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She set off toward the storeroo to hide a li in his troll language, and offered his arether they went down the hall

JULIET HAD BEEN SO CLOSE TO DEATH THAT I EXPECTED TO find her limp in bed, awake but weak So I wasn’t prepared for the bundle of energy that paced the room like a tornado trapped in a box

I was on the bottom step when Juliet ran over and threw her arms around me She saw Mab behind me and cried, "‘O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you’!" And then she hugged Mab, too My aunt stiffened, her face an almost comical picture of consternation It was a pretty safe bet that Mab had never been hugged by a vampire before

"That’s Shakespeare," Juliet explained Mab nodded and didn’t reply, although she knew the Bard’s plays as well as Juliet "There’s more to it, of course The line is from my play, from a speech by Mercutio I’m afraid he’s not very complimentary of your namesake overall But he calls you ‘the fairies’ midwife,’ and I do feel like you’ve helped birth me"

Juliet kissed Mab on the cheek Mab’s eyes ide, and I had to turn away to hidebetter," I said I’d never seen Juliet such a bundle of energy "How’s your leg?"

"Oh, it’s fine" She held it out, her arms positioned like a ballerina’s Her skin was smooth and pale, as normal Not even a scar She spun in a pirouette "All better Thanks to good Queen Mab You don’t rin at Mab, as leaning heavily on the arms of a chair as she lowered herself into it Axel went back upstairs to get her another cup of tea

"So, when are we going to attack the Old Ones?" Juliet leapt around, shadowboxing "Now that I kno vulnerable those bastards are to silver, I’ll kill the it"

I stared at her This wasn’t just a surge of energy This was like a whole new Juliet And there was Mab, so drained I hoped she hadn’t given away too much "Did Mab tell you what made you so sick?" I asked Juliet

"Plague virus But I feel fine now And I didn’t even turn into a zombie" She scrutinized herself in the reen skin or red eyes But there wasn’t a trace of zolossy hair Even her curves had filled out again "I feel better than I have in decades Like I’ve started a whole new life" She laughed "Does thata teacup in its saucer, and sat next to Mab She took tea and tried to sip it, but her hands were shaking again, almost as badly as before She rested the cup and saucer in her lap How much of Juliet’s newfound vitality came from the bloodstone, I wondered, and how much from the Old Ones’ eternity virus?

"Did you know the Old Ones caused the zoue?" I asked her

"Not until Queen Mab told me I’d been infected with a siue must have been the ‘failed experi on about" She turned to Mab "The Old Ones cohts, but they didn’t knoas eavesdropping Anyway" She spun on her heel to address ain "That hy they needed the wizard, because their experi out of time"

"We knoho the wizard is Myrddin Wyllt He’s the father of Pryce, the one they call ‘the sleeper’"

Mab ed to lift the teacup to her lips When she set it down, her eyes had brightened "Colwyn believes that Myrddin possesses the secret to immortality," she said "It took Colwyn centuries to find Myrddin and then centuries ure out how to undo the spell that held the wizard where he was But the two of thereatly preferred to leave Myrddin there for all eternity"

"And where was that?" Juliet asked She’d finally stopped pacing and spinning and dancing and perched on the edge of the bed

"A hawthorn tree," I said "He was imprisoned there by my ancestor Nimuë"

"Actually, it was a yew tree Andwell, the literature getsBut that’s not our concern now" She turned to Juliet "Colwyn released Myrddin but put a time limit on his freedom: ten days If Myrddin doesn’t deliver the secret of ioes to the yew tree In theMyrddin in his attempts to revive Pryce That’s what’s behind the Reaper ave a brief account of how Myrddin had attempted to transfer my life force to Pryce "So, you see, we need to find where they’re hiding ‘the sleeper’"

"I don’t know" Juliet rubbed her chin "The Old Ones have several bases in Boston The one where I an pacing again, gesturing as she spoke "There’s an ee, that’s supposed to be a construction site But the construction trailer is fake The lair is under it, underground It’s set up like a big laboratory"

"We know that one," I said "That’s where they took me It’s abandoned now"