"Michael Macqueen," I said and laid my head on his shoulder. "I should really get up now. What are the others doing?"

"Looking for some book. Pendergra.s.s was all aflutter over that bauble you stole from Montford."

"Really?" I asked with a yawn. "I should go help."

He put his hand on my head, smoothing my hair. "You'll stay right here and rest. You scared me to death when you fainted in the forest."

"You're already dead," I murmured.

"You know what I mean. You were magnificent tonight, so brave."

"I was terrified."

"You were still brave."

"I made you run. It felt cowardly but I can't be sorry about it. I know it's not in your nature to run, Michael, but I couldn't watch her destroy you."

He stroked my hair. "In every situation you have two choices: you can run, or you can stay and fight. Running doesn't always mean you're a coward any more than fighting always means you're brave. Sometimes the braver thing is to run and live to fight another day; any fool can make a stand and die. You understood the danger better than I did and you made the right decision. Because of that we're all here, we're all in one piece and we live to fight another day. Now, your wee beastie here has curled up and fallen asleep and I want you to do the same. I'll wake you in a few hours."

I opened my eyes and looked at Prissy, sound asleep on his chest. She was curled into a little ball with her nose buried in her fluffy tail.

"You know, Michael, it seems that I'm not any smarter than my kitten. I didn't drive you from my home, I summoned you into it."

He stiffened. "La.s.s, we've had this discussion. You're a viscount's daughter and I grew up dirt poor in a two-room crofter's hut."

"Hmm. And as you can see I'm horribly repulsed by the idea," I said and snuggled closer. "Now don't argue with me anymore, just hold me while I sleep." "Yes, milady," he mumbled and kissed the top of my head.

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Who died?" I asked as I walked into the dining room a few hours later, freshly gowned in a dark green evening dress. The faces that greeted me were grim.

"Dulcie, oh my G.o.d," Fiona cried and launched herself at me, nearly knocking Michael down in the process. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Hush now," I said, patting her back as I held her to me. "I'm fine, Fi. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it was. I was so stupid."

"That's enough," I said, giving her a small shake. "I'm fine and we have more information now than we did before, so don't worry yourself about it."

I looked at Mr. Pendergra.s.s who was seated at the table, Kali's talisman before him. His face held concern but not yet despair.

"What can you tell me about that?" I asked, nodding my head to the large ruby.

Clearing his throat, he picked up the pendant. "Well, I can't tell you what the runes mean, they're unfamiliar to me. Did Sebastian tell you what it was for?"

"He said it was Kali's and that it would protect him from my magic."

"Did it?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I didn't test it directly but it didn't keep him from catching fire, no."

"Hmm. Well, I have good news and bad news."

"Good news first," I said. "I haven't heard any of that in a while."

"The good news is that we now have some leverage. This stone looks like a ruby but it's not. It's a conjured stone made from Kali's own blood and, if its purpose is to protect her against magics, then probably from the blood of a powerful witch as well."

He looked at me and smiled. I shook my head.

"I don't understand."

"It's a personal effect and what's more, it's made from her own blood. It can be used to bind her."

"A binding spell? You mean we could bind her from doing harm?"

"Better yet, you could bind her to one place, say, one house. Or even better, with a little remix of ingredients we could bind her into a stone or a tree or some other immovable object."

"That's... that's not exactly white magic, Mr. Pendergra.s.s," I said.

"It's not exactly black either... more of a light gray, I'd say."

I arched one brow at him and pursed my lips.

"Don't be squeamish, Dulcinea," Mr. Pendergra.s.s said in a practical tone. "I think exceptions can be made for this situation. Or would you rather allow her to kill us all?"

I flinched at that. "No, I suppose you're right. It's just that the thought of her being trapped for eternity... it's rather horrifying. I'm not sure I could do that. Is there no way to work a spell which could immobilize her long enough to stake her?"

"She's not an ordinary vampire, Dulcie," Devlin interrupted. "I'm not sure that staking her would work. I'm not entirely certain that she can be killed at all. At the very least you'll simply free her demon form and it will find another body to occupy. I know what we're asking of you is awful but I don't see any other choice."

"All right," I nodded. "What does the spell require?"

Mr. Pendergra.s.s frowned. "That's the problem. I don't remember exactly and we can't find the book. I know your mother had it, I sold it to her two years ago, but," he gestured to the table piled with books, "this is everything and it's not here."

"She probably left it in the townhouse in London," I said. "We hadn't yet moved everything out after the Little Season. Before we get too excited about this spell though, what's the bad news?"

Mr. Pendergra.s.s grimaced. "The bad news is that you have to get close enough to her to work it."

"How close?"

"Several feet."

"Impossible," I said. "Other than the fact that she's the most terrifying thing I've ever encountered, we have the little problem that now that she's had my blood she can read my mind at will," I said, my hand moving unconsciously to the spot on my breast where she'd fed from me. After only a few hours the wound was now healed, the skin as flawless as it had ever been. "Even if I could get that close to her the probability of failure is staggering."

"I've heard of the old ones being able to do that but I thought it nothing more than a parlor trick," Devlin said. "Are you sure she really-"

"Very, very sure," I replied. "The only way I managed to call the fire without her figuring it out was by thinking in Gaelic. Thankfully she doesn't understand Gaelic but I don't think that I can keep that up long enough to work the spell and I don't think she'll be fooled by that again, at any rate."

"So," Archie said, slumping in his chair, "we're back where we started from."

I frowned. "Devlin, when I was with her I was terrified but I remember feeling more scared than I think I should have been. I remember feeling despair, feeling that she was so powerful and I should just give in to her. I don't think they were entirely my own thoughts. Do you think that's possible?"

He nodded. "If she really can enter your mind then I would say it's also possible that she could be magnifying your fears, projecting feelings of hopelessness."

"Did you feel it too?" I asked.

"No. Vampire tricks do not work on other vampires."

And so, I thought, we're back where we started from. As a human I had little to no recourse. As a vampire I could get close enough to work the binding spell on her. She would have no more power over me. I'd have to ask Devlin but I was pretty sure her ability to read my mind would cease if I became one of them. My options were dwindling.The n.o.ble thing to do would be to kill myself, I supposed, but I didn't want to die. There were so many places I wanted to go, so many things I wanted to do. It was selfish of me, I knew that. If I fought her and failed, millions of people would die. My life was such a trifling price to pay for the lives of every soul on earth.

I could run but I knew she'd follow. I'd seen the determination, the madness in her eyes. She would chase me until I was too old and weak to run anymore. She thought I was the only one who could get her what she wanted and nothing would stop her from finding me. If she took me as a human she'd soon have complete control over me. I could feel her power and I knew that she'd own my every thought, every move, if she could just catch me and hold me. And if she did, then G.o.ddess help us all.

If I became a vampire... I laughed to myself. I was still thinking if. Justine was right; the decision was the hardest, bravest thing I'd ever done. I felt a deep kinship with her in that moment. I looked at her, as serene and coolly beautiful as ever, and I knew that she knew what I was thinking. She'd thought it once too.

I couldn't take the easy way out and leave my friends and family unprotected. If I killed myself and thwarted Kali's plans, her vengeance would know no bounds. I would be consigning them all to a fate truly worse than death.

No. No, I would be brave. I would stay and fight because I had no other choice.

I stood. "Mr. Pendergra.s.s, I think it's worth a try and I'd like to take a look at that book. I think you and Archie should leave in the morning, take Mrs. Mackenzie and Fiona with you, and go to London. The rest of us will follow at nightfall."

Mrs. Mackenzie protested, "I don't want to leave you here, Dulcie."

"I need you more in London, Mrs. Mac. Do you think my cousins are going to let Archie or Mr. Pendergra.s.s in the house to search through my mother's things?"

"Oh," she said. "Of course."

"Besides," I said. "It'll be a more efficient use of time for you to get the book and have it for me when I get there tomorrow night.

Mind you're back to Mr. Pendergra.s.s's well before sunset though. I think that Kali and Sebastian will be laying low for a few days while they heal their wounds but we can't be too careful."

"I was very proud of you for that bit of magic, Dulcinea," Mr. Pendergra.s.s said. "Your control is improving."

"Calling and releasing the elements isn't exactly difficult magic, Mr. Pendergra.s.s."

"Yes, but you managed to do exactly as you willed with no mishaps. It's progress; you should be very proud."

"I am." I sighed. "Let's just hope that I can keep it together enough to do this spell, if it turns out to be a feasible plan, that is.

Because, if I ever had doubts, I now know that we'll never beat her with brute force. If we're going to win, it will be through trickery and cunning. It may not be as honorable but, quite frankly, I'm not going to quibble over honor at this point. Kali is thousands of years old and she's never been defeated. It's made her arrogant. If we fight her head-on we'll lose; our only hope is that her arrogance and her own belief in her strength and immortality will keep her from noticing what we're up to until it's too late."

"Dulcinea," Mr. Pendergra.s.s said, "you never said, did Kali tell you what she wanted from you?"

"Yes," I said softly.

"What?"

Seven pairs of eyes turned expectantly toward me. It occurred to me that I hadn't even told Michael.

"She wants me to help her destroy the world."

Chapter Twenty-Three

I sat on the kitchen stoop with Priscilla in my lap, watching the sun rise in the morning sky. The world was a dozen shades of pink and gold and blue. Archie was down at the stable with the Harper lads, hitching up the carriage. Fiona was humming in the kitchen, packing anything that wouldn't keep for a few days into a picnic basket.

I rested my chin on the top of Prissy's head and bathed in the cool golden glow of my last sunrise. I had never been much of a morning person. If I ever saw the sun rise it was usually as I was slipping out of a ball gown and falling into bed. Now that I would never stand under another dawn I suddenly wished I hadn't wasted so many of them.

"You've made your decision, haven't you?"

I shielded my eyes and looked up at Mrs. Mackenzie. She sat down next to me on the stoop.

"It's the only way. You understand that, don't you?" I said softly.

She swallowed hard and nodded. "I feel like I've let your mother down," she said. "I was supposed to keep you safe."

I put my arm around her waist and laid my head on her shoulder. "No one could have protected me from this. Mama would have understood that. You've been like a second mother to me all my life, Mrs. Mac. I love you and nothing is ever going to change that, not for me anyway."

We sat like that for a few minutes, watching the sunrise, and then I found that I had to ask, had to know. When I saw her next would she still love me? Or would I be as dead to her as Michael had been to his mother?

"Mrs. Mac, when Michael went home to his family after he was made a vampire his mother didn't take it so well. When she realized what he was she called him a demon and ordered him from his home."

"Poor lad," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, I was just wondering, when this is done..."

"Dulcinea Macgregor Craven!" she hissed. "That you would ever think such a thing of me! My G.o.d, girl, I've been caring for you since before you were even born. How can you think that I would ever stop loving you? You're about to sacrifice yourself to save the rest of us, and possibly the entire world, and you think I'll bar you from your own home?"

I looked away, ashamed I'd even thought it. Mrs. Mackenzie grabbed my face in her hands and forced me to look into her lovely green eyes.

"Ravenworth is your home and it will always be your home. Do you not think that I'd much rather have you walking and talking and flirting with your young man than lying cold and dead in a grave?"

I shrugged. "You are a vicar's daughter."

She snorted. "If G.o.d counts this a suicide then I'll have a word or two to say to Him when I get to heaven, I can guarantee you that."