"Why you?" Biting, that question, full of command and demanding more than maybe he was able to give.

Iosif shivered, shrugged. "Why not me?"

I snapped my teeth together so hard my head rang. "They didn't grant that power to your predecessor." I knew that much, at least. Intimately. I'd killed Nicolay with my magic, stopped his evil heart personally. Felt no power in him, only that of Konstantin present at that time. So, why ...