The Viper isn't the most expensive or fastest car on the market, but it delivers on everything it promises. It's got great lines, a wicked att.i.tude, and hits sixty in under four seconds. If I ever get home again, I won't know what to do with my Toyota. I'll need to pull a Fred Flintstone, and poke my feet through the bottom.

The last Viper that Barrons let me drive, and the one I thought I was getting this time, was gone. In its place was one of the new ones, hot off the a.s.sembly line, sleek, low, and muscley: the SRT-10 with 90 additional snorting horses for a total of 600 feisty stallions, and 560 ft-lb of torque.

It was black on black with heavily tinted windows, and looked like some kind of crouching metal beast, waiting-no, begging begging-to be taken and tested to its limits. I was momentarily awed to be holding its reins in my hands.

I stood for a moment, absorbing Barrons' incredible car collection, listening hard, alert for any sounds or vibrations in the floor. There was nothing. Whatever creature dwelled beneath the garage either slumbered or lay sated. I envisioned a hulking darkness surrounded by a mound of cleanly picked bones, and shook my head to dispel the image.

I slid into the black leather interior of the two-seater, cranked it, listened to the engine, smiled, shifted into first, and pulled out of the garage. A complaint about the Viper (by people who would be better off sticking to 4-cylinder automatics and living vicariously through reality TV shows) is that the pa.s.senger compartment gets too hot because of the exhaust, and that it's excessively noisy when you open it up on the road.

I revved the engine. The throaty growl was magnified by the close quarters of the alley, and I laughed out loud. That's what the Viper's all about, muscle and machismo, and when you've got it in spades, you strut it.

Down to my right, the huge Shade puffed up, nearly eclipsing the building behind it. I muttered something that would make my mother cringe, but kept my hands on the steering wheel and gearshift. There would be no more flipping of the bird at monsters of unknown parameters. I'd heard of road rage cases resulting in murder over less, and I saw no point in antagonizing an already antagonistic Shade that was far more aware of me than I would have liked.

Driving a hot car is a lot like s.e.x to me, or a lot like I keep thinking s.e.x should should be: a total body experience, overwhelming to all the senses, taking you places you've never been, packing a punch that leaves you breathless and touches your soul. The Viper was way more satisfying than my last boyfriend. be: a total body experience, overwhelming to all the senses, taking you places you've never been, packing a punch that leaves you breathless and touches your soul. The Viper was way more satisfying than my last boyfriend.

I cranked up the music and barreled into the night. I didn't think about what had happened today. I'd had all afternoon to think about it and had made my decisions. The time for thinking was over. It was time for action.

Twenty minutes from the abbey, in the middle of what we call B.F.E. back home, surrounded by too many sheep and too few fences for my comfort in such an expensive car, I pulled over to the side of the dark, narrow, two-lane road, looked around to make sure there was gra.s.s and foliage growing, rea.s.suring myself it was a Shade-free zone, left the headlamps blazing anyway, and stepped out.

The thing on my tongue had been bothering me since V'lane had put it there. I didn't know how long I was going to be able to stand it. But at the moment, I was glad I had it.

Need me, open your mouth, and I will be there, he'd said. I'd never have believed I'd be using it less than twenty-four hours later, but there was something I had to do tonight, and I needed backup. Serious backup. I needed something that would rock Rowena's world, and Barrons just didn't fit the bill the way a Seelie prince did. he'd said. I'd never have believed I'd be using it less than twenty-four hours later, but there was something I had to do tonight, and I needed backup. Serious backup. I needed something that would rock Rowena's world, and Barrons just didn't fit the bill the way a Seelie prince did.

I tried to decide what might const.i.tute needing him, in a way that would release whatever was piercing my tongue. Merely thinking about him? Couldn't be that. I'd been half thinking about him all day. He'd been simmering on the back burner of my mind's stove ever since he'd put his pot there, as he'd known he would. Maybe, in time, I'd grow inured to the intruder. I doubted it.

"V'lane, I need you," I told the night, and darned if the thing in my mouth didn't move move.

I gagged. The thing uncoiled and slammed against the back of my teeth. I spit it out convulsively. Something soft and dark exploded from my mouth, hit the air, and was gone.

"Sidhe-seer."

I spun. V'lane was behind me. I opened my mouth and shut it again, pining for the good old days of cell phones. Perhaps, as experts warned, radiation really would fry my brain after decades of repeated use, but I was feeling fried already from using Fae methods of communication a single time.

I didn't bother reaching for my spear. Its cold weight in my shoulder holster was gone. He'd somehow lifted it from me the moment he'd appeared. If I'd known how quickly he would show up, I'd have held on to it, to see if that stopped him. I made a mental note to try it next time.

"Fae," I returned the salutation, if it could be called that, dryly. How had I ended up in a world with such strange methods of address? Of all the men I'd met in Dublin, only Christian called me Mac. "Give me my spear back." I knew he wouldn't but it didn't stop me from asking.

"I do not come to you armed with lethal human weapons." V'lane was in full Fae mode: glittering a dozen shades of alien, his iridescent eyes dispa.s.sionate with a thousand-yard stare, dripping heart-stoppingly incredible s.e.x. Literally.

"You are are a lethal human weapon." a lethal human weapon."

His gaze said There is that, and so it should be There is that, and so it should be. "Why have you called me?" He looked impatient, as if I'd interrupted him in the middle of something important.

"How badly do you want the Book for your queen?"

"If you have found it and think to hold out on me . . ."

I shook my head. "Not holding out. But everyone wants my help finding it, and I'm not sure who's the strongest, or who will help me me the most. There are things I want, too." the most. There are things I want, too."

"You question my power?" His eyes blazed the silver of sharp knives, and I had a sudden, strange vision-the tatters of a genetic memory?-of a Fae flaying a human's skin from his body with a glance. If they catch you, bow your head before them, If they catch you, bow your head before them, we'd taught our children, we'd taught our children, and never look into their eyes. and never look into their eyes. Not because we'd been afraid they might be mesmerized-a Fae didn't need to make eye contact to do that-but because if our children were going to die horribly, we didn't want them to see their fate glinting in those sharp, inhuman eyes. Not because we'd been afraid they might be mesmerized-a Fae didn't need to make eye contact to do that-but because if our children were going to die horribly, we didn't want them to see their fate glinting in those sharp, inhuman eyes.

"Why did you leave when Barrons showed up?" I asked.

"I despise him."

"Why?"

"It is not your concern. Are you such a fool that you think to summon me to interrogate me?"

I shivered in my light sweater and jacket. The temperature had just dropped sharply. Fae royalty are so powerful that their pleasure or displeasure affects the weather, if they allow it. I'd recently learned that the Unseelie Hunters, with their great leathery wings, forked tongues, and fiery eyes, command this power, too. "I called you because I need your help. I'm just wondering if you can do what I need you to do."

"I will keep you alive. And I will not let you . . . what is it you disliked so greatly when you couldn't summon me before? Ah, you said you suffered horribly. I will not permit that."

"That's not enough. I need you to keep everyone alive tonight, and not let anyone suffer horribly. And I need to know you won't return here one day and hurt them in the future." Sidhe Sidhe-seers had been hiding from the Fae for thousands of years, and I was about to take one of the most powerful straight into their hidden lair. Would I be branded traitor? Cast out? Oh, duh, I already was. Those who should have been my allies in this battle were now gunning for me, thanks to Rowena. I wouldn't have to do this if she hadn't pushed me so far.

His alien eyes narrowed and he glanced around. Then he laughed.

I caught myself pulling my sweater up, smiling vapidly. My b.r.e.a.s.t.s ached and my nipples throbbed. "Turn it off," I growled. "We have a deal, remember? You said you would turn it off around me all the time."

He shimmered and was once again the man I'd seen the night before, in jeans, boots, and biker jacket. "I forgot." There was neither truth nor contrition in his words. "You are going to the abbey."

"Crimeny," I exploded, "does everyone know everything but me?" I consoled myself with the thought that at least now I didn't have to feel bad about betraying their location to V'lane. He already knew it.

"It would seem so. You are young. Your minuscule time is a yawn in my life." He paused then added, "And Barrons'."

"What do you know about Barrons?" I demanded.

"That you would be far wiser to depend on me, MacKayla." He moved toward me and I stepped back. Even in his muted, humanlike form, he was pure s.e.x. He glided past me, stopped at the Viper, and traced his hand over the sleek metallic curve of the hood. V'lane standing next to a black-on-black Viper was a thing to see.

"I want you to go to the abbey with me," I told him. "As backup. I want you to be my protection. You will not harm any of the sidhe sidhe-seers there."

"You think to give me orders?" The temperature plunged again, and snow dusted my shoulders.

I reconsidered. It wouldn't kill me to phrase it nicely. Mom always said you draw more flies with honey than vinegar.

"Will you promise me that you won't hurt any of the sidhe sidheseers?" Grimacing mentally, I added, "Please?"

He smiled, and a nearby tree pushed out velvety-looking, fragrant white blossoms that drenched the night air with pungent spices. They overgrew rapidly, plummeted to the ground in a lush fall of alabaster petals, and swiftly decomposed. Life to death in a matter of seconds. Was that how he saw me? "I will grant you this. I like it when you say 'please.' You will say it again."

"No. Once was enough."

"What will you do for me in exchange?"

"I'm doing it. Helping you find the Book."

"Not enough. You wish to command a Fae Prince as a lapdog? It costs, MacKayla. You will let me f.u.c.k you."

I jerked, and for a moment I was so angry I couldn't speak. It didn't help that his words had caused a slick, erotic thrill to flutter in my belly. Had he amped himself up again? Shot some kind of Fae s.e.x-dart at me when he'd said it? "No. Not even if h.e.l.l freezes over will I offer you s.e.x with me in exchange for anything. Got it? Some things are non-negotiable and that's one of them."

"It is merely coitus, a physical act, the same as eating or voiding waste. Why attach such importance to it?"

"Maybe for a Fae it's merely a physical act, and maybe for some people, too, but not me."

"Because s.e.x has been so stupendous in your brief life? Because you have had lovers that have made your body burn, and set your soul on fire?" he mocked.

I notched my chin higher. "Maybe I haven't felt that, exactly, yet, but I will one day."

"I will give it to you now. Ecstasy that you would die for, but I will not permit it. I will stop before that happens."

His words chilled me: he was just another vampire, promising to stop before he drained the last drops of blood that kept my heart beating. "Forget it, V'lane. I'm sorry I summoned you. I'll take care of things myself. I don't need you or anybody." I opened the car door.

He slammed it so quickly that I nearly lost a finger. I was startled by his sudden violence. He crushed me back against the Viper, and touched my face. His eyes were razor sharp, hostile; his fingers feather-light. "Who bruised you?"

"I had a fight with some sidhe sidhe-seers. Quit crowding me."

He traced a finger over my cheekbone, and the ache vanished. He dropped his hand to my rib cage and pain no longer spiked through me with each breath. When he slid his palm across my thigh, I felt the hemorrhaged blood drain from the contusion. He pressed his legs to mine and my shins were no longer bruised. My flesh burned in the wake of his touch.

He dropped his head forward, lips close to mine. "Offer me something in exchange for what you ask of me, MacKayla. I am a prince and we have our pride." Though his touch was soft, I felt the rigidity in his body, and knew I'd pushed him as far as he would go.

In the Deep South, we understand pride. We lost everything once, but by G.o.d, we held on to our pride. We heaped fuel onto the fire of it, stoked it as high as a crematorium. And we immolate ourselves on it sometimes. "I know how the Book is moving around. I haven't told anyone." The length of Vlane's body against mine was unhinging doors in my mind, showing me rooms I was better off not knowing existed.

His lips brushed my cheek and I shivered. "Barrons doesn't know?"

I shook my head, turned it away. His lips moved to my ear. "No. But I'll tell you."

"And you won't tell Barrons? It will be our secret?"

"No. I mean yes. In that order." I hate it when people pile questions on top of each other. His mouth was fire on my skin.

"Say it."

"I won't tell Barrons and it will be our secret." No loss there; I hadn't planned to tell him, anyway.

V'lane smiled. "We have a deal. Tell me."

"After you help me." you help me."

"Now, MacKayla, or you go in alone. If I am to accompany a Null inside sidhe sidhe-seer walls, I require payment in advance." There was no room for negotiation in his voice.

I hated parting with any of my aces in the hole, but if I had to give V'lane a piece of information that I'd rather not give him, in order to keep Rowena from going after my back every time it was turned, so be it. I couldn't guard against all the dangers in the city. The Fae were bad enough, but at least I could see them coming. Rowena's minions were perfectly normal-looking humans who could get too close before I even knew they were a danger. While my instincts to lash out at a Fae were strong, my instincts to strike at a human weren't, and I didn't want them to get better. Humans weren't my enemy. I needed to send Rowena and her sidhe sidhe-seers a great, big "Back Off" message, and V'lane was the perfect courier.

Still, I didn't have to tell him everything. I pushed him away and slid out from between him and the Viper. He watched my retreat with a mocking smile. I felt better with a dozen paces between us, and began to recount select portions of what I'd seen, lying in the sour-smelling puddle. I told him that it was moving from person to person, making them commit crimes.

But I didn't tell him the three faces the Book had presented, or the severity of the crimes, or that it was killing the carrier before it moved on. I let him believe it was pa.s.sing itself off from one live human to the next. That way if he decided to try to track it, too, I'd have an edge. I needed all the edges I could get. I knew V'lane didn't really consider humans viable life forms, and I had no more reason to trust him than I did Barrons. V'lane might be Seelie, and Barrons might keep saving my life, but I had far too many unanswered questions about them both. My sister had trusted her boyfriend right up to the end. Had she made excuses for the Lord Master, the way I'd been making them for Barrons? So what if he never answers any of my questions? He's told me more about what I am than anyone else. So what if he kills ruthlessly? He only does it to keep me safe . . . So what if he never answers any of my questions? He's told me more about what I am than anyone else. So what if he kills ruthlessly? He only does it to keep me safe . . . I could string together half a dozen at a moment's notice. V'lane, too: I could string together half a dozen at a moment's notice. V'lane, too: So he's a death-by-s.e.x Fae; he's never So he's a death-by-s.e.x Fae; he's never really really harmed me. So what if he gets off on making me strip in public places? He saved me from the Shades . . . harmed me. So what if he gets off on making me strip in public places? He saved me from the Shades . . .

I'm a bartender. I like recipes. They're concretes. Was the drink recipe for seduction one shot charm and two shots self-deception, shaken, not stirred?

"You remained conscious the entire time?"

I nodded.

"Still you cannot approach it?"

I shook my head.

"How do you plan to find it again?"

"I have no idea," I lied. "Dublin has over a million people in it, and the crime rate has been skyrocketing. a.s.suming it stays around the city, which I'm not even sure we can a.s.sume" (this was a lie; I don't know why I was so sure of it, but I believed the Book had no intention of leaving Dublin's chaotic streets at the moment, nor at any time in the near future) "we're looking for a needle in a haystack."

He studied me a moment, then said, "Very well. You have upheld your end of the bargain. I will keep mine."

We got in the car and headed for the abbey.

Arlington Abbey was constructed on consecrated ground in the seventh century, when a church originally built by Saint Patrick in A.D. 441 had burned down. The church, interestingly, had been built to replace a crumbling stone circle some claimed had, long ago, been sacred to an ancient pagan sisterhood. The stone circle had allegedly been predated by a shian, shian, or fairy mound, that had concealed within it an entrance to the Otherworld. or fairy mound, that had concealed within it an entrance to the Otherworld.

The abbey was plundered in 913, rebuilt in 1022, burned in 1123, rebuilt in 1218, burned in 1393, and rebuilt in 1414. It was expanded and fortified each time.

It was added onto in the sixteenth century, and again extensively in the seventeenth, sponsored by an anonymous, wealthy donor who completed the rectangle of stone buildings, enclosing the inner courtyard, and added housing-much to the astonishment of the locals-for up to a thousand residents.

This same unknown donor bought the land around the abbey, and turned the enclave into the self-sustaining operation it is today. The abbey boasts its own dairy, orchards, cattle, sheep, and extensive gardens, the highlight of which is an elaborate gla.s.s-domed hothouse rumored to house some of the world's rarest flowers and most unusual herbs.

And that was all I'd been able to find out about the place in the twenty minutes I had to surf the Internet before leaving for the destination Barrons had given me.

Today, Arlington Abbey was owned by a subcorporation of a much larger corporation that was part of the vast holdings of an even larger corporation. n.o.body knew anything about its modern-day operations. Oddly, no one seemed to find that odd. I found it spectacularly odd that a country that took such loving care of its abbeys, castles, standing stones, and countless other monuments asked no questions about the most extraordinarily well preserved abbey within its boundaries. But they didn't, and there it sat, in the middle of nearly a thousand acres, silent and mysterious and private, and n.o.body bothered it.

I wondered what tremendous importance this site had for sidhe sidhe-seers that they'd doggedly protected it, even under guise of Christianity, and rebuilt it each time it had been destroyed, fortifying it ever stronger until now it loomed, a forbidding fortress over a still, dark lake.

In the pa.s.senger seat, V'lane flinched and seemed to flicker.

I glanced at him.

"We will leave the car here," he said.

"Why?"

"Those at the abbey are . . . bothersome . . . with their attempts to defy my race."

Translation: The abbey was warded. "Can you get past their wards?"

"They cannot prevent my entry. We sift place. They cannot ward against that."

Okay, that was disturbing, but I'd come back to it. First things first. "Barrons said you can sift time, too." Actually, he'd said the Fae used used to be able to, but couldn't anymore. "That you can go back into the past." Where Alina was still alive. Where I could save my sister, and this terrible future could be prevented, and we could resume our blissfully ignorant lives, unaware of what we were, happy with our family back in Ashford, Georgia, and we'd never leave. We'd get married, have babies, and die in the Deep South at a ripe old age. "Is that true? Can you go back in time?" to be able to, but couldn't anymore. "That you can go back into the past." Where Alina was still alive. Where I could save my sister, and this terrible future could be prevented, and we could resume our blissfully ignorant lives, unaware of what we were, happy with our family back in Ashford, Georgia, and we'd never leave. We'd get married, have babies, and die in the Deep South at a ripe old age. "Is that true? Can you go back in time?"

"At one time certain ones among us could. Even then, we were limited, but for the queen. We no longer possess that ability. We are as trapped in the present as humans."

"Why? What happened?"