"Yes, ma'am." There would be time for more leisurely explorations the next time. And the next time. And the one after that. I think it was that thought as much as the sensations I was feeling that made me so happy.

I raised myself and looked her in the eye while I entered her, only a little at first. Her eyes were wide and as dark as night. She wrapped her legs around me, bringing me down to her, deeper inside her. I heard myself groan and entered her fully in one smooth stroke. We both gasped and then began to move. She met me stroke for stroke, her body fitting to mine like we had been made for each other. I was beginning to think we had been.

She clung to me like she was afraid to let me go for fear she'd go spinning off the earth. Like I was her lifeline in a roiling sea.

As for me, I was a real, living, warm-blooded man again, if only for those moments.

I felt us floating upward together toward some kind of heaven. I tried to slow my pace to make the moment last, but Connie wouldn't let me. She urged me on in her body's silent language.

We cried out as our pleasure spilled over the crest we rode together. The power of it, like nothing I'd ever felt, took us over as we surfed out every wave of sensation. We held each other tight as we floated back to the sh.o.r.e.

Neither of us could speak for a while. I held Connie and she stroked my chest with her fingers. "What's this scar?" she asked absently, running a forefinger along the jagged mark. "The one in the middle of your chest."

I opened my mouth to say That's where the minie ball tore through my chest and killed me. But I stopped, reluctant to remind both of us that I was nothing more than a reanimated corpse. Not a real, live boy after all. No, not by a long shot.

"It's nothing," I said. I took her fingers in mine, brought them to my cooling lips and kissed them. They were warm and alive like the rest of her.

"Jack, that was..." she trailed off.

"I know. Me too." I released her fingers and touched the tip of her nose. "Next time we'll take it slower. I promise."

"Next time," she repeated. She looked at me with such profound sadness that for a second I was scared.

"What? What is it?"

She forced a little laugh. "Nothing. It's just that we had to wait so long, and it was so wonderful, it still doesn 't seem real somehow."

"It's real," I said with more conviction than I felt. "And there's plenty more where that came from." I gave her a wicked wink and she tweaked one of my nipples.

"There better be," she said playfully.

"For right now, though, I'd better get back to William's. It's almost sunup."

"One last kiss then," she said, and locked me in a tight embrace.

I kissed her like I'd never kiss her again, molding our bodies so close I hardly knew where I left off and she began. She released me slowly, and kissed the length of my arm to my fingertips as I rose from the bed. I took my clothes and dressed quickly in the living room and went back to the bedroom for one more look at her beautiful self curled in her soft cloud of a bed.

"Can I see you tonight?" I asked.

She pretended she was asleep, but I sensed that she wasn't. She was just playing 'possum to avoid my question. Or playing hard to get, more like. Some women like to be chased, and if Connie was one of them, I 'd chase her all she wanted and follow wherever she led.

Eighteen William The noise was coming closer and becoming more annoying. Renee stirred, and I reached down to brush some of the dirt off of her face.

The noise was definitely coming from above. Dirt and pebbles began to rain down just feet away from where Renee and I were buried. A small opening formed, and a beam of light filled it briefly before a strange face appeared. One with a long, shiny snout.

What manner of creature was this? Then I noticed that it wore a yellow hard hat.

Just at the moment I'd deciphered that the snout was really an oxygen mask, that face disappeared and was replaced with that of my son. "You all right?" he called.

"We are now," I said.

After the workmen had fitted Renee with a breathing device like theirs and a small canister of oxygen, they quickly -and wisely-disappeared.

While I began the climb out, carrying Renee, followed by Olivia and Will, I felt the earth 's greed. It and whatever was just underneath us were reluctant to let us go.

Will had commandeered Hugo's house for the burned-out coven, since none of its occupants was using it anymore. On the walk there my son and Olivia explained how they had found us.

"So as soon as Olivia and I had settled everyone in, we sensed you calling for us," Will said. His wounds were already healing somewhat, and he seemed to have regained most of his strength. "We rushed here as quickly as we could, and at the site of the cave-in, we found a crew of flushers already there, all decked out in their oxygen masks and tanks. They had been sent to fix the sewer that ruptured when the cave-in started."

Olivia took up the story. "We slipped them enough cash to help us dig you out with their, uh, digging machine, and to keep their mouths shut in the bargain."

"Was it enough to keep them from asking questions about how you could breath in the sewers and they couldn't?"

"Too right," Will confirmed. "Either that or they were too afraid for their lives."

Renee was shaken at first but was as right as rain once we got back to Hugo's. She took a bath and dressed herself in a long shirt of Olivia's while one of the vampires went out to buy Renee pizza, her favorite food. She fell asleep after one piece, so tired she collapsed onto her plate. I washed the sauce off her cheeks and chin and put her to bed.

The sun was up, and I would get my rest as well. At sunset we would fly home in my chartered jet. Under normal circ.u.mstances, I preferred to travel by sea, but these were hardly normal circ.u.mstances. I tried to call Melaphia to tell her that Renee was safe, but n.o.body answered, and the answering machine was not on. That struck me as quite strange. Jack's cell phone was unresponsive as well. Will had raided the wine cellar and-not surprisingly-selected a bottle of red. "Let's have a drink to celebrate before we go to bed," he suggested.

I could tell that Olivia was torn. She was glad for having rescued Renee and me, but she still grieved that two of her vampires had been murdered the previous night. Added to that were the harsh words we 'd exchanged right after the fire. For all those reasons and perhaps more, she seemed lost in her own thoughts. Still, she accepted a gla.s.s and toasted our rescue with grace.

"How fare your other vampires?" I asked.

"Already beginning to heal, thanks to Will," she said.

Will nodded and to my surprise said nothing. Humility was not his style. I could feel a new warmth developing between them.

Perhaps they would be friends after all. I was glad for that, since Will had rejected my appeal for him to come to Savannah with me.

"What of Donovan?" The last I had known, he remained unconscious after Will had carried him from the fire.

"Donovan is in one of the coffins we found here, " Olivia rea.s.sured me while Will stared into his wine gla.s.s. "He's almost recovered, I think."

I looked at the lovely Olivia and thought about how far she'd progressed. She had proven her bravery and resourcefulness in protecting her coven and their valuable work. She had made mistakes, but in the end she had done well.

My realization of Diana's evil helped me come to terms with what I had viewed as Olivia's betrayal. I knew now that it was time to fully forgive Olivia and move on. Her decision was the wrong one, and not one she 'd soon repeat, but her motives had been pure.

"When Donovan is fully recovered," I began, "I suppose it's time to talk about relocating you and your vampires to Savannah."

Olivia swirled her wine contemplatively. "I've been thinking about that, William. I'm not so sure that would be the right course of action for my coven after all."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Now that we know more or less where the dark lords are, right here underneath us as it happens, you'll need us here to keep tabs on them."

"As well as keep our eyes and ears open for the goings-on of any powerful vampires they may lure in to do their dirty work on this level," Will added.

"It sounds as if you two have teamed up," I observed.

They looked at each other for a moment. "Olivia says I can join up with her lot if I fancy," Will said. "Since you staked Hugo and since Mummy Dearest is busy clawing herself out of the hole she dug for herself, I guess I may as well have a go with this group."

"Speaking of Diana and her predicament, do you think Ulrich was finally killed?" Olivia asked.

"It's hard to say. The last I saw of him, his head was cleaved more than half off, but that 's the shape I left him in the time before, and he still managed to heal himself. My sense is that we haven't seen the last of either of them. More's the pity."

When we'd finished our wine, I said, "I'm going to retire now, and at sundown Renee and I will leave for the private air strip in the country. But before I leave you, I want to say how impressed I am with the two of you. Not only did you team up to save Renee and me, but you saved Olivia's coven, moved them and their work into safe new quarters, settled your differences and planned your future-all in one night and day. There's no telling what you can accomplish from here. And I, for one, am glad, Will, that you have found such a suitable new home where you can be safe."

"Good thing, too," Will said, looking at Olivia. "Dad here tells me that there are at least four people in the States who've sworn to see me dead."

Just then the door leading up from the cellar opened; in the doorway stood a redheaded Welsh vampire. Donovan had crawled out of his coffin again, and he was staring daggers at Will.

"You! I swore by the G.o.ddess I'd drain you as dry as dust, you son of a wh.o.r.e!"

In a split second, Olivia was at Donovan's side, holding off the weakened vampire. She glared at Will. "Friend of yours?"

"In another life." Will got to his feet and took a defensive stance, but he was able to relax when Donovan collapsed into Olivia's arms. "It was a long time ago."

I realized that Donovan hadn't gotten a good look at Will the first time my son came to Olivia's house, and he was unconscious when Will saved him from the fire. "I don't even want to know what you did to him," I said. Something told me that Will had a checkered history with many, many European vampires. "Perhaps when Olivia explains how you saved his life last night, he'll call things even."

"I'm sure they'll be the best of friends," Olivia said. "I'm putting you back in the coffin," she told Donovan, hoisting him over her shoulder. He hadn't seemed to hear the part about Will saving his life.

"I'm getting better," Donovan insisted weakly.

"I'm going to bed," I said, and followed Olivia to the cellar.

Jack In my dream, Connie was on top. She was riding me, and my hips were bucking, rising to meet her every movement. Her head was thrown back, eyes closed, her black hair cascading across her shoulders and down her back. Her lovely b.r.e.a.s.t.s moved up and down with each stroke, her skin flushed with arousal. I saw the artery pulsing at the base of her throat.

I sat up and threw my arms around her, holding her fast to me, trapping her. She cried out. I don't know if it was from pleasure or from pain. All I could hear was the siren song of that pulse beneath her creamy, warm skin, and my fangs unsheathed themselves. As if I had X-ray vision, I saw the blue of the artery beneath her skin, running like a river.

My fangs hovered over the pulsing vessel and bit down hard. Connie screamed.

I came awake in a cold sweat, tried to sit up too fast, and hit my head on my coffin lid. I threw it open so hard the lid bounced on its hinges and almost closed again. I crawled out, rubbing my eyes blearily. A nightmare. It was only a nightmare. But the scream had sounded so real.

A clap of thunder from a lightning strike just outside the house penetrated the steel -reenforced vault and reverberated off the walls. I a.s.sured myself that the imagined scream had only been thunder.

I felt groggy, sensing it was still daytime outside, but I knew between the nightmare and the electrical storm, I wouldn't be going back to sleep. I dressed, crossed to the little wet bar in the corner, and grabbed a bag of blood from the fridge. That nightmare had shaken me to my toes. I reckoned I was just one of those guys who, when they finally had something good in their life, was so afraid of losing it that the fear had seeped into the subconscious and morphed into a nightmare.

I ripped the blood bag open with my teeth and poured it in a highball gla.s.s. Doctor Phil would be proud of my self-a.n.a.lysis, I'm sure. I did have to admit that a romance with Connie, as much as I had longed for it, wouldn't be easy. I was a natural-born killer and she was a cop. I was evil dead, she was divine good. Yada yada yada. It wasn't exactly a match made in heaven, so to speak. But if I hadn't been in heaven in her bed last night, then heaven didn't exist.

I flopped down into William's easy chair, propped my boots on the ottoman, and went over the last night in my mind. She 'd driven me half crazy with every blessed touch, heat-filled glance, and whispered word. Even her playing hard to get there at the end made me hungrier for her than ever.

A guy always wanted what he couldn't have.

Another deafening clap of thunder made me jump. I thought about adding a little splash of Jack Daniel 's to the blood to calm my nerves, but I didn't want to go to Connie's later with whiskey on my breath. Let's see, what else had Connie said last night? I wanted to remember every little thing.

I think I know what I have to do to be at peace with events from my past, she'd said. And then she'd added that she had some work to do on that score. I just hoped she'd finally given up the idea of going to the underworld. I'd a.s.sumed that she had dropped that plan. Had she said that, or had it been wishful thinking on my part? Suddenly her statement about knowing how to be at peace started to bother me.

I wracked my brain trying to remember more of what Connie had said to me. I was so d.a.m.ned h.o.r.n.y she could have recited the Gettysburg Address and I wouldn't have noticed. Then, something else came to me like the thunder ringing in my ears.

I want you to know that whatever happens later, even if something goes wrong, you mustn't blame yourself.

I had a.s.sumed she was still afraid I might be hurt during our lovemaking. But what if she was talking about something else?

Something yet to happen? A tingle of fear worked its way up my spine.

I just then realized I'd a.s.sumed a h.e.l.luva lot since the night before. And you know what they say about a.s.suming. I was starting to feel like an a.s.s.

For the first time, I wondered where Reyha was. It was definitely still daytime. She'd be in dog form, but she should have been sleeping, if not in my coffin, at least here in the vault. And it was entirely too quiet. Usually when I woke up too early, I could hear the m.u.f.fled sounds of the active daytime household above me.

But there was no sound from upstairs, only the howls of the wind and thrashing tree branches from the raging storm outside. A storm that hadn't been forecast. I remembered glancing at the weather page of the Savannah Morning News yesterday to see if there would be rain for the dominance fight. The forecast had been for cold and clear weather for the rest of the week.

Something wasn't right. I reached for the cell phone on my belt clip to call Connie and make sure she was safe. The battery was dead.

Another lightning bolt made me jump. That one had to have struck in the backyard. I crossed to the windows that faced Mel's house. I separated two of the strips of steel on the metal blinds and peered out through the tinted gla.s.s.

The phone dropped out of my hand onto the floor.

I burst out the metal door of the vault and into the backyard, not caring if I caught fire and burned to a crisp. But there was no sunshine because of the impenetrable storm clouds. The sky was as black as night.

I sprinted to where Connie's body lay on the ground, dressed in a white gown, in the middle of a circle of lighted candles.

Candles that were inexplicably still burning even through the fierce gale. Melaphia stood above her in a trance.

I knew in a horrified instant what this scene meant. Melaphia had helped Connie 's spirit go to the underworld, leaving her comatose body behind. When William had done this, he had nearly died. I mean final death. If he hadn't been able to find his way back to this dimension, his body would have turned to dust and his soul would have been trapped in h.e.l.l. Connie did not have the knowledge or the power of a five-hundred-year-old blood drinker. How would her spirit ever survive to return to me? I knelt at Connie's side and cradled her in my arms. I put my ear to her chest and heard a faint, thready heartbeat. CPR would do more harm than good to Connie's body and would be no help at all in reuniting her body and spirit. I shouted at Melaphia in desperation. "Why? For G.o.d's sake, why did you let her do it?"

Mel opened her eyes and looked at me as if the answer was perfectly obvious. "I did it for you. And for William."

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

Melaphia reached down and grabbed me by the collar with both hands. With a strength I didn't know she had, she hauled me to my feet, forcing me to let go of Connie. "Do you know what she is?" she shouted, bringing my face to within inches of hers.

"You told me she was a Mayan G.o.ddess."

"She is much more than that," Melaphia said. Even her voice had changed. She was speaking in the voices of her foremothers, many of whom I had helped to raise, loving them like daughters, just as I did Melaphia and Renee.

"What?" I demanded. "What is she?"

"She is the Slayer!" Melaphia released me and spat on the ground between us.

"A slayer," I repeated. Another lightning bolt struck nearby, and my mind lit up with the memory of the moment at Sullivan 's funeral when Connie had grown so mad at me for not killing Will to avenge Sullivan's death. She said she guessed she'd just have to learn how to kill vampires herself, and a jolt of eerie dread had pulsed through me...like I'd been struck by lightning sure enough. Something inside me knew, had always known, that Connie could be the death of me. But I couldn't face that knowledge because of my feelings for her.

"Does she know?" I asked Melaphia.

"No. And with the G.o.ds' help, she never will. I have saved my baby. Now I'm going to save my fathers." Mel's own voice had returned.

I took Melaphia by the shoulders. "What do you mean by that?"