master tilted his head with a thoughtful look. “And why would we do that?” He kissed the palm of her hand, searching her gaze as if all the answers lay within her. Most of them did, the problem was digging them out.
Lily dragged the hand he didn’t hold down his chest once more, then leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Because when she is mended, she will have the power to burn the world.”
