Excerpt...cont'd.

I inquired, “Do you come up here oft'?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“It is odd how this most morbid space has become my favorite. I died in here. And I came back to life in here, so much more than I had e'er been...You are not the Valantinus that I thought I was raising, are you?”
“Nay.”
“Who are you?”
“Before I became what I am, my name was Maya. I am still Maya.”
She cast me a glance over her shoulder. “Maya. It becomes you. Was it this way with all of your parents after each rebirth? Did you tell your mothers what you were?”
“I told them nothing.”
“Why did you confide in me before you made me?”
“I trusted you.” I observed her as she dragged a fingertip along the window sill, glancing down at the heavy film of grime she had collected. Standing in this solemn gray light, she nearly resembled the marble statue of herself, which sat in the corner of the Great Room.
The billowing sleeve of her gown shifted as she made a sweeping motion with her arm. "What are we then, you and I?”
“We are specs of fly shit on the world map.”
The Viscountess slanted me a frown. “Be serious.”
“The Whore’s Revenge could not be more serious. We are even less than that in the universal scheme.”
“Let me try this another way, Val. If we were lovers, would it put you off that I am so much older than you?”
“I am at least seventy times older than you, lest you forget.”
“I was referring to my appearance.”
“So many lifetimes agone I used to savor the taste of fruit on my tongue. I ne’er liked it unless the juice dripped down my arm, and fruit cannot do that unless it is good and ripe. Does that answer your question?”
“By God, you have a tongue of velvet when you want to...”

• Prologue
• Chapter 1
• The Covenants