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  My heart snapped shut. Never, I shot at her, red fire flaring in my mind.

  Exactly, Shaylee sent, soothing, gentle. If you bring up a dream of your plane, he will suggest you go home and investigate. And, in doing so, opens us to using Gabriel again.

  I’d sworn to myself when I left my son behind, my daughter, my now ex-husband and everyone I loved, I’d never use them again, not ever. Me, Creator was welcome to control and manipulate. But they would be left out of it.

  Before we tell him anything, my vampire sent, let’s get some answers.

  Answers. Right.

  Why did I have the feeling I wasn’t going to like what I found?

  ***

  Chapter Three

  I swept into the veil, leaping from the wall of the Stronghold, bypassing the dining hall and Max, leaving Jiao behind though I felt her curiosity at my departure. I reassured her with a flash of image of the darkness, a touch of my need to be alone. She let me go without comment, for which I was grateful.

  It wasn’t that I was watched or followed. Quite the contrary. I thought being a coven leader and a witch meant being in touch constantly with those around me. I had no idea what true loss of privacy meant until I joined the drach. Funny, it didn’t bother me so much just yesterday. Now, as I shifted shape and spread my wings, soaring into the slice in the veil, I shivered at the thought of having all those minds in mine.

  And while I felt a momentary pang of loss for the peace I’d left behind, I embraced the bits of the old me I allowed to return, even grinning with my muzzle stretched over my sharp teeth in the permalight of the veil at the thought.

  A drach with attitude. I was going to ruin everything.

  I circled the edge of my plane twice before realizing I was stalling.

  We could just hover here all day, my vampire sent in her dry tone.

  Sounds like a hoot, my demon snarked.

  Oh, honestly, Shaylee snapped. You two. Sydlynn. Just do it.

  I drew a breath, feeling the heat inside my chest stir, the fire at my command rising in answer to my nerves. I’d only breathed flame a few times, thoroughly enjoyed the rush of excitement and exhilaration that came from the experience. Mixing power with chemical and oxygen in a blast of fiery fury from my muzzle was some of the most fun I’d ever had. For a moment, I longed to let loose and just char anything I could get my claws on, feeling a pulsing need to shout or vent or something building beneath the flames. But, the pressure passed as I shifted into human form, reaching for the veil and the maji chamber beneath the vampire mansion.

  For Ameline.

  I quickly reinforced my shielding, shoring up any gaps or holes I might have missed as I passed out of the veil and into the stillness of the underground. The magic here stirred at my arrival, in welcome, but not recognition, not any longer. This was maji power, after all, and I’d given up my connection to it when I’d embraced my drach heritage.

  So strange, so odd, the feeling of it welcoming me, as though afraid, hesitant, wondering what I wanted, why I was there. I soothed it as best I could, sad at the reaction, noting how much sharper everything felt, how more in tune to power I was since my change. I’d always been aware of the magic down here, but never to this degree. As I stood in the quiet, breathing the faintly musty air, the magic of the maji murmured in my head, thrummed under my feet, whispered past my cheek, a living, breathing thing.

  Embodied, a moment later, by the tall, slim form of a beautiful young woman. She hadn’t aged, Ameline Benoit. Still twenty-two or so, page-boy bangs crisp over her forehead, black hair falling in silken strands, shining in the low light that glowed from the very rocks. Her expression, however, was far different than the Ameline I’d first met. Gone was the cold calculation from her icy blue eyes, replaced with kindness and worry. Her full lips pursed, her hands clenched tight before her. Ameline might not have had a physical form any longer, but she was as real to me as anyone. I’d long ago forgiven her the death of Liam, the kidnapping of Gabriel. She’d shed her ego when she’d died here, when I’d killed her. Only her soul remained behind. And, as I stood there, waiting for her to speak, wondering if I’d be the one to break the silence first, I felt just how pure she’d become.

  And my sorrow for her rose all over again. This life she lived, as the voice and heart of the maji chamber, wasn’t much of an existence. Not once had she complained. But, I could feel the hurt in her, the sorrow and the longing for freedom. Even if that meant her death, finally, fully.

  I couldn’t help myself. I approached her in a rush, hugged her. The power of the maji chamber was enough to give her corporeal form, as solid and real as any person. Ameline hugged me back, cheek against mine before her cool lips brushed over my face.

  I was wrong. She felt more real. Pure magic.

  When I pulled back from her, she smiled, tears sparkling in her eyes.

  “We’ve missed you,” she said in her beautiful voice, French accent coming through faintly.

  I shuddered from the truth of it. Because, standing there, holding her hand still, I had to embrace the fact this visit might just break me.

  “You, too,” I said, managed past the lump in my throat. And stood there, gaping at her, heart aching, silent and unable to muster another word.

  Syd, my vampire whispered. The dream.

  Right. Damn it. I squeezed Ameline’s hand and let it go. But, she was already talking before I could say a word.

  “You look different.” She cocked her head to one side. “I like the eyes. Now I’m jealous.”

  Another giggle, this one painful while full of the pleasure of being human again. Sort of. “Thanks,” I said. “They’ll do.”

  “Not so sure about the scales.” She tapped one finger against her full lips, gaze narrowed. “They work, oddly. On you.”

  “Don’t knock it until you try it,” I said.

  Ameline laughed. “I’ll pass.” Winked. “But I’ll take your word for it.”

  It really wasn’t that funny, but we both laughed. It felt good to laugh. To stand there with her and feel her warmth and remember she was a good person under all the horribleness that made her my enemy once upon a time.

  And, at last, the final threads of anger I held against Ameline broke and fell away, leaving me refreshed.

  “You’re not here for skin care advice,” she said. “Nor to stay, I assume.”

  No judging. Just fact. I nodded, swallowed.

  “I had a dream last night,” I said. “And you’re the only one I can ask who won’t pressure me to stay.”

  Ameline’s hand reached for mine again, fingers slipping into mine, twining us together. “Says you,” she whispered. “Tell me.”

  I did, halting and hurtful, remembering Liam, the oak tree’s bursting growth. When I finished, Ameline shook her head, black hair rippling, eyes sad.

  “There has been no word about Alison or Sebastian in the time you’ve been gone,” she said. “Though I’m sure you know that already. The veil itself would have told you.”

  She was probably right. If such a surge of spirit magic had returned to my home plane, I would have known about it.

  “Just a dream then, I guess,” I said. Sighed. A good thing, though, wasn’t it? That it was just a dream?

  “Perhaps,” Ameline said. “And perhaps not. You said she appeared to you from what felt like the burial place of Liam.”

  “We didn’t bury Liam,” I said. “We burned him.”

  “Exactly,” she said. “So, why the symbology? And why would she tell you to go home?”

  Guilt? My demon chimed in.

  Unlikely, my vampire sent. Until she had the dream, Syd had no such feelings lingering.

  It was only after we woke again that her emotions came to the fore. Shaylee sounded guilty herself.

  If that’s the way it has to be, I sent to them all, then so be it.

  “I’m sorry I’m unable to be of more help,” Ameline said. “The only thing I can think of—if it wasn’t a dream—
is that somehow Alison is reaching you through the dead.” She shrugged her narrow shoulders. “A stab in the dark, and perhaps more morbid than is the case.”

  The dead. And yet, it made sense. “Spirit magic is tied to death,” I said. “Interesting.” But Liam was long gone, his soul free, ego gone. It had to be nothing.

  Time to say goodbye. And let this fall behind me. I had planes to patrol today and being here, so close to my old home, was beginning to wear on me. I couldn’t help but hug Ameline again, though, as I turned from her sad face, her forlorn expression, the air beside me suddenly flickered in shadow and two figures hurtled from formerly empty space and crashed into me.

  The familiarity of being the center of a vampire sandwich almost broke me. Sunny pressed her body to me, arms tight around me, cheek against mine as Uncle Frank squashed me from behind, his strong grip not only engulfing me but his beautiful wife. Trapped and helpless, I sagged against them a moment, breathing in the soft scent of Sunny’s shampoo from her thick, blonde hair, the warmth of their skin—they’d eaten, clearly. And feeling the subtle thrum of their spirit magic linking with the vampire inside me.

  I have to go. I threw that horrified burst of desperation at the girls.

  No, my vampire whispered. You don’t.

  Not yet, my demon sent, wistful and soft.

  Just a moment, Shaylee begged.

  I was going to die.

  “Syd,” Sunny whispered. “Oh, Syd. Thank the elements.” She leaned back and I realized I was, in fact, still alive, though I wasn’t sure for how much longer as my heart was about to give out on me. She blinked tears, long lashes fluttering, pale blue eyes full of grief and a splash of hope.

  I turned from her, landing me right into Uncle Frank’s arms. Not that I intended it. Or did I? I just couldn’t trust myself anymore, it seemed. He hugged me so tight even my drach human form felt it.

  “Don’t leave,” he murmured in my ear, over and over. “Please, don’t leave.” A litany.

  Sunny’s hand settled between my shoulder blades, made soft circles as I panted my pain into my uncle’s chest. When I finally pushed away, I think he knew, they both knew, this was temporary. Though, if I stayed much longer, I wasn’t so sure.

  “How?” I’d shielded against them, damn it all.

  “Triggers,” Sunny said, stumbling over words, hands reaching for me even as I backed away. “We’ve all set them, just in case you showed up. Syd, we’re so glad you’re here.”

  I shook my head, continuing my backward motion. I reached for the veil, fumbled at the edges of it, but couldn’t quite manage to open a gap. It was as though my entire being rebelled against my need to flee from them, from the jabbing agony of their eagerness and love.

  So much love. I could feel the bonds forming all over again, the same ones I’d destroyed, cut off on purpose. And slashed at them, freeing myself once more. It hurt this time around.

  Hurt a lot.

  “Thanks for the warning,” I grated between clenched teeth. “I’ll watch for them from now on.”

  Sunny’s face crumpled, but she refused to quit. “Syd, please, listen. We need you. The plane…” she glanced at Uncle Frank, at his grim expression, his slumped shoulders. “Everything is falling apart, Syd. We can’t do this without you.”

  I stared at her, heart pounding. No, I couldn’t get drawn in again. Couldn’t.

  “I, too, fear for us,” Ameline said, soft and sad. “I worry about the maji, Syd.”

  I shook my head, a sharp gesture of denial. “Not my problem.”

  Is it not? My vampire sighed. Perhaps you should let me sleep after all.

  I barely refrained from reminding her she’d been with me in my choice. She didn’t have the right to back out now.

  Sunny stiffened, turned half away, hands cupping her elbows. “Maybe not,” she said. “But we need you, nonetheless. And I’m not above begging.”

  Why was she doing this to me? “I had my reasons!” I didn’t mean to shout at her, at the three of them, at the voices in my head. “Don’t you get it? I had to go! I had no choice.” I panted after the words, realizing I’d been wanting to say them to someone for a long time. Had to get them out.

  Had to find a way to believe them.

  Uncle Frank slipped one arm around Sunny’s shoulders, pulled her against him. “We know,” he said. “And while we might not understand why, Syd, we all get that you only do what you have to do. That we need to trust you made the choice you did because it was your only option. We believe in you, always have.” Damn him for making me feel worse and worse and worse with every word. Why wouldn’t he just shut up or scream back or accuse me of something already? An attack I could handle. This?

  Not this.

  “Syd.” Ameline’s smooth voice cut me just as deep for all its reasonableness. “No one blames you.”

  Except me.

  “We’re trying,” Sunny said. Wept. Head down, blonde hair hanging around her shivering body. “But I don’t think we can hold things together much longer.” When she looked up, her blue eyes were full of such desolation I had to clench myself rigid to keep from running to her and hugging her. “We know you can’t come home. But, please. Find a way to help us.”

  Could I do that? Allow the little things back into my life?

  Who says they are little? My demon’s snarl had enough anger in it for all of us. Her, too? Traitor. We agreed with you when we made the choice to leave. But if things have changed…

  I unclenched slightly, reached out with my completely shuttered mind. Just a peek. Just a quick glance into the world around me. Enough to decide what to do, I told myself.

  Didn’t make it far. Gasped. The mansion above me wasn’t empty as I expected. The first thing I encountered was the presence of spirit magic. A lot of spirit magic.

  The house was packed full of vampires.

  ***

  Chapter Four

  I didn’t get to ask Sunny and Uncle Frank why what seemed like the entire population of their race was hunkered down in their house above. The beautiful blonde beat me to it.

  “They’ve come looking for help,” she said. Almost apologetically. As if they’d made some horrible error.

  Uncle Frank didn’t seem to agree with her. As his arm slid around her shoulders again, pride beamed from his handsome face when he spoke.

  “Moa went into hiding shortly after you left,” he said, without a trace of accusation. At least, I chose to believe he didn’t blame it on me. “The entire vampire race was left without their Empress.”

  Sunny snorted, a delicate sound. Everything she did, even something as ungraceful as snorting, seemed perfect. Funny how the small things, the odd and quiet things about the people I’d left behind, seemed to jump out at me now. Was I so lost in what I’d been I’d failed to truly see them as they really were?

  And yourself, in the bargain, my vampire sent, soft and kind.

  Likely.

  “The Empress,” Sunny said with enough heavy sarcasm to make me grin despite myself, “might have thought herself a guiding spirit of our race, but since she ran like the rat she is, we’re better off.” A faint tint of pink colored her cheeks, though from embarrassment at speaking that way or from the heat of her words I wasn’t sure. “Not that coming here was a much better idea.”

  Embarrassment. But why?

  “Whatever, Sunshine,” Uncle Frank said, planting a kiss on the top of her head. As if she wasn’t a powerful vampire queen or anything. Just his wife who he loved with all his heart. It made me choke a little on emotion. Damn it. “They came to you because they know what true leadership looks like.”

  Now she really was embarrassed, deprecating, a frown pulling her perfectly shaped eyebrows together. “I wouldn’t say that,” she said.

  “Don’t have to.” Uncle Frank winked at me, slow smile on his full lips. Just like old times.

  Would it really be this easy to slip back into my old life?

  “I’m doing my best,”
Sunny said.

  It was Ameline’s turn to speak up. “More than that,” she said, thoughtful and frowning herself. “Your altered magic, I assume, has given you some edge, has it not?”

  That was right. Sebastian’s power had changed when I saved his life, using maji magic to revive him years ago. In doing so, I’d fundamentally rearranged his power as much as his life. Gave him back his heartbeat, for one. As for the rest, I had no idea just how far the changes had gone. Though, before he disappeared, he’d been able to walk in sunlight for years and didn’t seem restricted to only spirit magic, but had access to maji—at least, a version of it—as well.

  “I don’t know,” Sunny said. “We’ve been trying to figure that out.” Her hands clenched together in front of her, fingers pulling at the cuffs of her cream silk blouse. “I have, as yet, to feel the pull—or whatever it is that has taken other vampires from us—decimating our race. And, a time or two, have managed to keep a few of our people from vanishing.”

  “Making the other vampires think you have a solution.” It made perfect sense.

  Indeed, my vampire sent.

  “But,” I said, “if Sebastian had the same ability, why is he gone?”

  Sunny shrugged. “As I said, I don’t know if that is the reason, though we must assume it’s the case. And, knowing Sebastian, he chose to follow the pull. Went willingly.” She smiled, soft and sad. “His curiosity, like a cat’s, has led him places he shouldn’t go in the past. I see no reason why that wouldn’t be the case now.”

  And Alison would have gone with him, even if it meant traveling to the end of the Universe.

  “The trouble is,” Sunny said, still frowning, fingers now twining over and over again around each other, though I was sure she was unaware of the gesture, “we have no idea how we’re keeping vampires here. And, once one is targeted,” she grimaced at the word, “even if we pull them back, it’s only a short time before the pull on the target vampires happens again and they are gone.”