"That's right. You just need to trust yourself."

Let's do it, Tristan. He blinked at me again, as if he didn't understand. Now, while we have the chance. Go on. Do it!

Right when I was about to reach over and smack some sense into him, he shook himself, gave me a strange look, then lifted his hand. He blasted his power at Sonya, knocking her out. The vampire dropped to the ground, and Heather screamed.

"Shh!" I clamped a hand over her mouth. "It's the only way to get her to Captiva. She'll be fine." The girl fell silent, but I felt obligated to add, "Well, as fine as we can hope for under the circ.u.mstances."

Because, really, who knew if she'd be fine? Under my unskilled care, we could both be dead by tomorrow.

Tristan scooped Sonya into his arms, and Heather, still feeling a little shaky, climbed on my back before we sped to Tristan's truck. As he unlocked doors and gave orders, I kept my mind's eye on the signatures all around us, scanning for any Daemoni who might try to stop us. Tristan climbed in the backseat of the truck with Sonya, ready to paralyze or knock her out again if she came to. Heather sat in the front pa.s.senger seat, and I cursed as I drove the big-a.s.s truck out of the parking lot and onto what seemed to be roads way too narrow for the extra-wide tires. I hated driving the truck. But so far, so good-no one followed.

At least, until we were halfway across the bridge connecting the island to the mainland.

A red Corvette zoomed up next to us and a yellow Hummer roared up behind us. The blue light of a mage's spell hit the side of Tristan's truck, and Heather screamed. I cursed that Owen wasn't here to shield us.

"Floor it!" Tristan ordered, and I pressed the gas pedal as far as it would go.

Another spell hit us, rocking the truck on its wheels. We left the bridge, the red brake lights of a car in front of us shone, and I jerked the steering wheel to the left, jumping onto the median to pa.s.s the little car. The Hummer and the Corvette stayed with us. I pushed the truck as fast as it would go.

"Red light," Heather whispered, then her words came out in a shriek. "Alexis, red light!"

I eased off the gas, but Tristan yelled, "No! You have to go through it. They're right on our a.s.s."

Besides the Daemoni in the car and the Hummer, I sensed no nearby mind signatures on the roads this late at night, but my heart still raced as if trying to match the speed of the truck as we flew through the intersection. My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard, my white knuckles practically glowed in the dark.

"Turn right at that light up there," Tristan said. "Let's try to lose them."

"But the Corvette's in the right lane. I'll have to cut across it."

"Exactly. They won't see it coming. Just get far enough ahead of them."

"Oh, dear G.o.d, stay with us," I muttered, and you, too, Ca.s.sandra, if that's really you, I added as I floored the gas pedal again, shot ahead of the red sports car and made the hard right turn at the last minute. I swore the driver's side wheels came off the ground as Heather's head slammed against the window. The Vette's tires squealed as it made the turn, the Hummer right behind it.

I glanced in my rearview to see the Hummer pull into the lane of oncoming traffic, up to the side of the sports car. They drove side-by-side for a moment, then the car slowed down and the Hummer sped up. I caught the driver's thoughts as he approached.

"They're going to hit us!" I screeched right before the Hummer banged into the truck's b.u.mper. I gripped the wheel tighter, trying not to lose control. They slammed into us harder, and the wheel tried to jerk away from me.

"Right," Tristan barked. "Now!"

I made a sharp right, running over the curb. The Hummer followed in my tracks.

"I can't do this, Tristan. I don't know how to drive like this."

"You have to, ma lykita. Just do as I say."

"I don't even know where we are!"

"Stay calm. Panic won't-"

The Hummer hit us again, pushing the truck into the other lane of traffic. I yanked the wheel barely in time before hitting an oncoming delivery truck, but that overcorrection sent us careening toward a light post. I slammed on the brake, probably not the smartest thing to do. Our rear end began fishtailing, and the Hummer spun a one-eighty to miss. .h.i.tting us.

The next thing I knew, Tristan's hands were on the wheel, regaining control before we crashed. Without taking his eyes off the situation outside, he somehow maneuvered himself into the driver's spot and me onto the center console. I scrambled to the backseat, not even trying to figure out how he'd switched places with me. Not caring, because already I felt safer. With a couple of strategic turns, he'd outdriven the Daemoni and lost them completely. We all let out a collective breath of relief as he pulled onto a quiet street headed to Captiva.

"You start driving lessons tomorrow," Tristan muttered.

When we turned onto the road that headed for the causeway to Sanibel, Sonya moaned next to me. Her eyes slowly opened. Her hand went to her throat.

"Thirsty," she groaned.

Heather turned in her seat to look at her sister. Her eyes widened with alarm.

"Thirsty," Sonya said again, more insistently this time, her eyes locked on the only Norman in the truck.

"Take care of her, Alexis," Tristan said.

Before he could explain, Sonya threw herself toward Heather. I caught the vampire just in time and wrestled her back to her seat.

"What do I do?" I asked, struggling to keep the vamp pinned down.

"You'll have to stab her," Tristan said.

"What?"

"With your dagger. Right in the heart."

"No!" Heather and I both shrieked.

"Dammit, Alexis, do it! You won't kill her. You know that."

"Why can't you-"

"Because I might hit you."

Sonya thrashed under me, and now her eyes locked on my throat. c.r.a.p. If she drank any of my powerful blood, all h.e.l.l would break loose. My heart slammed against my rib cage as I drew out my dagger. I pulled in a deep breath as I lifted it and blew the air out as I plunged the blade down, squeezing my eyes shut at the last moment.

Heather screamed.

Warm and wet splatters peppered my face.

Sonya fell limp, her eyes staring at me without seeing. After three tries, my hands shook so badly, I finally managed to push her eyelids closed.

We zoomed through the toll plaza, and I was thankful for the SunPa.s.s we had to automatically pay the toll. I could only imagine what a booth attendant would think if they got a good look of the truck, inside and out. At some point when this all settled, Tristan would be p.i.s.sed.

With shaking hands, I wiped the blood off my face, then retrieved my cell phone and scrolled through the numbers until I found Charlotte's. Just my luck that she didn't answer.

"Char," I said to her voicemail, my voice trembling as much as my hands, "I have a problem and ... uh ... could really use your help. We ... um ... we can get started on that training any time now. Like-right now."

I pressed End and stared out the window at the darkness underneath us as we crossed the bridge to Sanibel. Heather sobbed, and I reached up to smooth her hair, but she jerked away from me.

"It's all my fault," she cried. "I shouldn't have ..."

"Shh. She'll be okay," I said. "We'll take care of her."

She looked at me with a swollen, wet face, trying hard not to let her eyes drift toward her sister, who sat limply behind Tristan with a dagger in her heart. "Are ... are you sure?"

"Yes, this is what we do," I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.

Tristan stopped in front of our house. "Take care of her, Lex. I'll take Sonya. Meet me there when you're done."

"No," Heather said, shaking her head. "I'm going with her."

"You can't," I said. "This ... you don't want to be there. Trust me."

"I'm not leaving her!"

I slid out of the truck, opened the front pa.s.senger's door and grasped Heather's shoulders. "Please don't fight me on this. It could get really ugly and Sonya won't want you to see her like that. If you love her at all, let her be for now."

Her eyes flitted to the backseat, and immediately returned to me as if she regretted looking back there. She probably did. It was a gruesome sight. With obvious reluctance, Heather half-slid/half-fell out of the truck and into my arms. I walked her to the door of my house, and Tristan took off.

Blossom, I thought as I stood outside my house, watching Heather go inside. I didn't have time or the energy to go in and try to pretend everything was normal on behalf of my son. The witch appeared outside with me, and I told her what happened.

"Crazy," she said. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

I shrugged. "I have to be, don't I? If Char arrives-"

Blossom squeezed my arm. "I'll send her right over. Don't worry about a thing here. I've got Dorian and Heather taken care of."

"Don't let her out of your sight," I said, worried about Heather's mental and emotional state.

"I promise."

With a nod, I flashed to the courtyard of the new safe house, one of the oldest mansions on Captiva that the Amadis had procured. The main part of the mansion faced the beach with the island's road running between the estate and the sand. From the street, the mansion appeared to be two stories tall, with a grand stone staircase leading to the front door. In back, however, was a courtyard with a pool and the first "floor" was an outdoor kitchen for entertaining. What you couldn't see from the road were the two perpendicular wings that connected to each end of the main house and another wing in back, creating a nearly perfect square. The rear, right corner, however, was open, where the driveway entered a parking area.

The kitchen, a dining room, rooms for gathering and entertainment, a conference room, and offices were part of the main house. Five guest rooms made up the right wing, and two master suites and a smaller room were in the left wing. The rear wing was meant for live-in staff, but I called it the dungeons.

Once I'd signed the purchase papers on behalf of the Amadis for the safe house, new shipments arrived almost every day to furnish the mansion. But not only standard furniture. Besides regular beds, dressers, and sofas, the shipments included hospital beds with silver restraints, thick iron chains coated in silver that Tristan had to bolt into concrete walls, and a variety of medical equipment. Rina, Mom, and Charlotte together had been making preparations for my training and my new role, but so far, the safe house had no live occupants. Until now, anyway.

Tristan's truck sat in the driveway, and he was pulling the vampire out of the backseat when I appeared.

"My poor truck," he muttered as he carried Sonya inside, and something about the way he said it made me want to chuckle.

"I think it could use a good detail," I said, stifling another giggle with this understatement of the year as I rushed to the house to open the door for him.

Neither of us cared about the truck, of course, but this little exchange was some kind of way to make everything that had happened tonight less real. Or perhaps more real. After staring death in the face several times and still not believing everyone had survived, we needed a moment to ground ourselves in the stupid little things before carrying on with more life-and-death decisions.

We took Sonya to a guest room in the right wing, and Tristan laid her down on the bed, then began cuffing her wrists and ankles. Only when she was secured did he pull the dagger from her heart. Several beats pounded in my chest as we waited, and I began to wonder if we'd made a big mistake. What if she didn't wake up? What if the silver had been too much for her? She was a relatively young vamp, maybe too weak to survive such an a.s.sault. Except I knew better-the only way to truly be rid of a vampire, regardless of how young, was to burn the body.

As if my self-confirmation had been her cue, her eyes flew open as she let out a gasp, and she immediately started thrashing against her restraints. Tristan's palm flew up and she stopped, paralyzed. Only her eyes moved, wide and wild, like a trapped animal.

"I'm doing what I can," he said quietly. "You know my lack of experience with conversions, my love. This is all you now."

He actually had more experience than I did, considering he'd gone through it himself. But he didn't have the Amadis power to execute a conversion-his strengths lay elsewhere. Such as keeping Sonya still so she didn't hurt herself or me.

I swallowed and nodded. My eyes studied Sonya, who stared at me with nothing but terror in her face. I can do this. I've started it before and hopefully Charlotte will get here in time. I took a step to approach the bed.

My heart jumped at the sound of running footsteps echoing behind me. Had I not locked the doors? Did the Daemoni find us already? I spun around and moved into the hallway, hand up, ready to throw lightning.

Chapter 7.

"You're worse than your mother, always getting into things way over your head." Char's voice came out of the darkness before the rest of her did.

A familiar face framed with long dark hair and topping a tall, thin body came up right behind Charlotte.

"Sheree?" I asked with disbelief. She grinned, and I was amazed at how much it lit up her face. The last time I saw her, she was lying on death's doorstep. She looked so radiant now.

"Rina thought you'd be happy to see her," Char said to me. "Sheree has turned out to be an excellent faith-healer. She'll take over when we're done."

Char pushed past me and into Sonya's room, taking in the scene of the tied up vampire with a bloom of crimson staining her top. The warlock shook her head with obvious disapproval. "Looks like I got here just in time."

"Sorry," I muttered. "I wasn't sure what to do, but we couldn't abandon her."

"Of course you couldn't. So ... let your training begin." Charlotte moved to the bed and wrapped her hand around one of Sonya's and told me to do the same.

"I'll, um, show myself around," Sheree whispered from the doorway, and I sensed her slip out of the room.

"Push your Amadis power into her and remind her of love," Char silently instructed. "Rina uses her telepathy, and it helps a lot. Use yours to share images the patient can relate to. Then you need to get her to state her desire to convert."

I started talking to Sonya in low, soothing tones, as Mom and Rina had done with Sheree.

"Sonya," I said, "I want you to think about Heather, okay? Focus on Heather, your little sister. You love her, right? You still feel that?"

Her mouth clamped with fear, Sonya blinked once, which I took for a yes. I pushed an image of Heather into her mind.

"She loves you, too," I said. "She's waiting for you, so you can be together as sisters again."

I didn't think it possible but Sonya's eyes widened even more, white showing all the way around her irises. Her whole body trembled as though she tried to fight Tristan's paralyzing power.

"We can't be sisters again! I'm a monster," she yelled.

"Shh, calm down," Char said soothingly. "Don't worry about that right now. Just think about how much you love her. How you would do anything for her."