Ivy's head was down as we walked into the parking lot, aiming for my red convertible under a distant security light. Snow had covered all but the warm cars, and the world was white and black. "I'm sorry," she said, not looking at me. "I could have gotten you killed in there."

I breathed in another lungful of cold air to try to clear my head. "I'm fine. You didn't."

"I could have." She slowed to let me go first between two cars, looking at me with her face deceptively placid. "Your aura was compromised and you can't make a circle. I'm sorry. Asking you to do that when you're not well was a mistake. They were expecting you to die in there, or worse."

Linking my arm in hers, I pulled her after me, angling for the shortest path to my car. I could see it, its bright red paint looking gray in the streetlight and the snow sticking only to the cooler roof. "I guess we fooled them, huh?"

Ivy stiffened, but I wouldn't let her pull out of my grip in the narrow passage. If I didn't touch her, she wouldn't believe that she was worth the emotional baggage she brought to both our lives. "I'm fine," I said, becoming serious. "I wanted to know who killed Kisten, too. Now we know more." Not exactly how I would have chosen it, but okay. "Don't worry about it."

Ivy predictably pulled out of my grip the moment we came out from between the two cars, glancing over her shoulder through the snow to the quiet building. "I'm not going to be that person anymore," she said, and my eyes widened when she wiped her eyes with the back of a gloved hand to show a glint of moisture in the security light. "I can't do this," she whispered, clearly shaken to her core. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I understand that I can't bite you again. I'm sorry I ever tried. You're better than that, and I'm bringing you down."

"You are the strongest person I know!" I protested, but she shook her head, wiping her eyes again. She was down to the bare bones of herself. Skimmer had shaken her to her core.

"Anyone I once called a friend wouldn't have been able to do what you did in there," she said, chin trembling. "Or if they did break us apart, it would have been to take Skimmer's place. I don't want to be that person, and I won't be. I'm off blood. Completely."

My eyes widened, and I felt a slip of fear. Sensing it, Ivy's jaw clenched and she strode away. "Wait, Ivy. That's not necessarily a good idea," I called after her.

"Piscary is dead, I can be who I want," she said over her shoulder.

"But you're a vampire," I protested as I followed, worried. "It's what you are!"

She stopped, turning to stare at me, and I came to a halt, a car between us.

"Look, I'm not saying I want you to bite me," I said, gesturing. "But I've lived with you while you're on a blood fast, and the more you try to be what you aren't, the more confused you get and the harder it is to live with you."

Ivy's mouth opened. Betrayal shone in her eyes. "Abstinence is all I've got, Rachel." Turning, she paced to the car, a shadow of black among the gray and white of falling snow.

"Nice one, Rache," I muttered, thinking there had to be a better way to have said that. Hands jammed into my pockets, I slowly pushed myself into motion. The ride home ought to be swell. There was only so much a little green cardboard tree could do. Ivy on a blood fast was not fun, but she was right to be pissed at me. How could I not support her desire to be who she wanted to be? I did support her, but going on a blood fast wasn't the answer. She needed to break the cycle. She had to end the addiction completely. There had to be something in Al's books for this. Or maybe Trent...

My bag smacked the taillight of the car I was passing, and I followed Ivy's footprints into the frozen slush of the aisle. The sliding sound of a van's door opening brought my head up. Ten feet from my car, a man lurched out of a white minivan beside Ivy. She wasn't paying attention, her head down and looking vulnerable. Shit.

"Ivy!" I exclaimed, terrified by the glint of a pistol in his hand, but it was too late. The man shoved her, and she was pushed into the side of a nearby SUV parked half a car away. "Hey!" I shouted, but then I spun at the soft sound of snow compacting beside me. My instinctive crouch put me eye to eye with Mia.

"Witch," she said, lips blue with cold, and then she reached out.

Adrenaline pounded, and I flung myself backward, my right foot slipping out from under me when I hit the bumper of the car I'd just passed. I went down, arms flailing and purse falling from me. The banshee grabbed my wrist, where my glove and coat parted, and I froze, kneeling before her. Her baby had almost killed me. Shit, shit, shit!

Mia's hood had fallen back, and her eyes were wisps of blue under the spotlights. Cold fingers encircling my wrist, she leaned closer. "Who did you talk to today?" she asked, her voice precise and angry.

Heart pounding, I looked past her. Ivy had her face against the window of the SUV, her arm twisted and a gun to her head. There was a baby car seat in the open van, and the happy babble of a baby drifted out. Why in hell hadn't I brought my splat gun? "You're wanted for questioning," I said, thinking one swift kick and she'd be off me. "If you come in, it will look good."

The words sounded stupid the moment they left my mouth, and Mia squinted, making the skin around her eyes tighten. "You think I care?" she said imperially. "Who did you talk to?"

I tensed to smack her, and Mia's eyes, almost white in the dim light, dilated to pupil black. My breath hissed in, and I almost collapsed. A scintillating flood tingled through me, rising up my arm. Cold followed close behind it, and the feeling of being pulled inside out turned my stomach. Like a puppet with cut strings, I sagged, my arm stretched out with my wrist in Mia's grip.

"S-stop," I stammered, head bowed as I struggled to just breathe. Damn it, what was I doing? I never should have taken this case. She was a freaking predator. A top-of-the-line, ancient predator, like an alligator. As I knelt there, going cold and thick, I could feel myself dying in stages, watching, and unable to stop it.

I gasped as the pulling sensation quit. Warmth eased back, but it was less, settling like a sloshing tub over my soul. Haggard, I brought my head up to find Mia's blue eyes waiting. They were cold and uncaring. Reptile eyes. Behind her, Ivy watched. Her cheek was against the tall vehicle, and her jaw was clenched, making her look helpless, frustrated, and really mad. We were in front of a freaking jail-the woman had enough guts to rule the world. Maybe she thought she already did.

"Someone is following me," Mia asked coldly. "Who did you talk to?"

My knee had gone wet, and my arm hurt. An ache was spreading from it to my back. Mia withdrew a step, drawing me into the slush-rutted aisle, and I rose to my feet like a pull toy. Her other hand went around my throat, her wedding band catching the light. "Wait," I blurted in panic when the first threat of my aura leaving lifted through me again.

Seeing my understanding, Mia smiled. She was beautiful in the falling snow, smaller than me, but cold-so cold and uncaring. "That's me taking your life, witch," she said, snow melting on her upturned face. "The more you struggle, the stronger I am. Who did you talk to? Someone is following me. Tell me or you die right here."

A cold sweat broke out on me. The woman was like a slipknot. I was a rabbit in a raptor's talons.

"Rachel, just tell her!" Ivy shouted, then grunted when Remus encouraged her to keep her mouth shut.

"Don't hurt her!" I called out, eyes fixed on Ivy, helpless against the SUV. My fear grew worse when I remembered what Remus had done to Glenn. Son of a bitch. Why shouldn't I tell Mia? I licked my lips, and Mia tightened her grip. A soft ache pulled through me, and I said, "A banshee named Ms. Walker. It was another banshee, from the west."

Mia's eyes widened, and her grip almost fell away. "In my city? That...thing is in my city?" she said, her high voice carrying a shocking amount of hatred. Her eyes had gone vampire black-clear in the lights from the parking lot-and I wondered if the two species were related.

"I think she's going to kill you for Holly," I said, wondering if a quick palm thrust to her chin while she was distracted might break me free, but I was too scared to try. She didn't have to touch me to take my aura. "You and Remus both. Your only chance to keep her is to come in now. The FIB will take her temporarily, but you'll get her back. Let me go." Please, let me go.

Her focus returned to me, hatred making her look like a wronged queen. "You brought The Walker here," the slight woman accused, and I felt myself go weak, sparkles showing at the edges of my sight. "You're working with her!"

"I didn't bring her here!" I cried, and I heard Ivy grunt in pain. "You did," I panted. Damn it, how do I get into these situations? And don't they monitor their parking lot? "She heard I survived a banshee attack and thought it was because Holly had gained control. I told Ms. Walker it wasn't Holly but the dark banshee tear in my pocket, but she still wants Holly. Mia, I can help you if you let me go." Though only God knows why I'm doing this. Survival?

Mia's breath steamed as she gauged my words. In a quick burst of motion, she let go of my throat and took two steps away. I gasped and fell back against the trunk. Weight supported on an elbow, I held a hand to my throat and looked at the small woman, trying to decide how much aura I had left. It didn't feel like a lot, but I was able to stand up and move without becoming dizzy. She didn't need to touch me to kill me, but at least I had some room now.

Behind her, Remus took the gun from Ivy's head and backed up out of her reach. His weapon was still pointed at her, though. I watched Ivy visually measure the distance between them, and knowing the gun would beat her, she fell into a tense pose. Behind Remus, Holly gurgled, excited by the emotions reaching her.

Mia stood in the falling snow, disgust clear in her expression. "I would have stayed to make sure you were dead if I'd known The Walker would find out about Holly."

"We all make mistakes," I said, knees weak. "You mean Ms. Walker?"

"The Walker," she corrected me. I could almost hear the capital letters, and Mia's disgust grew. "She's an assassin who kills with the grace of a falling log. If she's east of the Mississippi, in my city, your assessment that she wants Holly is correct." Her delicate jaw clenched. "She won't have her. Holly is special. She's going to give us back our power, and I'm not going to let that bitch take the credit."

The whining complaint of a tired Chevy trying to start in the snow broke the stillness. At the far end of the lot, a pair of headlights lit up and a big engine roared to life. Suddenly nervous, Remus called out, "Mia?"

I shook my head, trembling. The cold was eddying about my feet, telling me Mia was still sucking in my aura, but at least she wasn't actively taking it. "I'm sorry, Mia," I whispered as Holly started fussing in the open van. "We know it's Remus who's special, not Holly. We know it's a wish that lets him hold her. Ms. Walker doesn't care. She wants your daughter, and she's going to kill you to get her."

Ivy shifted from foot to foot, probably blaming herself. No one moved as the car drove past, two aisles over, headed for the exit. An idle thought drifted through me. Why hadn't I seen anyone come out of the building? Remus, too, wasn't liking it. "Mia...," he prompted, the security light showing his worried features.

Mia watched the car's taillights as they hesitated at the street, then slowly drove away. The banshee brought her attention back to me, her expression shifting to show an inner excitement. "Holly is special," she insisted. "And you're going to make sure I keep my daughter, Rachel Morgan."

"Why would I help you?" I said dryly. "You're a freaking parasite."

"Predator, not parasite, and you need me," she said, reaching out.

"No!" I cried out, backpedaling until I found the car behind me again. Panic grew at the soft pop of a gun, muffled in the snow. "Ivy!" I shouted, then jerked when Mia found my throat again. "What have you done?" I whispered, seeing her inches away.

"Don't move," she demanded, eyes wild. "Or Remus will kill her."

She's alive? I squirmed, and my energy left me. I didn't care. "Ivy," I panted. "I can't see her. Let me see her, you cold bitch!"

Mia's face grew ugly, but from behind her I heard Ivy say, "I'm okay!" followed by a soft "Ow," and then an aggressive "Hurt her, and you'll find yourself worse than dead, human!"

Mia's cold fingers never leaving my throat, she sent her gaze to the van, where Holly was now crying. My heart pounded when her attention returned to me. Hand still around my neck, she reached out, her palm coming for my forehead. "Don't," I pleaded, thinking she was going to kill me. "Please, don't!"

Smiling wickedly, Mia put her cold hand to my cheek in an almost loving gesture. "This is why you're going to help me, witch. This is what I can give you."

Tiny pinpricks exploded in my cheek, and I gasped, stiffening, as I reached for the car behind me. Warmth was spilling into me, familiar and soothing. It was my aura returning, filling the cracks and making me whole. It spilled in with the pain of a healing scab, and my eyes flashed wide as I looked into Mia's clear blue ones. I exhaled, thinking it sounded like a sob, and I held my next breath so I could taste the incoming energy better. She was giving it back. The energy wasn't coming from a ley line-it was coming right from her soul. She was giving me back my life's energy. Why?

The tingles quit with a surprising suddenness, and I realized that I was pressed up against a car in a cold parking lot, a small woman holding me hostage with the power of my soul.

Mia made a fist of her hand and backed up, hunched over and looking tired. "That's what Holly taught me," she said proudly. "Because her father cannot be harmed by a banshee, Holly was born knowing how to push energy into a person, not just take it. I learned by example."

"So?" I said, still not understanding. God, it felt good, and I suddenly realized I could tap a line. Relief spilled into me as I did, taking in a huge amount of ley line force, spindling it in my head. At the end of the lot, a car pulled in, its lights dim in the falling snow. Moving slowly, it crept down the aisles, looking for a space.

"Mia?" Remus called, clearly nervous.

"Be still," the woman said. "I'm impressing upon the witch the reason she's going to convince the FIB to back off." She wore a smile when she turned back to me, but it was the smile of someone who thinks they control you, and my mood hardened. "I've fed extremely well these last few months," Mia said with an unremorseful satisfaction. "Humans are stupid, trusting animals, and if you give a little, they think you love them, and then it's a simple matter of taking what they give you. Natural causes," she said coyly, "heart attack, brain aneurysm, simple fatigue. We have fasted for forty years since the Turn, but Holly will give us back our strength, the cunning to take what we want with impunity instead of this thin tracing the law allows us. Those who protest will be silenced. The I.S. knows it. I'm charging you to impress upon the FIB the error of their thinking."

Behind her, Ivy shook with anger, Remus's hold tight on her. "You monster," she seethed. "You're making them think you love them, then killing them? That's not why I gave you the wish!"

"Shut up," Remus said, and Ivy grunted in pain. My face paled and the cold night seemed darker. That's how she had been feeding herself and her child. Damn it, how were we supposed to tell the banshee-induced deaths from the natural ones? "You think I'm going to help you?" I said, appalled. "Are you nuts?"

The car drove slowly past, following the path of the one that had just left, tracks upon tracks, and my skin started to tingle. It was going too slowly. And it looked, no, sounded familiar. Early model, dripping rust. It turned at the end of the lot, and the lights shown on Ivy and Remus. In the van, Holly cried, her hands reaching up for someone.

"Mia!" Remus shouted. "We have to go!"

"Help me is exactly what you're going to do," Mia said, and a second wave of warmth filled me as she moved closer. "Tell the FIB I'm gone. Tell them aliens came down and abducted me. I don't care, but if they don't leave me alone, I'll kill you, right here if need be, then start on that man's son, and move on from there."

"Touch Glenn, and you'll find yourself dead!" Ivy snarled, and Mia eyed her in disgust.

"Don't presume to threaten me," she said condescendingly. "I watched your Piscary set foot in my city, and I watched him buried in it. Keep that in mind."

I shook my head. "I won't help you, Mia. If you don't come in, you and your daughter will be forever living outside society and on the run."

Mia's pale eyebrows rose. "Witch, I made this society. If they touch me, I won't live outside it. I'll bring it down."

I felt the strength of the line in me, and it made me bold. "Then you can go to hell."

A sigh lifted through Mia. She turned to Remus, who was fidgeting, wanting to leave. "You can lead a pig to water," she said, then turned back to me. "I'll ask the vampire to pass on my words, then."

My breath caught as I realized she was going to kill me. "Wait!"

Panicked, I scrambled back among the cars, but she followed. Still not touching me, she reached out a hand, and eyes glistening in rapture, she ripped my aura away. Everything she had given me, she took back.

Mouth open, I fell to my knees as the ley line in me became a ribbon of fire, and screaming, I shoved it at her, unable to hold it anymore. Mia swore delicately, and I had a moment of respite, but then cold avalanched in behind it, and my arms and legs went numb. The force of the line hadn't slowed her at all. She was taking my aura slowly, painstakingly, making me suffer so there would be more to feast on.

Ivy was shouting, a savage sound against Holly's piercing cries. Behind it was the roar of a car. I couldn't think, kneeling on the snow as Mia stripped me bare. I looked up as a brilliant white light grew. I'm dying, I thought, and the light shifted and the car that was making it smashed into the front corner of the van.

Metal groaned and plastic shattered. Mia's attention was diverted, and the pain of my aura being ripped from me vanished. I looked up, on my hands and knees, sucking in air as if it might coat my soul. "Look out!" I called in warning as the van slid on the ice, toward Ivy. Crap, it was going to pin her between it and the SUV.

Ivy jumped straight up, landing on the hood of the SUV. Remus dropped to roll under it. Holly howled as the van jolted to a halt. In the aisle, an ugly green, rusty Chevy steamed. Radiator fluid poured out, but the engine still ran. The thing probably weighed more than the van and the SUV put together and would take an atomic bomb to kill.

"Holly!" Mia screamed, running to her daughter.

Pulling myself up to lean against the car, I stared as Tom emerged from the Chevy. Son of a bitch! It hadn't been Ms. Walker Mia had felt following her, it had been Tom.

With an ugly snarl, Ivy launched herself from the top of the SUV, landing on Mia.

"God, no," I whispered. I was shaky, hardly able to walk, and I staggered forward. Mia had a grip on Ivy's throat, her face savage as she started to kill her. The light from one headlamp threw everything into a stark light. Ivy was fighting back, teeth shining as she struggled.

The harsh sound of Holly screaming continued, and my eyes jerked to Remus and Tom. The ley line witch's fist was smothered in a purple haze, but the incensed man had grabbed it and squeezed until Tom screamed in pain. Giving him a solid kick in parting, Remus left Tom kneeling over his broken hand. I moved, and Remus's head swung up to me. Black eyes fixed me where I was, warning me to not move. They were the eyes of a wolf, and I froze. He turned away. From the jail, a loud claxon started hooting, and the lot was suddenly bathed in a harsh glow of blue krypton bulbs. Where in hell have they been?

Calm and soothing, the mass murderer coolly got his screaming child from the ruined van. Singing a lullaby, he looked to his wife.

"Ivy," I breathed, seeing her down and unmoving. Mia was kneeling beside her with her back to me, her blue coat spread, looking like the wings of a bird covering her prey. Staggering, I started for them, yelling, "Get away from her!"

Remus got there first, and with one hand, he yanked Mia up.

"Let me go!" the woman yelled, fighting him, but he dragged her to Tom's running car, opening the passenger-side door and nearly throwing her in. Holly's crying competed with the jail's alarm system, but her cries became faint when Remus handed her to Mia and slammed the door. Giving me a sour look, he paced to the other side and got in. The engine roared. Tom rolled out of the way as Remus gunned it, headed for the road. Frozen slush pelted us, and they were gone.

Feeling as if my heart was going to explode, I got to Ivy, and fell to kneel in the pressed snow. "Oh my God, Ivy. Ivy!" I exclaimed, turning her over and pulling her upright, against me. Her head lolled, and her eyes were shut. Her skin was pale, and her hair was in her face. "Don't you leave me, Ivy! I can't live with you being dead!" I shouted. "Ivy, you hear me?"

Oh God. Please no. Why do I have to live like this?

Tears were falling from me, and I choked back a sob when her eyes opened. They were brown, and I rejoiced. She wasn't dead, or undead, or whatever. White and pale, she looked up at me, eyes glassy and not seeing. In her grip was a faded purple ribbon with a coin laced on it. Her fingers gripped it as if it was life itself, holding on with a white-knuckled strength. "I got it back," she rasped, victory in her vacant gaze. "She doesn't deserve love."

The building behind us was still making that awful noise, and I could hear men coming this way. Ivy took a breath, then another. "I need...Rachel?" she whispered, and then her focus on me cleared. "Shit," she breathed, and I held her closer, rocking her and knowing she was still alive. She hadn't died, and I wasn't holding an undead.

"You're going to be all right," I said, not knowing if it was the truth. She looked so pale.

"I'm not. I have to have it," Ivy said, and I looked at her, seeing the tears making tracks down her face and her fangs wet with saliva. It was obvious what she was talking about. Blood. She needed blood. Vampires were the banshee's closest relative, and they had a way to replenish auras. They took them in when they fed. Ivy needed blood.

Unafraid, I pulled her farther up off the pavement, and she started to cry in earnest, knowing she couldn't be the person she wanted and mourning the loss of a dream. "I wanted to be clean, but I can't," she said as I rocked her. "Every time I try to be someone else, I fail. I need it," she said, eyes glowing black. "But not you. Not you," she begged even as her eyes started to dilate and her hunger took hold. "I'd rather die than have you give me your blood. I love you, Rachel. Don't give me your blood. Promise me-you won't give me your blood."

"You're going to be all right," I said, frantic. I could smell antifreeze from the busted Chevy, and the faint smell of hot engine was fading.

"Promise me," she said, trying to touch my face. "I don't want you to give me your blood. Promise me, damn it!"

Shit. I looked up, only now seeing the flashlights and the men behind them. My bag with my keys was across the aisle. "I promise."

There was a crunching of boots on ice, and from behind me came an authoritative "Ma'am, get away from the woman. Lie down and put your face on the pavement! Keep your fingers spread and where I can see them!"

Face wet with tears, I looked up and behind me into the bright security lights, seeing a big shadow behind it. "Go ahead and shoot me!" I screamed. "I'm not letting go of her!"

"Ma'am," the voice said, and the light dropped to Ivy, then back to me.

"She's been hurt!" I exclaimed. "I was just in your offices, you idiots. Check your security tapes. You know who I am. You watched the entire thing. You think I ran that jack-shit car into myself!"

"Ma'am-" he tried again.

I started to get up, dragging Ivy with me. "If you call me that one more time," I huffed, straining until I got her upright, leaning against the SUV.

"Down! Get down!" someone shouted.

A boom shifted the air, and I jerked Ivy closer, managing to keep both of us on our feet. The man with the light turned it toward the sound of the explosion. Men and women were shouting, and the guy with the light looked ticked off that he wasn't involved. A purplish green haze of Tom's aura covered a nearby decorated tree, and my stomach turned as the tree started to steam and dissolve. The holiday lights flickered and went out. Holy crap! What had Al taught him?

My keys were in my bag, three cars away. "Stay here," I told Ivy, and after seeing her leaning upright, under her own power, I started for my keys. "That's Tom Bansen," I said as I walked between the man and the sight of the melting tree. "He did this. You want answers, go talk to him. I'm in a city parking lot. You have no jurisdiction, and I'm leaving." I scooped up my bag and got out my keys. The lethal-amulet detector was a bright, shiny red. No kidding. "You want my ID?" I said as I headed back to Ivy. "It's in your file. Have a freaking nice day and a happy New Year!"

Shifting my shoulder under Ivy's arm, we started for my car. Her feet dragged through the puddle of antifreeze, and she was starting to pant. Leaving her leaning against the hood of my car, I opened it. She mumbled for her purse, and after helping her inside, I went back for it. I looked up at the click of a safety going off, but they couldn't shoot me if I was just walking away.

"Ma'am!" the man tried again, and my blood pressure spiked. But a second voice intruded.

"Let her go. She's been shunned."

A bitter sensation filled me, but no one stopped me. "Hold on, Ivy," I whispered as I got in my car and reached across to shut her door. "The hospital is right next door."

"Rynn Cormel," she said, eyes closed as tears coursed down her face. "Take me to Rynn. I don't care about him. He's just a vampire."

Just a vampire? I hesitated, then fumbled with the key twice before I got it in the ignition and the car came to life. Around us, the security people were having fits. Apparently Tom had gotten away, and they didn't have the authority to detain me.

"Rynn," Ivy said, staring at me, her head propped up against the door. Her eyes were glassy, and hunger sent a shiver through me. It was starting to take hold. If not for her weakened state, she'd be having a much harder time.

"Okay," I said, sniffing back my tears. I knew how she felt. She didn't want to be this person, but to survive, she had to be. "I won't let him hurt you."

"Please hurry," she said, shutting her eyes as they turned a full, hungry, vampire black. Her long pianist's hand clenched on the door handle, and she pressed herself as far away from me as she could.

Lights on, I pulled out and headed for the exit. The speedometer crept upward, and I waited for a dizzy feeling, but it never came. Apparently Mia hadn't taken enough from me to affect my balance, but a quick tap on a ley line told me I was still compromised and I dropped it before I threw up from the pain.

"Call him." Ivy's voice sent a chill through me. It was low and sultry, in wide contrast to her weakened state. "Use my phone."

I was starting to see some traffic, and at a red light, I pulled her purse to me, finding her slim phone and opening it up. Five bars. How come my phone never has five bars? Eyeing the bright screen and the traffic light both, I scrolled through the numbers, then hit "RC."

My heart pounded, and as the phone rang, the light changed and I pulled out into a snow-rimmed street. I didn't get more than fifteen feet before the line clicked open and a cultured, interested voice said, "Yes, Ivy?"

Shit. I jiggled the phone closer, gunning the engine to make the next yellow light. "Ivy's been hurt," I said tersely. "She needs blood."

Rynn Cormel made an odd sound. "Then give it to her, Rachel."

Son of a bastard. "She doesn't want my blood!" I said, looking at her and seeing her in pain. "She wants you. I'm bringing her to you, but I don't know if she can make it." I wiped my eyes when the streetlights went blurry. "That damn banshee got her. You're going to keep her alive, or so help me, I'm going to kill you, Rynn Mathew Cormel. Don't mess with me on this. I mean it! I can't save her soul yet. I need more time."

I didn't care if I sounded like a demon, using all three of his names like that. Managing the icy roads, I heard the undead vampire take a slow breath he didn't need. "Take the I-75 bridge. We'll find you."

The phone clicked off, and I tossed it in the direction of Ivy's purse. Blinking furiously, I clamped my hands on the wheel and pushed down on the accelerator. Horns blew as I tore through town, but the FIB guys wouldn't stop me and the I.S. didn't care anymore.

"Hold on," I said through gritted teeth as I took a turn too fast, having to push on her shoulder to keep her from falling into me.

Ivy's eyes opened as my hand touched her, and fear plinked through me. "Hurry," she panted. "Rachel, I'd rather die than bite you now. Please hurry. I don't know how long I can stop myself. It hurts. Oh God...She took everything."

"It's going to be okay," I said as I saw a sign for bridge traffic. "He's coming. We're almost there."

She was silent, and then a ragged "Are you okay?" came out of her.

Astonished, I looked across the car. She was worried about me? "I'm fine," I said, beeping my horn to keep some guy from pulling out in front of me. He rocked to a halt, and after I swerved around him, I looked at her, brow furrowed. "Ivy, why did you do it? You should have let her go. She's a freaking banshee!"

"This was my fault," she panted, her eyes dropping to the coin, still clenched in her fist. "Mia, Remus, everything. It was my fault that Mia learned how to kill people with impunity. And she hurt you. I'll take care of this. You can't risk yourself anymore."

"You're going to take care of her alone?" I said, feeling distant and unreal inside. "This is as much my fault as yours. I gave you the wish in the first place. We're going to get her, Ivy, but not apart. We have to do it together." Who am I kidding? It would take a demon to take down a banshee. But then again...

She didn't say anything, but her expression behind the hunger was determined. I flicked the heater on, and a blast of warm air billowed out. In the distance, I saw the lights of an oncoming car flashing. Relief so strong it hurt washed through me. I could tell it was a Hummer by the spacing of the lights. It was them. It had to be. "I see them!" I exclaimed, and Ivy tried to smile. Her teeth were clenched and her eyes were wild, and it twisted my heart to see her red-rimmed, pain-filled eyes as she struggled.

Fumbling, I put on my own flashers and pulled into a fast-food place. Two cars pulled in behind me, black in the streetlight. I came to a halt, not slamming on the brakes, but close. Before I could put the car in park, two men were at Ivy's door. There was a crack of breaking metal, and the door swung open, the lock broken.

Vampire incense rolled into the car, and with a savage sound, Ivy lunged for the man stooping to pick her up. I turned away, tears falling. I heard a groan, and when I looked back, the second man with them was supporting the first as he carried Ivy back to the black Hummer. She was on his neck, blood slipping past her lips. The second man opened the door for them, and Ivy and the man she was clutching to her vanished inside. He turned to look at me, his expression unreadable, before he followed them in and closed the door.

The snow fell between us, and I sat there, my passenger-side door open, staring out my front window, hands on the wheel and crying. Ivy had to be all right. She had to be. This is so messed up.

A soft tap on my window jerked my attention away and I looked to see Rynn Cormel standing outside my closed door. His cashmere coat had the collar turned up against the snow and the hat on his head was just showing the first few flakes. He looked good standing there, but the memory of his callous treatment of me-me and Ivy, actually-was too new for me to be taken in. He was an animal, and now I understood what Ivy had meant when she'd said, "He's just a vampire."

Though wealthy, powerful, and attractive, he was nothing, not worth anyone's love or affection. I wouldn't allow Ivy to become like that.

Wiping my nose, I rolled down my window. I was numb inside.

Rynn Cormel bent over so our faces were closer. Seeing me in a state, he pulled a handkerchief from an inside pocket and handed it to me. "Why didn't you let her bite you instead of all this drama?" he said, his gaze flicking to the unmoving Hummer. "All she needs is blood."

Animal or no, I still needed to treat him with respect. "She doesn't want that," I said as I used his hanky and shoved it away. He might get it back after I washed it. Maybe. "She doesn't want to lose her soul, and biting me brings her closer to that."

He frowned and stood, dropping back a few steps so he could see me. "It's what she is."

"I know." I took my hands from the wheel, placing them quietly in my lap. "She knows it, too."

Eyebrows high, Rynn Cormel made a soft sound. Rocking on his feet, he made motions to leave. "Rynn," I said, and he stopped. "She accepts what she is, and by God, I'm going to find a way to help her be who she wants to be."

My heart was pounding, but his worried expression melted into one of his famous smiles, and I wondered if I had just saved my own life with my promise to find a way for her to keep her soul. If he thought I meant to find a way to keep it after she died, then that was his prerogative. I was thinking something a little more immediate. Something we could both benefit from.

"Good," he said, hands in his pockets, looking harmless. "Enjoy your evening with your family, Rachel. Ivy will be fine."

I sat straighter, hope making my eyes wide. "Are you sure?"

His gaze never moved from the Hummer. "Her aura will be replaced as she satiates herself, and her strength will return in time. It's my people with her I'm worried about."

I couldn't help my smile at that, but it faded fast. She was out of control in that car, and she was going to hate herself when she came home. What she was pinning her sanity on now was that she hadn't allowed her hunger to rule her and satisfy it by savaging me. Her vow to abstain from blood had lasted thirty seconds.

"Rynn, don't push her," I said. "Please? Just make her better and send her back to me. I'll find a way for her to die with her soul. If it's possible, I'll find a way. I promise." Damn it, I'm going to have to talk to Trent. He had a way to make the vampire virus dormant, but from there, he might find a way to remove it. I wasn't sure if Ivy would agree to becoming human to lose her blood lust, but after tonight...she might.

The tall man inclined his head to acknowledge my words. Smiling, he jauntily returned to his second car. The driver emerged to open his door for him, and in a moment, both vehicles were gone.

I glanced at the clock, then noticed that Ivy's purse was still with me. I picked it up off the floor and put it on the seat where she'd been, then reached across and closed my broken door. Ivy's scent lingered, and I breathed it in, wondering how she was. My hands started to shake with the remaining adrenaline. I was late for my already postponed lunch. Robbie was going to have a field day.

Clearly I wasn't ready to risk the road yet. I was deathly worried about Ivy, but that was probably fair play. Ivy had been worried about me when I was in the hospital. Rynn Cormel said she was going to be all right, and I had to believe it. A vampire was a banshee's closest rival in terms of strength, having a fast way to rebound after an attack-blood to renew her aura, and Brimstone to revitalize her strength.

I slowly thunked the car into gear and crept up to the exit, turning my blinker on and sitting there, waiting for a break in traffic. As I sat there, it hit me that this was probably the turning point in our relationship. Ivy was a vampire who wanted to be more. Or maybe less. But she could never be who she wanted unless I could find a way to get the virus out of her. By magic or medicine, I was going to have to do that. I might not be able to be the person I wanted to be, but if I had to be a demon, I was, by God, going to make sure Ivy could be who she wanted to be.

Having to deal with stuff like this was just crappy.