"Marriage." The word emerged steady despite her components' visible stress. "Immediate. Not in three years when wounds have healed. They won't. Not after appropriate mourning—you don't have time. Now. Before the other houses scent blood in the water."
Cornelius's mechanical eyes focused on her with predatory intensity. "You would bind yourself to a 'bleeding' house?"
"I would salvage what can be salvaged while taking what I'm owed." She held her ground though everything in her systems screamed danger. "My house has three potential heirs. Your house has scattered components and a traitor who'll decoratea spike within the month. Together, we consolidate power. Separately, we both weaken."
"You assume I need you."
"I assume you're intelligent enough to see reality." Elisandra's voice carried an edge that matched his own. "Sebastian's betrayal gutted your succession. That's fact, not insult. But a union between our houses shows strength, not scrambling. It shows the others that your line continues, enhanced by mine. That we're more dangerous together than apart."
Cornelius studied her, his processors working through implications. "And you get recompense for your humiliation."
"I get a house with centuries of tactical superiority and mechanical innovation." She moved past him, a calculated risk that made her components sing with stress, studying Dominic's body with clinical detachment. "He understood their vulnerabilities perfectly. Every modification you installed, he mapped as a target. That level of systematic thinking? That's your house's legacy. I want it for my heirs."
"Pretty words to dress up opportunism."
"Opportunism and pragmatism look identical from the outside." Elisandra turned back to face him. "You need heirs. You need allied forces. You need someone who can negotiate with the other houses while you're hunting down your traitor son. I need your tactical knowledge, your augmentation expertise, and proof that my house doesn't tolerate humiliation." She paused. "We both need the other houses to fear us, not pity us."
Cornelius moved to the tactical display, activation sequences bringing up maps of surrounding territories. "Seven days, you said."
"Before you march. The ceremony shows unity. Shows we planned this, that Sebastian's betrayal changed nothing except accelerating our timeline."
"Aggressive timeline for a wedding."
"Aggressive response to an aggressive situation." Elisandra joined him at the display, her movements now carrying a hint of proprietary confidence. "The other houses need to see this as a power move, not desperation. I'll handle the communications. I know exactly how to frame this. But I do it as your betrothed, not your charity case."
"You're asking for marriage and political control of the negotiations."
"I'm offering you three heirs, substantial resources, and expert manipulation of vampire politics while you focus on what you do best." She met his eyes directly. "Hunting. And making examples of those who betray us."
The possessive 'us' hung in the air between them. Cornelius's components clicked as he processed her proposal from every angle. "You'll leverage their fear of corruption?"
"Every noble house has improved children. Every one fears their offspring might choose regression over progress. I'll make them understand that Sebastian represents a threat to all their lines." Her voice dropped, taking on a cruel edge that matched his own. "And I'll make them understand what happens to those who choose primitives over perfection."
Cornelius turned from the display to face her fully. Something in his expression made her components stutter again, but she held her ground. "You play a dangerous game, Elisandra. Coming here, demanding terms while my sons are still cooling."
"You respect dangerous games." She didn't back down. "It's why we negotiated the first betrothal. Your house doesn't bind with weakness."
For a long moment, they studied each other, two predators recognizing a mutual threat and mutual value. Finally, Cornelius nodded slowly. "Seven days. I'll have what I need from your house, and you'll have your recompense."
"And the other houses?"
"Will commit forces before the ceremony, or they'll discover what the old weapons can do to more than just orcs." His voice carried absolute certainty. "Make them understand, Elisandra. Sebastian must be found. Must watch everything he chose burn. Must experience the complete destruction of his betrayal."
"And if he's already dead?"
"Then we burn them anyway. Slower." He moved back toward his sons' bodies. "Start your negotiations. I have preparations to make."
Elisandra moved toward the exit, then paused at the doorway. "Cornelius? Don't make me regret this alliance."
He looked back at her, and his expression held nothing but cold calculation. "The same courtesy applies, my future bride."
She departed, and for the first time since her arrival, she allowed herself a small exhale of released tension. Behind her, Cornelius returned his attention to his terminated sons, already planning how to use his new alliance to maximum effect.
In the silence, he allowed himself a moment of unregulated observation. Zarek had been strength perfected, every enhancement designed for pure physical dominance. Dominic had been intellect incarnate, processing power that exceeded anything organic evolution could produce. And Sebastian… Sebastian had been meant to be the synthesis. The perfect fusion of strength and strategy, of power and precision.
Instead, he'd become proof that even perfection could choose degradation.
Cornelius knelt between his sons' bodies, placing a hand on each of their still forms. No pulse beneath his fingers. No breath. No spark of the centuries he'd invested in their improvement.
