“Aden, mah sweit son, you love your mama, don’t you?”

“More than anything, Mama,” Aden said quickly, ignoring the little pang of unease that tightened his chest, despite her use of the endearment. She never asked him if he loved her. It was assumed. Of course he loved her. She was his world.

“You’re young,” she continued in her soft voice. “Probably too young to understand what I have to tell you, but I need you to understand.”

Aden nodded, more alarmed than ever when he saw the tears blurring his mother’s blue eyes.

“Your father . . .” She looked away, then down at their joined hands, brown against white. “He’s given me a command. You’re big for your age, much bigger than the other boys. Someday you’ll be a big man, like my father and brothers, and I hope the fates are kinder to you than they were to them. But, Aden . . .” She sighed, still refusing to look at him directly. “I must choose. I can take you and leave the harem—”

Aden’s heart swelled with excitement.

“—to become a common slave in some other household, or I can stay here as your father’s favorite for as long as my beauty lasts—which is many years yet—and then perhaps become matron to the harem and serve him that way.”

Aden frowned in confusion. Surely it would be better for them to remain here? Why should there be any question?

“But if I remain, then you must go.” She lifted her head at last, and Aden saw her decision in the sadness of her eyes. “You will leave tonight to begin serving your new master.”

Aden stared, not quite understanding what she was telling him. A new master? But… “When will I see you, Mama?”

“You won’t,” she said, firming her lips. “It is not unlike the fostering that my people used to do. Children were often sent to live with families far away, never seeing their parents again until they were grown.”

“Will I see you when I am grown?”

“Perhaps.”

Aden was no longer a baby. He knew what perhaps meant. He swallowed the knot in his throat and stood, pulling his fingers from his mother’s soft grasp. Apparently, he’d gotten more than size from his Scotsman grandfather. He had his pride. She had chosen her master over her own flesh and blood. So be it.

“Insha’Allah, we will meet again,” he said simply.

His mother glanced up at him in surprise. But whether it was due to the casting of his fate to Allah rather than the Christian god of her youth, or his quiet acceptance of her decision, he didn’t know. He didn’t care. All that mattered now was that he’d been sold, that he’d wake up tomorrow in a new household. He would no longer be the bastard son of anyone, whether rich or poor. He would be only a boy, a slave with no friends in the world.

Aden turned and left the way he’d come, taking the slaves’ hallways, which was only appropriate, since that’s all he was now. A slave.

Chicago, IL, present day

“SHALL I COME with you, my lord?”

Bastien’s question brought Aden back to the present with a jolt. He’d never seen his mother again after that day. He hadn’t even thought about her in a very long time, and it didn’t please him that he was thinking about her now.

“Dresner’s not expecting a crowd,” he told Bastien. “And I’ll need an invitation into the house. Sidonie and I will go alone.”

“What if she recognizes you?” Sidonie asked, staring nervously at the brownstone they’d parked in front of. “She knows who you are.”

“I’ll stay to the shadows.”

“She has a porch light.”

Aden slanted a look at her. “Don’t concern yourself,” he said shortly. “Just get us in the door.”

“Fine. No need to get snippy about it.”

Aden reminded himself that he needed this woman to get close to Dresner, that Dresner was probably the one who’d betrayed him to Silas. He also promised himself that in the very near future, he would lay Sidonie Reid out on his bed and leave his mark on every inch of her pale skin. That alone made it worthwhile to put up with her disrespect.

The attitude was something he’d come to expect from modern women, something he didn’t consider to be a change for the better. But he was also minded of Raphael’s recent admonition, that some women had skills to contribute to an investigation, or, as in this case, information and contacts.

So, he didn’t take Sidonie over his lap, pull up her skirt, and redden her ass like he wanted to. At least not yet.

SID SNUCK A sideways glance at Aden as they made their way up the walk. Wherever he’d gone during the last few miles of their drive here, he was fully back with her now. She could feel his awareness of their surroundings like a faint electrical charge in the cold night air. He fairly buzzed with energy as they stepped up onto the covered porch. It was like the static charge one got on a hot, dry day. She expected to see blue sparks shooting off of him. Plus, she didn’t know how she was supposed to keep Dresner from seeing him once the porch light came on. It wasn’t as if he could hide behind a potted plant, after all. He was nearly as big as the whole porch.

Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but knowing that didn’t give her any better idea of how to conceal . . . oh.

She stared at the place where Aden used to be, seeing nothing but shadow, even though she could still feel the static electricity of his presence. Frowning, she reached out and touched a hard-muscled arm.

“Aden?” she whispered, her eyes straining to see what her fingers told her was there.

“Control yourself, Sidonie,” he said drily. “Your friend is about to open her door.”

Sid snatched her fingers away. He was such a jerk all the time. Well, maybe not all the time. He’d seemed almost human for a while back there in his office. Better than human, actually. She’d never met a human male who was as seductive as Aden, much less one whose seduction she’d so willingly succumbed to. But then he’d turned off the seduction like a switch, which made her think it had all been a pose, just a game he played to see if he could get away with it. She figured he must have lots of notches on his bedpost. Maybe hundreds if he was as old as she thought he had to be.

The porch light came on, and the door opened, forcing Sid’s attention back to their current problem, which was Dresner. The prof was standing in her open doorway, giving Sid a curious look.

Remembering the ruse she’d used to arrange this late night visit, Sid painted a nervous smile on her face and said, “Professor, thank you for letting us come over so late.”

“You seemed upset,” Dresner said absently. She tilted her head and leaned to one side, trying to get a look through the screen door at Sid’s supposed friend. But the shadows Aden had wrapped around himself were too thick, concealing him while appearing to be nothing more than the natural shadow thrown by the yellow porch light.

“Could we come in?” Sid asked, nudging Dresner cautiously.

“Of course,” the professor said at once. “Where are my manners, leaving you out in the cold? Come in, both of you.”

“Thank you,” Sid murmured, trying not to show the depths of the relief she was feeling. What would have happened if Dresner had refused? Or if she’d phrased her welcome to include Sidonie only?

“Don’t look for problems,” Aden muttered against her ear. The concealing darkness dissipated as if it had never been more than a trick of the eye. He stepped up to her side, pulled open the screen door, and gestured for her to go ahead of him, looking all too pleased with himself.

Sid scowled over her shoulder. Had he read her mind? She knew that some vampires could do that.

“No, I didn’t read your mind. Your concerns were written on your face.”

“Stop that,” she snapped. The asshole just grinned and stepped inside, closing the door behind them.

Dresner had backed up a few steps, making polite room for them as they came through the door. But once she got a good look at Aden, she backed all the way to the open archway leading to her living room, her knuckles going white as she gripped the elegant molding.

“Introduce us, Sidonie,” Aden drawled, his dark eyes heavy-lidded as he watched the professor shrink away from him, her eyes wide.

“Professor Dresner,” Sid said obediently. “This is Lord Aden.”

“I know who you are,” Dresner said, her words defiant, despite her obvious fear. “You think you’re going to be the next Lord of the Midwest,” she sneered.

“I don’t think,” Aden responded dismissively. “I know. No one, not even your precious Silas, will stop me.”

“Arrogant bastard,” Dresner hissed. “You’re not fit to lick Lord Klemens’s boots. He was a giant, a genius. And it won’t be someone like you who takes his place, a masterless bastard from God-knows-where. Silas is his child and rightful heir.”

“The same Silas who has run twice from a stand-up fight? Who sends minions to kill me, while waiting in safety? That Silas? Silas isn’t fit to run a dockside blood house, much less a territory.”

“You think you’re so smart,” Dresner persisted. “But you’ll see.”

Aden took a long step forward, until he was towering over her.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “I will see. You’re going to show it to me.”

She glared up at him. “I’ll show you nothing. I’ll tell you nothing.”

Aden’s sensuous lips curved up in a confident smile. “Wrong,” he said softly. “You’ll tell me everything.”

Sid stared as Dresner’s defiant stance softened into something almost dreamy. Her entire body relaxed, her lips tilting into a peaceful smile. “I’ll tell you everything,” she agreed happily. “Whatever you want.”