---

That one stayed in the room after the sentence ended.

Sekhmet knew then exactly why she had offered him a worker’s contract before anything deeper.

Useful first. Useful meant survival. Useful bought time. Useful gave a woman room to remain near powerful men without having to immediately trust them with her throat.

He understood it.

That did not mean he liked it.

"The Gorgons still want you?"

Mira nodded. "Yes."

"As blood."

"Yes."

"As an insult to be punished?"

"Yes."

"As unfinished business."

Her eyes held his. "Most of all that."

Clear enough.

"How close are they?"

That made her hesitate by half a breath.

Honest hesitation.

Important.

"They are not at the city door yet," she said. "If they were, I would not be standing here discussing my mistakes in a climate controlled room." Her mouth moved faintly. "But they are not gone. They are the kind of problem that sleeps with one eye open. They lose interest in the daily sense. Never in the blood sense. Sooner or later they will find me."

That matched what he knew of such races. Patience lived in them like poison in a fang. He asked the next thing because it mattered more than the sorrow.

"Why hide it from me?"

Mira’s answer came softer than the others, and for that reason heavier.

"Because I did not want to become someone else’s burden. The only thing I want is to get strong enough to get my revenge."

That one he felt. Not because it was dramatic. Because it was precise.

She had not hidden it only from pride. She had hidden it because attaching her enemies to her master’s house would have been a way of forcing herself into significance without invitation. Mira was too proud for that. Too careful too.

But careful women often paid for half-measures in ways reckless women did not.

"I chose you as the contract because it gave me a place to earn money," she said. " That is why I asked for resources to get stronger. I thought that was a wise move."

"And now?"

"Now I know it was a safe move. Not the wise one."

The distinction pleased him.

She understood it.

Mira straightened slightly, as though reaching the point where honesty had to stop being only confession and become a request.

"I do not want to remain where I was," she said. "Not while everyone around you changes and grows stronger."

Sekhmet’s gaze sharpened.

"You want to serve me like the twins?"

"Yes."

She took one slow breath and did not look away.

"I want power under you too."

No ornament. No begging. No false humility. Just the truth. Useful truth.

He let the words sit between them.

Then asked, "Because you are afraid?"

"Yes. And I can become stronger faster if I join you like the twins."

That answer came at once. He respected it more than bravery posturing.

"And because you are ambitious."

"Yes."

Also immediate.

"And because you believe I can give you something no one else around you can."

For the first time, her mouth softened by half a degree.

"Yes."

That one carried more than power. Good. Also dangerous.

He took a slow step closer.

"What did you expect me to say?"

Mira’s spine stayed straight. "That depends."

"On what."

"On whether you are still deciding if I hid too much to be trusted or if I trusted too little to be useful."

That was a sharp answer. He could work with sharpness.

For a moment he said nothing, and she held the silence without trying to fill it. That pleased him too. Mira always did better in dangerous moments when she stopped trying to be graceful and simply became accurate.

At length, Sekhmet said, "I will give you power."

Her eyes changed immediately. Not with relief alone. With impact.

The sentence had landed exactly where she needed it to.

Then he finished it.

"But not now."

That kept her from moving too quickly toward gratitude or assumption.

She needed the whole answer.

Mira absorbed the second half without breaking.

"Why."

He answered plainly.

"Because Lily is still transforming. Mihos is in the city. Bat Bat woke up as a naked adult on my chest this morning. Raka and his men just became lesser vampires. And I am not in the habit of making serious bloodline choices while five other serious bloodline problems are still walking around unfinished."

The line was dry enough that even Mira almost betrayed a reaction at Bat Bat’s mention.

He saw it.

That meant she still had some nerves left under all the old stones she wore as a personality.

Sekhmet continued, more seriously now.

"You will wait."

Mira nodded once. "I can do that."

"I know."

He held her gaze.

"But while you wait, you tell me everything. Names. old locations. Who among the Gorgon lines would still care enough to move. Which branch wanted your mother back the most. Which one wanted her body? Which one might want you?"

Mira’s face tightened, but not in refusal.

"All of it."

"Yes."

That was the price. It was fair. Sekhmet needed it to prepare for the future.

She accepted it without complaint.

Sekhmet stepped back half a pace and the conversation shifted from confession back toward structure.

"For now," he said, "you do what I already told you."

Mira understood at once. Good.

"The auction money."

"Yes."

"Workers."

"Yes."

She nodded slowly, mind already moving through markets, contract sellers, lower staff acquisition channels, loyalty tests, silence tests, and the ugly practicality of buying people correctly so they did not grow into leaks later.

Sekhmet continued, "Use the auction funds. Hire people. I want hands that can count, move, sort, obey, and keep their mouths shut."

Mira’s thoughts accelerated at once.

"How many?"

"As many as the house can absorb without becoming obvious."

She appreciated that. Not reckless expansion. Controlled infrastructure.

"What kind of profiles?"

That was the right question.

Sekhmet answered without pause.

(Note: Join discord for images. There is a voting going on about the story development. )