---
"That was the mark," she said. "Not beauty. Not strength alone. Not blood hunger. Not charm. Not false dominion. The true sign would be this: the real candidate would be able to create blood races other than vampires."
Bat Bat whispered, "Ah."
Her face had the look of someone who had just found the hidden hinge in a locked door.
Sofia kept her eyes on Sekhmet.
"The elders said vampires were too low on the old ladder to rebuild the true blood world by themselves. But a returning center, a real heir, a real vessel, a real Blood God candidate, would break that limit. That one would create beyond the vampire kind. New blood branches. Old blood branches. Altered blood branches. Other things."
Natasha's dark gaze did not waver. "That was the line no pretender could hold forever."
Sofia nodded. "Yes."
She shifted her weight slightly, and for the first time since beginning the story, some of the old bitterness showed through.
