"And what?" The anger in Pallo's voice was enough to make a normal perso n want to crawl under a table and hide. Good thing I'm not normal.

Caradoc took three steps back towards the hallway entrance, his face blank. I'd seen that look once before when I'd almost put a candlestick through his heart. If that was his "oh f.u.c.k," face then it was about to get ugly in here fast. "And the bite wound smells like it is yours. She carries your scent now ... in more ways than one."

Pallo was on him in an instant. He had a hold of his throat with his left hand. Caradoc tried to free himself but Pallo's grip was too tight. James rushed over and tried to pry Pallo's hand from Caradoc's neck. Rising slowly out of the chair, I went towards them. I saw Pallo's right hand come up and shove James away, but I wasn't fast enough to react. James'

body crashed into mine and we both went backwards. My mid-back cracked into the butcher-block counter top that Caleb had just put in. The back of my head smashed into the plate cupboard. Together we managed to bring the entire set of dishes crashing down on us. I screamed out and tried to cover my head. James had speed that no human possessed and was up and shielding my body from anything else in an instant.

"Are you okay?" James's face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my cheek and it felt warm. That meant that my body was getting cold again, d.a.m.n. He pulled me to my feet. Pain shot up from my mid back, I was going to be really sore for awhile.

"Gwen," Pallo's voice was soft as he spoke. He never liked using my nickname. He was really trying to win "like me" points with me. "It was an accident. I did not realize you were there."

I glared at him. "You were being an a.s.shole to these guys again and they didn't deserve it." I let go of James' hand and stormed towards Pallo. I pushed my finger into his chest and let just enough power roll off it togive him a harmless little jolt each time I came into contact with his perfect skin. "You do not come into my home and treat people this way.

Are we clear on that? You are not the master of this house. I'm the one who's in charge here!" He stepped back from me and I followed him step for step. "And, while we're on the subject of me being p.i.s.sed off with you, why in h.e.l.l did you ignore my calls? Why did you refuse to come here? Do you really hate me that much? Its common knowledge that ... what is it again, Pallo? Hmm ... yes, that I'm nothing but a cheap wh.o.r.e ...

and I'm sure our romp between the sheets earlier did little in the way of disproving that, but still..." I smacked my forehead. It was an odd habit I had and couldn't seem to be able to break. "G.o.d, I'm so f.u.c.king stupid. I was so close to believing that you were capable of love. h.e.l.l, you're not even capable of being a decent human being to your own friends."

He tipped his head slightly, giving me a wry smile. "Perhaps that is because I am not a human being."

"Oh, stop using the 'dead-guy-walking' thing as a crutch. Call it was it is, Pallo--you being a d.i.c.k!"

"Gwyneth."

"No, don't Gwyneth me! You have no idea how much I wanted to believe I'

d been wrong about you, that you were capable of more than deception, hate and rage. Why am I so stupid? What we did upstairs will tear Caleb to pieces when he finds out about it. I hurt a good, honest man and for what ... a chance to hear your sweet words of pa.s.sion, your lies as you 'f.u.c.ked' me." My emotions were out whack, so much so that I was losing control over my own power. It spread like wild fire throughout me. I'd seen the ugliness, the carnage, I was capable of inflicting and no one here deserved that--not even Pallo.

"Get away from me!" I yelled.

He did the exact opposite--he reached for me. "Gwyneth, please...."

"NO!" Terrified of hurting him, I let my power roll into me. I bore the brunt of it. It warmed my body rapidly, too rapidly. Instantly, my skin burned and my head throbbed. Screaming out, I fell to the floor. James was at my side immediately, reaching for me."Don't touch me!" I didn't want to hurt him. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to control it if he came into contact with my skin. I'd killed a man before with just my touch. I didn't want a repeat performance. Pallo kneeled next to me and from the look on his face he had no intention of listening to me "Gwyneth, concentrate hard on calming yourself down. Think of something pleasant. Think of your sweet Caleb." I could not believe I had just heard Pallo encourage me to think of another man. I tried to pull an image of Caleb into my head but the only image that came to me was one of Pallo and me making love in a glorious room of yellow. I thought of his pushing himself deep within me. I thought of how my eyes burned when he made love to me, and how that, for a faerie, was a sign of finding a mate. A sign that together, our union could produce a child. My eyes had burned again during our most recent s.e.xual encounter. It was so odd yet so similar to what had happened in that yellow bedroom over two months ago.

The ghost of my biological mother had arranged the perfect romantic getaway for Pallo and me. She'd recreated Pallo's bedroom of two hundred years ago in a mystical portal. It was a magical moment for me. I'd never felt such a bond with a person before. I'd never turned myself over to someone so completely.

I closed my eyes. Pallo touched my forehead with his cool hand. I sensed him reading me, scanning my thoughts to see if I was all right. I knew that he'd seen me thinking of him and not Caleb. He was my calming thought.

My power tried to rise and strike out. I still wasn't very good at controlling it. It made its way up enough to reach Pallo. He began to pull his hand back from me but stopped. He put his face on my cheek and let my magic ride over him slowly. For the first time, I saw what was in his mind, his inner most thoughts. He was remembering the night that we had first made love, too. I could sense how happy he was and how very long it had been since he'd felt anything but darkness. He replayed the night's events, when Talia the Keeper of Hounds had walked in on us at the very moment that our lovemaking had ended. I could feel his fear for my life. He knew full well what she was capable of and he knew what shewould do to me if she learned how much I meant to him. How I was his world, his reason to continue existing.

Pallo's memories of that night continued to flood into me. His mind raced with ideas on how best to handle the situation with Talia. Then it hit him, he knew a way that might work, might get me out alive. He tried desperately to reach out with his mind to me. Talia struck me in the back with her whip at the same time and he lost his ability to focus. His body ached with mine--he felt my pain because he was my soul mate. He couldn't move to help me or show any sign of concern. He had to prevent Talia from knowing he was lying to her.

She had to believe that I meant nothing to him. It was the only chance he had to a.s.sure my safety. No part of him cared if Talia killed him, his only worry was me. Without me, he would lose his will to live anyway.

Talia looked at him, her face full of suspicion. He had to do something to keep her from suspecting the truth. Pallo struggled with himself as he raised his hand to strike me. He knew about h.e.l.lhounds, and he knew that they normally only attacked when they sensed fear or knew they were going to have a good fight. His hope was that he would strike me hard enough to knock me out. The h.e.l.lhounds might leave me alone and move onto to a mo re lively target--him. He'd made me call for Giovanni already and he knew the master vampire would drop everything to come to me. The last thing Pallo wanted to do was see me tied to Giovanni again, but without him, I would not survive. Pallo knew what he had to do, he had to kill Talia, and he was ready to use whatever method he could to do it. He loved me so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for me.

"Dio mio!" Pallo jerked his face away from me. He hadn't meant to share that with me, I could tell. I looked into his dark brown eyes. Everything that he'd said and done--all the ugly words, all the deceit, had been to protect me. He'd been more than willing to sacrifice himself for me.

How had I ever doubted that?

I couldn't fight the tears that were welling up any longer. "I didn't know, Pallo. I didn't know.""Try to relax now. We shall discuss this another time." Pallo's voice was so soothing. I wanted to listen to whatever he told me to do. I wanted to obey his every command. I shook my head slightly. That didn't sound like me at all. I was definitely not a follower. "Come, we need to get you to bed before the sun comes up."

He was right. Once the sun came up they would all be too tired to do anything. I didn't know why it drained their energy but it did. I didn't fight Pallo when he picked me up and carried me up the stairs. I didn't fight him when he lay next to me in the bed, or when he gently pulled the covers over us.

I reached for him and laced my fingers in his. "I'm so sorry. I should have never doubted you. I should have followed my heart. It told me to love you and trust you, but my head ... Pallo, please forgive me. I didn't mean to say all those hurtful things to you ... and I ... I love you so much that it hurts."

Pallo wrapped his large frame around me and kissed my forehead. "I love you too, Gwyneth, but you have agreed to be another man's wife. I think it is best if you rest now."

Instantly, my eyes grew heavy. Was this Pallo's doing? I clung tight to him afraid that if I feel asleep, he'd leave. I fought the urge to rest and touched his cheek lightly. "The only man I want to spend my life with is you. It's always been you."

He sighed. "Things are different now, fata mia. The Fates paired Caleb with you this time around and even I cannot fight fate. To do so would only cause you pain, because you yourself admitted to sharing power with him already, forever tying the two of you together. As romantic as having you all to myself sounds, it cannot be. You belong to another now. The bond between the two of you will only grow stronger each pa.s.sing day. Do not fight it, Gwyneth, or it will destroy you." He kissed my forehead and pulled me closer to him. "Try to rest."

I was. .h.i.t again with the need to sleep. Pallo was using his vampire mojo on me and I wasn't strong enough to fight it. "No ... you, Pallo ... I belong to..." Darkness surrounded me before I was able to finish speaking.

I couldn't have been asleep very long before I heard the sound of the robed men chanting. I didn't have the energy to be doing this again. Mybody had been so run down lately that I needed to get a good night's rest. These guys were just plain old p.i.s.sing me off.

I found myself naked and in the room with the altar again. Candles had been lit all around the floor, along the circular walls. I walked towards them and looked up at the paintings. Something touched my shoulder and I jerked around to find Pallo standing behind me.

Immediately, I checked Pallo's eyes. The last time I'd dreamt about him here he went all demonic on me during s.e.x. I didn't want that happening again. His eyes were perfectly brown. He put his hand out to me and I took it. It felt warm against my freezing skin. He pulled me close to him. Our bodies fit together so perfectly. His tall muscular frame seemed to be molded perfectly for my five foot five self.

Suddenly, the robed men appeared all around us. Pallo pulled me tighter to him and hissed out at them. I didn't want to see his face. His voice scared me enough. If I was them I would have run like h.e.l.l. They didn't.

They chanted more. "She is the vessel, you are the master ... the time is near."

Pallo growled again but they didn't stop. They began to say something in a language I couldn't understand. Pallo's body stiffened. His hands slid down my back slowly. His breathing increased. When he looked down at me ,.

his eyes were pits as dark as coal. Screaming, I tried to break free of his grip. He held tight to me and brought his other hand up and touched my breast. I didn't know why my mind was letting this dream go on. I didn't want to have s.e.x with Pallo when he was like this and I certainly didn't want to do it with an audience--again.

"Pallo, NO!" One of his fingernails sc.r.a.ped across the top of my breast.

I pulled back a bit from him and glanced down. Blood trickled from the cut. I shook my head violently. "Wake up d.a.m.n you, Gwen, wake up!" I shouted at myself but it was useless.

The crazy chanting robed men closed in on us. I didn't know which was worse, the thought of these guys touching me or Pallo's vampire side being in control of him. "Feed the seed, feed the seed, take her ... feed the seed." Their chanting grew louder and louder. Pallo pulled me closer to him and bent down towards me. I slapped at his face and only hurt my hand in the process. His tongue flickered over the cut on my breast.I gave up on waking myself up and decided to take another approach. "I love you, Pallo ... please stop this." I whispered softly in his ear. He stopped licking my chest and stood very still with his head down. "Pallo, I love you. Please, Pallo, can you hear me? Don't do this!"

He remained still.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I attempted to will my self away. "Wake up, Gwen, wake up! No part of you wants Pallo like this. Not when you have the real, non-demonic version in your bed. Wake the f.u.c.k up!" I screamed at myself, but I was obviously too stubborn to listen because I didn't wake up. "Pallo!"

I cracked my eyes open and found myself still in the circular room with the monks. The only good thing was that Pallo no longer looked like he wanted to rip me limb from limb. No trace of his demon was left.

"Gwyneth?"

I grabbed him to me tight. "Make this stop, please make this end. I can't do this anymore. Please ... Pallo, I just want to wake up."

"I am sorry, Gwyneth." He sighed and I knew it was bad. "I love you."

"Make it end. Make it all end. I love you too, but not like this." Tears rolled down my cheeks. It was hard to find my voice again, but when it came I used it to say all that I wished to say to him in real life. "The night with Talia ... you were right, we are soul mates and I will love you until I die."

"You are immortal."

"I know."

"That is a long time to carry love for someone you cannot have," he said, his voice hollow. He kissed the top of my forehead gently and I felt every emotion in him as though he'd been stripped bare. "Trust me, Gwyneth. I know full well what it means to love someone for centuries only to see them chose another."I held tight to him and tried to will our conversation to end. Making up romantic versions of how much he loved me was foolish.

"No, not foolish, Gwyneth ... nothing about my love for you is foolish."

He stroked the back of my hair and rocked me gently.

"Oh, this is just f.u.c.king great!" Caleb's voice boomed all around us.

That was a first in the crazy monk dreams. Geesh, even my friggin' dreams had issues keeping Pallo and Caleb separate.

Pallo and I looked at each other quickly. Something tugged at us, pulling us backwards into nothingness. "PALLO!"

I woke, still screaming his name. It took me a few seconds to adjust to the room. Someone had turned the bedroom lights all on. I had to squint to keep from going temporarily blind.

"This is just f.u.c.king great!" I heard Caleb's voice plain as day and thought I might still be dreaming. I turned and sat up quickly. A sharp pain shot across my left breast. I pulled the front of my shirt open and saw that my breast was bleeding in the same spot where Pallo had scratched me in my dream. I gasped and looked up.

Caleb stood at the foot of the bed. His long white-blond hair was flowing all around him. He had on a brown shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans and he looked amazing. His face, on the other hand, looked livid. He caught my gaze with his green eyes and held it. An icy rage came over them. I didn't understand what was going on. Why was he mad?

Pallo.

Turning to my left, I found Pallo lying next to me. We were both fully clothed. He sat up slowly, looking sore. I didn't think he ever got achy.

He glanced at me and wiped the corner of his mouth, coming away with blood on his hand.

I looked up at Caleb and searched for the right words to tell him what had transpired while he was away. As I stared into his green eyes, I knew that Pallo was right, Caleb and I had forged a bond, one that was growing stronger. It wasn't what I had with Pallo--at least not yet, but it was headed that way, fast. "Caleb ... I need to ... this here isn't what it looks like ... not this....""So you two weren't just having s.e.x."

"No," Pallo said. "We did not just have s.e.x."

Granted, Pallo was right, we didn't just have s.e.x, we had it hours ago. I was about to tell Caleb this when his head fell back and he laughed loud and hard. "This is f.u.c.king fabulous, Gwen, really, you've outdone yourself!" He glared at Pallo. "I come home early worried about you, and I find you in our bed with him. Tell me, how many times in the last two months have you done this to me? Huh? Do you wait until I'm at least down the road before you start f.u.c.king him, or does he 'poof' in the second I climb into my truck?"

"No, Caleb, it's not like that. I've never had him sneaking in here while you're gone. Don't do this. Don't say things that you can't take back."

It was ridiculous of me to deny the charges that Caleb was making, yet I did. He was right, not about it happening at the moment, but it had happened--in the very bed we still were laying in.

Pallo stood and looked a little shaky. Was it still daylight out? I didn't know. "Caleb, she speaks the truth. I merely laid next to her to keep an eye on her. Something is off, shall we say, and she required constant supervision."

Caleb walked up to him. "G.o.d, Pallo, I really thought we had an understanding. I thought we agreed to be honest with one another. This is low, even for you. And with the s.h.i.t I've seen you do over the years, that's not saying much!"

I'd had enough of this. "Caleb! We were just sleeping that's all." Great, Pallo's literal translations were rubbing off on me. Hey, if they'd get me off on a technicality I'd go with it.

Caleb laughed wickedly. "Hmm, I would've thought it'd be hard to sleep while you were professing your undying love for one another."

I looked over at Pallo. His eyes were wide, too. Had he had the same dream as me? Glancing down at my breast, I noticed it was still bleeding and covered it quickly with my hand. Pallo's gaze darted to my breast as well. His eyes widened and he looked down in slow motion at the blood onhis hand. He shook his head slightly before backing away from me. From the look on his face, he was as shocked as I was.

"Oh, now you don't want to be near her. Should that make me feel better?"

Caleb showed no signs of slowing on his verbal a.s.sault.

"Something is very wrong here," Pallo said.

"You bet your a.s.s something is wrong here."

"Guard your anger old friend...."

Caleb clenched his fists and narrowed his gaze on Pallo. "Dun do bheal!"

"No, old friend, I will speak. Now is not the time for jealousy. Gwyneth is...."

"D'anam don diabhal!" Caleb said, spitting each word out while he glared at Pallo. I sat there staring at Caleb as if he were a stranger. In many ways, he was.

Pallo laughed slightly and I wondered if he'd finally snapped. "You are a bit too late on that request, faerie. The Devil has owned my soul for centuries. You are already aware of that, are you not? Correct me if I am wrong, but when I was newly made, was is not you I found f.u.c.king the woman I loved ... the woman I was to wed ... the woman who carried my child within her womb?"

My heart went to my throat. I was the woman Pallo was talking about. In my first life, we had been lovers and when he disappeared, I found out I was pregnant. Caleb cared for me and after six months had pa.s.sed, we had a.s.sumed that Pallo was dead. We weren't far off--he was a vampire. I'd had random visions from my past life and knew that Pallo had walked in on Caleb and me while we were having s.e.x. He'd a.s.sumed the child I carried was Caleb's. It wasn't until two months ago that he finally learned the truth. It had been his.

I closed my eyes a moment, trying to keep the memories at bay. The men before me seemed to have great difficulty separating my two lives. To them, the lives blurred into one. They were immortal and had been first-hand witnesses to the events that unfolded centuries before. I, on the other hand, gained my knowledge through them or through randomvisions. Buying a ticket and watching it at a movie theater would have explained more to me then I knew now, but they couldn't seem to understand that.

"Guys, please stop. This is ridiculous. Let me go put some coffee on and we can discuss this like the adults we all hope to be someday." They looked at me like I'd sprouted a second head. Hey, maybe if I was lucky, I'd sprout a second body too and then they could each get one.

"No, Gwen, I'll deal with you in a minute. This is between the vampire and me now."

My mouth dropped. "Excuse me, but did you just say that you'd 'deal' with me in a minute?"

The air around me heated quickly and I recognized the sensation for what it was--Caleb's magic. He wasn't one who pulled his magic out often and now certainly wasn't the time I wanted him to start. His emotions were too high right now. I knew firsthand what it was like to lose control of your power. That wasn't something I wanted to see happen with Caleb.

I tried to bring my power up, but with not feeling very well, I had little to no control over it. "Caleb, stop ... please."

He lashed out with his power and moved me backwards on the bed. I screamed as heat surrounded me. Surprisingly, it didn't burn me. Caleb could have incinerated me on the spot, he didn't. Instead, he lashed out, but still maintained control of himself.

"Gwyneth!" Pallo shouted.

Caleb went charging at him. I could feel Caleb's magic building up again.

He was planning on using it against Pallo. I knew that Pallo was stronger than any human was, but I didn't know how he'd stack up against Caleb's magic. Caleb was old and his magic was powerful. Digging deep within me, I found the core of my magic and seized hold of it, using it to push Caleb's energy off me. It worked.

I scrambled to get out of the bed. With being sick and having to expend that amount of energy, I could barely keep my eyes open let alone stand.

It didn't matter how s.h.i.tty I felt, I wouldn't let Caleb do anythingstupid. "Caleb, no!"

He ignored me as I struggled to get up. I didn't have enough strength in my stomach muscles to pull myself up. I glanced down and it looked like I was smuggling a grapefruit in my lower abdomen. What the h.e.l.l? Pallo and Caleb exchanged more harsh words, but I sounded them out. I just kept staring at my stomach.

Something was wrong--very wrong with me, and it sure the h.e.l.l wasn't a common cold.

Pushing myself off the edge of the bed, I looked towards Pallo and Caleb.

They had each other by the shirts and were nose to nose shouting at each other. Half of their words were mixes of the languages they'd learned over the centuries. I caught the highlights in English and those were bad enough. I really didn't want to know what else they were saying.

"You can't stand the fact that I'm the one who has her." Caleb was practically spitting in Pallo's face as he spoke. "It must just kill you that I've known the pleasure of her company and you haven't."