I walked the length of the throne room at Castle Wilhelm, smiling at the welcoming vampires who nodded to me as we passed. Not the greeting I had initially, back when Batsheva Moromond led the blood clan, when the Brotherhood's taint controlled and manipulated the vampires. It was a nice change, the friendly greetings, compared to "We hate you forever, Sydlynn Hayle."

Well, most of the vampires welcomed me. With one clear and furious exception. Piotr Wilhelm used to keep his ...