Meghann drove her Caddy to the spot Simon had taken her to for their picnic.

Here she'd made the mistake of letting Simon back into her life so this was the perfect to place to banish him from her heart.

Meghann rummaged through her CD collection, looking for something to suit her angry, confused mood. She stopped at Ace of Spades, thinking the loud, harsh riffs of Motorhead were precisely what this night called out for.

Jimmy had introduced her to Motorhead, Meghann remembered while she set up the empty soda bottles she'd brought along for target practice. Prior to him, she'd had no real interest in British punk rockers, preferring New York-based bands like The Ramones and The Heartbreakers. But Jimmy kept playing their alb.u.ms and dragging her to concerts until she was won over.

And that, Meghann thought as she shot the bottles in rhythm with the maniacally high-energy songs, was what a relationship was supposed to be give and take, exchanging thoughts and interests. Jimmy Delacroix and the six years they'd lived together were the closest thing to a normal relationship she'd had since she transformed. No dark, hungry desire that turned you inside out and made it so nothing else in the world mattered just a sweet, good-humored friendship that also happened to include the best s.e.x she'd ever had aside from Simon Baldevar.

Simon Baldevar, Meghann thought and knocked down a bottle. She wished he'd never come back from the dead and so thoroughly disrupted her life just when she'd finally found a way to live happily as an immortal.

d.a.m.n you, Simon, Meghann thought savagely and blasted a target. Why couldn't you leave me alone?

She reloaded and acknowledged ruefully that Simon Baldevar wouldn't be a problem at all if she could just refuse him and mean it. That fiend had too much pride to chase after a woman truly repulsed by him. So what kept drawing her toward him, making her look forward to seeing him when she should despise him for all he'd done?

l.u.s.t? If only it were that simple. If Meghann thought her only feeling toward Simon was physical need, she wouldn't be upset. It was the other feelings, the way he made her feel safe and content, in spite of everything she knew about him.

Meghann leaned against a towering mesa and considered her situation. A year ago, if someone had told her Simon Baldevar could reappear in her life, murder Alcuin, shatter Jimmy's mind, impregnate her, and then make her almost like him in a month's time, Meghann wasn't sure if she'd have laughed at such absurdity or bashed the unfortunate seer's brains in.

So how had he done it? To a degree, Meghann knew the answer. The ruthless, amoral fiend that murdered and destroyed lives with such ease was only one side of his personality the side Meghann had no trouble resisting. It was the other part of him the romantic, the endlessly innovative lover and utterly gentle man that could calm her with one tender glance that was the creature Meghann gave her heart to.

Are you falling in love with him? a voice asked anxiously.

I don't know, Meghann responded.

How can you not know? the voice fired back. You've had forty years to think about it.

Actually, that wasn't true. From the time she had impaled him to the time Alcuin had told her Simon was still alive, Meghann refused to speak or even think of him. Part of that was childish superst.i.tion it seemed that thinking of him might invoke him, somehow bring him back to life.

The rare times she did think of Simon, Meghann soothed herself with one litany Simon Baldevar was a brutal monster that tore her from her family, forced vampirism on her, and made her live in his gilded cage of s.e.xual bondage and spiritual servitude until deliverance came in the form of Alcuin. With such thoughts running through her mind, it was easy to believe she'd never loved Simon, never felt anything for him but hate, fear, and perhaps the smallest touch of l.u.s.t Danger! Meghann's heart dropped into her stomach and her mouth went dry.

There were immortals near her and they meant serious harm to her.

That dream she'd thought it was symbolic, her ambivalent feelings toward Simon. Now she knew it had been a warning.

s.h.i.t! What the h.e.l.l was she going to do? Meghann took a deep breath, knowing she must keep calm or she was dead. What was her best option?

Astral projection, she decided swiftly. Get the h.e.l.l away from the threat.

Pregnant, Meghann was in no condition to engage in physical combat. Even though she was fifty miles out of town and astral projection would only take her thirty miles, that was all right. She'd just make two trips.

Meghann closed her eyes and concentrated on a lonely stretch of highway thirty miles away by the railroad tracks concentrated No! Meghann almost screamed the word aloud in her terror, but to do so would bring her attackers closer. What was the matter with her? She'd felt the physical world start to fall away, her body start to drift, and then she'd stopped cold, her body remaining firm and refusing to become incorporeal.

Why? With a sinking heart, Meghann remembered Simon telling her pregnancy might hinder her ability to fly the plane.

G.o.ddammit, those footsteps were too f.u.c.king close for her to have any hope of getting to her car and speeding away. And if she'd lost the ability to fly what the h.e.l.l was she going to do? Wait Simon's invisibility trick?

Meghann wrapped the imaginary black blanket around her aura, imagining it as a tight sheath that covered her from head to toe. Thus covered, she began walking toward her car, knowing if she could just get to her car she'd be safe. No vampire could outrun a Caddy. "Where do you think you're going, b.i.t.c.h?"

Stunned, Meghann whirled around and saw her attackers but first she wondered if her eyes were deceiving her.

"I'm going to my car," Meghann said calmly to Guy Balmont, a dense ma.s.s of a vampire, nearly seven feet tall. He'd been Alcuin's right hand until she and Charles came along. She only had a nodding acquaintance with the two men by his side. All she knew of them was that they were both at least two hundred years old very old and most likely quite powerful. "Why don't you move out of my way?"

"Did you learn arrogance at the knee of your master?" Guy thundered, and Meghann felt serious fright both at the hatred in his eyes and the broadsword at his waist, a twin to the one both his partners wore. The broadsword weapon of choice for decapitating an errant vampire. Dear G.o.d the blade in her dream "You and your f.a.ggot friend," Guy went on, spittle flying from his mouth in his fury. "Thinking yourselves so clever that you could evade us. But I found you Charles isn't here to help you, is he, s.l.u.t? He's in San Francisco, carrying out his own sins against nature with some mortal."

d.a.m.n Charles must have paid for that airline ticket with a credit card. Why had she and Charles forgotten how much the Ballnamore vampires despised them?

Why had they thought they needn't bother with safety precautions once Simon found them?

"So you found me," Meghann said coolly. "Tell me what you want and get the f.u.c.k away from me."

"Don't act so haughty with me, wench. Your lover is not here to save you from your deserved punishment."

"If you are referring to Lord Baldevar, he is not my lover."

"You carry his b.a.s.t.a.r.d," one of Guy's henchmen snarled at her.

How the h.e.l.l could they know that? She and Charles had been so careful; they hadn't removed any of the archives from Ballnamore and Meghann hadn't allowed any vampires, with their too keen senses, near her. Unless were some of the vampires at Ballnamore in Charles's bloodline? Maybe his worry for her lowered his shields and made it possible for them to read his thoughts.

Knowing a denial would be futile, Meghann thought she saw another way out of this trap. These vampires were older than she an advantage but it could be their downfall too. They'd underestimate her because she was a woman. And they couldn't read her thoughts, so if she got them to drop their guard, she might have a chance to get out of this mess alive.

Meghann crouched over, looking as if she were about to cry but actually slipping Jimmy's gun from her waistband. Thank G.o.d she'd reloaded it. She spoke, proud of the piteous quiver in her voice. "Don't you call my baby an abomination. This is a child like any other innocent of its father's sins."

"You dare to compare that thing inside you with an innocent babe? It is the sp.a.w.n of a wh.o.r.e and a wretched fiend and it is my duty to rip it from your womb before it can destroy us all. The Council knew I was right about you when we learned of your pregnancy. I have their permission to slaughter you for your treachery."

There she had her finger on the safety catch. Meghann let out a snarl, praying the sound would prevent any of the vampires from hearing her click the safety off.

"Is that what all this is about? You f.u.c.king hypocrite, don't try and pretend you're saving the world by killing me. You're hoping that Charles will be too grief - stricken when I'm gone to stand in your way. You loathsome, vile b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You want the position Alcuin left to me and Charles? Come and take it if you can."

One of Guy's henchmen lunged at her. Meghann's hand lashed up and she put the .357 to his head. When she fired, the vampire flew off his feet, blood and brain matter drenching Guy and the other apprentice.

She felt a violent power yank the gun from her hand but that was fine she'd expected Guy to do that. While he concentrated on pulling the weapon from her, Meghann turned her attention to the wounded vampire, and his sword flew into her outstretched hand.

Sidestepping the apprentice that tried to grab her, Meghann leaped the short distance to the shot vampire, already managing to sit up and look around in a dazed manner. He saw Meghann land by his side but before he could even bring up his hand, she decapitated him in one swift stroke.

"Grab her, you fool!" she heard Guy bellow, and whirled around to face her other attacker. The vampire raised his sword but Meghann had no intention of engaging in swordplay. Instead she drove her foot through his groin, feeling a grim satisfaction when he fell to his knees, whining from the pain of his crushed t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es.

There two down, one to go. Meghann knew better than to try and take on Guy. Her plan was to jump to the top of the towering mesa behind her; she could repel attacks up there and maybe leap the distance to her car.

Meghann bent her knees and prepared to lunge but a ma.s.sive boulder flew at her. She tried to duck but the thing caught the right side of her face, smashing her cheekbone to pulp.

Screaming in pain, she fell to the ground, terrified by the sudden nausea and cramping pain she felt in her abdomen. No, don't let me lose the baby.

Meghann had to concentrate her energy on stopping the miscarriage, healing herself. As Alcuin had taught her to do, she turned her concentration inward saw the contracting uterus and focused all her power on holding it still. Only after several horrible moments of waiting did the contractions ease and Meghann knew she wouldn't lose her baby.

While Meghann lay curled up and gasping for breath, her attackers pounced.

Dimly, she felt rough hands yank her up, tear her clothes off, and tie her to the mesa. Her face had healed, but she still felt nauseated.

Guy's fist smashed into her face, bringing her back to full consciousness. "Still Lord Baldevar's proud, high-stepping wh.o.r.e, aren't you? How fortunate that I found you before he could save you and your devil's sp.a.w.n."

Dazed, Meghann looked up at him and then she began giggling hysterically.

"Stop that," Guy snarled and twisted her nipples viciously. "Stop that immediately! How can you laugh now?"

"You're a fool!" Meghann yelled, her voice shattering the stillness of the desert.

Guy and his apprentice backed away, seeming a little frightened of the bound woman in front of them. "Can't you feel your enemy? He's here, you moron!"

Meghann thought she saw the giant's hands tremble and his apprentice went ashen. "What do you mean, here? He knows of no!"

"Yes!" Meghann cried, her voice stuffy because Guy had broken her nose and it hadn't healed yet. "He knows I'm pregnant and he's here! Won't it be nice to see your old enemy now that you don't have Alcuin's robes to cower behind, you low- life piece of s.h.i.t?"

Meghann took a deep breath and transformed her terror into energy she used to send out an urgent message: Help me, Simon! She had no doubt Lord Baldevar would come to her aid; she was pregnant. But she had no idea where he was; he could be too far away to fly here. What if he was too late? How long could she hold Guy off?

Summoning made her sick again; she was dizzy and having trouble breathing.

But the other vampires were not a threat to her right now; their heads were ringing from the power behind Meghann's call.

Dazed, Guy pulled himself up and slapped her hard enough to make her head slam into the rock behind her. "You'll be dead before your master arrives, b.i.t.c.h."

She couldn't stand being naked in front of this monster; she felt his muddy eyes roaming over her body and gave him a sneer she hoped masked her fear.

"Take a good long look, Guy. You'll never see a naked woman again. Even if you do kill me, we both know Lord Baldevar will slaughter you easily." Guy raised his hand again but Meghann continued taunting him. "Why don't you tell your idiot apprentice that you've never won a confrontation with Lord Baldevar?"

"Shut up!" Guy roared and wrapped his hands around her neck. "I'll kill you, you little wh.o.r.e!"

Her throat was like clay in his huge fingers. Meghann felt them digging into her skin. She saw stars he was crushing her larynx; she couldn't breathe.

Abruptly, he let her go and Meghann's head fell on her chest as she tried to force air through her wounded throat.

Then she felt a hand wrap itself in her hair, and Guy pulled her up, making sure she saw the sword he held to the fiery ma.s.s of hair clenched in his fist. "Lord Baldevar might be strong but I know how to crush him. Tell me, do you think that cold monster might actually cry if he saw his precious wh.o.r.e scalped her oh so beautiful hair and the top of her skull spread on the floor beside her while the blood of his b.a.s.t.a.r.d offspring flows down her legs? Prepare to meet your maker."

Meghann saw murder in his eyes, murder and no hope a plea might reach his hate-filled, enraged mind. And Simon wasn't here. Who was going to save her baby? She couldn't let this thing kill her.

Guy raised his sword and Meghann saw the sharp tip coming at her abdomen.

"Azazeal!" she screamed in her panic. Dimly, she remembered Simon's story of that demon he had summoned to kill his father. She couldn't remember the name of the devil he'd summoned but she had taken a look at that leather-bound copy of the Lemegeton he kept in his study. Heedless of the consequences, Meghann yelled out one of the most powerful conjurations of the Key of Solomon in the moment Guy's sword grazed her belly.

"I conjure you, evil and rebellious spirit, that abides in Abyss of Darkness!

Come to me, come to me, Angel of Darkness, and stand ready to do as I command thee!"

The mesa she was tied to exploded into a thousand pieces of rock and Meghann flew a good twelve feet. Dazed, she pulled herself to her feet and recoiled at the foul odor permeating the air.

"My G.o.d," she whispered reverentially when she saw Guy's henchman torn apart by an unseen force. Arms and legs were torn away as if they were mere match-sticks and then the decapitated limbs attacked the vampire's torso. Over it all, Meghann heard the same maniacal cackling that had nearly driven her mad the night Simon summoned, when he'd been so infuriated because she tried to kill him and save Jimmy. In a moment of rage, he'd conjured monsters even he had trouble controlling.

No, Meghann thought in horror. I couldn't have called those things no! If they'd been almost too powerful for Simon to control, she had no prayer of holding them in her thrall. A minor demon, that's what she'd tried for not this unholy force that was moving toward her Meghann spun around, and cowered within the small circle that appeared.

Please let the circle protect her, please She saw something hover at the edge of the circle and breathed a small sigh of relief that quickly became a scream when it plucked her off the ground and shook her like a rag doll.

She waited for it to tear out her limbs and then realized her fate was going to be far worse. The thing was trying to get inside her she felt its freezing form try to crawl into her. It wanted her body whole it panted at the chance to possess a vampire's body.

Meghann fought with every ounce of her being and her effort only wound up being a slight nudge. She almost felt the thing's amus.e.m.e.nt at her struggles. It knew she'd weaken before long and it would be able to stay on earth indefinitely; for her immortal form could withstand the shock of possession, she wouldn't erode and die like a possessed human "Aufuge a ea!" Meghann heard a voice roar and she was unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

"What hey " was all she got out before Simon Baldevar grabbed her up.

"The License to Depart," he said quickly. "Meghann, you called this thing you must make it leave." He put his hands on both sides of her forehead.

"Concentrate, Meghann. Take my strength within you and use it to cast this thing back to h.e.l.l."

Meghann felt something dark and infinitely potent surge through her body, its impact that of a jolt of electricity. This was her master's power flowing through her, and it alone could save her now.

As Meghann glared at the thing before her, her voice held the coldness and lack of fear that would intimidate the thing into obeying her. "Disobedient spirit, I deprive you off all office and dignity if you do not immediately depart unto your abode!"

The change in the atmosphere was immediate. The indescribable stench vanished and the desert returned to its balmy temperature.

Meghann's eyes darted around, wondering if the demon had destroyed her enemies. She saw the dismembered carca.s.s of one vampire and of course there was the one she had killed, but where was Guy?

"Here." Simon stripped his shirt off and put it on her, b.u.t.toning it when Meghann's hands shook too hard to do it herself. "That rabble won't look on you anymore. Now, have they harmed you?"

"I almost lost the baby," Meghann said. "That's when they tied me up when I was trying to heal my body they ripped my clothes and tied me up naked. Oh, G.o.d, I can't stand the way he looked at me and I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd die here in the desert tied up and powerless to keep them from hurting the baby "

"Cry, Meghann," Simon said when she fell into his arms, sobbing as though she would never stop. "Cry and get that horrible fear out of you. Cry for all that wretch did to you in an attempt to hurt me. No one will ever harm you again, I promise."

"Guy "

"That coward will show himself soon and this harrowing night will be over."

Meghann noticed Simon was clutching the sword she'd stolen from one of the vampires.

"I dreamed of you tonight," she choked out. "They were kill killing me but you kept your back turned, you wouldn't help "

"Hush," Simon said and his arms tightened around her until she thought he'd crush her but she didn't mind. She clung just as tightly to him. "Meghann, listen to me. Don't you ever, ever summon from the Lemegeton again. I know Guy terrified you but that magick is not for you. Do you know I barely got here in time to help you repulse that thing? Guy and his minions I could certainly dispatch but you cannot summon things you don't know how to control. It could destroy your body if not render you as mindless as Jimmy Delacroix. Understand?"

Meghann started to nod, but Simon's expression changed, eyes becoming fierce and hard as one arm reached out and Meghann was shoved away from him.

"Don't interfere," Simon ordered and then addressed Guy, standing before him and holding his sword in the cla.s.sic attack position. "Father Balmont, are you sure you wish to spar with me? I am not a pregnant, defenseless female and you no longer have two strong brutes at your side."

"I'm not afraid to face you," Guy snarled and lunged at him but Simon easily deflected the blow while getting in his own thrust at Guy's forearm.

Meghann watched the fight she'd never seen Simon Baldevar with a sword in his hand. He must have been a deadly opponent in his time, Meghann thought, watching him force the giant of a vampire back with a series of whirling slashes and ripostes. He moved so fast he was almost a blur to Meghann's eyes a blur that moved against his enemy with a lethal, vicious speed and grace.

"I'll make you watch me kill your wh.o.r.e," Guy panted, just managing to block Simon's sword before it attacked his heart.

Simon's response was a sharp thrust at Guy's throat The other vampire deflected him and tried to push his weight down on Simon's blade to make him drop his sword.

If Guy thought his solid ma.s.s was a match for Lord Baldevar, he was sadly mistaken. Small beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead as he pressed down on the sword with all his weight and that's when Simon allowed his sword to go completely lax. Unable to adjust himself to the abrupt release of tension, Guy felt his momentum carry his arm down to the ground and from there it was a simple matter for Simon to stab the hunched-over vampire in the back to puncture his heart.