I eased back in the seat, feeling like a ten-ton weight just fell off my shoulders. Thank G.o.d. "So...Connie's hung up on me, huh?"

Sullivan chuckled. "Yeah. What is it with you two anyway?"

"It's a long story."

"Like I said, dude, I got nothing but time."

William As Diana, Will-somewhat stronger but still supported by Diana-and I left what used to be my stately residence, I stopped to survey the damage. My home...the furniture, gla.s.sware, curtains, and even the walls and ceiling were in a shambles. It looked as if a small tornado had spun through the house much like the undead storm named Diana had torn through my life.

Chandler would be furious at the wreckage. I remained furious at some parts of my personal damage and fascinated by others.

Ah, the folly of love and expectations. My portrait still hung over the fireplace, the symbol of another time, another life. Nothing would be the same from now on.

Halfway to the Houghton mansion with Will and Diana in the Lincoln Town Car that Chandler usually drove, I remembered Eleanor. I used the phone in the car to call Deylaud, but was pleased when Melaphia answered.

"What are you doing awake?"

"I've slept round the clock since yesterday. It's almost time to get Renee up for school."

She sounded stronger, certainly stronger than when I'd brought her home. My conscience still squirmed. "How are you?"

"Better, Captain." I wanted to say, Better, that's it? But what could I expect? She'd been ravaged by a monster at my request. "Good. I'm relieved to hear it."

Diana, sitting in the pa.s.senger seat, turned to look at me, probably because of the concern in my voice.

"Where are you?" Melaphia asked. "You need to come home. We have to talk."

"I'm on my way there...with visitors. We'll have to talk later. Best for you to clear out. Go back to your house, both of you."

I'd made the decision not to mention Renee's name in front of Diana.

"Your friend Gerard took blood samples from Renee."

"Yes." For the vaccine. "I thank you for-"

"Don't thank me yet. You have to know I'll never let anyone touch Renee-not like what happened to me."

"Neither would I. On my life. Never."

Her voice was calmer when she spoke again. "All right, we're going home. Come to see me when you can."

"I will, I promise. Now I need to speak to Eleanor."

"You can't; she's not here. That's the other thing we have to talk about."

"What do you mean? Where is she?"

"I don't know. She packed her things and left you a note. And...she took Deylaud with her."

A chill of unpleasant surprise ran through me. Deylaud knew that if he left my home without permission he could be banned from ever returning. For a creature such as he, not serving his master would be torture, and in breaking his trust he would shorten his very life. No honor, no immortality. I found it hard to be angry with him, however; I knew he loved Eleanor. Perhaps he thought she needed him more than I did.

"I understand. Thank you for letting me know. I'll speak with you soon." I hung up the phone and gripped the wheel.

"Has your new little love slave run away, then?"

I didn't bother to answer.

Diana leaned her head back and sighed. "Ah, what a pair you and I are. Willing to give up any others to cling to our despair."

I didn't bring up the fact that she hadn't given up Hugo when she'd had the opportunity. Instead I concentrated on Eleanor.

Where are you?

Her answer was slow in coming.

What do you care?

You know I care. The sun will rise soon. You must come home.

Will you be there?

Now here was the tricky part. Yes, I answered. But not alone. I felt her gasp of pain. You're bringing her?

Yes, and another. Where are you?

You can't tell where I am? You used to know exactly.

You used to stay put.

No more.

What does that mean?

It means I have other friends besides you.

I let her taste my displeasure for challenging me. What other friends?

Distress radiated in return. I'm with Tami-one of my girls. They've been staying at the Courtland Bed and Breakfast since the house burned. You should remember that since you've been paying the bill.

Ah, my Eleanor. Even when in a corner she was not easily cowed. After her disastrous meeting with Diana, and given the virus running through Will's body and my own, it would be best for her to stay away, but I didn't like the idea of not being consulted.

You must be hidden when the sun rises, left alone to sleep.

Deylaud has already set us up in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the Courtland...until my house is finished.

Not exactly alone. At least she would be protected, but I had no intention of allowing her-angry or not-to sleep in a dusty bas.e.m.e.nt across town for the next several months. Do you understand the cost to Deylaud?

She took a moment to think about it. It's not his fault I-Promise you won't hurt him because of me.

I don't have to hurt him...or you. Anything you do unsupported by my will can hurt in some way or another. The two of you belong to me.

I used to think so.

If you believe nothing else, believe that. Sleep well.

Diana may have wondered at my silence but she seemed lost in her own thoughts. Strands of emotions and expectations held me in a web woven by my own heart. Each time I freed myself from one, another fluttered forth and took its place.

Reyha met me at the door, crying. "My brother is gone," she wailed, inconsolable. "He left us-me." That was probably a first for this tender creature who'd lived more than two thousand years.

I hugged her to my chest and stroked her hair. One more broken heart to mend. "Yes, I know, sweet."

"We have to get him. Bring him back-" She noticed Diana standing behind me supporting Will. She blinked back the tears but clutched me more tightly. "Who are you?"

I turned, bringing Reyha and Diana face to face. "This is-" I almost said my wife. "This is Diana and Will."

Reyha sniffed and nodded, then turned to me again. "Shall we go? Do you know where he is?"

Offering a sweet to make my answer more palatable, I kissed her on the top of her head. "I know where. But we won't be going just yet."

"But-"

"I have other things to do right now." I removed myself from her clutching fingers and helped Diana move Will downstairs.

Gerard looked up as we entered the vault. "Melaphia said you were on your way." He moved toward Will as we settled him into one of the extra coffins brought in for the meeting. "He seems better."

"Yes, I think my blood helped-"

Gerard stopped and looked at me with a critical eye. "How are you?"

I decided the truth would be the best course. "I feel...different, I suppose. That's all I can say."

Gerard grasped my arm and pushed up the shirtsleeve to examine the angry bite marks in my wrist. They should've been nearly healed by now, yet they remained red and swollen. My wrist felt warm.

"I'll need blood samples from you both."

"Cuy says you have a cure," Diana said.

Busy with his medical kit, Gerard finally looked up-not at Diana, but to me. "The results look very good. We should know soon," he answered.

Diana moved to stand next to me. "Please cure my son."

Gerard looked at her then. "Madam, I intend to cure us all."

Gerard took the blood samples and injected Will with a large syringe of blood directly into the carotid artery in his neck. Then he suggested we all get some rest. "Jack called. We have a funeral to attend tomorrow night."

It took the remaining minutes of darkness to get Diana settled into Eleanor's coffin and to relax into my own. The significance of Diana's presence-claiming one of my gifts to Eleanor-wasn't lost on me. I told myself it didn't matter since Eleanor had never slept in her own coffin but had stayed with me in mine. Then the idea of Diana sleeping in my arms nearly gutted me. Even after being around her these few days I had no real sense of what might happen in the future. This formidable incarnation of my wife was a stranger to me in so many ways. I suppose she might say the same about me. It was hard to know what to hope for-whose heart might be stronger, whose trust would be shattered.

The mess was more than I could predict and, with that thought, I drifted to sleep sooner than I expected.

The sound of a giggle awakened me. Not a usual occurrence in a vampire's dark world. I could feel the sun setting outside. I tested my awakening arms and legs; my body seemed normal, with no sign of the odd way I 'd felt the evening before. As I swung the lid of my coffin open, another giggle reached me. I sat up and scanned the room. Eleanor/Diana's coffin remained shut. Gerard had fallen asleep on a cot in the corner. There was nothing to alarm me until I saw Renee and Reyha crouched on the floor near the fireplace-next to a reclining Will.

Something near my still heart lurched. "I gather you're feeling better," I said to him. He smiled in answer.

Renee pushed up from the floor. Then, with a glance toward Will that I could only describe as longing, she bounded toward me.

"Good evening," she said with a little curtsy. "Will is teaching me cards. A game called Primero. He said he learned it when he was a boy, and the English king used to play it."

I did my best to hide my alarm. Renee alone with Will was not a comforting sight. "I see that," I said, and ran one hand over her braids. "Does your mother know you're here?"

Her expression changed immediately. "No sir." She looked down. Reyha slunk over to me, looking as if she hadn't slept all day.

"I think you need to go home. Take Reyha out with you. We have work to do."

Renee did her best to hide her disappointment. Since she'd been old enough to run from one house to the other she'd loved to be present for my waking-her favorite time of day. She raised a hand to stroke Reyha's head. "Okay," she said. But I'd been distracted by a bruise on her arm. It looked like a puncture wound. If Will had touched this child I would kill him myself. I grasped her wrist gently and turned her arm up.

"What happened to your arm?" Before I realized my mistake, she answered.

"Mr. Gerard had to test my-"

Reyha barked, obviously thinking more quickly than I could, and interrupted her.

I did my best to convert the awkward conversation back to normal. "I see. Yes, I remember now. All right, take yourself home and tell your mother I'll be over to visit her soon." I wanted her out of the area as fast as I could make that happen without dragging her myself. I also wanted to order her to stay away, but that would be spice on the already juicy mistake I'd made.

Reyha followed Renee out but her bark had awakened Gerard. Diana soon followed. Will rose from the floor and helped his mother from her resting place.

"You look so much better," she said, running her long fingers through Will's unkempt hair. The smile he bestowed on her was completely different from his usual sneer.

"Yes, Mother. I think I'm cured."

"We'll see about that," Gerard said. Then, looking at me: "How do you feel?"

I pulled up my own shirtsleeve and showed him. The marks were gone.

"One battle won," Gerard said, patting me on the shoulder. "This way." He signaled for Will to go and sit down in the straight- backed chair near his commandeered medical equipment.

Diana stepped toward me, her eyes soft. She slipped her hand in mine and leaned close to whisper, "Now that we know you're well, is there somewhere we can go to be alone?"

The warmth in her tone sent a jolting crush of need through me. If I closed my eyes perhaps I could find the living, breathing, mortal woman I'd loved so dearly. My throat was too tight to answer. I simply tugged her toward the pa.s.sageway, up the stairs, and into the master suite.

She was kissing me before I'd closed the door, her arms sliding around my neck, pulling us closer. The shape of her in my arms was so familiar but- "You taste different," I said, the words getting lost in her mouth.

She rubbed herself against me, thighs to neck. "So do you." Pulling back to look in my eyes, she ran a hand down my chest and lower, over the erection I couldn't hide. She smiled, looking naughty and supremely interested in what she'd found. "You feel the same, however."