---
Now she stood behind the desk of his auction house and watched what caution had cost her.
Raka and his men were grown under Sekhmet.
Literally growing stronger.
Not a metaphor. Not influenced. Not money. But power.
The lesser vampire standing there was proof enough.
The men around Raka receive the same path or some version of it.
Bat Bat had become human.
The twins had become something more. The twins are stronger than them. She and the twins came together in his life. But they are so far away from her. In terms of power.
Lily, whatever else she was now becoming, had been chosen too.
Everyone who stepped closer to Sekhmet changed.
Everyone became stronger.
Everyone except her.
Because she had chosen a work contract like a careful fool instead of stepping all the way in.
Mira's fingers tightened on the edge of the desk.
No one noticed. She didn't let no one notice yet. But Inside her own mind, the truth arrived with cold, humiliating clarity.
