From the moment the double doors opened for the noble party and her scent was carried into the hall, all eyes were on her. They remained on her throughout the introduction that excluded her, even though she tried to hide behind the others. The necks of cadets at attention craned to watch her as she walked by, in spite of sharp words from their superiors and the warning growls of her tense guard. One dazed young man even broke rank to watch her walk by and was forcibly escorted from the hall.

Jasmine shivered as the cold of dread seeped into her bones. Keilor wasn't imagining it, and it was far worse than she could have dreamed. She edged forward and gave his uniform a frightened tug. His he raised his arm. Instantly their tour was over, and the Haunt guards closed ranks and got them out of there as swiftly as protocol allowed.

"Jasmine..." Wiley's voice was concerned, stunned. Jasmine began to walk very fast. "Jasmine!" She began to jog. In a moment she was running back the way she'd come, the warm, damp sea air burning her lungs as she tried to out run this thing she'd become.

No one stopped her.

Jasmine burst into Jayems' room and skidded to a stop on the polished wood. Eyes wild, she demanded, "How do I make it stop?"

"What?" He looked up from a map he and Knightin had been studying and frowned.

She gestured violently. "This charmer thing!" Raising a trembling hand to her forehead and closing her eyes, she continued, "They were all looking at me like..."

Jayems glanced at Knightin, dismissing him. Tossing his pen aside, he leaned back in his chair and regarded her. "Like they desired you?"

She threw her hand down, but could only hold his eyes for a second. "It was worse than that! They-" She grabbed the back of a chair for support, feeling like she just might fly apart. "I want it to stop. Now."

Knowing eyes considered her. "Is it so bad to be desired?"

She clenched her fists and shouted at him. "Yes! Yes. I don't want men to look at me like that!" She moaned in frustration and swept her fist through the air. "I was afraid genetics would come back to haunt me."

He tilted his head in inquiry, and she swallowed hard. Addressing the carpet in front of his desk, she said, "My mother was a stripper. She...ah, when she danced, she...stripped."

"Ah." He examined his desktop as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"In front of people. Male audiences," she finished bitterly.

"I see."

"Good. Then send me back." His face took on that stubborn look and she didn't wait for his denial. "Listen here, you pigheaded son of a bitch! I...." To her horror, her throat closed on the words, and she could only stand there in humiliation, reduced to the helplessness of a child. A single tear tracked down her cheek.

She bowed her head and clenched her fists. Now was not the time to lose her composure. She might as well concede defeat if she did.

"It won't be forever, Jasmine." His voice was soothing.

She wanted to scream.

"It will stop as soon as you take a mate."

Bile churned in her stomach. "You think I would..." Her world blackened on the edges. "I don't even have a boyfriend!" Breathe, Jas, just breathe.

"Fallon-" He didn't flinch when the priceless black diamond statue of a volti splintered against the front of his desk, nor even when the heavy crystal decanter followed. His door crashed open, but he waved the Haunt guards back as she insulted first his mother, his ancestry and finally himself in graphic, lurid detail, then stormed out, rolling on her own thunder.

Jasmine started violently when Wiley touched her shoulder.

"It's just me," Wiley assured her softly. She bit her lip. "It's getting close to dinnertime." She paused, hope in her eyes. "The family is eating together again."

Jasmine shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

"Feign it," Keilor told her flatly, announcing his presence. "Jayems expects you to be there, and your lady desires it." He ordered the bath to start up. "I'll be back to escort you to the table in half an hour."

Jasmine jumped to her feet. "Get out of my room, you jerk!"

He didn't budge. "Are you going to be ready?"

"I don't think so," she said with biting sarcasm, and made the mistake of adding a sneer. In a heartbeat he'd crossed the room and tossed her over his shoulder. Striding over to the tub, he dumped her swearing self into it, clothes and all. She surfaced, spitting water, and furiously raked the hair off of her face. "You son of a-"

He hefted the soap in warning, and she clamped her mouth shut. It was tough to glare and blink away the water spiking her lashes at the same time.

He gave her a pleasant smile. "Now, you can either finish this yourself, charmer, or I can climb in there with you..." his voice roughened a fraction, and she swallowed hard, "...and I won't be wearing my clothes when I do." Fire shot into her cheeks, and he handed her the soap. "I'll be back in...." He glanced at the clock on a wall shelf. "...twenty-six minutes. Be ready."

The door shut behind him, and Jasmine looked at Wiley.

Wiley looked at her. She offered a weak smile. "Need help with your hair?"

He knocked on the door exactly twenty-six minutes from the time he'd left, clad in his own formal wear. Rihlia opened the door and entered the hall, followed by a sulky Jasmine.

Her jade gown deepened the green of her eyes and made the red of her glossy, pouting lips all the more inviting, not that he would tell her. She ignored his politely offered arm and tried to walk around him, so he took her hand and tucked it into his left arm, clamping his right hand over it.

Her jaw tightened. "Shouldn't you be escorting Wiley? Doesn't she outrank me?"

"Her name is Rihlia, and Jayems will escort her." He nodded to Jayems as he stepped out into the hall and offered Rihlia his arm.

"I've called her Wiley for years now and I have no intention of-oh!" She gasped as the backs of his fingers brushed against her breast.

"Rihlia," he repeated with as much patience as he'd use training a new villi. "It is her name, and I expect you to address her as such." Jayems and Rihlia rounded a corner and he deliberately lagged. Their footsteps began to fade.

There was far more to Jasmine's refusal to acknowledge Rihlia's name than sheer stubbornness. Too many shocks had hit her too quickly, and she was still trying to retreat. If he continued to allow her to call his cousin Wiley then he was tacitly allowing her the illusion of a return to life as she knew it. Such a thing would be a cruel tease, and the sooner she forgot the idea and moved on the better off she'd be.

The woman on his arm sent him a withering look. "I'll call her whatever I wish, and what I wish to call her is-" she broke off with a yelp as he spun her back to the wall and bared her left breast. A hot, wet mouth closed over her nipple. She cried out and grabbed his hair.

"What will you call her?" he demanded. He gifted her nipple with a long, fiery lick.

She tugged weakly at his head, gasping, "Stop! They'll see-Oh, Keilor..." If anyone else had touched her like that she'd have done her best to draw blood, but this was Keilor. Though she'd have taken a beating rather than admit it, she'd wanted this. Dreamed of it...

His teeth raked her peak and she squirmed against the wall. Her scent rose around him, entered into him, permeating the chinks in his defenses, calling to him to take her fast, now, against the wall.

Keilor forced himself to pull away and glance pointedly down the hall, reminding her they lacked privacy. "You want to call her Rihlia, don't you, Dragonfly?"

Reminded of his game, she shoved against him and tried to knee his groin, but he twisted and trapped her with his hips against the wall. A handful of silky hair stilled her head for him and a massaging hand at her naked breast gained him entrance to her mouth. With all the pent up passion she aroused, he kissed her, stealing her breath and making it his own.

With one last lick to her luscious tongue, he drew back, keeping their bodies locked together. Fighting for breath, he warned her, "I can go all night, sweetheart, but I can't guarantee we won't draw an audience."

She slowly closed her eyes. She'd done it again; let him use her body against her. When would she learn? "Rihlia," she said, and it tasted like ashes.

"Rihlia," he agreed, but didn't withdraw as they both expected. Instead he kissed her again, softly, washing away the ashes with the sweet tenderness of his kiss. Desire washed through her like a warm rain, and when he withdrew this time, both were trembling.

Keilor stepped back while he still had the will. It took strength to straighten her bodice, tucking her away from his sight. His hand fell away, and for a tortured moment, neither could move.

"Your hair is loose," Jasmine observed from where she sagged against the wall.

He gave her a rakish smile and ran both his hands through it, smoothing it back. "So is yours."

"Yeah, but mine started out that way." A corner of her mouth tugged up, and she looked down shyly, uneasy with this thing between them. Somehow, with their second kiss, a wall had shivered and collapsed, and she was afraid to look beyond the swirling dust to see what the darkness might conceal.

Jayems and his lady walked around the corner. Jayems' eyebrow shot up as he surveyed the pair; Keilor with a gleam in his eye and reeking of possessive dominance, Jasmine leaning against the wall as if afraid her knees would fail her. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what had been going on. "Should we expect you at dinner?" He addressed the comment to this cousin with some amusement.

Rihlia jabbed him in the ribs and scowled at Keilor as she looped her arm protectively through Jasmine's. "She's coming to dinner, and I'm escorting her." She shot Keilor a look of disgust. "At least that way I'll know she'll get there."

Lady Rhapsody smiled when they entered the room. Her eyes rested first, as always, on her daughter, and then settled on Jasmine with kindness. Taking her hands, she asked with concern, "You must be in better spirits to be joining us this night, Jasmine. I am glad to see it." Her eyes rested with love on Rihlia. "My daughter's face casts a shadow whenever you aren't near."

Jasmine smiled wryly. "Thank you. I'll try to behave myself this evening."

Lady Portae huffed and waved a perfumed hand. Jasmine tried not to stare at the soft flesh that oozed around her many rings. "I certainly hope not, my dear. You livened things up the other night. I can see why our Rihlia adores you."

As they moved towards the table to begin the blessing, Jasmine was a little surprised when Fallon moved to stand behind her.

He gave her a charming smile, lifting her hand for a gallant kiss. "I was unaware of your unique...gift last evening, dear lady, but I'm quite certain I would have been equally devastated without it. May I have the pleasure of sharing this blessing with you?" He took her smile for assent and placed his strong hands on her shoulders while Jayems blessed the meal.

She did her best to ignore Keilor as he stood across the table, sheltering Urseya.

"You can do better, you know."

Mildly startled, Keilor dragged his eyes back to his dinner companion, who was frowning at the remaining curry on her plate, absently poking it with her chopsticks. He didn't pretend not to know what Urseya was talking about. This was the third time he'd lost the thread of her bright chatter and let his eyes rove across the table. "Could I?" No one was listening to them-all were caught up in a boyhood anecdote Fallon was sharing.

Urseya set down her chopsticks, laying them across her plate to signal that she was finished. A servant immediately collected her plate, and Urseya waited until she was done to continue. "The charmers I have heard tales of are not known for their fidelity. Why take only one lover when one can have the adoration of hundreds...as well as the gifts."

He answered carefully, being certain to keep his voice low. Jasmine would certainly never hear it. "And you fear she would betray me?"

She shrugged. "One cannot say. Frankly, I'm a little surprised at our cousin allowing the charmer around Jayems. I'm not certain I would trust her around my man."

Keilor felt a stab of impatience at her thinly veiled jealousy, and was about to reply when Rihlia suddenly said, "Hey, Jasmine-you never did tell me what happened on your date with Chris. How did it go?" When Jasmine just blinked at her in confusion, Rihlia prompted teasingly, "You know, the hot date you had Friday night. I wasn't there to hear a report, and in the confusion, I forgot to ask. How was it?"

Her friend shrugged. "It was dead on arrival. I should have known better."

"No way!" Rihlia paused to thank the servant who brought her dessert before turning her attention back to Jasmine. "He was such a sweet guy. Cute, too. What happened?" She took a bite of coconut mousse, watching Jasmine from the corner of her eye.

Jasmine squirmed under the family's scrutiny. She had never liked the hot seat. Deciding that a short answer might turn away curiosity, she said succinctly, "He was thirty-five and he still lived with his mother."

"So? She was ill," Rihlia replied, indignant. "I think it's great that he took care of her in her old age. Lots of people would have packed her off to a nursing home."

Jasmine drummed her fingers on the tablecloth in irritation. It wasn't like Wiley to play devil's advocate. "The man just couldn't cut the cord, Wi-" She glanced at Keilor's raised brow and scowled. "Rihlia. He wouldn't even buy a car without consulting her."

Portae frowned at her. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with consulting one's elders before making important decisions, young woman." She lifted a brow at her son Fallon, who rolled his eyes. "Frankly, I wish more young people would have the wisdom to do so."

Jasmine continued on as if there had been no interruptions, feeling rather like the subject of an inquisition. "Actually, he told me he was afraid of offending her because she might cut him out of her will and give everything to his sister." She paused for effect. "Apparently his mother is loaded."

Portae had no reply for that.

"This was after he told me that he couldn't consider marrying someone his mother disapproved of," she said indignantly. "I mean, the guy hadn't even made it to first base yet, and here he is talking about marriage! Not only that, but when dinner arrived, he didn't like the way they'd cooked his steak. But does he do anything about it? No. Instead he spends the rest of the meal whining about the poor service and the lousy food." She made a face. "By the time the jerk stiffed the waitress for the tip and walked me to my car, I was more than happy to see the end of him."

Fallon gave her a lazy smile and let his eyes drift down to her mouth. "I don't suppose this was the slug kisser, was it?"

Jasmine grimaced. "This guy didn't rate a kiss."

Grinning mischievously, Rihlia asked, "How is Michael, anyway?"

"I don't know and I don't care." Why was Wiley baiting her? Jasmine scowled at her untouched dessert, muttering, "At least now I won't have to worry about avoiding him, either."

Urseya raised a brow at Keilor. You see? Now the truth comes out. He frowned at her. "Was it a very bad ending?" she inquired with cheerful interest.

Rihlia laughed and shook her head. "Only if you count telling the poor guy-on the phone, mind you-never to call her again and then hanging up before he could say anything about it."

"There was no point in dragging it out," Jasmine said with stiff dignity. Wiley was painting a rather ugly picture of her romantic life, and she didn't care for it one bit. Besides, what was she doing, dragging all the skeletons out of her closet in public like this? She didn't notice that the others at the table were beginning to look at Rihlia, wondering the same thing.

Rihlia did notice, but ignored it with determination. Jasmine would thank her later for dampening the interest of the males present. She didn't need their kind of attention. Jasmine deserved better, and she was determined to see her get it. "I guess it's like that poem you dedicated to poor Josh, huh? "'If they're gutless when you meet them, they'll be gutless *til they die; the man was a mama's boy, so I left him there to cry.'"

Dead silence greeted her recital. Finally Jasmine said slowly, "You know, B.B., if you'd like to rehash old flames, I'm sure I could come up with a tale or two to amuse your family. Like that time I found you getting it on hot and heavy with-"

"Uh, that's ok, Jas," Rihlia hastily interrupted. Jasmine's threat was clear. Not only was she threatening to spill all of her secrets-not that they were excessive, just potentially embarrassing-but she would start calling her Blue Balls as well, the name given to her by frustrated boyfriends, and seal the humiliation. "We don't want to bore them with that." She glanced at the glowering Jayems and gulped. "Why don't you try the custard? It's really very good."

Jasmine gave her a look, but slowly lifted her spoon and tasted the treat.

Rihlia asked Jayems to refill her wineglass.

Noting her friend's distress and eager to lift the tension that had settled over the table, Jasmine snatched the glass before it could make it to Rihlia's trembling lips. She gave her a roguish smile. "Royalty really ought to have a taste tester, don't you think?" Grinning, she took a large swallow of the golden wine.

Rihlia laughed in grateful relief and looked down, shaking her head. "Are you sure it's not the job of court jester you're after?" When there was no answer, she looked up and saw Jasmine frozen with an odd look on her face. "Jasmine?"

Jasmine blinked, but didn't move.

Rihlia touched her arm. It was rigid with strain. "Jasmine? Are you okay?"

Colors swam before Jasmine's frozen eyes. Her muscles went weak and then spasmed without warning, shattering the glass in her hand. Someone screamed. Male voices cursed as strong arms wrapped around her, giving her support. She felt the blood and wine flow over her hand, but could neither unclench her fist from the shards nor see, for the room began to blacken. Past the roaring in her ears she dimly heard Rihlia shouting...something...

And then the screaming began.

CHAPTER 10.

Keilor swore and leapt over the table the moment the glass shattered, but in spite of his best efforts and Fallon holding Jasmine steady, he could not unclench her hand, short of breaking it. Her body shuddered and the cords of her neck stood out with the strain as her muscles contracted, driving the shards deeper into her hand. Fresh blood flowed.

Rihlia screamed and fought against Jayems' hold as she struggled to reach her friend. In the background Keilor heard him telling her, "They are helping her! We have to stay out of their way."