Asher stands. "Young Valentine has made the challenge. It cannot be ignored. Who sent the a.s.sa.s.sin?"

At the end of the table, a vampire who looks to be about the age of Victor's father stands. He is olive-skinned with coal black hair. "I did."

"Lord Romanelli, do you accept my challenge?" Victor asks.

He smiles c.o.c.kily. "I do, young Valentine."

"Excellent."

Victor quickly takes off his coat, pulls out a metal stake, and tosses it toward Romanelli, who s.n.a.t.c.hes it from the air with frightening speed.

"I see no need to take this outside," Romanelli says, removing his coat.

No. No. I can't let this happen.

"I agree. Let everyone watch," Victor says.

"So there is no question."

"Stop it!" I shout. "I refuse to let more blood be shed over a piece of paper."

"A piece of paper?" Romanelli says in shock. "It was signed by us to carry out your death."

"It was signed by your ancestors. By people you've never met to kill people you would never cross. Have any of you read it? Can any of you read it?"

I look around the table and see something I never imagined: nerves. They look from one to the other, each member hoping someone is still fluent in Ancient Vampiric and has read the doc.u.ment from top to bottom. But no one can.

"You just do it because that's what you're told," I say. "That's all. You did it out of tradition, without any thought, without a moment's hesitation. You are all enslaved by a piece of rotting parchment. And for what! What will it get you? Pride? Fulfillment? It will get you nothing! When I saw this city, I could tell how fragile it was, but I knew that this tower was solid, and I knew that I would find strength within the mighty Council that every human had feared for so long. But look at you all. You command empty s.p.a.ce. You are masters of falling walls. And all you care about is making an ancient ancestor proud by fulfilling some mandate from a decree written over a thousand years ago.

"That's the difference. You vampires may have strength and immortalitya"at least until one of your own puts a stake through your heart. But in the end, living for centuries is your downfall. Because I'm proud that I'll die one day. I'm proud that my heart will stop beating forever. I have seventy years on this earth if I'm lucky, and I'll be d.a.m.ned if I waste a second of it fulfilling the desires of some distant relative from a thousand years ago who I never even met."

Silence. Wonderful, blissful silence. I felt the words from my heart, and in them I spoke not of my hatred toward vampires but, for the first time, of my love for humankind.

Victor slowly puts his stake back into his belt. To my surprise, Romanelli follows, albeit much more slowly.

"I often wonder," Carrollton says, "if the pa.s.sage of all these centuries has brought us any true wisdom at all."

That gains gasps from some, contemptuous silence from othersa"but smiles and nods from a few. Including Lilith.

"We can see your pa.s.sion, Dawn," he continues. "The death warrant was signed by all families, save the Montgomerys. It can only be removed by the same action. A unanimous vote."

Unanimous? Romanelli just tried to kill me! How could he possibly vote to get rid of it now?

"Then I call the vote now," Lilith says. "And I ask that all who raise their hand remember this: Now is not the time to create division amongst us. My family has suffered enough from this death warrant, fracturing us into two halves. I'd hate to see something similar happen to this Council."

Her words may be subtle, but their meaning is clear: The Ferdinands intend to stand by the Montgomerys. With a warning look at all the members who are now seated, and a knowing smile to Victor, she speaks words the Montgomerys have wanted to hear for so long. "All those in favor of rescinding the death warrant so that it may no longer burden us, raise your hand."

Some do it quickly, others more slowly. Asher takes his sweet time. But Romanelli's hand stays down. Until Victor looks at him, and another challenge is issued, only this one is more severe. Instead of them dueling, Victor seems prepared to go to war against the family who would threaten me. And as Romanelli looks at Lilith, he must realize that he'd be facing two enemies.

He raises his hand.

"Then it's unanimous," Lilith says. "The death warrant is forever stricken and the Montgomerys may now move in peace and be prosperous."

"Thank you," I say, the words seeming insufficient to express what I'm really feeling: incredible relief. "Now, my seat on the Council? The test? What did you decide?"

"You are a bold one, that much is clear," Asher says. "The Council has not yet decided."

"You haven't decided, Asher," Lilith says, "but I have. I was impressed last night and even more so now. She possesses an inner strength, tempered with compa.s.sion. We need fresh blood here. Young blood."

"We need no such thing. Strength in purity. You know that."

"Your opinion has been noted," Lord Paxton says. "But the fact remains: Dawn Montgomery has provided evidence of her Old Family heritage. She pa.s.sed our test in ways that exceeded all of our expectations. And the death warrant has been rescinded. There is nothing to debate and nothing to vote on. Dawn Montgomery, please take your seat."

With a deep breath, I walk around the table and take the empty chair beside Lilith. It's simply a chair. Yet it carries with it so much power. It's the place where my ancestors should have sat all along. I have the opportunity to carry on their work, to affect the future of both humans and vampires.

Victor eases into the vacant chair beside mine. His presence calms my racing heart. Without him I wouldn't be here. I'm going to fulfill Lilith's dreams for the Montgomerys and serve as a bridge between the humans I've always loved and the vampires I've only recently learned to accept.

Lord Carrollton makes a special request that under the circ.u.mstances, Richard and Faith be allowed to remain. They stand at the back of the room, near the doors.

It is Lilith who first speaks, and her voice seems to resonate stronger now that I sit here with her.

"Shall we call for a new official vote in regard to Victor's proposal? Now that we have a new member on the Council?" Lilith asks.

Asher's mouth drops. "You can't be serious."

"Very."

He looks like a man who can't quite get out of the absurd dream he's found himself in.

"Have you all gone mad?"

"Do you have a better plan to destroy Sin, Asher?" Victor asks.

"Destroy him? I suggest we join him."

"Never!" I shout, amid mutterings and the din of whispered conversations.

"We have no choice," Asher says.

"Sin may slaughter you before you even have a chance to speak," Lilith warns. "You fail to realize how twisted Sin's father was and in turn how twisted his own son became, having been locked in dungeons and cellars his whole childhood."

"He'll need us, don't you get it? Old Family blood is rich; one bag could probably feed his entire army of Chosen. He'll continue to march and kill everything in his path, including this Council. But he may need one of us for our blood. Just one . . ."

"And that will be you?" I ask.

"Why not?"

"I won't spend one more night as a coward," I say. "How in h.e.l.l can you spend an eternity as one?"

"Listen, girla""

"Madame!" Lilith shouts. "You will call her Madame or Lady. She is a Montgomery."

"First you want me to see her as Old Family. Then you have the audacity to give her a seat on this most sacred Council. And now you ask me, an Old Family vampire who has walked this earth four hundred years, to address her as Madame?"

"We aren't asking," Lord Paxton says. "We are demanding."

Asher looks around for support from the other Old Family, but none give it.

He chuckles lightly to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. "I've never seen such desperation. Maybe Sin is right: We've become weak. We're no longer needed. He is the future. He and his army of monsters. I'll take my chances with him over this insane Council. He'll decimate you all, but my blood may be spared if I act fast enough. While you try to save the bits of precious sand still in the hourgla.s.s, I'll be busy becoming allies with the man who's holding the hammer above it, waiting to smash it all to bits."

"If you leave now, the Ashers will have no say until a replacement is found," Lord Paxton says.

"I don't care! And neither will my clan. You'll doom us all."

"We were already doomed, Asher," Lilith says. "Before the war, before the humans even knew of our existence, we were already nearing the end. We vampires are immortal, but we stay the same. It is the humans who have become something more; it is the humans, with their few precious years, who try to change themselves for the better. We have forever, and we still can't do it. This war, VampHu, these cities were not the result of our victory, but the result of us exhaling our final breath."

Everyone is silent as she speaks. It's a truth they must've known in their hearts, a truth that has been created over hundreds, maybe thousands of years. And if we're all in awe of its reverence, Asher certainly is not.

"d.a.m.n you. d.a.m.n you all."

He leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. The Asher seat stands empty.

After a few moments, Lilith says, with a wicked smile, "Shall we call a vote as to Victor's earlier proposition?"

Hands are raised. Without Asher and with me, the vote is eight to six in favor.

"We shall each send a child to Denver," Lilith says. "One who can fight. But to gather an army of Lessers to accompany them will take time."

"Which is a luxury we do not have," Victor says. "We must act quickly to stop the creation of more Infected Day Walkers."

"You speak truth. What do you recommend, then?"

"Often, during the war, a small group of Old Family could do more than an entire army of Lessers. Our purpose is clear: to destroy the V-Processing center. I can achieve that with fourteen Old Family."

"And no Lessers?"

"We'll be able to move faster without them. Meanwhile you can begin a.s.sembling the Lessers and working on a means to ensure we have adequate blood. When the time comes and we have to face Sin's army, they'll be ready."

"I agree with your a.s.sessment," Lord Carrollton says. "As this began in Los Angeles, under my son's watch, it seems only fitting that Richard command those we send to do our bidding."

Richard bows his head. "I would be honored."

"Are there any objections to Richard leading the charge into Los Angeles?" Lord Paxton asks.

Silence.

"So it shall be. And, Victor, as we have you to thank for the V-Processa""

"I'm representing the Valentines," Faith announces.

Victor comes out of his seat. "Faith, I can't expect youa""

"Denver needs you."

Looking at her, I also suspect she doesn't want to let Richard out of her sight.

"And what of the Montgomerys?" Lord Romanelli asks.

"She is alone," Lilith says. "She is exempt from this."

"If she sits on the Council, if she has a vote, she is not exempt," Lord Paxton says. "She must go to Los Angeles or relinquish her seat on the Council."

I angle my chin. "I'll go to Los Angeles."

Beneath the table, Victor squeezes my hand. I know he's not happy about this, but I'm grateful that he doesn't say anything to undermine my authority on the Council. He knows as well as I do that I have to be seen as strong.

"We should be able to have our representatives arriving in Denver within three nights," Lord Paxton says.

Three nights? Then I'll be heading back toward h.e.l.l's gates.

Chapter 15.

As soon as the Council adjourns, we head out. We don't even bother to drop by the hotel to get our things. We have everything we need, everything of importance. We're not going to stop off at Xavier's either. We're going to drive straight through.

"That didn't turn out exactly as I expected," Victor says, and frustration vibrates in his voice.

"The truth is," Faith says, "someone has to keep an eye on Richard, make sure he behaves. I'm better equipped to do that than you."

His jaw clenches. He's not upset with Faith. He's upset with me.

"You should have stepped off the Council," he says in a flat voice. "Without Asher there, we had the votes to go to war."

"I proved that I had the right to represent the Montgomerys. That means at the table and in battle."

"And when we battle humans again? What then, Dawn?"

"With a seat on the Council, I'll die before I'll let that happen again." Reaching across, I lay my hand over his where it's gripping the steering wheel so hard that I can see the whites of his knuckles. "Victor, if I had sacrificed my place on the Council to avoid going to Los Angeles, I would have proved what many of them believed: that I wasn't worthy to be there in the first place."

"And how do you think Clive is going to take your returning to Los Angeles? Are you going to make up some story about why you have to go?"