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Pollepel Island, New York

It started with the whistling of the wind, but it would be inaccurate to suggest that she had really heard the sound Rather, she beca of the pine trees and the shafts of sunlight that sliced down through the clouds without truly being able to see the a picture in herit to life on a blank canvas

Alive, she thought

Yet the moment it crossed her mind she realized that was not likely She sensed the world around her ible Perhaps she was not alive after all Could it be that she existed now only as a ghost, haunting the world where others still walked and laughed and host But if that were true, how to explain the strange feeling she had of strength? Of invisible muscles hich she felt, oddly, that she could reach out and take hold of the trees and the sun and the wind?

Yet beneath that feeling of strength was another,with each ed to wake fro on to wakefulness - let herself drift off again - sheremained of her but the absence of dreaht, and then faltered The concept of identity had shocked her, but now that it had occurred to her she knew that it was right and necessary Who was she? She must have a naht have been Though she did not dare to let go of the wind and the sun and the pine trees - or the deep, swift river she now realized was below her - still she knew that there were other things beyond her present awareness that she needed to discover

No, rediscover For she sensed that they were things she had lost

Fearful of that underlying feeling that she was slipping aith every gust of wind, she forced herself to focus inward, to think and examine Instantly she was rewarded by other flashes of awareness, and yet these were not visions of her present surroundings They were memories Horrible, horrible h she had no mouth - and filled her with pain and fury that concentrated in a burning core that h her consciousness of cruelas they hurt her, their vacant eyes as they held her down and forced themselves on her She could feel the her ribs and breasts and face, the way the shorter one had choked her while he held her down and the way she had wept as her mind screa eyes of the other, the one who had used her and plunged his fangs into her throat and drunk froain Eyes like a leopard&039;s A true predator&039;s eyes

Cortez

The name came to her like the whisper of the wind, there but not there, as if it were her own personal haunting Hatred ignited inside her and those invisible , solidifying, andwith her own nae burned even brighter when she realized that she had remembered Cortez&039;s naot to kill his She understood what had happened to her, now, reeant Oroupremembered that chamber beneath the ruins of the castle where corpses and explosives had awaited them The explosion seared itself upon her consciousness, even as she began to understand that she was drifting on the razor edge between life and death

Nothingapart, she had been flotsam in the maelstrom of reality since the ht in the same explosion back when she had been a part of Cortez&039;s coven she would surely be dead, now With no faith in their ability to exist in such a state, vampires who eness,out until they lost all cohesion and thus all awareness It had, she realized, nearly been her own fate

In the instant before the explosion she had begun to shift to mist, and perhaps that had helped her But Charlotte felt certain it was fury that had kept her fro coe and focused, trying to pull herself back together

At first she felt no differently Then, slowlyso slowlyshe could feel herself stop drifting Those invisible ether, the fabric of her existence rebuilding itself, using fury as its eance

Charlotte had been following Octavian&039;s lead, subli thisbeing nothing but thought and moleculeshad freed her from the fears and doubts of the flesh, and now she understood that her claie&039;s

Slowly, in the sky above the Hudson River, hate brought her back fro but Cortez and his effort to make vampires once ht theht

She could not wait to show him how much of a monster she could really be

Brattleboro, Ver her rented Ford into the parking lot of Summerfields Orchard was the yards of yellow police tape With the gray autu its pall upon the orchard, there was soarish about that tape, stretched from tree to tree far up on the hillside Despite the char barn that had been converted into a store and the pumpkins and cornstalks and other autumn decorations that were on display in front of the place, not tochildren on hayrides, her eyes were drawn to that yellow tape way up on the hill for the si It spoke silently but all too clearly: so terrible had happened here

She had passed a police car as she turned in Now, as she parked and turned off her engine, she noticed otten out of his vehicle and was approaching her

&039;What does he want?&039; A her own reflection in the la&039; She glanced at the seat beside her &039;It&039;s not slipping, is it?&039;

To others, the passenger seat would appear to be vacant, but she could see the ghost of Miles Varick clearly Her forrizzled and dead, frowned as he studied her

&039;Not fros here last night, he&039;s probably supposed to check out anyone who pulls in&039;

&039;What, every younglot to turn around when she sees the place is closed?&039;

&039;You&039;re not turning around&039;

The rap on herine was off so it would have been easier to just open the door, but the cop was blocking her in, now, so she turned the key enough to get the electricity running through the car again and rolled down the

&039;Afternoon, officer,&039; Ahtly

&039;Can I help you, host drifted a little nearer to her, peering out theso close that his cheek would have been al hers if he could have touched her at all The cop&039;s gaze did not waver; he had no trace of the sight, none of the supernatural experience that would have allowed hilamour It made her exhale

&039;My na herself that she was here on official business &039;I&039;ve been asked by the United Nations to consult with the owners about last night&039;s events If you want to check on that, I can give you a direct nuer of Task Force Victor&039;

Not quite the truth; Octavian had sent her, but Metzger would back him up

The cop nodded slowly &039;These ladies know you&039;re co his head toward the house a ways up the hill on the right, beyond the barn

&039;As far as I know they do&039;

He bent and looked into the back seat, then studied her face for a ht see that would alaroing to be able to continue the supernatural ht The daylight was fading, but it had to be clear that if she was a vampire, she had to be a Shadow, and they were supposed to be the good guys

&039;You a witch like the others?&039; he asked

A ripple of disgust went through her The urge to let her glamour fall away, to show hiers into his chest,out a piece of his soul, was powerful

Instead, she set him to take a wary step back

&039;I&039;m a whole different sort of witch,&039; she said

Nervously, he returned her smile and nodded as if they had shared a joke instead of a o on up, if they&039;re waiting for you,&039; he said, already half-turned for the walk back to his cruiser &039;Give a holler if you need anything&039;

&039;I&039;ll do that&039;

By the tiotten out of the car, slipping her keys into the pocket of her burgundy, hooded sweater, he was already halfway to his vehicle As she slalass andup toward the house on the hill together

The path to the house was not nearly so well trodden as the others in Summerfields Orchard, reserved as it was for family and friends rather than the thousands of customers who trooped up and down the rows of apple trees and through the puh three seasons every year Glancing around, Ale person outside No one worked at harvesting apples or pulling pumpkins in The property stretched across the road they had come in on, and she realized now that they had not seen anyone on that side either - no tractors, no pickers, not a soul The police had not just closed down the shop, they had shut the orchard completely

Or perhaps it hadn&039;t been the police whoof friends and those who shared their faith, had turned into a slaughter - after they had seen some of those friends hideously murdered - of course they would cease all activities on the property, out of respect if not in h, the way she had been altered, she so on to human instincts It troubled her very deeply, but noas not the tirief all around her

&039;I don&039;t like the feeling of this place,&039; Miles said, his voice sounding like a whisper beside her ear, though she could see hi half a dozen feet away The voices of the dead always sounded like that to her, intimate and forlorn

&039;I&039;ht&039;

&039;Well, it&039;s good that they&039;re earthwitches,&039; Miles said &039;It may take a while, but if anyone can purify the land it would be them&039;

Amber arched an eyebrow, tempted to ask what Miles knew about earthwitches But he had been her favorite professor, once upon a time, and she&039;d enjoyed his lectures so

As they approached the house, she saw so past theand a moment later the front door opened to reveal a lovely black woht was that she was crying, but the woined it, that the sorrow that weighed on her was so powerful it cast the illusion of tears

&039;Youdown the steps and holding out her hand &039;I&039;m Tori Osborne&039;

&039;Nice to lad Peter told you ere coht not have reached you and then I&039;d be all aard andwell, I&039;ave a curious sht, he said there were two of you Did your partner wait in the car?&039;

Miles Varick&039;s ghost gave a sh &039;Not much of a witch&039;

&039;No,&039; Ahost stood, hanging just above the ground &039;He&039;s right here His name is Miles Varick&039;

Tori arched an eyebrow &039;Annnddhe&039;s a ghost?&039;

&039;Peter didn&039;t mention that?&039;

&039;Nope&039;

Ae world, these days&039;

The sadness in Tori had abated for a moment, but now it returned full force &039;It certainly is&039;

She went back and closed the front door of her house, then started along another path that led around the side of the house and up into the orchard

&039;Come on, then,&039; Tori said &039;You should meet Cat And I knohat you&039;ve really come to see&039;

&039;We&039;ve co at Miles&039;s ghost The phantohtly offended

Tori smiled &039;No offense, but I&039; to be able to do for us if we have another vaht&039;

&039;You&039;d be surprised,&039; A in her tone lanced at her while they walked and see her anew

&039;You didn&039;t just come to seewell, to see Keo at her

&039;Did she just say-&039; the ghost began

&039;Did you say "Keoer passed visibly across Tori&039;s face &039;I guess Octavian didn&039;t tell either of us very erous habit Did you know Keooddess Navalica side by side with Keomany Shaw, and had seen her die

&039;Well, then, you&039;re going to love this,&039; Tori said, and then they alking again, both of them a little faster than before

It surprised Amber that their route took theuided her through the orchard in a zigzag pattern of rows and trails,where a tall apple tree in full fruit stood at the center of a makeshift post and plywood fence, as if some anie pen had been removed Over the top they could see a pair of heads - aon the ground which seee,&039; Miles said, his voice so familiar and intimate in her ear

&039;What is?&039; A to disturb the people inside the pen

Tori glanced at her,to her

&039;The taint I felt e arrived?&039; Miles said, his spectral brows furroith curiosity &039;It ends here This clearing is justit&039;s pure, so in the pen

&039;We&039;ve got visitors, honey,&039; she said

The two people inside the pen turned, startled from their reverie The woman had to be Cat Hein, Tori&039;s wife The , but tall and with the powerful build of a fellow used to hard work He clutched a baseball cap in his hands and looked on in deference, waiting for his colanced at Tori, then recoiled in shock when she saw A a step back, wide-eyed and open-mouthed

&039;Holy shit!&039; she said

&039;No fair,&039; Tori said &039;You can see the ghost!&039;

Cat took another step back, eyeing the new arrivals warily &039;Yeah, I can see the ghost It&039;s a ghost&039; She pointed at Amber &039;But what the hell are you?&039;

The words were not spoken in disgust, but rather a combination of fear and fascination Yet still Amber felt the kind of sha teased in the schoolyard when Tirade that she had stripped naked in front of him and he&039;d rejected her, a reversal of the truth that had nevertheless haunted her for years

&039;I&039;ed &039;Amber Morrissey&039;

&039;Peter Octavian sent us,&039; Miles&039;s ghost supplied helpfully, since unlike Tori, Cat could see hi back and forth between her wife and their guest, clearly baffled by the reaction

&039;Cat, what the hell?&039; Tori said

&039;I&039; why she wasn&039;t reacting &039;Really We&039;ve had a horrible twenty-four hours and I justI knew Octavian had sent someone, but I had no idea&039;

The woer running away

&039;Why are you freaking out?&039; Tori asked &039;What are you&039; She took a closer look at A &039;Wait, what do you see?&039;

&039;Better show her,&039; Miles said

Amber and Tori were still outside that wooden pen, with Cat and the man in the baseball cap on the inside She didn&039;t want to frighten Tori, but Miles was right She normally would have hesitated with the employee there, but Cat didn&039;t see her reaction from him, so Amber would follow suit

&039;Don&039;t be afraid,&039; A

She dropped the gla theundy skin of the Reaper, her long talons, and the hair like razor wire that swept back from her face

&039;Good Christ!&039; said the baseball cappale as he crossed hi awe &039;Wow,&039; she whispered

Ah &039;Now that is one reaction I did not expect&039;

Tori turned to Cat &039;Maybe Peter did send us some real protection after all&039;

Cat nodded slowly, taking a few steps toward the wall that separated the disher before Now they were able to see eye to eye over the top

&039;Aht? I meant no offense,&039; Cat said

&039;I know,&039; Ah the shame still resonated inside her, mostly from meot over the difficult times in their lives, they just diluted them with tiesturing toward the baseball cap man &039;He&039;s our foreht eat his face given the opportunity He nodded warily and raised a hand

&039;Hey,&039; he said

A, sharp teeth, her smile looked ferocious

&039;Hey, Ed,&039; she replied

Tori laughed quietly, apparently enjoying the peculiar aardness of it all

The ghost of Miles Varick slid into the air Amber and Cat both watched him rise, which only seehost drifted over the top of the wall toward the huge apple tree, staring down at soround, hidden from Amber&039;s view by the wall Yet she knehat it er,&039; Miles whispered in that spectral voice

Cat whipped around to stare at hi about?&039;