"What of my blood?" I asked, since Reedrek had seemed to think it would work. "It's almost pure, mixed with the blood of Lalee herself. It has been good enough for other things."

Gerard looked off into the distance. I could almost hear his computer of a brain calculating the odds and percentages. But then he shook his head. "I can't say for certain, but I feel that at best it might slow the progression. It would be an unacceptable risk for you, however, weakening you at a time when we need you most. And even if you force-feed him, you could still be exposed to the virus. We could lose you both."

"I say let him die and be done with it," a third voice said. "Save me the trouble of killing him myself."

Jack stepped from behind the large magnolia tree close to the house.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised that I hadn't felt his presence or heard his rumbling beast of a car coming up the drive. He went few places without it.

He looked at me briefly, as though he had something to say, then, straightening his back, he came up the stairs toward us. "I still live in this town, like it or not. I'll go where I want."

"And lie as you will," I said with a nod.

Gerard stepped between us. "I mean it, William. I'm against you feeding Will, son or not." A pained look crossed his features.

"There is one other, safer possibility."

I waited, part of my mind on Will, part on Diana, and the rest on having it out with Jack.

"There is Renee."

"Hush," I cautioned automatically. "Don't even mention her name here."

"No way in h.e.l.l," Jack growled at the same time.

Facing us both, Gerard sighed. "I know, I know. As a scientist, however, I consider all possibilities. The decision is not mine to make."

"Have you even seen what happened to Mel?" Jack challenged, as though I'd been out of town for the last two days. "No way in any freakin' possibility are you givin' our darlin' girl to be hurt. Not to help that a.s.shole." He glared at me. "No offense."

"None taken. And as the one who cared for Melaphia afterward," I informed Jack, "I agree. Our darling girl is out of the question."

Jack I relaxed. A little. At least I wouldn't have to duke it out with William over Renee. Sparing Renee couldn't have been an easy decision for him to make, though, since it meant the almost certain death of his human son. "Good," I said. "That boy of yours is bad news. Will tore Sullivan's throat clean out when I tried to make him turn him a 'loose. I wouldn't let him have one drop of Ren-of any of our precious blood."

"What's your point, Jack? That he's not worth saving even though he's my own flesh and blood, my real son?" William asked.

His meaning was clear: He no longer considered me to be his offspring. I'd be lying if I told you that didn't hurt.

"Not when he's vicious enough to kill the trusted human of our closest ally, no. I 'm just glad you haven't completely lost your ability to tell good from evil."

"You question my perspective?" William sneered. "Would it interest you to know that I just turned over the leadership of the Bonaventures to Lucius as a gesture of good faith because of that very issue?"

"Lucius? Are you crazy?" I knew by William's bitter stare he was gauging my reaction to the news-putting his faith in Lucius instead of me was another slap in the face. "Not two days ago we all heard the bloodthirsty b.a.s.t.a.r.d say he thought we should start making vampires as fast as possible and train them to be a.s.sa.s.sins."

After suffering two intentional slights in a row, I wanted to hit William in the way I knew would hurt the most. I opened my mind to him, letting him feel the depth of my hatred for his son and my wish to let Will rot until he was nothing but a pile of putrid flesh.

He lunged for my throat, and the memories of my human father 's merciless beatings came flooding back to me in a wave of sorrow and rage. I grabbed his wrist and held it fast. "Do not raise your hand to me in anger again. Ever."

"Then stop providing reasons for me to do so," he spat, and wrenched his arm out of my grasp.

I didn't really want to let a p.i.s.sing match with William get out of hand. Not with things already going to h.e.l.l in a handbasket.

Besides, if I was ever going to tell him my side of things, now was the time. "William, I didn't intentionally lie about Diana being alive. I mean, I was going to tell you."

"Yes, I recall you trying to tell me as she literally stepped from the boat. A little late, don't you think?"

"There's more to it than being late."

"Olivia knew too, didn't she? That's what she was concealing when she appeared in holographic form at the meeting."

"Yes. It was her idea-keeping Diana a secret from you."

"Why, Jack," William said sarcastically, "how unchivalrous of you to blame your lies on a woman."

"Would you shut up and listen for a minute?"

William looked at me coldly. "Very well. You have one minute to explain yourself. And then I'm going back to my real family."

"All right, here's the short of it. Olivia called me a few days ago and said she had to get something off her chest. It was killing her to lie to you when she said she didn't find Diana alive. I about freaked out and told her she needed to come clean right away. She said neither of us should tell you because she was afraid you'd storm into Hugo's clan headquarters to save Diana and get the both of us killed."

William frowned. "Get you killed?"

"Yeah. Olivia knew you'd go, I'd follow, and nothing good would come of it. Whether I had your back or not, chances are Hugo-surrounded by his clan-would have killed you, me, and anyone else stupid enough to blindly follow you into h.e.l.l itself. So, yeah, call me selfish, but I'd figured out the getting killed part."

William considered what I said. As the silence spun out, I realized with a sinking feeling what I 'd just revealed. I'd just handed William a weapon that could beat the h.e.l.l out of me more effectively than the meaty fists of my natural father: Now William knew he was still important to me, important enough to die for. G.o.dd.a.m.n mouth. Always running when I was rarely thinking. I'd just shifted the balance of our seesaw relationship...again. And he just stood there staring, considering.

"Go on," he said.

"Olivia was scared of what might happen to the Bonaventures, being such a new organization and all, if something happened to the both of us. I mean, think about it. She just lost Alger. She couldn't bear to lose you, too."

"So you conspired to keep Diana's existence a secret."

"I was going to tell you the day of the voodoo lesson, I swear. But when I saw you and Eleanor that day and how happy you were together, I just didn't have the heart. I was still going to tell you, mind. I was just...waiting for the right time."

William looked at his shoes. "I suppose I can see your dilemma. I know you're fond of Eleanor."

Eleanor-good way to get past the "Gee whiz Dad, I'd die for you" speech. "Listen, about her-you've got to talk to her. I sneaked off without her this evening after I told her I'd bring her over here."

"You are forever amazing me, and not in particularly good ways. Why in h.e.l.l would you bring her here?" he demanded.

"She said she was coming to get some answers from you. She's in a bad position, William."

I didn't tell him in so many words, but all the fears I 'd had for Eleanor when I found out Diana was undead were coming true in spades. The worst part was, from what she'd told me before sunrise as we turned in, William wasn 't helping. I knew he was distracted and all, but he needed to think about things from her perspective. Here she was a fledgling, dependent on her sire for survival, and William was acting like having Diana in town made his relationship with Eleanor yesterday's news. And then there was the trifling matter of Eleanor trading her soul for an eternity with William, an eternity that amounted to just a matter of days. Not to mention that she loved him. Man, was I glad I wasn't a chick.

"Don't you think I know that?" William said. "But I've found my son after five hundred years and I may have only a few more hours with him. Eleanor and her concerns will have to wait."

"I don't mean to tell you how to handle your woman, but-"

"Then don't."

I sighed. There was nothing I could do to help Eleanor now. Besides, we all might wind up rotting from the plague in a few days or even a few hours. Speaking of..."So is Iban really better? Does he know about Sullivan?"

"Yes. He will almost certainly recover," William said. "And I told him about the attack."

"I don't know Iban well. He seems like a pretty gentle guy for a vampire, but when he gets his strength back-"

"If Will is still alive, Iban will do his d.a.m.nedest to rip him apart," William supplied.

I didn't mention that I too had sworn to kill Will to avenge Sullivan. I 'd given Connie my word, and I knew her well enough to know she'd hold me to it. Right now, though, it looked like the plague was going to keep the blood of William's son off both my hands and Iban's.

William looked away into the distance. "You may as well know the rest. We know who is behind the virus."

"So Gerard was right. It is germ warfare. Who?"

"Hugo sent Will to California to spread the virus, then told him to meet up here." I let this digest a minute. "That's why he got here before the others. He was hanging out with Werm days before the boat came with Hugo and Diana. How did he do it?"

"I don't know. Hugo says Will was used, that he didn't know he was spreading a plague."

"And you believe him?" I thought about Will's face rotting off upstairs and was glad his scheme had backfired on him.

"I choose to believe in my son."

I did my best to ignore that kick in the pants. "That's kinda foolish, given the evidence."

"What are you talking about?"

"When Will first came to my shop, he seemed to be avoiding getting close to Sullivan. But Sullivan said he thought he knew Will from somewhere. The second time Will came to the shop-the night you dropped him off-he didn't expect Sullivan to be there, but he was. They were talking friendly enough, but then Sullivan got this look of recognition on his face and squared up for a fight.

That's when Will was on him like a duck on a junebug."

"So you're saying-"

"Sullivan was about to figure out who brought the plague to them. I figure he 'd seen Will hanging around the California colony.

As big as L.A. is, a lone vamp coming through town wouldn't have attracted much attention. As long as he stayed friendly-like." I thought about how easily Will had charmed Renee and my theory made even more sense. "Will couldn't let you and me find out he'd been there because he knew we'd put two and two together."

"So you think he killed Sullivan to silence him? But what about Iban? He would have recognized Will as well."

"Yeah, but as far as we know, Iban and Will haven't met here in Savannah yet. And far as Will knows, n.o.body but Sullivan was here from California. So he figured he'd be in the clear if he took out Sullivan. William, that means Will did know what he was doing when he took the virus to California."

William looked sick and sad. "Surely Will wouldn't have put himself at risk if he knew the danger. Hugo sent him to California without telling him he could catch the virus himself. That way, Hugo could be rid of Will and have Diana 's exclusive affections." At my questioning look, William said, "There's no love lost between Hugo and Will."

"But getting rid of Will can't be Hugo's only motive. There are easier ways to kill him and make it look like some vampire hunter got him or something."

"You're right. I'm sure it wasn't just about Will. Taking out our largest and most successful colony was probably meant as a warning to all the Bonaventures. But how would Will have carried the virus to California while expecting to remain free of the plague himself?"

"Maybe you should ask him."

William nodded. "Maybe I should." With that, my sire went back into his plantation house and I sat down in one of the rocking chairs to wait for Eleanor and try to talk her into turning right around and going back to town. Which I knew she wouldn't do.

At least William had listened to me. I wasn't sure, but I thought he might trust me again. Time would tell. If any of us had any time left.

Sixteen.

William "If you save Will-" Diana slowly sank to her knees. "I'll do anything you ask." She gazed at me, a king's ransom of promises in her eyes. "Anything."

"Will you leave Hugo and bind yourself to me forever?" I'd already made up my mind to allow Will to feed on my blood, even before Diana offered herself and her future. The trick would be doing it without alerting Hugo and Diana to the true source of the cure-Melaphia and Renee. If my blood couldn't cure Will, I might be too weak to challenge Hugo for Diana or for Savannah itself when the time came. And Diana's promises would be meaningless.

Diana took my hand and kissed it as I'd seen her do to swear fealty to the Tudor king Henry five centuries before. The one the moderns only remember because of his wives.

"He'll fight for me," she whispered, lowering her gaze to the floor in submission.

I placed my hand on her head, fingers threading through her golden hair. A tremor ran through me at the touch. "One battle at a time. I'll do my best for Will," I said, claiming her, then clasped her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Now leave me with him."

A shadow of distrust flickered in her eyes and she hesitated. Then, remembering her promise, she nodded and, with one last tender glance in Will's direction, left the room.

I removed my jacket and unb.u.t.toned my shirt. Will appeared to be in better condition than Iban had been when he 'd fed on Melaphia. Gerard had explained that her injuries were due to the advanced progression of Iban's illness. His face and throat had rotted so far as to prevent him from swallowing normally. His fangs, however, had been sharp and elongated, hard bone and ivory enamel, and those fangs had torn Melaphia's arms in his feeding frenzy.

I was stronger than Will. I could force-feed him.

I placed my palm on his forehead. Odd to feel the very humanlike warmth of his skin. The by-product of the busy virus.

"Will?"

His eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened. His eyeb.a.l.l.s had gone pink with broken blood vessels. He stared up at me with all the recognition of a blind man.

"I'm going to save you," I said. He seemed to be fighting to hold his attention on me. "But first you must tell me about the virus."

A look of panic crossed his features as though he feared he might not live long enough to say. His dry lips moved, cracking with the effort. "Stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d," he mumbled, as blood and pus oozed from the edges of his mouth. "Immune-my a.r.s.e-" He groaned and closed his eyes. "Hurts-"

So Jack had been right: Will had known what he was doing. "How did you infect the California colony?" I had to know how the virus had been spread.

"In the blood-forced the swans-"

"Who sent you and what were you promised in return?"

A long silence followed and I thought he'd drifted back into unconsciousness. I shook his shoulder to keep him focused. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he answered, "Reedrek...and my father...Hugo pr-promised Mother and I-" He sighed, then mustered his strength. "-would be...free." The effort of speaking took its toll. One side of his face split and liquid spilled forth. I could see his naked jawbone underneath the ooze.

I covered the wound with my hand and dragged his jaw open. I used my left fang to open the artery in my right wrist. As drops of b.a.s.t.a.r.dized blood dropped from the wound onto his tongue, Will's avaricious mouth seemed to wake up. His fangs extended as he swallowed. A moment later, he choked, coughing up my blood mixed with rotten flesh and mucus. Then his back rose from the bed, and his jaws flexed, as he sought to sink fangs into my torn skin. He could taste the blood he needed but couldn't drink.

I pushed him down and held him as his vampiric senses fought for sustenance. But he lacked the strength required to reach his goal. He would die if I didn't do something and I would never know if he might have been redeemed. Saved from Hugo's torture and abuse.

I released my hold on him and let him bite.