"There's still some pumpkin and pecan," Kelvin said. "I got the last of the apple."

Winkler wanted to strangle him just for that, but held himself and his growl back. Lissa made excellent apple pie.

"Lissa, do you want to do something tonight?" Winkler asked me later. He tried to pull me into his arms so I gave him a small hug and moved away from him.

"I need to go get a few things. I think I'm almost out of soap and stuff. Is there a Target close by?" I asked.

"If there isn't, I'll find one," Winkler grabbed his jacket, found a coat for me to wear and herded me out the door.

"You're using a black American Express to buy bath soap," Winkler rubbed my shoulders as I paid for my toiletries.

"Merrill wanted me to use it. I'm using it." I got my card and driver's license back from the cashier.

We walked to the car (Winkler had driven the Jaguar). The outside temperature had dropped to around forty, which was warm compared to what we'd dealt with in Michigan and Maine. "I think you need a warmer coat," Winkler said after getting me settled into the pa.s.senger seat. "We'll go to a couple of places and see if we can't find something."

A couple of places ended up being exclusive shops, where Winkler bought two coats for me while I tried to convince him they weren't needed and to put them back. One of them alone cost eighteen hundred dollars. The other was a little more casual and was a mere six hundred. Both were cashmere, the more expensive one ankle-length with a shawl collar. Winkler threw several scarves onto the pile and found three pairs of gloves.

"Winkler, you have to stop," I tried to slap his hands but he paid no attention to me. The long coat was in a charcoal gray, the shorter one in cognac. Winkler was picky, I'll give him that. I tried on two dozen coats before he was satisfied. He had the tags removed and dressed me in the shorter one for my trip out of the store because, in his words, the other was too dressy to wear over jeans. I just smacked his arm and gave him a nasty look. He grinned, hugged me, paid for everything and we left.

"Been shopping?" Davis eyed me, my new coat and the bags that Winkler lugged into the house.

"Is that cashmere?" Whitney came over to feel my new coat.

"They both are," Winkler announced smugly and allowed his sister to pull the other things out of the bags. The long coat was inside a nice garment bag, the scarves and gloves inside a regular paper bag with handles. You can always tell which shops have the exclusive items just by looking at the bags they hand out with a purchase. My little plastic Target bag felt like an orphan, I'm sure.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning," Winkler informed me before letting me go to my bedroom to put away my things. "You may want to pack up before you go to bed."

"I will," I said. Everything was done before I slept at dawn and I went to bed in my usual fleece outfit.

"She looks like she's sleeping," Sam helped Winkler place Lissa inside her body bag.

"She is sleeping," Winkler said. "She just isn't breathing while she's doing it," he added. He'd set the hidden alarm in Lissa's room when she went to bed, just to make sure she didn't get any more visits from uninvited guests. Kelvin was happy with what he'd done; he'd gone to bed and slept like a baby.

"It must be hard for them to trust anybody like this," Sam said, watching Winkler zip up the bag.

"I don't know that many of them would allow this," Winkler said. "I don't think for a minute that Gavin would allow anyone to touch him. Lissa is still new. She doesn't like this, I know, but right now we don't have a choice."

"The Grand Master said she took down one of the Des Moines Pack and moved faster than he could see her move when she did it."

"She did. That one never knew what hit him, it happened so fast." Winkler lifted Lissa inside her bag. "Let's go get her packed in with the rest of the bags." Sam followed him out of the bedroom.

The nearest airport that wasn't too tiny to handle Winkler's jet was in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The pilots stayed there with the plane while the rest of them packed luggage into a rental and headed for Buckhannon, first.

"Look who's back among the living," Winkler was holding out a bag of blood when I woke in the seat next to him on the drive to Buckhannon.

"Just stop already," I said, nipping the top off the bag so I could drink. Merrill had arranged for my supplies to be replenished while I was in Dallas so I was stocked up for the present. When we drove into Buckhannon, I discovered there wasn't a lot to pick from, hotel-wise. We ended up at a rustic bed and breakfast, taking up half of it with our usual three rooms. Gavin called while I was trying to dress for dinner with Weldon and the others, in order to meet the new Packmaster.

"Honey, how are you?" I asked. I'd sent him an email the day before, telling him where we were going.

"I am fine, Cara. Tell me they are treating you well."

"I'm good," I said. "Any word on Christmas?"

"I would almost believe you want to see me," he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. Actually, I did want to see him. I did miss him, as long as he wasn't making me feel like I was six.

"I do want to see you," I said. "Tell me what you want for Christmas."

"Longer hair," he said. Did Gavin just joke with me? What alien planet had kidnapped the Gavin I knew and dropped a double in his place?

"Honey, those toupees never look right," I told him. He laughed at that.

Winkler was trying to rush me around so I had to let Gavin go. I think I shocked him pretty good when I told him I loved him. Well, I did. And when he wasn't being an a.s.s, I didn't mind telling him so.

"I think we should have rented a house so Lissa could cook for us," Kelvin grumbled when we pulled into the parking lot for Murphy's Restaurant. Winkler gave him a sharp look but didn't say anything. Buckhannon didn't have many restaurants that stayed open late, unless you wanted fast food. The town itself was small; less than ten thousand people, I think. There was a mine disaster there not long ago and most of the miners didn't make it out again. I thought about asking Weldon if some of the werewolves worked the coal mines but decided against it.

The Packmaster and his Second met us at the designated restaurant. Both seemed toughened by life, somehow, and sure enough, they told Winkler when he asked that they and many of their Pack worked the mines. That had to be hard, going into a dark place, day after day. At least they have better vision in the dark than any human ever could. As for me, if I could still be in the sun, I would. Every chance I got. To me, it only made it worse that their way of existence took them away from daylight. The next two days were routine and Weldon confirmed the Packmaster.

Mill Creek was much the same, except there were only male werewolves there. The town held not a single female werewolf, and Weldon told me that the Mill Creek Pack was more than likely destined for extinction. The youngest member was over a hundred years old. "When there's only one or two left, they may ask to join with Buckhannon or one of the other Packs and live out their lives. The females aren't being born as often as we'd like," Weldon sighed regretfully. "The wars between the two races just about did us all in." He meant the vampires and werewolves. I understood that.

The full moon was nearly on us when we arrived in Sugar Grove two nights later, and all three wolves I traveled with were getting restless. They planned to run with the Pack first and then tend to business on our second night there. The Packmaster and his Second met us at the tiny cabin Winkler had secured for us and clothes were being shucked and tossed aside the minute they sniffed each other, almost. I turned to mist as quickly as I could, following along behind. The Shenandoah Mountains are probably nicer if you have time to stop and look at them. Me? I was traveling swiftly over the heads of twenty or so werewolves who scented a bear after a while and gave chase. Weldon was running at the head of the Pack, Winkler at his shoulder. Kelvin was running somewhere behind the local Packmaster and his Second.

Kelvin. More than once, I wondered why Winkler brought him along. Glen or any one of the others might have been more suitable for guarding the Grand Master. Maybe Kelvin was the greatest werewolf oncologist ever, but I hadn't seen a lot of evidence in that direction. As far as I knew, he hadn't even looked at the bites Weldon and Winkler had gotten in Des Moines. Maybe it was just me, but he didn't talk like a doctor when he did talk. When he'd spoken to Norwood in Des Moines, he seemed to have the same sort of knowledge that the Des Moines Second had.

Amazing what runs through your mind when you're floating over the heads of a bunch of running werewolves. When Weldon cornered the bear, I held back-I honestly didn't want to see the creature get torn to pieces and that's exactly what happened. Everybody got a little of the meat-at least they ate what they killed. The hunt resumed afterward, and a large buck was brought down and devoured. I hoped Winkler got full on his venison; I wasn't about to feed him when he got back.

Two hours before dawn, my three wandered toward our cabin-the Sugar Grove Pack had already gone their separate ways. I ranged ahead of Weldon, Winkler and Kelvin, reforming on the cabin porch and settling in to wait after making a few preparations. The sight of three naked, b.l.o.o.d.y men wandering into the clearing with moonlight clouding their eyes would probably send anyone else running for their life. I just sighed and watched them walk toward me. I'd already gathered up their discarded clothing and taken it inside the cabin-no sense making them pick it up, as b.l.o.o.d.y as they were. They all needed a bath as quickly as possible. I'd set out soap and shampoo in the bathroom, as well as laying several towels out beside the sink for the Grand Master.

"Bathroom's ready to go," I told Weldon, who came up the porch steps first. He nodded to me and went inside. Deciding that one bathroom, shared by all three werewolves probably hadn't been a good idea; I went back inside the cabin and brought out a washcloth and a pitcher of water from the kitchen. Winkler started in with that so I went to find a bowl of water for Kelvin, along with a kitchen towel (we were running out of washcloths). At least they had the blood pretty much gone when they walked inside the cabin. Once again, I decided that Winkler needed to pa.s.s his genes on to someone; he was put together very nicely.

Just before dawn, Winkler helped cover me up in the bed using all the quilts and blankets he could spare, and even placed my expensive coat on top of that. There were curtains at the windows, but they were thin. If I got uncovered for any reason, they'd have a pile of ash in the bed instead of a vampire, come nightfall.

Strange scents woke me when the sun slipped below the horizon, and I wondered briefly before uncovering myself if Weldon started on the Pack thing early while still in the cabin. So far, he'd not invited any of the Packmasters into his hotel rooms.

Three werewolves greeted me when I pulled the last of the covers off my face, none of them familiar. There wasn't much difference in their appearance either; all had dark hair and light brown eyes with a weatherworn look about them. I could tell by scent they were all related. The one in charge didn't have front teeth but he did have his canines. Probably important if you were a werewolf.

"The girlie's awake," one of them said, grinning. At least his teeth were all present.

"Where's Winkler? And the Grand Master?" I demanded, angry in an instant. I had no idea what they were thinking, allowing three strangers to sit and watch me wake. That was dangerous.

"We have 'em," the gap-toothed one spoke. "And if you want to see 'em again, you'll do what we say."

"You'll do what I say," I laid compulsion. Two went blank-eyed but the third, the one with the missing teeth, didn't.

"That don't work with me," he cackled. "Now, take that mojo offa these two and those three that you're so fond of won't die."

I wanted to curse but I had to keep my wits with me. "I can kill you, instead." I lifted a hand, allowing my claws to extend fully.

"But if they don't hear from me on this," the werewolf held up Winkler's cell phone (I recognized it, all right), "then they'll kill your three and where will that leave you?" He was grinning his gap-toothed grin again. I did curse, then.

"Here, now, none of them words. Take your spell offa these two and let's get goin'. We got work for you. If you do it, we'll let all four of you go."

I'd gone to bed in my clothes the night before, after helping Winkler and the others get cleaned up after their run. There was barely enough time to crawl in the bed so I could be covered up. My cell phone was in my pocket, but I didn't remember what kind of charge it had. And while this bunch had the Grand Master and Winkler (at least I hoped they did and that they were still alive), I had to cooperate with these kidnappers and look for a chance to call someone. I had no idea who that someone should be; there wasn't anyone close enough to get us help quickly.

"Fine," I said, removing my compulsion from Gap's two companions. He hadn't given his name so that's what he was going to get.

"That's more like it," Gap grinned again. "Now, girlie, just come with us peaceful and don't try no funny stuff, or the Grand Master dies with those other two."

I was compelled to follow them into the yard where an old van waited. Diffused moonlight filtered through thickening clouds overhead and the air smelled of snow as I was shoved into the back of the van. Gap crawled in beside me while the other two sat up front. We drove away from the cabin, and since the van didn't have windows on the sides, I lost track of where we were going after a while. It didn't matter; if I could turn to mist, all I had to do was float upward and get my bearings. As it was, these three worried me. They still hadn't explained what they wanted from me and I had no idea if the Grand Master was still alive to begin with. I shivered as we bounced along mountain roads, silently cursing my inability to wake during the day.

Gap played with Winkler's phone after a while and got somebody to answer his call. "We're comin'," he said. "Put the Grand Master on so our girlie here won't think we killed him already." He held the phone up to my ear. I didn't tell him that I could hear both sides of the conversation he'd just had quite well. It was probably better to keep my mouth shut and not tip my hand.

"Lissa?" Weldon's voice sounded rough, like he'd been beaten up or something.

"Weldon? What's going on? Are you all right?"

"I've been better," Weldon coughed a little. "Right now, just do what they say. Winkler's not in great shape at the moment." f.u.c.k. I didn't say it out loud so I wouldn't offend Gap. I was angry, though. Very angry. I wanted to demand that Gap tell me what he wanted but had to hold it back. Merrill would be ashamed of me if he knew I lost my temper in such a volatile situation.

"I'll do what they say, Grand Master," I said. Gap grinned and ended the call.

"Never had a use for this stuff until now." He laughed and pocketed the cell phone. If I got the opportunity, Gap was going to die first, I decided right away. We b.u.mped through the mountains over rough, narrow roads for the better part of two more hours before pulling into the yard of an old cabin built of logs. It couldn't come close to what Weldon had; the three-room square looked to be a much poorer, distant cousin. Clouds had lowered and become heavy during the drive, and a few snowflakes settled on the ground around us as I was ordered out of the van and led inside the house. I suppose I expected to see the Grand Master there but that wasn't to be.

"He's someplace else. You think we're that stupid?" Gap laughed at me. Actually, I did. That didn't mean I couldn't track Weldon down, though. I knew his scent. I wondered if any of these people knew how good my nose was. If they left me alive, I wouldn't stop hunting them until they were all dead.

"What do you want, then?" I asked sullenly.

"Our girlie's grumpy," Gap chuckled. "We have a job for you. A job only a vampire can do. You're gonna turn somebody for us."

"What?" The word was out before I could stop it.

"Yeah. My granddaughter, Lily," Gap replied. "My son got killed in a challenge. His wife was human so she took off and then my baby girl got cancer. Brain cancer and she's dyin'. You're gonna save her."

Gap didn't know anything about what turning actually meant. I was nearly as ignorant. My only experience had been my own turning and I didn't remember any of it. "You should have found an older vampire," I snapped. "One with experience. I've only been vampire since last January and I don't know how to turn someone else. If I try, your granddaughter will most likely die from the attempt." As angry as I was, I was being as honest with him as I could be.

"You got any vampire friends? Ones that know how to do this?" Gap was angry now as well. "You can call. You get one phone call and you can tell 'em it's a matter of life 'n death. We'll be listenin' in just to make sure you're not foolin' with us and get 'em to tell you how it's done."

"Show me the girl, first," I said. I was led into the back bedroom of the cabin. The girl was lying on a small bed covered in homemade quilts. She looked like she should be inside a hospital instead of where she was, and my nose told me that her death would be coming very soon-she had a few hours remaining, if that much. Wisps of thin, pale hair clouded about her face and her eyes were closed, whether in sleep or a coma I couldn't tell. Paper-thin, translucent skin covered what might have been pretty features once. I estimated her age around fourteen but she was small for those years, painfully thin and presently unconscious. I felt for Gap but honestly, even if she weren't female, the turning would likely kill her just as quickly as her disease would.

"Some things are worse than death," I said, leveling a glare at Gap, who gazed down at his granddaughter.

"Don't be tellin' me any of that nonsense, girlie," he said, turning light brown eyes at me and almost growling. "I heard the stories about what you did at the Packmaster meetin'. Lily here could be just like you. I know it. You're gonna save her."

I wanted to argue with him over that. n.o.body had any guarantees, even if they did turn successfully. I wanted to tell him about the two who'd turned me. What they were. And about Edward's sire, Nyles Abernathy, who'd almost killed Gavin. He'd murdered several humans, all innocents, just to play a game and lure Gavin in. Vampires were no better than humans. There were good ones and bad ones. Bad vampires, though, could be infinitely more dangerous. According to Merrill, it was against vampire law to turn anyone under eighteen. He'd taught me that in one of my lessons. This was a disaster, no matter how you looked at it.

"All right," I sighed. "But just be prepared. If this one gets turned, I'll be breaking all sorts of laws to do it." I pulled the cell phone from my pocket and punched Merrill's number on speed dial. I just hoped he'd pick up.

"Lissa?" I almost heaved a sigh of relief at Merrill's voice.

"Merrill, I have a little problem, here," I said. Likely, he read the emotions in my voice-he was very experienced at that. Anger, fear and horror warred with one another and permeated my words. "Some of the wolves here have kidnapped the Grand Master and the others and they're holding them. They did this during daylight." I wanted Merrill to know how things had gone down without explaining too much. That could anger Gap. "Now," I went on, "they're telling me they'll kill the Grand Master if I don't turn this werewolf's human granddaughter who's dying of brain cancer. Merrill, she can't be more than fourteen, and she's hours away from dying." I wanted to wail at that admission. Instead, I did my best to school my voice and my features. I was terrified that Merrill would say absolutely not, the Grand Master would die and I'd have to fight my way through a small pack of werewolves to get away, risking their bites while I fought them off. My memories of the last werewolf bites I'd gotten were far from pleasant.

I heard Merrill punch a b.u.t.ton on his phone instead and Wlodek was on the line in seconds. I now had the two oldest vampires I knew on the phone and one of them just happened to be Head of the Vampire Council. Of course Gap didn't know that and I wasn't about to tell him. I had to explain to Wlodek what was going on; Gap was listening attentively to the entire exchange.

"Lissa, we will give you permission to try this," Wlodek said. I was stunned; I never expected that. I realized quickly it was a calculated decision, in order to buy time for the Grand Master. If Weldon died, the peace treaty between vampires and werewolves could die with him. "You must listen carefully, however," Wlodek instructed. "While you might think that the easiest method is to slash the neck, a first-time attempt at this may be fatal. Doing it in that manner requires a great deal of skill. Therefore, you must make incisions at the wrists. Open both wrists, lengthwise. Drink as much of the blood as you can hold because the turn will require your blood, once the girl is near death from blood loss. You must open one of your own wrists at that point and feed her. Once she gets the taste in her mouth, she will accept it. Allow her to drink for four minutes, Lissa. No more, no less. Otherwise, she may get too little or too much. Do you understand?" Vampires bleed sluggishly, so I did understand. It would take that long for enough blood to pa.s.s from sire to child.

"Yes," I said. I almost added Honored One to that but caught myself in time.

"Lissa, the shortest amount of time it will take for a complete turn is three days, and that is if the body is young and healthy. If the girl is gravely ill, it may take some days beyond that. Do you understand?"

I looked up at Gap. He was nodding at me. "Yes," I replied.

"Try to get better treatment for the Grand Master during that time and inform your captors that you will require blood-not just for you but for the girl when she wakes." Once again, I looked at Gap who nodded his understanding. "You must also watch the girl every moment that you are awake so that you may feed her, show her how to drink properly and tell her what she needs to know to survive. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said. "Sir," I went on, "there is one here who does not submit to compulsion."

"I understand that," Wlodek said. "Do your best, Lissa. That is all we can ask under the circ.u.mstances." Wlodek and Merrill both hung up.

"Where will we get blood?" One of the other werewolves asked Gap.

"There's a cooler full of it back at the cabin," I grumbled. I hadn't eaten yet, and my skin was tightening and my stomach hurt as a result. "It needs to be kept cold. I hope you have electricity or a generator."

"We have electric," Gap huffed, insulted. "Rowdy, go get that cooler."

"Winkler has the key," I said. "And I'm not doing anything for you until you do something for them. It won't do you a bit of good if you're going to hurt them further. Your granddaughter's life is in my hands, now." Gap punched a number on Winkler's cell and spoke to someone, telling them to make sure their guests were comfortable and fed.

"Mess up, girlie and they're all dead," Gap informed me, tapping the end call b.u.t.ton on Winkler's cell. If I were human, I'd have been in a cold sweat. No longer human as I was, I shivered and nodded with as much dignity as I could.

Bowls were brought from the kitchen to drain excess blood from the girl's wounds; there wasn't any way I could drink more than I usually did. I also knew, just by talking with Wlodek that he and Merrill would make a rescue attempt but they had no way of knowing exactly where I was and it could take days to find me. Was there a GPS tracker on my phone and would it work in the back of beyond? Afterward, we'd have to find the Grand Master. Who knew where he and Winkler were being held? I didn't even think about Kelvin. Maybe I should have, but I didn't.

Rowdy came in with the cooler of blood a little later and then somebody else came in with the key. That werewolf had the scent of Winkler on him, along with a bit of Winkler's blood. Winkler had likely fought with this one before handing over anything. I almost growled at my captors as the cooler was set against a wall of the girl's bedroom. Gap almost growled back. What he didn't know was that unless it snowed quite a lot, I could follow his werewolf cousin's tracks back to Winkler if he'd made the trip on foot.

My hands shook as I made my preparations. My sire most likely should have been there with me, talking me through the ordeal, but he wasn't. "You may have to hold her while I do this," I nodded at Gap who came and sat on the side of the bed. He gripped Lily's shoulders tightly. Allowing my claws to slide out about an inch, I set about opening her wrists.

Gap muttered the whole time I drank from his granddaughter, but if she survived, he would have to get used to this. I didn't drink much, allowing most of her blood to collect in the bowls placed beneath her wrists. Rowdy waited off to the side, watching intently.

I heard the girl's heart slow and somehow knew when the time was right. I licked both her wrists to stop the blood flow and heal up her wounds, then opened up my right wrist lengthwise, just as I'd done hers, pressing the wrist to her mouth. Gap helped, pulling her jaw open. Just as Wlodek said, the girl accepted my blood and began to drink. Gap's cousin Rowdy timed it; he had a watch with a second hand. He called time at four minutes exactly, even though the girl wanted to keep drinking.

"We have to keep her in a dark place," I said, licking my wrist to close the wound. Gap carried Lily as he led me down heavy, hand-hewn plank steps to a cellar beneath the main floor of the house. The cellar was small and had a dirt floor with rough, split log walls all around. At least it was swept and didn't have cobwebs. Spider bites probably wouldn't hurt me, but I still didn't want stray arachnids crawling down the back of my shirt.

A cot stood in a corner of the tiny, underground room. The mattress on it was quite narrow, with room for only one person. Lily got that. I asked for a unit of blood and one was tossed down. Gap left with the half-bag of blood I pa.s.sed back to him. "Don't let any sunlight in down here," I warned him as the cellar steps creaked beneath his feet. "And I'll need more blood when night falls again." Daybreak wasn't far off; I knew that for certain. Gap left us and when daybreak came, I slumped over where I sat.

When I woke again, I pondered my dilemma as I listened to voices and footsteps overhead. At least the girl was still whole and not ash. Lily's heart and breathing had stopped the moment I'd pulled my wrist away from her lips. I had no idea what that meant or if it was natural. Gap had confiscated my cell phone before leaving me in the cellar, so I didn't even have that to try to contact anyone else. I also wanted to know how Winkler and Weldon were doing. Hunger made its presence known so I climbed up the cellar steps to the trap door, which was locked. Punching through it might have given me some satisfaction, but I held back. Gap's cellar was a dark place to hide and sleep. I knocked on the door instead to ask for my blood. A bath would have been nice as well, but I was told I'd have to wait another day or two for that. I wanted to curse but politely asked about Weldon and the others instead.