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confines of his father's vast game of shifting
political alliances. Granted, with Antonio, the apple fell not far
from that tree—he and Cosimo were two of a kind, both dangerous men
with unusual capabilities, or so the rumors intimated. Her
assessment of the man was that he would act in the service of
family as long as it suited.
    However, the fate that awaited Stefano, with his preferred
bloodlines and courtly mannerisms, teetered on the whims of a
prelate with considerable influence in matters of state, and on
Cosimo de' Medici, the ruler behind the throne. How Antonio de'
Medici handled the outcome of Cosimo's negotiations with the
Habsburgs could be the key to unraveling the mysterious forces
threatening her world. Perhaps Mother Superior had been right about her
reservations at using Stefano as her entrée
into this vaulted inner circle of power, but there was no debating
the fortuitous outcome of finally securing the services of one
who could lead her
to the ultimate solution.
    How fate
choreographed the next steps would go a long way in determining if
the man everyone feared would be her willing accomplice … or the
destroyer of all she held dear.
     
    As the phalanx
of partiers made their steady procession across the square, Andreas
followed, once more deploring his rashness and the ungodly
compulsion to feel her—Veluria's—essence. Yes, he'd alerted her to
his presence. But it could not be helped now. That small taste had
sent his senses reeling, his blood sluicing red hot through his
veins.
    Her guard dog
notwithstanding, he could access her core at his choosing, allowing
her to lead him to the ultimate solution to their mutual
dilemma.
    Invisible to
the masses, his cowl pulled over his head, he slipped through the
throng, rosary beads clacking in a simple, devout rhythm. His
presence went unremarked, just another cleric out for evening
vespers.
     
     
     
     

Chapter
Four
     
     
     
    Veluria's gaze
was drawn repeatedly to Antonio, his uncommon bulk parting the sea
of people with ease. She'd lost sight of the phalanx guarding their
passage across the square but there was no question they were close
and ready to intervene when necessary. She wondered what it might
be like … serving under such a master. Did they do it out of fear,
or out of respect?
    He wore power
effortlessly, the threat of violence barely below the surface, not
so much concealed as simply … available. But there was more to him
than that. Others would see it as something discomfiting, a matter
of dominance and an utter lack of compassion, a being who was
nothing more than a cold impervious shell.
    Defenses. Like her own carefully
constructed barricades, his walls radiated like a beacon to her
heightened senses. What interested her was that he made no effort
to conceal the fact that he possessed rather extraordinary
abilities. What others saw was a mere shadow of his true existence.
For lesser men to be called Demon would have led to the torture chamber and a slow
agonizing death. For him, it'd become the currency that allowed him
to function without drawing undue attention.
    Damn. I've been
too long in this world, walking in shadows. Shadows that keep me
from seeing clearly.
    She'd already drawn 'undue attention', first from the Council
operative—unavoidable and not unexpected, though the nature of the
man's abilities was unclear. The contact—the assault—had held an
element of voyeurism, perhaps even obsession. If there were a
description for what she'd suffered when he'd probed her, rape was the only word
that came to mind. And it had hurt. It still did.
    Antonio de' Medici then made a surprise entrance onto this
damnable stage, acting at the behest of, by implication, the
redoubtable pater
familias , Cosimo. That was a potential
complication she hadn't counted on. To make matters worse, she
suspected Tonio of fostering intensely protective instincts toward
his younger brother. Those instincts radiated disapproval of her
and her