"Yet she showed empathy for the vampire. Unusual, most unusual. The Council must discuss this matter further. We'll give you our answer tomorrow night."

"Shouldn't I be involved in this decision?" Victor asks.

"You are recused because of your involvement with the human."

With that they disperse like silent wraiths into the night.

Victor puts his arms around me, draws me near. I can feel the rapid thudding of his heart.

"What if I had managed to kill him?" I ask.

"They'd have killed you. Vampire tests always hinge on life and death."

Lesson learned: Never agree to take a test without knowing the scoring system.

When Victor and I step out of the alleyway, Faith and Richard rush up to us.

"Sorry we couldn't get to you sooner," Richard says. "But guards swooped in on us."

"Too many to overpower," Faith adds. "Then they just let us go. What happened?"

"Dawn was given her test," Victor says.

Richard gives me a look of admiration. "Since she still breathes, I a.s.sume she pa.s.sed."

"Did everyone know that not pa.s.sing the test would have meant the end of my life?"

Richard shrugs.

"Someone could have said something," I tell them, irritated.

"Then you would have worried and nothing would have changed the outcome," Faith chimes in, a little too carefree.

"It's all moot now," Victor says, taking my hand and leading us away. "The Council is trying to decide if she pa.s.sed."

Victor explains what happened.

"And if they decide she didn't?" Faith asks.

"I don't know," Victor admits.

"You mean they might still kill me?"

"Not without going through me," Victor a.s.sures me.

"Us," Richard clarifies.

"I'm deeply touched," I begin, "but if all of us are gone, who's going to fight Sin? We can't let him win."

"He's not going to win," Victor says adamantly. "And we're not going to die."

I take comfort in his words, then something else occurs to me, baffles me. "How did they manage to arrange a test so quickly?"

"They probably began discussing it when we were with Lilith," Richard says. "The diva and Warwick would have been at the Council building."

"Makeup can be quickly applied," Faith says.

"They knew where we were staying," Victor adds. "I sent my message to them from here."

"And if we hadn't gone walking?"

"They would have improvised. In some ways we are archaic and slow, but strategy and traps we've always excelled at."

When we get to the hotel, we go straight to our suite. Exhaustion hits me. I'm chilled and trembling from the dampness of the night and the fight in the alley.

"I'm going to take a shower."

Everyone looks at me with concern. Probably because I'm acting like a human.

I go into the room I'm sharing with Faith, grab my bag, and walk into the bathroom. Okay, so it's not going to be a shower. Not sure why I didn't notice before that the claw-footed bathtub doesn't have a showerhead above it. Turning on the faucets, I let the sound drown out everything as I peel off the leather. It really protected my skin during the fight. Maybe I should look into getting another outfit.

Sinking into the warm water, I feel my muscles loosening, relaxing. I refuse to believe that the Council would kill me. I gave the human and the vamp a chance at life. How can they fault that? I want the vampires to be better than that. I want them to be our allies. I want them to have a spark of humanity. Because a part of them is in me.

"Daddy," I whisper as tears sting my eyes.

How did he feel when he realized what he was, what we were? I wish he'd told me while he was alive. I wish I could have talked to him about it. I just wish I'd known.

I see a small pool of red, widening and fading. Lifting my hand, I notice a tiny sc.r.a.pe. It must have happened during the fight. I watch the blood drip into the water. Just a couple of drops. Not human. Not vampire. Dhampir.

In anger, I press my thumb to the wound until it stops bleeding. It's blood. Just blood. It doesn't define who I am. I'm Dawn because of the things my parents taught me. They taught me compa.s.sion, they taught me to fight for the underdog. They taught me to believe in a world where everyone could live together. Where humans didn't fear the night and vampires didn't fear the day.

The Council needs to understand that my blood gives me a right to sit at the Council table. And if they're too boneheaded to understand that, I can still fight for a better world.

Getting out of the bathtub, I dry off and slip into my flannel.

When I step into the bedroom, a guy dressed all in black is standing before me holding two stakes. The room has no windows, but it does have a fireplace. And his face is covered in soot. I sigh deeply.

"What is this? Another test?"

He slowly shakes his head. "I'm here to fulfill the death warrant."

Chapter 14.

c.r.a.p!

The good news is that someone obviously believes I'm a descendant of the Old Family Montgomerys. The bad newsa"someone believes I'm a descendant of the Old Family Montgomerys and the death warrant is still in effect.

The worst news: My stake is in the bathroom. Going back in to retrieve it means getting confined in a small s.p.a.cea"

I grab a vase from a nearby table and throw it at him. He ducks. It crashes.

He charges.

The door bangs against the wall and a blur of movement takes the vampire down. But he's agile and quick. He's back on his feet and rushing toward mea"

"Dawn!" Faith yells, and I look over to see a stake flying toward me.

I grab it, drop to the floor, and roll away from my attacker. Victor slams into him again. I see a stake going for his sidea"

"No!" I jam mine into the vamp's arm, pinning it to the floor.

He roars out in agony, but with renewed strength, he manages to toss Victor off, throwing him against me. He pulls my stake free and then is again on his feet facing us.

"Put down the stakes," Victor orders. "We won't kill you."

He shakes his head.

"Four against one, the odds aren't in your favor, my friend," Richard says. "Do as Lord Valentine says."

The vampire lifts the stakes and plunges one into his own heart. He crumples to the floor.

Victor curses as he rushes forward to kneel beside the fallen vamp. "Who sent you?"

The vampire merely smiles before closing his eyes forever.

"Why did he do that?" I ask, stunned that he'd take his own life.

Victor stands. "Because he knew we'd question him about who wants you dead."

"It had to be someone on the Council," Richards says. "They're the only ones who know about Dawn's heritage."

"But who?"

"Asher," I say. "He doesn't want me on the Council."

"I doubt it's him," Victor says. "More likely, it's someone who has been very quiet."

"The truth is that it could be anyone," Richard points out.

"Whoever it was," Faith muses, "this guy was afraid of disappointing him."

No kidding.

When Louis brings up a servant to help clean up the mess, he apologizes profusely that our evening was disturbed.

"No one has ever been attacked in this hotel before. I don't understand it. It's the younger generation. They have no respect or manners."

By the time he leaves, the sun is rising. Victor is concerned that whoever sent the a.s.sa.s.sin might send a human to finish the job, so he and Richard agree to take turns keeping watch. The bedroom doors are kept open, which I a.s.sume is a disappointment to Faith and Richard, since they're sharing a bed.

I'm in Victor's room. He's standing in the doorway, looking out. I want to talk with him, keep him company, ask him if he thinks coming here was still the right thing to do. I don't even know if he has the answer, so I turn away and find it in myself. Yes. And with that circling my mind and the exhaustion of the night's events, I drift into slumber.

When I wake up, it's night and we go through the same routine: dressing, eating, driving to the monolithic tower. Only this time we'll be waiting for their judgment.

Or at least I'm waiting. It seems Victor has something else on his mind. He stalks to the center of the council chamber and sets his hands on the table.

"I'm not sure that I made it clear last night, but Dawn is under the protection of the House of Valentine. An attack against her is an attack against Valentine."

"It was a test," Lilith says. "Warwick knew not to kill her or harm her in any way, I a.s.sure you."

"Perhaps he did, but the vampire who was sent to our suite at the hotel apparently didn't get the memo. He said he was there to fulfill the death warrant."

Lilith is obviously taken aback. She opens her mouth, closes it. Looks at me. Then she turns to Asher. "Did you know of this?"

"Absolutely not."

"Only the Council members know she is an Old Family Montgomery," Victor says. "So someone in this room sent the a.s.sa.s.sin."

Lilith stands and glances at the other twelve Old Family. "Who? Who did this thing without consulting the others?"

"The signed death warrant is still in effect," Richard's grandfather says. "No consultation would have been required."

"But we were treating her as a guest. It is not proper to attack one's guest."

"It is not proper to ignore a death summons."

"Was it you then, Grandfather?" Richard asks.

The old man holds his gaze. "No, but I understand why the action was taken."

"I demand whoever sent the a.s.sa.s.sin claim his actions," Victor says, "and accept my challenge."

"You would champion her?" Lilith asks.

"Yes."

I'm confused, not sure what's going on. So many of the vampire rituals have been kept secret from us. I touch Richard's arm. "Richa""

"Shh."

I want to punch him. Turning to Faith, I see the sadness and worry in her eyes. She just shakes her head.