Instantly, I panicked. Caleb hadn't let me finish when I tried to tell him that Pallo and I had slept together. He had no idea that I'd slept with Pallo let alone only hours ago. I hadn't thought past the moment with Pallo, now I needed to do something. It was about to come out now.

Pallo wouldn't pa.s.s up the opportunity to hurt at Caleb. He seemed to live for moments like this.

"You are right, old friend. I am jealous of you and I am sorry. I have not known her touch in this life and never will." Pallo's words left me standing there speechless. He lied to Caleb. We had been intimate together more than once, but he lied.

Caleb eased his grip on Pallo's shirt. "I knew it. I knew that you wouldn't be able to stand it. She'll never touch you now--you know that right? Things are different now. This time around, she isn't the same naive girl and you're not human. You're a vampire ... you're one of the walking dead and Gwen doesn't let demons in her bed anymore!"

Caleb's words stung me. I couldn't imagine how Pallo must be feeling. I couldn't take it anymore. I tried to push myself between them. "Enough!"They both stopped and dropped their hands to their sides slowly. They looked like two children who'd been scolded. My gaze met Caleb's--I had to tell him the truth. He had to know that I'd not only slept with Pallo, I'd also made my mind up. "Caleb, I think you should sit down. There's something I need to tell you. Promise me that you'll keep your power under control."

His face went slack. Pallo walked around behind me and put his hand on my shoulder in a show of support. I took a deep breath and continued on.

"Caleb, there's something that I need to tell you about Pallo and me."

"No, Gwen ... no." Caleb looked like he was going to be sick.

"I'm in love with ... what I mean to say is that I ... we..." The right words seemed to escape me. I took a deep, calming breath and tried again.

"You know that I have strong feelings for Pallo--that I care deeply for him. Ah h.e.l.l, you know that I love him too, right?" Caleb grimaced and turned his head. This wasn't going as well as I'd hoped it would.

Pallo's grip tightened on my shoulder. "What Gwyneth is trying to tell you is that she has informed me that the two of you are to be wed and she has been concerned about how I would take the news. I am happy for you both, of course." I flung around and stared at him with wide eyes. He could have told Caleb or at least let me do it. Caleb deserved to know the truth. Why the h.e.l.l was Pallo doing this?

Caleb ran to me. "You told him?"

I looked at Pallo, trying to figure out what he was doing. His big brown eyes blinked twice at me slowly. I turned to Caleb and nodded. His arms flew around me, and he pulled me tight to his chest. The sweet smell of morning dew filled my head as he wrapped his magic around us, letting it tug at the piece that now resided in me. "I thought you were going to tell me that you two had ... that you'd had..." He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. "What made you decide to tell him? I thought we were going to do it together."

I closed my eyes. I couldn't do this. I couldn't lie to his face.

Regardless how strong my feelings for Pallo were, I loved Caleb too and he deserved more than this. My stomach grew tight. It cramped up so hard that I doubled over from the pain. Both Caleb and Pallo were at my sidesin an instant.

"Gwen?" Caleb touched my arm.

The pain in my stomach tripled and I screamed out, falling to the floor.

I lay there curled in the fetal position crying out in pain. Caleb tried to pick me up, but every time that he touched me, the cramps worsened.

Pallo put his hand on my shoulder and the pain eased up a little. I reached for his hand and pulled him closer to me. He seemed to understand that I wanted him near me. He sat on his knees and put his entire body next to mine on the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Caleb asked. The sound of his voice made me sic k to my stomach. I was as in the dark as he was.

Having Pallo near me definitely helped with the pain. I straightened my body out to stand up. Pallo slid his arms around me to help me up. "I do not know..." Pallo stopped in mid-sentence, as his hand skimmed over my lower stomach. "Go and retrieve the Si doctor in town."

"What's wrong?" He moved towards us and pain crashed back into me. I winced and Caleb stopped dead in his tracks. "I'm not leaving her like this. Maybe I can...."

Pallo put his hand up and Caleb shut-up. "I cannot go, the sun has not set as of yet. She needs to be seen immediately. Go, I will stay with her."

Caleb fell to his knees next to me, and s.n.a.t.c.hed me up in his arms. The minute that I lost contact with Pallo I felt sick again. My body cramped to the point that I thought I'd vomit. "Put me down."

He did, slowly.

"Gwen, honey, I knew I shouldn't have left you alone. I knew that you were getting sick, but I had no idea it was this bad." His concern warmed my heart.

"Go, Caleb, Pallo's right. You need to drive into town. I can't go in like this. It would draw too much attention." The pain in my stomach was threatening to rip me in two. I screamed out again, reaching for anythingto help ground me. Pallo's arms came around me quickly and the pain receded.

"My friend, you are wasting precious time. Now go and get the help she needs." Pallo's voice was calm, yet stern. Caleb leaned over and kissed my forehead before he raced out of the room. I knew that it would take him a least an hour to get there and back. I didn't think I could hold out that long.

Pallo helped me back into the bed and sat down next to me. I kept my hand on his thigh. His pants were soft and smooth. I had always loved his choices in clothes. He was very New York--very metros.e.xual. His hand brushed past mine on the way to my stomach.

"Gwyneth?"

I looked up into his well-defined face. His chestnut brown eyes held much concern. "Gwyneth, have you dreamt of me?"

Under normal circ.u.mstances I would have laughed, I mean, come on, how full of yourself can you get? But now, with the freaky chanting men dreams and the cut on my breast I didn't think it was the least bit funny. I nodded my head slowly.

Pallo's head dropped slightly. "In these dreams, did I, did we...."

I'd never heard him at a loss for words before. It wasn't helping me remain calm. I knew full well what he was getting at. He wanted to know if I'd dreamt of having s.e.x with him. I wasn't sure how much of the dream I wanted to reveal to him yet, so I took a more subtle approach. "They keep chanting over and over again. They keep saying I'm the vessel. Then you show up and everything is fine for a little bit, before you...."

He slid his hand under my shirt. I didn't push him away. His touch was the only thing keeping me from doubling over in pain. Lifting my shirt up gently, he looked at the cut over my left breast. He closed his eyes as he sighed. That was not a good sign.

"Pallo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, but if you should have another one of these dreams of the chanting men try to wake yourself up. If you are unable to wake, andif I take you to the altar again--and you cannot reach me through my demon, then kill me ... do you understand? In the dream if I should try to harm you, then you are to slay me." I couldn't believe my ears. I tried to sit up on the bed. "Do not fear, Gwyneth. It is only a dream. I will be fine. Just promise that you will do as I ask."

What in the h.e.l.l was he talking about? I had no intention of hurting him, asleep or not. Then it hit me. He had been the one to mention me reaching him through his demon, and he had been the one to bring up the altar. I never told him that part. He had been there with me! I sat up quickly, pulling my legs under me and looked straight into his face. "Don't you dare sit there and pretend like this is no big deal, and don't tell me to kill you!"

"It is only a dream, it is not real."

"Bulls.h.i.t! You were there, weren't you?"

He pushed gently on my shoulders to get me to lie down. It wasn't going to work. I could've told him that. "Do not be silly, Gwyneth. How could I possibly be there with you? It is your dream."

Before I could think, my hand flew up and smacked him across the face.

"Liar!" He made no motion to move away or protect himself from me. He just sat next to me on the bed. "Don't try to lie this away! I never mentioned the altar or you turning all vampire-demon-boy on me. You brought that up, not me!"

He stiffened. I had him and he knew it.

"I am sorry. I should not have tried to deceive you. Yes, I too have been having the same bizarre dreams." He moved closer to me, and touched the sides of my arms. "That does not change the fact that you must protect yourself at all costs. You must be willing to...."

I'd had enough of this. "I must be willing to what? Kill a man that I've loved since the moment I met him? I couldn't do that, even if it is just a friggin' dream."

"You would not hurt me. I would be fine when we woke."

Would he really be okay? I remembered him sinking his teeth into meduring s.e.x and waking up with the bite marks on my neck. I touched the cut on my breast and panicked. "No, Pallo! No! It would kill you here, too."

Pallo let out another long sigh. He'd known that if he died in the dream, he would die here too. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d! "I can't believe that you would try to get me to hurt you when you know exactly what will happen to you. Do you think I could live with that?"

I wanted to shake him violently. I wanted to smack his stubborn head against a wall to try to knock some sense into him. Instead, I let my lips touch his. His face softened under mine. I reached my hands up and pulled gently on his long brown curls. His hands danced up my back slowly. Turning my head a little, I pushed my tongue into his mouth.

Kissing Pallo made all the tension in my low abdomen fade away. I pulled at his face to keep him near me. I didn't want this to ever end. I had my Pallo back with me. This was how things were meant to be. He took extra time to savor our kiss before he pulled away from me. I reached out for him. My balance was off because I'd leaned forward so fast and I almost fell right onto the floor. I caught myself and looked up at him. "Pallo?"

"No, this cannot happen again, Gwyneth. You are to be Caleb's wife."

He was right. The only problem was that I wasn't sure if I'd been wrong to accept Caleb's proposal or wrong for sleeping with Pallo. I couldn't help the way I felt about him. I loved him with all my heart. Asking him to come back to the bed had crossed my mind, but I knew that it would only end badly. I lay back down on the bed and Pallo headed towards the door.

"Pallo, stay here with me please."

"That I cannot do ... I am sorry." I heard the bedroom door close softy behind him. I had successfully managed to screw everything up again. I was becoming a real pro. I didn't have the energy to try to fix it all now. I hadn't slept well in days and this flu was seriously taking it out of me. I let my head rest on the pillow and crossed my fingers to just sleep peacefully.

Chapter 9.

"No, she should be feeling better in a day or two."

I didn't recognize that voice. The room was dark. I had let my eyes adjust and tried to sit up. My body was feeling much better. I wasn't near as achy as I had been before I got some rest.

"So, how often should she take these?" Caleb stood near the door to our room. A tall-thin man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties stood directly in front of him. The man held a tiny brown bottle out to Caleb. "Have her take these twice a day."

"Should she stop taking the birth control pills?" Caleb asked.

"No! No, she should remain on those. These will help her rest and let her body fight the infection." Infection? Who the h.e.l.l was this guy? What kind of infection did this to someone?

"Caleb?"

He turned quickly towards me and smiled. "Hey you ... How are you feeling?"

Actually, I felt pretty silly. There was no pain in my abdomen and aside from being a little cold I felt fine. "Who are you?" I asked the tall thin man with the pills.

"I'm sorry. I should have better manners than this. I'm Gideon Matthews.

I'm filling in for Dr. Brown while she's away." I didn't know that Dr.

Brown was going anywhere. I'd just been in to see her last week and she never mentioned a thing. We weren't really close, though. She was a witch and also a licensed physician. That was the reason I'd picked her as mydoctor. The general public had no idea about her being in the local coven. Nana, Ken's grandmother, had introduced her to me a few years back. I had been looking into the possibility of having children and Nana knew that Dr. Brown would be the one to talk to.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Dr. Matthews."

He smiled and walked closer to me. He'd looked tall in the doorway, but now that he was getting closer to me I got the full picture. The guy had to be pushing seven feet tall. I should have realized how tall he was when I saw him standing near Caleb. Caleb was above average height-wise himself--making him look small was hard to do. This guy had to be asked if he played basketball at least a hundred times a day.

He put his hand out to me. "Everyone just calls me Dr. Gideon."

I shook his large hand. I couldn't help but notice how red his hair was.

I hadn't been able to make it out when he was across the room. I'd always thought that redheads had tons of freckles, but Dr. Gideon had none. His skin was flawless and light. He was almost as pale as Caleb and I were.

"Are you Si?"

He smiled, drawing attention to his blue eyes. "No, I'm not magical. My father was a cryptologist and my mother had some Fey blood in her but none filtered down to me. I guess you could say that I was born to understand more than just humans."

I liked the way he avoided calling me supernatural or paranormal. I never really took to those terms, and calling me a fairytale creature or a fantasy hardly seemed true. I was more screwed up than anyone I knew. Ho w would that make me a fantasy?

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Doctor, now if you don't mind me asking, what did you do? I feel a ton better."

Dr. Gideon smiled down at me. "I gave you a hefty dose of an antibiotic laced with magic, closed my eyes tight and wished really hard. Do you think it worked or should we head off to see the wizard?" I laughed. He winked. "Now, Caleb, you said that you had to head out on business again.

I think it best Gwen not be left alone. The man who was here earlier,Pallo, I think it's best if you see if he can remain here with her."

Caleb's face tightened. He wanted to argue, I could tell. He looked over at me and back at the doctor. "No, Pallo's a very busy man. I don't think he'll be able to stay for long. Gwen can come with me, I guess."

I suddenly found it hard to swallow. I couldn't believe he was inviting me along. I'd never once been allowed near him when he was working. It hit me then, just how much he didn't trust Pallo with me. If he only knew how warranted his fears were then I wouldn't have to worry about going with him, he'd just leave me.

"Gwen may be feeling better for the moment, but it may not last. If you take her gallivanting all over the countryside and she has another attack, she might not make it back here in time. This isn't a normal human infection, its mystical and I can't guarantee what it will do in the next five minutes, let alone five days. Do you want to see something bad happen to her? Is that what you want?"

"No," Caleb said so softly I barely heard him.

"Then perhaps you should ask your friends to stay with her."

"I really don't want to impose on my ... friends."

"You do not want to ask your friends to do what?" Pallo's voice came from behind Dr. Gideon.

"Ah ... there you are." Dr. Gideon seemed pleased to see Pallo. "I was just telling Caleb that Gwen shouldn't be left alone, at least not until we know what it is we're dealing with. I suggested that maybe you and your friends, the rather odd gentleman and the one with the blue hair, would be able to stay with her."

Pallo looked to Caleb. I could see the question in his eyes. "If it is for the best, then I can stay as long as I am needed."

Dr. Gideon clapped his hands together. "Great! It's all settled then.

Gwen." He turned to me. "I'll be back in a day or two to check on you.

I've left my number with the blue-haired vampire, so don't hesitate to call if you need me."He patted the foot of the bed and headed out the door. All of us watched him leave. It was better than watching each other. I wasn't up for another fight. I was pretty sure Caleb would be calling Mark and telling him he couldn't make it back in. I let my head fall back onto the pillow and prepared for World War Three.

Caleb broke the silence. "Well, I guess I could call every day to check on her. You could send Caradoc or James to get me if I'm needed ... and, Gwen is probably going to want to start planning."

Planning? I arched an eyebrow at Caleb. He smiled. "I'll ask James to get you some bridal books. If that's all right with you," he said, looking at Pallo. Pallo nodded.

"Then it's settled. I've got to get back out. The Enchantress struck again. This time, we think she managed to get the guy to murder his girlfriend. Can you imagine killing the woman you love?"

Pallo and I looked at him. What do you say to that? I was still in shock that Caleb was actually going to leave Pallo here with me. I didn't really have the energy to explore his last comment too closely.

"Can we have a minute?" Caleb asked, glancing over at Pallo.

Pallo nodded and headed out of the room. I did the mental psyche up in preparation for a fight. Caleb came and sat by me on the bed. He took my hand in his and placed a gentle kiss on it. His power enclosed me, immediately going straight to the bit of his that would always reside in me. My magic grabbed his and the mixing caused my breath to catch in my throat.