My eyebrows rose. Right . . . Just how stupid did he think we were? But if he wanted me to stay where I was, he had figured out I was at least partially helpless here. Crap.

Chrissie looked pained, and Kisten reached out to take Audric. "Just talk to him, sis," he said softly. "The I.S. is bound to show up eventually."

God, what I would give for my backup right now.

Audric went easily into Kisten's arms, and I wondered at the complete trust the boy had, coupled with his instinctive understanding of how deep into the shit we all were. He was terrified, but there were no tears, just trust that we would die for him. Well, Kisten and Chrissie might. Dead was dead for me, so I was going to be a little more careful.

"Audric stays," Kisten said as Chrissie walked slowly toward her ex, and Sean grinned.

"Can't blame me for trying," he said.

Can't blame me for wanting to jam my elbow into your nose, I thought, my knees starting to shake from the accumulated adrenaline.

Chrissie got to the end of the bridge and waited for them to back off a good eight feet before walking between them. I didn't feel any less secure standing here with only Kisten. Chrissie didn't know how to fight, so her help would have been chancy at best.

Kisten jiggled Audric as his mother moved a small distance away and started to talk under the trees. My tension eased into a ready state, and I started to notice what was going on outside of the narrow space around us. The park was empty but for those two old people on the bench. The wind was just as fresh and the sun just as bright, but the fear in that little boy was enough to chill the strongest soul.

The vampires from the van had dropped back, and I watched them close to make sure no one slid under the bridge to take us from surprise. That they might was probably why Sean agreed to this . . . parley.

"How you holding up, Sport?" Kisten said as he sat Audric on the wide cement railing.

The boy blinked several times, and took a deep breath, relaxing as he intentionally took in the pheromones Kisten was giving off. "I'm scared," he admitted when he could.

"That's okay." Kisten laid a hand on his shoulder. "This is scary shit. But your mom is smart. She takes good care of you, right?"

He nodded.

"Good." Kisten looked over at his sister, violently arguing with Sean. "She loves you very much. Never forget that. No matter what happens."

It sounded like final advice, and that had me worried. There was a good chance the I.S. wouldn't respond, especially if Piscary had arranged the abduction himself, either to bring Chrissie in line or to cement relations with the outside camarilla of vampires. In that case, we were really on our own.

Audric squinted in the sun up at me, then Kisten. "Are you and Ms. Rachel going to get married?" he asked from nowhere.

My mouth dropped open, and Kisten started. "Ah, not today, Sport. Maybe someday."

Oh God. I'd forgotten kids were like that, and I warmed.

"Do you kiss her?" the boy asked.

Kisten grinned as his hand fell from Audric's shoulder. "Every chance I get."

Audric thought about that for a moment as he picked at a bit of mortar and dropped it into the water for the bridge troll to eat. "Mommy says if you love someone, and you like kissing them, and they don't ever, ever hurt you, you should marry them."

If only it was that simple.

Audric squinted up at me, and I panicked, not knowing what had come into that little brain and was now going to come out his mouth. "Do you hurt Uncle Kisten?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer-it was a disturbing question for anyone but a vampire child-but Kisten beat me to it. "Only my heart, Audric," he said. "Ms. Rachel is like the sun. See her sparkling there with the wind in her hair and fire in her eyes? You can't catch the sun. You can only feel its touch on your face. And if you get too much of it, it burns you."

It had been nice until the end, and I made a sour face.

"Maybe you should kiss her in the dark," was Audric's next thought, and I smiled.

"That's a good idea," Kisten said as he handed him the bag of cold takeout. "Why don't you feed the ducks."

It was a good distraction, but that frightened, brave little boy kept an eye on his mother the entire time he coaxed the ducks in. He was wise beyond his six years, and I wondered what his life had been like so far, protected by his mother, shielded from a master vampire's view. Seeing. Knowing. Helpless.

I watched Kisten break apart the folded bit of bland pastry for him, knowing that their bond went deeper than uncle and nephew. They were the same, only at different places, and seeing them together, the sun glinting on their hair and their thoughts on their future as they calmly fed the ducks, I felt sick.

Kisten felt my misery, and he turned. Seeing my expression, he murmured a few words to Audric and left him with a handful of fried bread.

"The sun, eh?" I said as he stood beside me.

Kisten brushed by that, telling me how worried he was. "Sharps isn't here, is he?"

I shook my head, watching Audric feed the ducks as his future hung in the balance of the next few minutes. "He looks a lot like you," I offered.

Kisten's brow smoothed to make him beautiful. "He's got the Phelps eyes."

"And his dad's hair," I added.

Wincing, Kisten ran a hand through his own dyed strands. "And his mother's smarts. God, I hate it when this happens. It's hard to keep the beautiful children from them."

He meant a master vampire, not Sean. And my face went cold as I finally understood what was going on. That's why Sean had taken an interest. Not for him, but for his master. Audric was going to be a present. A freaking gift. "He's six years old!" I hissed, clutching my arms around my middle.

His eyes on his feet, Kisten nodded. "That's why he had an affair with Chrissie. He wanted a pretty child to offer his master other than his own."

Frantic, I shifted, frustrated and helpless. This was not going to happen. It wasn't!

"A pretty child?" I exclaimed, then dropped my voice. Audric was scared enough.

Kisten pulled his gaze up. I could see an old fear, shame, maybe, deep in his thoughts. "A master vampire won't touch a child," he said, "but they do like to find them early so as to have a say in their upbringing. Make sure they take the right classes, make the right friends." Kisten threw a chunk of fried bread at a duck and it splashed short.

Generally make them powerless while giving them the trappings of importance, I thought. It was Kisten all over, and the first real glimmer of his past was scaring me shitless.

"Kisten, I'm sorry," I said as I reached to touch his arm.

He was smiling with old pain as he met my gaze. "Don't be. I love my life."

But still . . . there was regret.

"I have a good life," he said, his gaze pinched as it landed on Audric, seemingly oblivious but taking it all in. "I have a lot of opportunities that I otherwise wouldn't."

"And yet you're fighting to keep Audric away from them."

Kisten's jaw clenched, then relaxed. "Audric is smart," he said softly. "He doesn't need a master vampire to open doors for him. He's better than that." He threw another piece of bread, landing it far farther than I could throw and making the ducks work for it. "He's the son I'm never going to have, and I don't want him to go through the hell I did."

Stomach queasy, I trailed my hand down his arm and slipped my fingers into his. No children. Because of Piscary. Piscary wanted a child from Kisten to further his plans, and saying no was Kisten's last bastion of defiance, one small way to say that he didn't belong to Piscary-even if he did.

For all the power and privilege Piscary gave Kisten, it came with a cost that his children might be called on to pay. And Kisten didn't want Audric to pay it. Feeling ill, I gave Kisten's hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I'm happy. Shut the hell up, Rachel," he said, his fingers gentle in mine.

Audric turned to us, out of fried bread to feed the ducks. Kisten opened the bag for the rest, and together we went forward while the adults argued. The sun was warm, and for a moment, we could laugh and pretend that the world was an innocent place where the only thing we needed to worry about was if feeding ducks bread softened with duck sauce was a mild form of cannibalism.

Maybe that was one of the reasons Kisten worked so hard to keep it going between us, I thought, laughing as a duck went completely under water to pop up somewhere else. There would never be any children between Kisten and me. Any child would be adopted or engendered from a one-night-stand with a witch, and free of Piscary's attentions. Seeing Audric beside Kisten, beautiful in the sun and their easy companionship born from knowing they both shared the same curse of great power granted borne in great degradation. Sacrifice. Kisten would sacrifice all for his nephew-anything to prevent him from living the hell he endured. It was touching, beautiful, and tragic all at the same time, and I was almost in tears for lost chances and histories that could not be fixed.

Chrissie's shout of pain lanced through us, and adrenaline surged painfully. Kisten scooped Audric up before I even turned, and I stared aghast at Sean pinching Chrissie's arm as he held her against a tree.

"Damn him," Kisten swore, and I suddenly found Audric in my arms. Kisten had abandoned us.

"No weapons!" Sean shouted. "He's no good dead!"

That was just sick. I sucked in my breath and slid Audric down to stand behind me. "Audric," I said as suddenly every vampire was moving with a slow pace of a predator angling for an ambush. "Do everything I say as fast as you can. Kisten trusts me. I can't help you unless you trust me too."

His little hand in mine brought a surge of strength and defiance I could only guess came from a maternal source. One I never knew I had. But it felt damn good, and I'd use it.

There would be, I thought as I scanned the park, backing up until we found the waist-high railing. Kisten was fighting them off his sister, and the two of them, clearly the bigger threat, were pulling half the vampires away from Audric and me. Five vampires on a bridge, I might be able to handle. I had to be able to handle, at least long enough to get to land where I could tap a line and do some bad-ass witchy stuff. Kisten had pulled half the threat away, not abandoned us.

Audric was between me and the railing, and falling into a fighting stance, I lifted my chin. It was all the invitation the first vamp needed.

He came at me, hands reaching. If not for my sparring with Ivy, I'd never have had a chance. I extended my hands for him to grab, and when he did, I shoved my right arm under his, taking his left arm with it. In one smooth motion, I dove under his extended arm, turned, and snapped his elbows against each other. There was a sickening crack, and part of me wondered that it had even worked as I moved to finish the move. And as the vampire howled in pain, I used his own momentum to flip him over the railing and into the shallow water.

The splash rose up the eight feet. Audric was clutching the railing, peering through the openings with awe and surprise. Below him in six inches of water, the vampire tried to get up without using his arms. Pain showed in every motion as he staggered to the shore. The van started, and I spun to make sure Audric was with me.

"Wow," I whispered, rubbing my sore wrists, "it worked." I'd never had the chance to use that particular move with the strength of adrenaline behind me, and I was impressed. And a little scared. But there were two now coming at me together. I couldn't match two. It had been luck I had bested one. I needed something at my back besides a stone railing.

Pulse pounding, I scanned the park. Nothing. Just the bridge we were on. Just the bridge . . . "Jump off the bridge, Audric!" I shouted when an idea came to me. "Land on that bastard. Then tuck-in under the bridge. Wait for me."

I heard his scramble up and over, watched his progress by following the eyes of the vampires left, listened and smiled at the pained huff of sound coming from the man he landed on.

"You two get the van started," the front vamp said, then touched his companion's shoulder. "You're with me."

The two vampires rushed me. Gasping, I flung myself over the railing, palms scraping on the cement. I landed on the vampire already down there, and he screamed in agony. "Sorry," I panted, then rolled off him. Twin splashes of sound told me the two vampires had followed me. Water soaked me, and heavy with it, I staggered up.

"Audric!" I shouted, then lunged to the small shadow hiding under the bridge. "Good boy," I said, pushing him behind me until his back was against the upward curving side of the bridge. He was shaking, and I vowed they wouldn't touch him. Not if I had breath in me.

Kisten was shouting from somewhere, and over that was the faint wail of a siren. The vampires facing me here heard it too. They exchanged looks and grinned to show their fangs.

"Get my boy!" Sean yelled from the top of the bridge, and the two men with their feet in the water attacked.

"Oh, hell no!" I shouted, hitting the first one in the gut, but the second one had me.

Agony flamed in my arm as it was twisted backward, and someone's breath was in my ear. "Got you now, witchy," that same someone said.

Feet almost off the rocky streambed, I hung in his grip, teeth clenched and straining. Before me, Audric fought like a child as the other vampire tucked him under his arm. This is not going to happen.

"Let me down!" I demanded, and the one holding me laughed. Right until I slammed my head back into his teeth.

Screaming, he threw me away from him. I hit the shore hard, my right palm catching most of the impact on a smooth rock. Pain flared to my skull. They were laughing. Audric was yelling in fear. Slowly I got up and turned around, one foot in the water, the other on the shore. Throwing me away had been a big mistake. Huge. Up to now, I was just a woman with a good roundhouse. Now I was a woman with a good roundhouse and a hell of a lot of magic.

"Idiot," I said, smiling grimly, and then I tapped the nearest ley line.

I was almost standing in it, which was good since it was hardly a line at all, weak from the manmade lake running right over it. I yanked on the line, demanding more, and the power surged as if the distant ends curled in on themselves, condensing. My fingertips tingled, and if my hair weren't sopping wet, it would be floating from static. Something must have showed in my eyes because the one holding Audric paled. The sirens were getting closer, but they were not close enough.

"You first," I said, pointing. "Put him down or-"

He didn't listen. I heard a van door open and someone shouting to hurry up. They both went for it.

"Consimilis calefacio!" I shouted, and a wave of steam rose up between them and the bank when a bathtub size portion of water flashed to boiling. I staggered at the draw of energy through me needed to do it, but they halted, shocked and surprised. Pushing myself up, I screamed, "Drop the kid, or I'll turn your balls into apple dumplings!"

That they listened to, though I didn't know the charm to heat living tissue. That would be a black curse, and despite what the papers said I was still a white witch. Audric cried out when they dropped him and he fell into the cool water that had replaced the evaporation. The vampires ran like bunnies on fire, up the steep embankment and out of my line of sight. The van peeled out with a scattering of stones, and I heard the wailing of an I.S. cruiser tear through the lot following it. Another followed close behind, and the distinctive sound of an I.S. radio added to the din.

"Audric!" Chrissie screamed, the heartrending sound tearing through me. She thought she had lost him. "Kisten, they have my baby. They have my little boy!"

I stumbled into the water toward Audric. Immediately my connection to the line, weak at best, dropped. Along with it went my strength. It was over. That fast, it was done. Smiling, I held my hand out to Audric, stunned and staring at me with wide eyes. "Come on, Audric," I said, holding my hand out.

Audric's gaze went to the bridge overhead. "Look out!" he cried, and I jumped back, pulse jerking. Sean hit the shallow water in a belly flop right where I had been. Groaning, he levered himself up. Blood spurted from his nose and made a red stream. Gasping, I looked to see Kisten above me at the railing, smiling.

"Thanks," I said, shaking from the adrenaline spike, and he grinned wider.

"I've got your back, Rachel," he said. "Never forget that. I knew where you were the entire time." His eyes went to Audric. "Come on, Sport. Your mom's about ready to have a cow."

I held my hand out to the little boy. Audric looked at it for a moment, then smiled. The soft feel of his fingers in mine was better than a letter of thanks from the head of the I.S. tower. He was going to be okay. They wouldn't be back. The I.S. had showed, meaning we were under the grace of Piscary and were protected. Well, at least Chrissie and Audric were. I doubt very much that Piscary would let the I.S. save my butt, seeing as I was the one who put him in jail.

I pulled Audric up in a splash of water, and together we slogged our unsteady way to the opposite shore. "We're down here!" I shouted, and Chrissie's cry of joy was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

"Audric!" she exclaimed, sliding down the embankment and pulling him to her. His hand slipped from mine, and I felt an unexpected feeling of loss. I stood alone as she held him close, crying and rocking him as if he was back from the dead. On the bridge were two uniformed I.S. agents, weapons pointed at Sean.

The vampire pulled himself up out of the water, disgust in his every motion. Water dripped from him as he wiped the blood from his nose with a wet handkerchief, then he let it drop to float dramatically away into the deeper water. He glanced up at the officers, and waved bitterly to acknowledge their demand to get out of the water with his hands on the back of his head. Another officer waited at the shore, and the sound of the vamp-proof cuffs ratcheting close never sounded better.

"It's a sad day when a master vampire uses a witch to keep his children safe," Sean snarled as he was led away, and my gaze shot to Kisten, still at the apex of the bridge. Sean thought I worked for Piscary?

I laughed, and the wary slant to Sean's eyes grew deeper, more threatening.

Chrissie was making a very loud statement to the officer before her, using lots of adjectives and clutching Audric to her so tight that the little boy was squirming with little complaints. I slogged to the embankment, bone tired. Kisten was there, and he helped me up until I was leaning against the bridge support. I gingerly felt my arm for the bruise that was bound to show. So much for a quiet breakfast at the park.

"I never thought I'd be happy to see the I.S.," I said as I dug my soggy ID out of a back pocket and flashed it at them. Satisfied, they moved off to give me space to collect myself before I made a statement. "Thanks for getting that last one."

Kisten put an arm around me, soggy clothes and all. "I told you, Rachel," he said in my ear to start a warm spot in me. "I've got your back. Nothing alive will ever hurt you if I have breath in me. And nothing dead will hurt you if I don't."

He leaned in to give me a kiss, and this time, I let him, my lips moving against his to turn it into a spine-tingling, stomach quivering kiss that delved deep and set my pulse racing.

The old couple on the bench gave a cheer, and I broke from him, embarrassed. One of them had a camera phone, and I looked away when it flashed.

"Crap," I muttered, then thought, the hell with it. I could feel Kisten press against me through my wet clothes. Eyes closing, I wrapped my arms about his neck and kissed him again, deeper.

"Apple dumplings?" he murmured when the kiss broke, buzzing my ear with his lips to make the tingles his kiss started flash anew, and I smiled.