The vampire's body slackened.

"One step at a time, Alexis," Char thought to me. "And don't forget the Amadis power."

Sonya's reaction had caused me to slacken my power without realizing it. I pushed it into her hard, and her body tensed again as she screamed.

"Sonya, do you want this?" I asked.

"It hurts," she shrieked.

"I understand. If you don't want it, I can stop." I eased back on the power.

"No! Don't." She panted. "Please, don't stop."

"So you do want this?" I asked again.

"Yes. I want this."

"You have to state it," Char said.

"I want it. I ... want ... to be ... Aaaaah." She screamed again, as if it hurt her to say the word. "I want ... to be ... Aaaamaaadis. I ... don't want ... to be ... evil."

Her eyes rolled up into her head, showing how much saying those words had drained her.

"Why?" Char persisted, and I remembered Mom had asked Sheree the same thing.

"Convince us," I said, mimicking Mom's next words.

Sonya whimpered. Her eyes refocused on us. "Because I love my sister. And I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I ... I ... I made a big mistake. I should have never asked for this."

Her last words were barely audible as her voice trailed off. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"If you listen to her thoughts, you'll know if she's sincere," Char told me, and I opened my mind to allow her to hear Sonya as well.

"I'm no better than our father. Worse even." Her regret and despair gripped me. Char nodded.

"Now we get serious," the warlock said. "Push. Hard."

I gathered all the Amadis power I'd been building inside of me for the last month or so and pushed the ribbon of energy down my arm and out my palm into Sonya. Char's eyebrows pulled together and her eyes tightened as she did the same. Sonya started shaking and convulsing against Tristan's power.

"Let go, Tristan," Char said through gritted teeth. "We need her loose. Alexis and I can handle her."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tristan give Charlotte a doubtful glance, but he eventually lowered his hand. Sonya whipped about for a few minutes, but I was physically stronger than I'd been with Sheree and could hold her down. Eventually the convulsions stopped, and her body went limp.

And then I felt the evil energy building inside her. Memories of the last time we did this and the consequences flooded my brain.

"Get out, Tristan," I ordered.

He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "I'm not leaving you."

"Get out!" I nearly yelled this time. "I'm not letting you take it again."

I wouldn't risk the chance of the evil power leaving Sonya's body only to find a new home in him as it had done before. Granted, freshly escaped from the Daemoni's clutches for over seven years and implanted with dark magic, he'd been what Rina had called an open vessel at the time. He had practically welcomed the evil energy inside of him. But no way would I jeopardize that happening again. He'd been acting too weird lately as it was, especially when we were around the Daemoni.

"Go," Char said, backing me up. "You're not helping, and Sheree can use you. She'll need help gathering supplies."

Tristan wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips against the top of my head for a long moment. The full strength of his love finally flowed out of him while awake, boosting my power. Maybe he could help. I let the thought pa.s.s, though, not wanting to have to go through again what we did last year.

"Call me if you need me," he murmured.

"I don't know what that was about, but you can't waste your energy arguing," Charlotte said after Tristan left.

"When I tried to do this with Sheree, I took in her Daemoni energy, and Tristan took it from me because it almost consumed me."

"That was before your Ang'dora, right?" She didn't wait for an answer. "You and your power should be strong enough now to eradicate the Daemoni energy. There should be no transfer this time. Unless-oh, b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l. Here we go."

Just as the words came out of her mouth, I sensed what she did. Sonya felt as though she might literally explode with the dark energy building inside her. The color in Charlotte's face drained, and the muscles and tendons in her neck pulled taut as she strained against the power. I tightened my grip on Sonya's hand and pushed goodness into her with every bit of force I could muster.

A shriek of pain pierced my ears. Sonya's body bucked and writhed, and it was all I could do with my full strength to keep the vampire on the bed. A long string of profanities flew out of her mouth punctuated with more screams as visions of her life as a vampire flashed through her mind.

Then all at once, she fell calm again. Seemingly unconscious.

Char rubbed her forehead against her arm, mopping off the sweat. "That was the first wave."

"How many waves will there be?" The evil energy still swirled within Sonya, perhaps not as strong, but definitely still there.

"As many as it takes until the evil power is gone. Everyone's different."

"So we're in for an all-nighter."

"Yep. Probably longer.

"I'm so glad you're here. I have no idea what would've happened if I'd tried this by myself."

"You'll be able to do it solo once you learn the basics. Number one rule: don't let yourself wear out. That's where trouble comes in."

"That's what you were about to say before? There should be no transfer of energy unless ...?"

"Unless you're drained. But don't worry. It shouldn't happen with you." She rested her head against her shoulder as her hands remained stretched out to grip Sonya's forearms, maintaining skin-to-skin contact. "You have more Amadis power than any of us, including Rina. You just need to know what you're doing. Are you seeing the visions?"

"Of her past and her victims? Yeah. I hate them. All that death and evil." I shuddered. "Do you ever get used to them?"

"Me?" Charlotte chuckled. "I don't see them. Only Rina can, so I a.s.sumed you could, too."

"Really? Huh." I thought about this for a moment. "I could share them if you want."

"Ugh. No, thanks. I see enough of what they do in real time."

Wave after wave crashed over Sonya, each hit weakening both her and us. Tristan sat with me in between, sharing his love to boost my power before each round. But I always made him leave when I felt a new wave coming on. In case I wasn't powerful enough. Once morning came and brought the sun, Sonya's energy diminished considerably, and we began to make true progress.

"They're weaker during the day, especially the young ones," Charlotte said as Sheree wiped a cool, wet cloth across the warlock's forehead and the nape of her neck. "It's always better to try to start this in the early morning. Unfortunately, since the Daemoni prefer to come out at night, that's usually not possible."

When the room began darkening again with dusk, Charlotte's cell phone rang. Sonya's body had given up its fight a long time ago, so Char had no problem leaving me alone with her, pumping Amadis power into the vampire's depleted veins, while she took the call.

"I need to go to Galveston," she said, reappearing only a few minutes later.

Her tone rang my alarms. "What happened?"

"Daemoni went on a rampage. Our people were able to take in some of the bitten and turned, but too many for them to handle alone."

"Anything I can do?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. Still too much of a novice, I was pretty useless.

"Hmph. Some day soon, it'll be your job to take care of these things, but for now, it's mine. You just worry about Sonya here." She ran her hands over our patient's arm and then her forehead. "You feel that?"

I nodded. "There's still a trace of Daemoni power."

"Right, and there will be for a while, probably months, maybe longer. It takes time and faith-healing to eradicate it all."

"And she won't be completely good until then, right?"

Charlotte c.o.c.ked her head, her sapphire eyes piercing into me. "Alexis, after last fall, you know as well as anyone that not anybody's completely good, including the Amadis. We're all basically human, after all. We all have good and bad within us. Has Owen ever told you the Legend of Uri and Duff?"

I shook my head.

"Well, I don't have time to give you the children's version I used to tell Owen. I'll have to keep this short, and then I need to go." She returned to her chair by Sonya's bed, and leaned toward me on the other side. "According to history, a few generations after the Ancients created the sorcerers and sorceresses, one of the younger mages decided she wanted to experience s.e.x with a human, so she seduced one and became pregnant. The child obviously didn't have the same amount of magic as she did, but he was still quite powerful. Other members of the youngest generation saw opportunity in this child-they could create a whole new race that could serve them while never being powerful enough to overcome them. Power breeds paranoia, and the mages were extremely paranoid, especially when the Ancients created the vampires. The mages decided their new race needed to be physically strong and fearless, even against the vampires if ever needed, so they agreed they would only mate with the stoutest, toughest and meanest human warriors."

"The race they created was the warlocks," I said.

"That's right. With powerful magic and the bodies and aggressiveness of warriors, we were bred to fight, although at the time, there wasn't much fighting going on except with each other or to pick on Normans. So, I guess in their boredom, the warlocks mated with humans and over time the weaker witches and wizards became a third mage sub-race.

"Anyway, Ca.s.sandra came along and created the Amadis, and now we get into the Legend of Uri and Duff. Ca.s.sandra and her group had stumbled upon Uri and Duff in the bluffs of Scotland, arguing with each other. They had been seeking out the Amadis to be converted, but only Uri was completely committed. Duff was tired of being a slave to the sorcerers, but he wasn't quite sold on going over to the other side. After all, he said, the Amadis were created to fight the Daemoni, and if he converted, he would lose many of those qualities that made him a strong fighter-such as anger, aggression, and bravery. He thought becoming Amadis would make him weaker.

"Ca.s.sandra tried to convince him otherwise, but Duff wouldn't believe her. So she said to him, 'Fight one of my warlocks, and we shall see who is weak.' And he said, 'I do not know the strength of your warlocks, so this may not be a fair test. Uri here is an equal match to me, so after you convert him, I will fight him and prove that I am right.' Duff hung around during Uri's conversion-he really didn't want to go back to the Daemoni-and a few months later, Uri was ready for the match.

"All of the Amadis gathered around to watch. You have to remember, Uri and Duff were among the first generations of warlocks. We've lost the ability now, but at that time, they could pull some energy from their immediate surroundings to feed their power, like the sorcerers do. Uri had the Amadis surrounding him, feeding him their positive power, but Duff had no dark power to draw on."

"So Uri won and Duff converted," I guessed.

"Yes and no. Uri won, but, unfortunately, Duff's energy had been so drained that Uri basically one-shot him, and he dropped dead."

A laugh burst from my lips. "What a horrible children's story!"

Charlotte chuckled. "It's a great story. It's become legend among the Amadis warlocks. But that's not the best part." She leaned farther over the bed, practically laying on Sonya's sleeping form. "Afterward, Ca.s.sandra made a speech to all of the Amadis and said, 'We all must remember that there is a Uri and a Duff inside each of us, battling for domination of our souls. The one who will win is the one you give your energy to. It is your choice. May you choose well.'"

I nodded with understanding. "So does that mean there will always be a trace of Daemoni power in the converted? Is Sonya as close as she's going to get?"

"No. There's a difference between the Daemoni's evil power and the darker side that's in all of us. The Daemoni energy must be eradicated. We're not talking about Normans who do bad things here. Supernatural creatures with even a shade of that power are too dangerous for humanity's sake-and for their own." Charlotte glanced at her phone, stood and looked down at Sonya's still body. "I need to get going. She'll probably be out of it for a while, so you have time to get some rest. Then, keep sharing your power regularly and let Sheree do her thing."

The were-tiger appeared in the doorway at the mention of her name.

"You have blood?" Charlotte asked Sheree, and the Were nodded. "That's the first thing she'll need when she wakes up. Alexis, you need to always have blood ready when you're working with a vamp."

"Try not to use blood from another vamp or Were, though," Sheree added. Her face scrunched as if she'd sucked on a rotten lemon. "Bad side effects."

"Their first several feedings after the conversion should really be normal animal blood," Char said as she made her way to the door with me on her heels. "Anything else could be too strong, and you really want to bring them back gradually. Eventually, they can handle donated mage blood. But, well, when it's an emergency, you use what you have on hand." Char turned to look at me over her shoulder. "Even your own, Alexis."

I hurried up to her side. "Mine? Yeah, probably not a good idea, from what I've heard. Not if we're going for a slow recovery."

Char shrugged. "Sometimes you do what you have to do. Just be prepared if you ever have to, especially the first time. Your mother's had a few horror stories, so I can only imagine what your stronger blood will do." When we reached the front door of the mansion, she turned to me. "You'll be fine. Whatever you do, no more conversions until I return. Sonya is young in vampire years, so she's relatively easy. A good start for both you and Sheree. Neither of you are ready for someone stronger, though. Not on your own. If you get in a similar situation, call me before you do anything. Okay?"

"Of course," I said, already convinced I wasn't ready to fly solo.

She glared at me, and I could see her thoughts on her face without tapping into her mind: I know you, and you're your mother's daughter. I don't trust you one bit. I couldn't blame her after I'd abandoned her in Key West. And brought Sonya here with no warning. Oh, and ditched her son on another occasion to face the Daemoni. Then there was the fight to protect the werewolf pack, too, which I kind of jumped into without thinking, bringing her son into it with me. Sheesh. No wonder she didn't trust me.

"Promise?" she demanded. "No matter what. Stay out of trouble, okay?"

"I promise," I said as sincerely as possible.

"Why do I bother asking for it?" She shook her head. "I've always admired your spirit, Alexis. We need it. Just remember-there's a line between moxie and recklessness." She gave me a quick hug. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll be gathering a team to bring here, too, so it may be a few weeks. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."

"We'll be fine," I said, hoping it was true.

As exhausted as I felt, I couldn't fathom how she had the energy to go straight to Texas and do everything all over again, only with more people. I could sleep for days.

"My son. My bed. You. That's all I want right now," I said as I leaned against Tristan's side. Sheree had a.s.sured me the vampire would be unconscious for quite a while and they would be fine at the safe house, so I flashed home to find Tristan waiting up for me. He'd come home a few hours ago, after Sonya had survived the worst of it.

"My pleasure," Tristan murmured as he tightened his arm around me and led me down the hall to our room.

But first, I went into Dorian's room and lay down with him. I curled my body around his, my heart aching at how long his body was now, how big he was getting, but loving the moment of being able to still hold him against me. It didn't last long, though, not long enough for me anyway.

"Mom, go to your own bed," he complained sleepily as he rolled over, "I'm too big to sleep with you now."

What happened to my little boy? I watched him sleep for a few more minutes, appreciating that his face remained round and youthful, at least in sleep. As my mind started drifting to dark thoughts of what his growing up meant, I forced myself to go to my own room, where I snuggled with the man who would never push me out of his bed, though he already breathed evenly, fast asleep.

I tossed and turned. My mind kept tumbling over Charlotte's story about Ca.s.sandra's parable, my dagger that once belonged to the first daughter, and the voice that talked to me-claiming to be Ca.s.sandra herself-encouraging me in every dangerous situation I'd encountered recently. But why, if the voice really was hers, would she talk to me now? Of course, I'd been safe on the Amadis Island for several months, never finding myself in a dangerous situation, never putting on my leathers or using my dagger. So was that it?

Did we have some kind of connection through the dagger? I'd only had it for a few days before tucking it away in the closet for so long. Had actually wielded it only twice-while fighting on behalf of the wolf-pack when the Daemoni attacked their campground and during the trial. Neither time had I been frightened of the risk.

So was Ca.s.sandra really talking to me, trying to rea.s.sure me when I needed it, or was it only my own inner voice? Or was I losing my mind again?

I slipped out of bed, grabbed my phone and went down the hall to the reading nook, where I curled up in the window seat and called Mom. It was mid-morning on the Amadis Island, so I didn't have to worry about waking her up.

"I don't mean to be rude, honey, but I'm about to meet with a few of our remaining council members," she said.

"I just have a quick question for you," I said, not wanting to go into detail anyway, in case I sounded crazy. "Have the Angels ever talked to a daughter besides the Matriarch?"

"No, never. They keep their involvement in our world to a minimum. Why?"

"Um, nothing. Sorry to bother you."