Page 44 (1/2)

Diana’s h her froers in Baldwin’s direction The thorns withdrew fro back into the splintered floorboards surrounding the valass’s house was returned to its normal, disenchanted state

While her spell slowly unraveled, Diana went to Jack and cupped his face The skin on his neck was already starting to knit together, but it would take several days to heal coenerous mouth beca the wound self-consciously

"Come on, Jackie Diana and I will take you to Court Street You lass clapped his hand on Jack’s shoulder Jack was exhausted but tried to look less wan for Diana’s sake

"Corra," Diana said, beckoning to her firedrake Corra lith as she drew closer to her mistress When the weaver and the firedrake were nearly touching, Corra faded into invisibility as she and Diana became one

"Let Chris help you home," Matthew said, careful to keep his broad fraes on the walls She was, thankfully, too tired to do lance at them

Mattheas pleased to see that Miriam had rounded up everyone in the house except Baldwin

They were huddled in the entrance--Chris, Andrew, Lobero, and Mirialass, and Jack The more creatures there to support the boy, the better

Watching theo took every ounce of control Matthew had He forced hily at Diana when she turned for one limpse of him Once they disappeared between the houses on Court Street, he returned to Baldwin

His brother was staring up at the last section of the murals, his shirt dotted with dark stains where Jack’s teeth and Diana’s briars had pierced the skin

"Jack is the vahts, and now I see it here on the walls We’ve been looking for hiation all this time?" Baldwin asked

"He ith Benjamin Then he was on the run" Matthew deliberately avoided looking at the horrifying ies that surrounded Benjamin’s disembodied features They were, he supposed, no more hideous than other brutal acts that vampires had perpetrated over the years What made them so unbearable was that Jack had done them

"Jack has to be stopped" Baldwin’s tone was ive ht Your Christianity really does make you perfect for your job" Baldwin snorted

"What other faith promises to wash away your sins if only you confess therasped the concept of atonement His view of Matthew’s faith was purely transactional--you went to church, confessed, and walked out a clean man But salvation was more complicated Philippe had co found Matthew’s constant search for forgiveness irritating and irrational

"You know very well there’s no place for hi the de Clerest" Baldwin saw in Jack what Benjaerous weapon, one that could be shaped and twisted to make it as deadly as possible Unlike Benjamin, Baldwin had a conscience He would not use the weapon that had come so unexpectedly into his hand, but neither would he allow it to be used by another

Matthew’s head reret Baldwin’s next words were expected, but Matthew felt them as a blow nevertheless

"Kill him," commanded the head of the de Clerhtly painted red door with the white trim and the black pedied into so that would ward off the chill and was bundled into one of his old cardigans, lessening the scent of the others she’d coreeting was rough and possessive, and he only reluctantly dreay

"What’s wrong?" Diana’s fingers went to Philippe’s arrowhead It had becoes of color on their tips told the sa uidance What he saw instead was a sky totally devoid of stars The reasonable, huht lights and tonight’s full moon But the va to orient hiuide his way

"Come" Matthew picked up Diana’s coat from the chair in the front hall, took his wife’s hand, and led her down the steps

"Where are we going?" she said, struggling to keep up

"To a place where I can see the stars," Matthew replied

22

Matthew headed north and west and out of the city with Diana beside him He drove uncharacteristically fast, and in less than fifteen minutes they were on a quiet lane tucked into the shadow of the peaks known locally as the Sleeping Giant Matthew pulled in to an otherwise dark driveway and shut off the car’s ignition A porch light came on, and an elderly man peered into the darkness

"That you, Mr Clairmont?" The man’s voice was faint and thready but there was still a sharp intelligence in his eyes

"It is, Mr Phelps," Matthew said with a nod He circled the car and helped Diana down "My wife and I are going up to the cottage"

"Nice tohis forehead with his hand "Mr

Gallowglass called to warn s He said not to worry if I heard somebody out here"

"I’m sorry oke you," Diana said

"I’et ure I’ll sleep when I’h "You’ll find everything you need up on theover the place," Matthew said

"It’s a family tradition," Mr Phelps replied "You’ll find Mr Whiter by the shed, if you don’t want to use ine your ant to walk all that way The park gates are closed, but you kno to get in Have a nice night"

Mr Phelps went back inside, the screen hitting the doorframe with a snap of aluminum and mesh

Matthew took Diana by the elbow and steered her tohat looked like a a cross between a golf cart with unusually rugged tires and a dune buggy He let go of her only long enough to round the vehicle and cliate into the park was so well hidden it was all but invisible, and the dirt trail that served as a road was unlit and unated a few sharp turns, cli steadily as they traveled up the side of the es of heavy forest until they reached an open field with a shts were on inside, e in a fairy tale

Matthew stopped Marcus’s Ranger and engaged the brake He took a deep breath to drink in the night scents of rass Below, the valley looked bleak He wondered if it was his

"The ground is uneven I don’t want you to fall" Matthew held out his hand, giving Diana the choice whether to take it or not