Something struck me in the back of the head and I heard Mira's voice loud in my ear. Pain shot through my neck and radiated into my head. My vision blurred for a second and it was enough for her to get the upper hand. She hit me again and then went for the gun. It discharged, and then I dropped it. I brought my extra-thick boot up and hit the side of Mira's head. She staggered backwards and I used the opportunity to kick her again, this time in the stomach.

"How do you like it ... b.i.t.c.h?" I was referring to the horrendous stomach pains I'd experienced being her guinea pig, but I didn't give a d.a.m.n if she understood what I meant or not. I wasn't above causing her pain without reason.

I made another move this time to hit her, she dodged and looked past me.

"Shame on you, Gwen, shame on you."

I turned and saw what she was talking about. Caleb was lying in a pool of blood on the floor. It was clear to see that he'd been shot in the chest.

Ken was holding his hand against Caleb's wound, attempting to stop the blood from flowing out of him.

Rage consumed me. Suddenly, my skin crawled with power and I could thin k of only one thing--killing Mira. Pulling the other stake out of my pocket, I spun it in my hand. Mira looked at me and laughed. I drove the stake into her chest so far that my hand hit her breast. She fell to the floor and I rode her all the way down. I kept my hand pushed against her chest until the stake stopped moving. Her heart had stopped. It was my turn to laugh, and laugh I did.

Someone grabbed me by my shoulders and called my name. It took a minute for the fog in my head to clear but when it did I found James shaking me.

"Gwen, you all right?"

"James?"

"I'm here, love. It's over."I placed my hand over his and nodded. He pulled me to him and held me tight. I pulled away from him and checked on the others. Pallo was slumped down on the floor with the knife still in his stomach. I ran to him and dropped to my knees.

"What do I do?"

He gave me a goofy grin. It wasn't something he did so it caught me by surprise. "Well, for starters you could pull the knife out of me. I am not able to remove it. It can only be removed by you."

"Why only me?"

"Because it is your Si magic that holds it there."

I took a step back and he grabbed my hand. "I can't ... Pallo ... I didn't mean to hurt you ... I can't do it again, Pallo."

"Gwyneth, it will heal, I promise."

James moved down next to me and yanked the knife out of Pallo.

Pallo narrowed his eyes and stared at James. "How were you able to remove it when I was not?"

Oh s.h.i.t! This was not good. "I must have let my power...."

Pallo put his hand up. "No, Gwen, he will tell me. Not you."

Great, he'd Gwen-ed me. This was definitely not good.

"You smell different, James. You smell," Pallo looked up at me, his eye went cold, "of faerie power."

"It's my fault!" I said, a little too fast. "I did it. I pushed my magic into him while he was saving my life. It just spilled out."

"Gwen, I'll not have you...."

Shut-up! He'll kill you without a second thought, James. He'll at leastthink a bit on it before he kills me.

Gwen.

My gaze went to Pallo. He sat there, stoic, building the walls he used to keep me out once more. I would have commented, but something else move d over me. A strange power that wasn't my own, yet wasn't completely foreign to me.

Bella, do have need of my services? Giovanni's thickly accented, deep voice moved through me.

"Giovanni?"

Pallo and James jumped to their feet. Pallo moved towards me, but stopped as he encountered the power. "His magic surrounds her."

Bella, are you hurt?

No, I'm fine.

"He's talkin' to her ... using telepathy," James said, sounding less than pleased.

"And you know this how?" Pallo asked.

What of your faerie? I sense that he is injured.

My faerie? Oh G.o.d, Caleb!

Spinning around fast, I found Caleb's lifeless body spread out on the ground. Ken had given up and was sitting on his b.u.t.t covered in blood. I ran to Caleb's side, followed closely by Pallo and James. I touched Caleb's arm and knew that he was dead. For a second, I couldn't think. He couldn't be gone, not my Caleb. Not the man who'd spent weeks digging a whole in the ground just to make me happy. No!

I grabbed the knife from James' hand and slid it across my arm. Blood fell quickly into Caleb's wound. Nothing happened. My faerie blood was the same as his but not near as strong. I couldn't help him but Pallo could."Pallo, help him ... please!"

He put his hand on my shoulder and tried to pull me away. "Gwyneth, you and I both know that our Caleb would not wish to live his life tied to me. You yourself have felt the aftermath of what happens when I interfere. Do you think Caleb would welcome being at my beck and call?"

I rounded on him and grabbed his torn shirt. "d.a.m.n you! You can help him--you helped me. Help him!" Pallo avoided my gaze. "Or, don't you wan t to help him?"

"Gwen, Pallo's right. There's no way in h.e.l.l that Caleb would want to be part of our world. You know Pallo can summon you. Do you really think Caleb would be okay with that?"

I looked up at the ceiling because I couldn't think of a better place.

"Giovanni, help him please! I'll do anything ... anything you ask, no strings, no tricks. Please!"

"Gwyneth NO!"

I glared at Pallo. It was only when I looked into James' blue eyes that I felt remorse. I'd managed to hurt him again.

"Giovanni, please!" I should have been terrified, calling out to a man whom everyone feared so much, but I wasn't. My gut trusted him, so I'd follow it.

Bella, it will take me a bit to arrive there and there is no time to spare. I can sense his separable soul beginning the exit process. If it is not held by magic then he will die. I do not posses that ability. Ask Pallo again. Perhaps for you, he will make an exception.

"Pallo, please."

"I cannot, Gwyneth. He would not wish this it to be."

I shook my head. My eyes blurred as unshed tears filled then and my lip quivered. "Pallo, I will never forgive you for this--ever!"He put his hand on my shoulder and I pushed it off. I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want him near me.

"Gwen, please," James said.

"GO!" I screamed out, lashing power out, sending them flying backwards. I hadn't meant to include Ken in it, but it happened.

Caleb was unbelievably pale. I cupped his face and put my forehead against his. "I'm so sorry. Baby, please don't go. Hang on for me.

Please, just a little bit."

I felt it then, the piece of his power that I carried deep within me. It struggled to break free. The only way our bond would be broken was if one of us died. As the power tried to leave again, I knew that Giovanni had been right--Caleb's separable soul was trying to leave.

"Hang on for me, Caleb! Hang on! This can't be our end. I sure the f.u.c.k didn't come back after two hundred to lose you this soon." Tears ran down my face, and onto his.

Giovanni's power brushed back over me. I had an overwhelming urge to reach into my pocket. I found the vial of ointment that Nana had given me. Opening it, I brought it to my nose.

"Honeysuckle and Lily of the Valley."

Yes! Thank you, Giovanni.

I smeared it on my hands and rubbed it onto to Caleb's face. I let every ounce of my power pour through me. I wasn't strong enough yet to heal him. But I knew someone who was.

"Sorcha, I call you forth to the mortal realm," I whispered into Caleb's ear. The words didn't just come to me out of the blue, I'd felt compelled to say them--compelled by a force that felt oddly like Giovanni. He'd help in the best way he knew how, by bringing in the big boys. The air around me crackled. Yep, something powerful was coming.

Thank you.

It was the least I could do, bella.The ground shook and the candles near me blew out. I sensed someone hovering over me. I didn't need to turn around to know who was there.

"Help him please," I said, breathless and not bothering to hide the desperation from my voice.

Sorcha gasped and rushed to my side. "What have you done to my son?"

"It was an accident ... I... it was his gun ... and she knocked it..." I looked over in the direction of the very dead body of the Enchantress, and back to Sorcha. I had summoned her from somewhere important. She w as dressed in a full-length hunter green gown. It brought out the color of her eyes. Caleb had inherited the same eyes and the same white-blond hair that his mother had. He hadn't gotten her evil spirit, thankfully.

"He was shot with one of his own ammunition?"

"Yes," I said.

"Caleb not only uses silver ... he uses sanguid-niric in each one."

I had no clue what the h.e.l.l she was going on about. But from the sound of her voice, it was bad.

"It is fatal to supernaturals if delivered through the heart," Pallo said softly.

"Everyone who lost their right to read my mind please raise your hand.

There better be two vampires with their hands in the air." I didn't turn around.

Sorcha looked down at Caleb, choked back a sob, and placed her hand over mine. This was a serious matter for her. I knew that touching me was the last thing she wanted to do. She hated me with a white-hot pa.s.sion and wanted me dead. The feeling was mutual so it didn't bother me. She drew on my energy and used her own to call Caleb's essence, his separable soul, back into his body. I watched as his chest wound closed. I held my breath until I saw his chest move up and down, slowly and steadily.

Sorcha turned and looked at me. "I will take him back with me. I'll needto watch over him. You will come too."

"Gwyneth, no!" Pallo shouted.

I didn't bother to turn around and look at him. I'd meant what I'd said.

I'd never forgive him for not helping Caleb.

"Why do you need me?" I asked Sorcha.

"I don't, but if I return without you, your father will a.s.sume I did something to you. He was with me when you summoned me. He will want t o make sure you are safe."

"Forgive my pessimistic nature, Sorcha, but why the h.e.l.l are you suddenly worried about pleasing my father?"

She set her green eyes on me and shook her head. "You really don't know him at all, do you?"

"How do I know I can trust you?"

She waved her hand in the air to dismiss my silly little claims. The lady was a pit-bull in wolf's clothing. I knew better than to a.s.sume her harmless. "Bring the vampire if you must."

I turned to Pallo, he stepped forward and I shot him a nasty look.

"Sorcha, I'd rather take my chances with you. I never want him near me again!"

The hurt showed on Pallo's face and I was happy for it. Sorcha threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, how I would love to hear what made you have a change of heart, but we do not have time. I need to get Caleb back soon.

I'll need to call on your father for a.s.sistance with him. If you are taking anyone with us, do so now."

I looked at Pallo. His refusal to help Caleb survive was too fresh in my mind to want to have him near me. Ken would never survive the trip to the Dark Realm and back. He didn't posses enough magical blood to protect him. That left James. He had also tried to convince me that Caleb should just die. I decided to go it alone."Gwyneth, please take James with you. Do not trust her. She played a part in your death the last time. Do not forget that."

I turned away from him and looked at Sorcha. "Let's go!"

The earth shook again and then I felt it slip away. I bent down and touched Caleb to make sure he was all right. I heard the distant cries of Pallo and James and closed my eyes.

Chapter 36.

Sorcha had remained true to her promise. She took me back to my father's castle with her. We situated Caleb in what used to be his room and a wizard was tending to him. Sorcha had one of the guards show me to the room I'd be staying in.

The room was bigger than my whole house. It had a ma.s.sive, deep cherry-colored wood bed in the center of it, and enough seating to throw a colossal get-together. The dark navy walls offset the stone bottom and gave the room a sort of old world charm. My favorite thing about the room was the bathroom. It was as big as my bedroom at home. It had a raised tub that was big enough to fit at least six people in it. It was a room that would make Pallo proud.

Thinking of Pallo made me sick to my stomach. I believed he would do anything to bring Caleb back to me safely. I was wrong. He let me down when I most needed him and that was unforgivable in my book. I'd thought that we'd finally made it through all of our issues. Instead, we'd managed to create more.