Page 17 (1/2)

He stared at her for an instant, his golden eyeswide

"Don’t you believe me?"

"I wouldn’t put it past Sylvia to try," he said "ButI don’t think she’s strong enough"

"She said she got special ingredients And shesaid that nobody else could take the spell off"When he still looked doubtful, although a bit ie added, "Why don’t youtry it?"

He reached doith long, strong fingers to pullat the fastenings of his brace It caie’s eyebroent up She blinked

He extended his arer frootten about the blood part Shebit the inside of her cheek and didn’t say anythingashe opened a small cut on his wrist Blood welled up red, then flowed in a trickle

"Just a little blast," Delos said, and looked cal happened

He frowned, his golden eyes flaring dangerously

Maggie could see the concentration in his face Hespread his fingers

Still nothing happened

Maggie let out her breath I guess spells are invisible, she thought The brace was just for showDelos was looking at his ar to hi not toht they were alone in here, they were talkingabout all kinds of things All Hunter cares about is getting you to help hi split in the Night World, and the witches have seceded from it"

Delos went very still, and his eyes were distant"That means war Open war betitches and va a hand vaguely"But, listen, Delos, the witches sent soet you on their side Hunter said they’ve got one of the Wild Powers on their side already-the witches, Ithis?"

"Of course," Delos said But now his voice wasoddly distant, too He was looking at soie couldn’t see "But one out of four doesn’tood enough"

"What are you talkingabout?" Maggie didn’t waitfor hiirl whocairl I ith on therocks, the other one you saved from Bern She’sAradia, and she’s Maiden of all the witches And,Delos, they’re looking for her right now They wantto kill her to stop her fro to you And she’s my friend"

"That’s too bad"

"We’ve got to stoptheie said, exasperated

"Wecan’t"

That brought Maggie up short She stared at hi we can’t stop theie, listen to an an incoherent protest

That’s the first tiht dizzily, and then she focused on hiswords

"It’s not just the spell they’ve put on me And it’snot just that they control the castle Oh, yes, theydo," he said with a bitter laugh, cutting her off again "You haven’t been here very long; you don’tunderstand The nobles here are centuries old, ruled by a precocious child with uncanny powers As soon asHunter showed up, they transferred their loyalty to him"

’BUt-"’

"He’s everything they admire The perfect vampire, the ultimate predator He’s ruthless andbloodthirsty and he wants to give therounds Do you really thinkany of themindless, bewildered animals that have to be rationed out one at a time?

With maybe the oddcreaky slave for a special treat? Do you think any of theie was silent There was nothing she couldsay

He was right, and it was scary

"And that isn’t all," he continued remorselessly"Do you want to hear a prophecy?"

"Not really," Maggie said She’d heard nored her "My old teacher used to tell methis," he said

"’Four to stand between the light and theshadow,

Four of blue fire, power in their blood

Born in the year of the blind Maiden’s vision;Four less one and darkness triuie said To her it sounded likejustabout it was that it mentioned the blindMaiden That had to be Aradia, didn’t it? She wasone famous witch

"What’s `born in the year of the blind Maiden’svision?"’ she asked

"It e,born seventeen years ago," Delos said impatiently `But that’s not the point The point is the last line,`Four less one and darkness triuie"

"What do you mean?"

"It’s inevitable There’s no way that the huet all four Wild Powers ontheir side And if there’s even one less than four,the darkness is going to win All the vampires need to do is kill one of the Wild Powers, and it’s allover Don’t you see?"

Maggie stared at hi, and it was even scarier than what he’d saidbefore

"But that doesn’tto puzzle out his expression "If we do that, it will be all over We can’t just surrender and letthem win"

"Of course not," he said harshly "We have tojoin theie realized that her mouth had fallen open

" what?"

"We have to be on the winning side, and that’sthe vampire side" He looked at her with yelloweyes that seemed as remote and deathly calm as apanther’s "I’m sorry about your friends, but there’s no chance for them And the only chance for youis to becoed into overdrive

All at once, she saw exactly what he was sayingAnd furygave her energy He was lightning-fast, but she jumped up and out of the way before he could close his hands on her

"Are you out of yourto kill to save your life, the only way I can"He stood up, following her with that same eerie calm

I can’t believe this I really can’tbelieve this, Maggie thought

She circled around the bed, then stopped It was pointless; he was going to get her eventually

She looked into his face one more time, and saw that he was completely serious She dropped herar,his eyes directly

"Delos, this isn’t just about me, and it’s not justabout my friends It’s about all the slaves here, andall the hu to help theain "But you’re all that really ie said, and this time the hottears didn’t stop at her eyes, but overflowed and rolled down her cheeks She shook therily, and took one last deep breath

"I won’t let you," she said

"You can’t stop ht I can make you kill me before youturn me into a vampire If you want to try it thatway, come and take your best shot"

Delos’s yellow eyes bored into hers-and thensuddenly shifted and dropped He stepped back, hisface cold

"Fine," he said "If you won’t cooperate, I’ll putyou in the dungeon until you see what’s best foryou

Maggie felt her ain"You wouldn’t," she said