Three nights after the kidnapping of Lily and the death of Vivian, Lyra sat silently in the dungeon room where four of her friends lay mutely recovering from the bullet wounds they’d received. Only Cyra showed any sign at all that her wounds would ever heal. The barest edges of some of them had begun to scar, the beginning stages of vampire healing. Sav slipped quietly into the room and sat next to her, surveying the four with sad eyes.

“How long do you think it will be before they’re up and ready to go,” he asked softly.

“I just don’t know, Rick,” Lyra whispered. He slipped a comforting arm around her shoulder and let her rest against his body as he tried to give her all the support he could.

“Are you still trying to blame yourself for this, luv?” His arm tighten around her.

“No, cuz you were right,” she sighed. “I’m not a god, only one little vampire. I’d probably be in the same shape they are if I’d have been there…”

“That’s right,” Sav said with satisfied smile. “Now…” Both vampires stopped as Michael walked into the room and looked over the situation. Then Michael turned to them and said, “Lyra, I think it’s time we had a talk.”

“What about?” she asked curiously, but she and Sav both got to their feet.

“I have an idea about who might be responsible for what happened, well, here,” Michael said after a moment.

“Okay,” she sighed as they followed him up into the living area of the castle.

Phil and Leesha were only just arriving as they walked into the room, so Michael’s conversation had to wait until he’d been introduced to the other vampires.

“Jesus!” Phil laughed as he looked way up at the other man‘s face. “You’re taller than fucking Joe, aren’t you?” Leesha just stared a Michael for a moment, not speaking as the tall man ran his fingers through his hair. The look on her face was hard to read as he began to speak.

“A little,” Michael said with an uncertain smile. He turned to Lyra, waiting for her to take over the conversation with these vampires he didn’t know. After a few seconds, it was actually Steve who jumped in and started carefully filling Phil and Leesha in on just what had happened in the past few days. Leesha put her arms around Phil and listened intently as Steve described the events on the night of Lily’s kidnapping, then leaned forward. “So, you’ve got no clue who took her? Or why?”

Lyra shook her head, then looked up at Michael, who’d just cleared his throat. “Michael?”

“Well, I’ve got an idea,” Michael sighed, running his fingers through his long black hair. He sat silent for a moment, then said, “It wasn’t Hunters, otherwise everyone in that room would have really been dead. As in, they would have shot the place up, then staked everyone there. So whoever did this, they didn’t want the vamps there to die. They just wanted Lily. Or rather, I think they wanted the child…”

There was a long pause before Steve finally said impatiently, “So who the bleeding hell are they?”

“Well, we just called them a bunch of that vamp-loving idiots,” Michael started, them chuckled. “Needless to say, the Hunters didn’t think much of them or their goals. They actually called themselves The Brotherhood of the Dark Hour, even though there are men and women in the group.”

“Have any of the Hunters ever spoken to them?” Phil asked quietly.

“I met one of them once,” Michael sighed. “She was trying to talk a vamp into going with her to their hide out when we came in to take him out. He’d been tearing up a red streak in Akron, so we couldn’t just leave him alone,” Michael said defensively as he caught the look Leesha gave him. “He’d killed twenty or so people!” Leesha looked away, still uncomfortable to hear Michael talk about wiping out their kind, even though he was now one of them. “We didn’t have a choice!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Leesha whispered softly. “Go on with the story, cuz we don’t know how long Lily’s got.”

Shooting Leesha an uncertain glance, he continued, “Anyway, according to the chick we talked to, their whole aim is to understand vampires as a separate species. A more perfect form of human, is what she said…”

“Apparently, she didn’t understand our weaknesses,” Lyra sighed.

“But the weakness, at least as they saw them, were only temporary,” Michael answered quickly. “Look at you, Alyria. You’re not damaged by sun anymore, are you?”

“No, but that took eight hundred years!”

“Well, it still isn’t permanent, now is it?” Michael countered. “Leesha here is probably going to be rid of that problem soon, isn’t she?”

“She might be now,” Lyra said, looking quietly at her friend. “You’re what? Six fifty now?”

“Nearly seven,” Leesha whispered.

“Still crave sleep like you used to in the morning?”

“No, not really,” Leesha answered.

“In the morning, we’ll see what happens,” Lyra said softly before turning back to Michael. “Anyway, is that all they want?”

“Um, well, not all of them,” Michael said, looking around at the group. “Some of them, well, they want to move up to the superior being…”

“You mean they want to be vampires?” Sav said quietly. Michael nodded as Sav turned to face Steve, who shuddered as memories of Morgan went through his mind. The feeling of dread around Steve’s heart was so strong, all the others could feel it as well. Michael sat in confusion, not understanding just why Steve had these emotions running through him. He jumped when he heard Lyra’s voice inside his mind, whispering, “Steve got into some trouble with a witch who wanted that exact thing.”

“Oh, shit,” Michael said quickly. “I guess this isn’t a good time to warn you of this then, but some of these people, well…they aren’t normal.”

“What do you mean?” Steve said quickly.

“They’ve got…um…unusual powers,” Michael went on after a brief pause. “I guess you’d call them, well, witches…”

“Bloody fucking hell!” Steve exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “Okay, Lyra, what do we do now?”

Lyra sat with her eyes closed, her own encounter with Morgan playing through her mind. What if one of the younger vampires got caught by a witch who was a powerfully armed as Morgan had been? Dragon Dust probably would kill a newborn like Michael. And Sav was only a few years old as they counted time. She started to speak, but Sav butted in, saying angrily, “I know what you’re bloody thinking, Lyra! I’m not staying behind, and somehow I don’t think Steve will either. What Michael wants to do is up to him, but I’m going in with you!”

“So am I,” Steve said, though he didn’t seem as sure about this as Sav was.

“What the fuck’s going on now?” Michael said, confusion still plain on his face. “It’s going to take all of us, must likely. That’s the only chance we’ll have…”

“It was just a thought,” Lyra said defensively, though everyone in the room except Michael knew for sure Sav had read her intentions straight from her mind.

“Well, it was a bad one,” Sav said crossly, shooting her a withering glance before turning back to Michael. “Any idea where they are, mate?”

“Yeah, there’s only one group, so they should all be in a place that’s not far from London,” Michael said, suddenly wondering one thing. “Just where are we, anyway.”

“As luck would have it, not far from London,” Phil smiled, then got serious again. “So, do you know exactly where outside of London?”

The others were already getting up as and ready to move as Michael answered, “Blackheath.”

“Think if we get that far, you can find her, Leesha?” Lyra asked softly.

“It might take a couple of fly bys, but I should be able to get a fix on her,” Leesha said quietly.

“HUH?” Michael asked in confusion.

“Leesha’s gotten pretty good at nailing the presences of vampires,” Lyra said quickly.

“Wait, Lyra,” Leesha said as she grabbed the older vampire’s arm. “What are we going to do, just bust in there? It might be daylight by the time we find them!”

“Well,” Lyra stopped to think for a moment. “Okay, you help us find them, then you and Phil find a nearby hiding place. Should be a cemetery somewhere close by. The rest of us will get them when they least expect it.”

“Which is?” Leesha asked curiously, obviously worried how this was going to happen.

“In the morning.”

“WHAT? How are you going to do that?” Phil said incredulously.

“These guys aren’t wearing those rings and Steve’s necklace for nothing,” Lyra said patiently. “They’re protection amulets. They can go out in the noontime sun and not have a problem with those on.”

“And these have been tried out?” Leesha asked cautiously.

“Yes.”

“Okay, I’ll go with that then,” Leesha sighed, watching as the others filed quietly out of the room and castle. the night was silent as they walked into the garden of the fortress. The moonless sky was cloudless and clear as Lyra jumped into the air, followed quickly by Sav. Michael looked up at them, not quite sure what to do and Steve let out a small chuckle. “Just focus on being up there,” Steve whispered with a smile. “That’s all you need to do to fly, mate.”

“This is gonna take some getting used to,” Michael said with a shake of his head as Leesha and Phil flew up behind him. Steve jumped up, then hovered a few feet off the ground. He called down to Michael, “Just think you’re up here with me, okay?”

Michael closed his eyes, concentrating hard on being where Steve was. It wasn’t working. The frustration was plain on his face when Steve came to stand next to him again.

“Okay, man, this isn’t anything, well, gay or anything, but hold my hand,” Steve said quickly.

“Fine,” Michael harrumphed, reaching for Steve in the darkness. The older vampire took off slowly, but felt the drag of Michael’s weight as he was lifted from the ground. Rather than take a chance on Michael getting hurt, Steve stayed only a couple of feet off the ground and said, “All right, I’m gonna let go now.”

Nodding, Michael watched as Steve let go of his grip on Michael’s hand. Then felt gravity take over as he tumbled inelegantly to the ground. He landed hard on his backside, then looked up at Steve and said, “I’m hopeless, dude! I can’t do this!”

“Bullocks!” Steve cursed, looking up and scanning the sky above him. “Lyra taught me how to do this! I’m not that great of a teacher on this kind of thing.” A moment later, he saw Lyra swooping back down on them, trailed by the rest of the group.

“Problems, luv?” she asked with a smile.

“Someone hasn’t flown by himself before,” Steve said with a sad shake of his head. “I tried to show him, but…”

“Don’t worry,” Lyra said quietly. “That was my fault. I completely forgot about this! Sav,” she said, looking to her left side and finding Sav just over her shoulder, “You, Steve, Leesha and Phil go ahead and take off. We’ll be right behind you.”

Sav nodded, though Lyra could see he wasn’t happy with the idea. A second later, Steve, Leesha and Phil took off. Gliding slowly up, Sav watched Lyra step up next to Michael and closed his eyes. Jealously ate him inside as he hovered about two hundred feet about them.

“Okay, luv, come here,” Lyra said as she landed softly next to Michael.

Walking slowly up to her, he saw her smiling up at him and couldn’t help but feel a bit better. Lyra’s arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into her embrace. Her fingers tangled into his hair as his arms went slowly around her waist.

“Is this really a good time for this?” Michael asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Trust me,” she whispered as she pulled his mouth down to hers. The inner fire she’d fought was allowed to rise again as the kiss got deeper. Her tongue danced lightly over his, a small battle for domination between them. Then Michael pulled away, letting go of her and saying, “Wait a minute! We’ve got to get on with this flying thing or the others are going to be way far ahead of us!”

“Fine,” Lyra smiled. She took a seeming step back, letting go of him completely and saying, “Let’s go then!”

“Well,” Michael said impatiently. “Are you going to show me how to fly or not.”

Laughing, Lyra whispered, “Look down, Michael.”

Michael put his hands on his hips and said, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Just look down,” Lyra smiled.

Michael glanced towards the ground and nearly jumped out of his skin. The ground was nearly ten foot below while he hovered as if he was still standing on it.

“HOW?” Michael stammered.

“I had to do something to make you forget you were afraid of this,” Lyra said quietly. “Well, that was the only way I’ve ever found that works every time.” She moved further into the air and said, “Just try to keep your eyes on me and be where I am. Don’t think about just what you’re going to do. Just do it!”

For a second, Lyra thought he was about to fall. Then he glided silently up next to her and let out a long held breath. “I’m doing it, aren’t I?”

“Yeah,” Lyra smiled. Then she got serious. “If you run into any trouble, just grab the nearest one of us and we’ll help you out.” She held out her hand, taking his quickly as they began a rapid ascent into the dark sky. A moment later, she felt Michael pull away as he whispered, “I think someone’s watching us…”

Looking around, Lyra spotted Sav only twenty foot away. “I thought I said to go on with the others.”

“Well, I didn’t listen,” Sav said, a tinge of anger in his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Rick,” she said softly, flying up to whisper in his ear. “I had to get him up here, didn’t I? And it worked, right? So don’t worry about it.”

“But…”

“This really isn’t the time, Richard,” she said impatiently. “Can we get Lily and the baby home, then worry about this?”

“Fine,” Sav said angrily, then took off after the others like a bullet from a gun. Lyra glanced at Michael, who could only shrug his shoulders, before she flew into the night at a slower pace that wouldn’t scare Michael.

They caught up to the group soon enough, though Sav stayed far from Lyra as they went over nighttime London. Once, during the flight, Leesha swooped down low as if chasing someone. Lyra went down to meet her and asked, “Did you feel something?”

“Yeah, but there’s three vampires in that house,” Leesha answered with a shake of her head. “One too many, I think.”

“And we haven’t hit Blackheath yet, either,” Lyra sighed.

“Guess we’ll just keep going, huh?” Leesha said sadly. Nodding, Lyra couldn’t say anything as they climbed up to join the others once more. Steve moved to Lyra’s side, but she only shook her head in answer.

“Looks like we’re nearly in Blackheath,” Phil said over the rushing wind.

“Okay, Leesha, try going over every inch of this place and see if you can feel them,” Lyra instructed. “Then take Phil to the nearest graveyard and hide out for the day.” Leesha nodded, moving lower while the others trailed her from high above. She flew low over the city streets, coursing back and forth like a hunting dog trying to catch a scent. As the night passed, Lyra got more and more frustrated. They were nearly out of the area and still no sign of Lily and the baby. Still more time passed, precious minutes until the sun would break over the horizon and expose them to prying eyes. Not to mention, it’s deadly rays would destroy at least Phil, if not Leesha as well.

“She’s slowing down,” Phil called from a position slightly lower than the others.

“There’s one vampire here, Lyra,” came Leesha’s voice inside Lyra’s head.

“Take Phil and go, then,” Lyra thought back. “Daylight’s coming too soon!” Without another thought or word, Phil and Leesha flew back in the direction they’d come. Lyra and the others landed quietly on the street in front of the old house, surveying it to see if they could get in.

“Lyra,” Steve whispered.

“Think it, luv,” Lyra called silently to him and to the others as well.

“But Lyra,” Steve thought and she could feel the distress behind the words. “There’s only one here! Do you think…”

“Let’s not think about it yet.”

They walked around the area, trying to see if there was an easy way into the house as they waited for daylight to come. It was only ten minutes to sunrise when Lyra began to feel the presence of other vampires coming much closer than she’d imagined. A moment later, five forms landed on the grass in front of them.

“What are you doing here?” came a rough voice from the largest figure.

“We’re looking for a friend,” Lyra answered uncertainly.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Alyria and a young friend of mine was taken against her will,” Lyra said, not at all sure of what was going to happen next.

“Come in,” said a female voice. “The sun will get some of us if you don’t.”

Grabbing Lyra’s arm, Steve shook his head and whispered, “Lyra, this doesn’t feel right!”

“We haven’t got a choice,” Lyra said quietly as she followed the new comers into the ancient farm house. All three men exchanged quick glances before going in behind her.

“My name is Alexander and I am the eldest of this group,” a small man said from the back of the group. “The others are Victor,” the tallest, black haired vampire bowed his head. “ Louis,” a blond man bent at the waist in greeting. “Patrice” The heavy set female brushed her brown hair out of her face before nodding slightly at Lyra. He paused for a moment and let his hand come to rest on the shoulder of a small blonde woman, “and Miriam. Now, what business have you sneaking around our home?”

“A friend of mine sensed a vampire here and we had to find out if our youngling was here,” Lyra said. Michael tensed, wondering if it was a good idea to give these strangers so much information. But Lyra went on, “she was taken from us two nights ago. Is there another vampire in this house?”

“Before we give you any information, you will tell me your names,” Alexander said harshly.

“I’m Alyria,” she said quietly. Miriam seemed to tense, but the others gave no notice of it. Pointing to each of them in turn, she said, “These men are Richard, Stephan and Michael.”

“Alyria, you say?” Miriam said quietly. “I know of someone you know.” Lyra turned to study the female, who only said, “One of your blood, I believe.”

“There are few of those,” Lyra said quietly. “I’ve only made a very few of our kind.”

“I’m not speaking of your immortal blood,” the woman said, chuckling quietly as she shook her head. “But your MORTAL blood.” Lyra stiffened, her mind churning as she tried to figure out just what this woman meant. “Your son, Alyria.”

“Dovic?” Lyra said quickly.

“Mother?” came a quiet voice from a hidden doorway. “What are you doing here?”

“DOV?” Lyra whispered quietly. She crossed the room and stopped in front of her son, who still stared at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, mum, it’s me,” Dovic smiled. “But, what are you doing here? Were you looking for me?”

“No, sweeting, I wasn’t,” Lyra said sadly. “One of my coven was abducted and we’re trying to find her.”

Looking around at the men behind her, Dovic said, “Well, I can see my father’s not the one.” Sav bristled at Dovic’s cold appraisal. “Who was it? Joe?”

“No, luv,” Lyra sighed. “It was the youngest of the coven, a child named Lily.”

“She must be pretty young,” Dovic answered, looking over Michael. “Considering that one isn’t even properly dead yet!”

“He crossed over to help us find her,” Lyra said absently, not seeing the look of confusion that seemed to be becoming permanent on Michael’s face.

“Sorry, Mum,” Dovic said quickly. “I don’t think I can help you out there. No kidnapped females here. Remember, I’ve reformed? Not the villain anymore, you see.”

“I never truly thought you were a villain, Dov,” Lyra whispered. “When I found you…”

“Lyra?” Sav said quietly. “We really need to figure out where Lily is, don’t we? Not to interrupt,” this was said as Dovic shot him a hate filled stare, “but time’s getting shorter the longer we wait…”

“You’re right, but we don’t have Leesha anymore, luv,” Lyra said quickly.

“Tell us what you know about this female,” Miriam interrupted. “Perhaps we can help you in some way. Why is it you think she was abducted and didn’t simply leave you on her own?”

“She was…”

“Warning, Lyra!” came an anxious thought. Sav grabbed her arm. “How much can we really trust Dovic yet?”

“I’ve no choice,” Lyra answered into his mind. She continued aloud, “She was in labor when they took her. There’s no way she would have left then.”

“You made a pregnant woman into a vampire?” Dovic laughed. “Naughty, mother! You know what kind of cross bred comes from THAT!”

“She was a virgin when she crossed, Dov,” Lyra answered. Alexander’s head shot up as the others in his group started to protest that a vampire couldn’t get pregnant. His hand raised and he quieted his group by saying, “If she was truly virgin, she could. But why was she made?”

“Blood madness,” Lyra said quietly.

“Ah, someone remembers the old cures,” he laughed. “How old did you say you were, Alyria?”

“Nearly a thousand, but I wasn’t the one who knew the cure,” Lyra sighed. “There’s one in our number who’s older than me by nearly eight hundred years.”

“Ah,” Alexander sighed. “That would explain it then. Why is this elder not with you, then? You’ve been stuck with a rather young rescue party, my dear.”

“They’ve been, well, indisposed,” Lyra said. Miriam seemed to go into a trance as she whispered, “I see guns…bullets…pain…fear…tremendous anger…One of you died trying to save her, is this not true?”

“Indeed, Vivian died trying to save his daughter.”

“She was truly his mortal daughter, was she not?” Miriam continued. “Blood of his blood?”

“Yes.” Staring now at Miriam, Lyra whispered, “You’re a Seer?”

“Indeed, my lady love sees far,” Alexander said, lifting Miriam’s hand to his mouth for a brief kiss.

Lyra knelt in front of the other female and whispered, “Can you see where they’ve taken her?”

“Ah, but I give nothing for free,” Miriam smiled. “I would have the blood of your interesting youngest before I give you this information.” Lyra turned to Michael, saying, “Michael? Would you let her feed, so she’ll tell us what we need?”

“Um, is this a good idea?” Michael said quietly. Steve put a reassuring hand on Michael shoulder and said, “She wouldn’t let you do it if you were in danger.”

“Okay,” Michael said uncertainly, crossing to stand in front of Miriam. “Um, what should I do?”

“Your arm, luvvy,” Miriam purred.

“Wait,” Lyra interrupt quickly, her arm barring Michael from moving any closer. “I’ve got to ask. Why Michael, of all of us?”

“I’ve lived nearly two thousand years, luv,” Miriam chuckled. “I didn’t do it by not paying attention to the world around me. Your other fledglings? I’m well aware of the lives they’ve led! Rock stars, naughty boys, the lot. You? You are powerful, my dear, so I’d not mess with that, though the others here could well take care of you should you get, well, out of hand. But this youngling is an enigma. I would know where the tremendous potential I feel in him comes from.” Turning to Michael, she said softly, “Kneel beside your mistress, young one, and give me my desire.” But only when Lyra nodded did Michael make a move towards the elder vampire. He got to his knees next to Lyra and held out his arm, seeing with a tinge of fear the greed in Miriam’s eyes as she reached for his arm. She raised it slowly to her lips, her eyes savoring every inch of his flesh as her fangs descended and pierced his wrist.

Closing his eyes, Michael felt the sharp teeth tear into the soft, white flesh of his wrist. His mouth tightened at the sudden pain, then he let out a sigh as he felt her pull roughly at his vein. Lyra watched closely, trying to assure herself that Miriam wouldn’t take too much from a man who, as Dovic had noted, wasn’t even properly dead yet. Moments past and Lyra could see that the loss was starting to affect him. Her hand brushed back the hair from her neck as she whispered, “Michael, take what you need from me, luv. You can’t afford to lose too much at a time like this.”

His eyes opened and Lyra could see the violet color to them as his fangs lower into his mouth. Without a word, he moved closer to her and bit harshly into her throat. Lyra let the pain wash through her, the pleasure far outweighing it. He drank greedily, desperate to replace the blood that Miriam was draining from him. Lyra looked around, wondering how she herself was going to keep from being weakened. Then, to her surprise, she felt Miriam’s wrist being pressed to her mouth and bit into it without thinking.

The surge of power tore through Lyra as soon as the triad was completed. The room spun. Every other time she’d been in the triad in recent memory, she’d been the oldest and most powerful in the grouping. Now, with Miriam involved, Lyra seemed a mere child as she drank from the elder vampire. After a moment, the power sorted itself into something Lyra had never experienced before. She could see images, though at first she wasn’t sure what they were. Fire everywhere. She was screaming for Sav, Steve and Michael. And Dovic. There was danger everywhere. And somewhere in this inferno, she just knew Lily and the baby were hidden. The wall behind her burst apart.

Miriam pulled her wrist from Lyra as she stopped feeding from Michael. A second later, Michael collapsed to the floor beside her, his eyes closed and his breathing ragged. Lyra crawled over to him, running her hand over his face as she turned to look up at Miriam. “What the bleeding hell was that?”

“You’ve seen what I’ve seen,” Miriam answered as she slumped back into her chair. “This mission of yours is dangerous, little one. I’m not sure that all of you will make it out of there.”

“But we…”

“I’ve told you what I know,” Miriam said softly, her eyes closing. “It’s up to you now to do what you will with it.” With a sigh, she whispered, “I can’t see to the end, though you might end up losing someone you treasure more than anyone if you try to save the child.” Her eyes opened briefly, glancing up at Sav before she closed them again. He stood in a dark corner of the wall, arms crossed and his eyes intent on Lyra’s form as she checked on Michael. No one saw the slight smile playing over Miriam’s lips as she quietly drifted off to sleep where she sat.

When Lyra looked up again, she saw that most of the vampires of this coven had left the room. Only Michael, Steve and Dovic remained, and she looked desperately around for Sav.

“He’s gone to rest with Patrice,” Dovic said quickly, a slight grin on his face. “Not quite as faithful to you nowadays, mother?”

“He’s angry with me,” Lyra whispered, pulling away from Michael as he began to stir. “Creating Michael, well, Sav wasn’t entirely happy with the idea…”

“Ah, but my dearest mother did it anyway,” Dovic laughed. “Hmm, I begin to wonder if I might have inherited my rogue genes from you after all, Mum. That was definitely something I would have done, if the mood struck me, that is.”

“It’s not like that, Dov,” Lyra whispered, looking at Michael and wondering what he was thinking. He seemed lost in thought for a long moment before he said, “Lyra, I saw things…”

“So did I, luv,” Lyra answered. “Fire…”

“No, I was standing in front of these people, vampires,” Michael whispered. “I was waiting for them to tell me my sentence…”

“What?”

“I was on trial,” Michael continued as though he hadn’t heard her speak. “They thought I was a criminal.”

“Lyra?” Steve interrupted. “I think we all need to rest now. If we’re going to look for Lily, we can’t all be exhausted.” Looking to Dovic, he asked, “Is there any place we can sleep here, Dovic?”

“Yeah, the room next to mine is free at the moment,” Dovic said quietly, though a less than pleasant look still lingered on his face. Turning, he motioned for them to follow him into the basement of the house. He stopped and pointed to a room in the corner, saying, “Sorry, the accommodations aren’t much, just a room to sleep in and no bed.”

“It’ll do,” Lyra said as she looked around the windowless room. Steve could feel the wave of hidden sadness in her as she looked at Michael and said, “Take off the ring, luv, and get a true day’s rest. You’ve yet to actually experience a vampire’s sleep and I think you’ll need it in the times to come.”

Michael took off the ring and felt an immediate weight of drowsiness hit him. Handing the ring to Lyra, he barely had time to lay on the floor before a death like sleep claimed him. Lyra watched him for a second before sitting down against the wall across the room from him and letting her tears begin to fall.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Steve asked softly as he sat next to her and pulled her body into his arms.

“Have I lost Sav, now?” she whispered through her tears. “He’s never turned his back on me like this…”

“He’s angry, luv,” Steve said softly as he stroked her hair. “Do you really blame him? He doesn’t truly understand what’s going on with Michael yet. For that matter, I can’t say that I do either…”

“I don’t either, but it was a mistake,” Lyra whimpered. “Yes, I was attracted to him. Yes, he’s an interesting person that I wanted to get to know. But I didn’t want to be bound to him. And I never wanted to bring him across. If not for Lily, he’d be in London with the Hunters now. A little wiser about our kind perhaps and I probably wouldn’t have seen the last of him. But he wouldn’t be with us now, that I can tell you.”

“What are you going to do about it, then?” Steve asked as he studied Michael’s sleeping form.

“I don’t know, luv,” she whispered wearily.

“Sleep, Lyra,” Steve said softly. “Maybe things will be better tonight when you wake up.” Pulling her down, Steve wrapped her back in his arms and let her drift off to sleep as he wondered how things were going to go when they finally managed to get to Lily. Would Sav be willing to go back home again if Michael was there? Not finding any answers, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

“Mother?” Dovic whispered from the doorway. Lyra jerked awake, pulling from Steve’s still sleeping form as she said, “What’s the matter, Dov?”

“Oh, nothing, Mum,” Dovic said quietly, as if he was afraid he would wake Steve or Michael. Lyra got to her feet and crossed the room. Unexpectedly, Dovic pulled her into his arms and said, “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Mum. I just didn’t know the truth at the time.”

“Dov,” Lyra said softly. “It’s in the past, sweeting. Let’s just get on with things and let that go. There was no permanent harm done to any one. Well, except maybe to any chance of you and Sav getting along properly, but there’s naught to be done about that now.”

“I didn’t mean to be so, oh, I don’t know,” Dovic said with a shake of his head. “When you guys showed up, I didn’t know what to think. Maybe you’d decided you wanted revenge on me for what I’d done. Or maybe you just wanted to see how I was doing after I’d learned the truth…”

“Dovic, I just wanted you to have time to deal with things on your own,” Lyra said quickly. “I wasn’t going to push the issue. I wanted you to decide to come back to the castle, since you were the one who left with so much unsaid.”

“I just wasn’t sure what to say, Mum. I’d nearly made you do something you never would have forgiven me for, so I didn’t know how to face you,” Dovic said finally.

“I forgive you, luv,” Lyra answered quietly. “And I’ve never stopped loving you, you’ve got to know that.”

“I do, now,” Dovic replied, holding her tighter than ever. “I love you, too, Mum.” From inside the room, Lyra could hear Steve and Michael begin to stir, but she held on to her son for a moment longer before saying, “Come back with us when this is all done. Join the family you should have had for the last millennium.”

“Okay,” he said quickly, releasing her just as Steve called her name. Lyra walked quietly into the room as Steve and Michael rose to their feet almost as one.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked quickly, shaking out his long hair before yanking it back into a rough ponytail. “Where were you?”

“Talking to my son,” Lyra answered. Steve shot her a look, but let her decide what she wanted to say. And, it was obvious, she didn’t want to talk about Dovic at the moment. She handed Michael back the ring he’d given her the night before and watched until she’d seen it slid safely on to his finger before she said, “I’m going to talk to Miriam. Find out if she’s seen anything that might help us pinpoint the location of this bunch of lunatics. They seem to be thinking they can get a tame vampire in the form of Lily’s child, but I’m going to see to it that they catch a wolf in that rabbit trap.”

“Okay,” Steve said quietly. “We’ll wait for you upstairs, if you don’t mind?” As soon as the three of them crossed the threshold, Steve went still briefly before saying, “Way upstairs, if you don’t mind.”

Sav had just come out of Patrice’s room.

Steve grabbed Michael and said, “Come on, mate! I really don’t want to be around for this one.”

“I’m with you,” Michael said quickly, following Steve up the stairs at a dead run.

Lyra stood still and simply stared at Sav. Wanting to harden her heart against him, to not let him see that she was upset by his companion of the night before, she failed miserably. A bloody tear pricked at her eye and she wiped it away with the back of her hand like a child. She could feel Sav invading her mind and it took every bit of her concentration to finally block him out. A surprised look came over Sav’s face as he whispered, “So, it’s like that, is it? Hope Michael was a satisfactory replacement for me, then.”

Without another word, without even another glance in her direction, Sav took off up the stairs to follow the other two vampires. Lyra stood speechless, wondering what she should do now. Her heart told her she should just let Sav pick at her mind and find out how miserable she was. But the practical part of her mind said this wasn’t the time for it. She’d have time enough later to deal with her emotions and his wounded feelings after they found Lily. After all, they had eternity to be together, but Lily needed them now. With a heavy heart, Lyra closed her mind to all the men in her life and left it only open to finding Miriam.

It took her a moment to get her bearings as she traced mentally through the house to pin point the elder vampire. To her surprise, Miriam wasn’t in the basement at all. Far overhead, the vampire must either be in the attic or up on the roof of the farmhouse. With a humorless laugh at the location, Lyra took off up the stairs and prayed she wouldn’t find a fuming Sav standing there. But the landing was empty, so she turned and kept going up to the third floor. After a few moments, she found the entrance to the attic and climbed the ladder in silence.

Miriam sat in a dusty corner of the attic, staring out the window with a blank look on her face. Afraid to interrupt her train of thought, or perhaps a Seer’s trance, Lyra knelt a respectable distance from her and waited for the vampire to notice her. Miriam never moved or even acknowledged Lyra’s presence in the room. She merely continued to stare sightlessly out the at the grass. Closing her eyes, Lyra fought as she felt Sav trying to reach her mind once more. This wasn’t something she could deal with yet. The plea was faint and Lyra sighed in regret. She didn’t like closing him out, but she couldn’t afford a fight with him at the moment. Time passed quickly and soon Lyra could feel her knees begin to ache against the hard wooden floor.

“That was a mistake, young one.”

Lyra’s head shot up from where she’d been near dozing on the floor. Looking calmly at her, Miriam said, “You should never have closed your mind to them, Alyria.”

“What?” Lyra asked, looking around her in a panic. “What’s wrong?”

“Try to reach him now,” Miriam said as she shifted in her chair. Instantly, Lyra opened her mind back up and tried to find Sav. But now it seemed his mind was closed to her as well. Letting go of her blocks, Lyra tried Steve with the same result. Even Michael seemed to have disappeared. In desperation, Lyra tried to find Dovic but couldn’t.

“What’s going on?” Lyra said hastily, jumping to her feet.

“That last try of Savage’s wasn’t in anger, Alyria,” Miriam whispered. “I heard it. It was a call for help.”

“Help?” Lyra started towards the window. “Where are they, Miriam?”

“I just heard it myself or I would have tried to stop them,” Miriam said softly.

“Stop them from what?”

“Answering the siren’s call,” Miriam said with a trace of tears in her voice. “I was in a trance or I could have told you as it was happening. Then, perhaps, we could have stopped the men from going.” She sighed in resignation. “But now, it’s too late and we’ve lost them.”

“Then we’ll have to find them!” Lyra answered, throwing the window open. She turned and looked at Miriam, who continued to sit in her chair. “COME ON!”

“It won’t work, luv,” Miriam said sadly. “I’m useless to you. I haven’t the strength of will to fight these battles. Alexander will return to me eventually, that much I know. But the others, they may be gone forever…”

“NO!” Lyra screamed. “We can find them, I know it! You’ve got to help me, Miriam! How can you just resign yourself to this?”

“Because I know that if we go after them, I may not return,” Miriam answered. “If I stay here, then Alexander will come back and that’s all that I care about. I’ll wait for him here…”

“Bullocks to you, then,” Lyra hissed as she made a jump for the sky. Then she felt it. Leesha, calling to her in fear and desperation.

“I’m coming!” Lyra thought back, flying in the direction on Leesha’s cry. Five minutes later, she caught sight of Leesha standing in a graveyard just to her south. Landing next to her friend, she said quickly, “Did Phil answer the call as well?”

“What?”

“Miriam called it the siren’s call,” Lyra explained. “You know, the old Greek legends about the call of the sirens? I didn’t ask, but I’m assuming she said that because the men couldn’t resist some kind of signal that got put out.”

“Phil couldn’t,” Leesha whispered. “One minute, we were talking about heading to the house to find you and see how things went this morning. The next, he got this LOOK on his face, really strange. Then he whispered something about being sorry and took off. Jesus, I forgot, did you get Lily?”

“She wasn’t there,” Lyra said dismissively. “Did you try to follow him?”

“Yeah, that’s the weird part,” Leesha sighed. “Remember the house last night? The one I said had three vampires in it?” Lyra nodded. “He went in there. I watched for a little while and saw Sav, Steve, Michael and some others go in there. Lyra?” She paused for a second, not sure if she should say what she was thinking. “I thought I saw Dovic there, too…”

“Yeah, he was the vampire in that house last night,” Lyra sighed. “Let’s get back to this house and see if we can figure out what’s going on, okay?”

Leesha took the lead as they flew to the house and landed softly on the grass. Lyra walked quietly up to the open window and listened to the conversation that was happening inside. Two women were speaking very obviously about the men who’d only recently been with Lyra and Leesha.

“Damn, I didn’t expect there to be so many of them!” a young brunette said excitedly. “We actually caught nine vampires with that one call!”

“And did you see them?” A slender redhead said with a hiss. “My god, some of them are gorgeous! That one with the curly long brown hair! Um, yummy!”

“Yeah,” the first girl whispered. “I fancy taking that one with the black hair for the ride of his life once we finish closing the spell on them!”

“Don’t get too excited, ladies,” came an older gentlemen’s voice from a nearby doorway. “Until that spell is sealed, none of them are under our control. You know how things have gone so far with that little bitch and the child…”

“Oh, God, Lily’s here,” Lyra whispered to Leesha.

“She’s not even close to under control,” the man continued. “The only thing that’s keeping her in line is that child and I don’t know how long that will last.”

“Well, the baby is growing so fast,” the redheaded girl said defiantly, “That in a couple of months we won’t need it’s mother. Then we can raise the child to do what we want…”

“Do you really want to wait another ten years to get what we want,” the man said angrily. “I won’t last that long! You know this bloody disease is only giving me a few months at best. If I’m going to cross, it needs to be soon! And this bloody baby bitch of a vampire keeps saying she doesn’t think she can do it, give her more time? I DON’T HAVE THE TIME TO WAIT!”

“Okay, Marcus, we already know that,” the brunette said soothingly. “Maybe one of the males we just got will turn out to be a little more pliable than she is. Remember, she hasn’t even been one very long…”

“Well, she won’t be anything but dust if one of the others works out,” Marcus said crossly. “I’m tired of playing her games and what we did to that one earlier today vented a bit of tension for me.”

“I really wish you hadn’t killed him, Marc,” the redhead said quietly. “He was kinda sweet, actually.”

“He wouldn’t give me what I wanted, so he was dusted,” Marcus went on, still angry. Lyra stiffened. Then they’d killed the vampire Leesha had felt last night with Lily and the baby, had they. Apparently, this bastard was willing to do anything to get what he wanted. A moment later, he said harshly, “Go see if any of these new ones will work, okay? I’ll be in the study.”

“Okay, Marc,” the redhead said quickly. “Come on, Lynn, it’s time to play with the boys!”

‘Cool,” murmured the one called Lynn as they made for the stair well. Lyra looked around frantically, wondering how they were going to know just what was happening without there being any windows into the basement. Turning to Leesha, she whispered, “Stay here. I’m going in to find out what’s going on. If anything goes wrong, head back to the castle and wait for Cyra and the others to wake up.” Leesha started to argue, but Lyra hissed, “Someone’s got to be there to tell them what happened if the rest of us don’t make it out! Now, please, Leesh, just do it?’

“Okay,” Leesha sighed. Grabbing the frame of the screen, Lyra managed to pry it loose without making a major racket and set the screen down beside the window. Walking quietly across the room, she got to the top of the stairs and listened for the sounds of the others. Aside from a running conversation between the two girls, there wasn’t a noise coming from the basement. Creeping quietly down the steps, Lyra willed the girls not to see her as she made her way into what could only be described as a prison. Six cells lined the walls, each containing one or two of the men they’d captured that night. The cage closest to her contained Alexander and Louis. Neither of them even looked her way. Victor sat facing the wall in the pen across from them. Next to them was one holding Michael and Steve, whose dull blue eyes looked around the enclosure and traced over Lyra with barely a glance. The final cage she could see clearly held a vampire Lyra didn’t know.

“So, who do we play with first?” the redhead asked with a giggle.

“Mmm, I want this one,” Lynn said with a satisfied smirk, point to a cage Lyra couldn’t see clearly.

“Yeah, well, I’m wanting to get a hold on that one,” the redhead said lustfully, pointing straight at Michael.

“Hmm, should we toss a coin for it?” Lynn asked quietly.

“No fair!” the redhead cried. “You got to do the last one before me!”

“Fine!” Lynn harrumphed. “Just be careful, Ivy, cuz there’s two in that cage.”

“Oh, I will,” Ivy answered triumphantly, crossing to Michael and unlocking the door. “Come to mama, pretty boy.” Michael walked up to her obediently, stopping directly in front of her. For a moment, Lyra thought he looked like he was going to kiss her. Then Michael grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, fangs ready to pierce the skin of her neck. Ivy screamed just a Lynn’s hand shot up. A bolt of blue light flew from her hand, hitting Michael square in the chest and knocking him unconscious against the cage wall.

“So much for him,” Lynn said with a smile as her friend backed out of the cage. “He’ll take a bit more persuasion before we can tame him down.” Ivy started to close the door, but Lynn said, “Check the other first, just to be sure.”

“Bloody hell, Lynn, the last one almost took out my throat before you hit him with that spell!” Ivy yelled.

“Just do it and get it over with,” Lynn sighed. “You know this is part of the job and I’m not gonna let him get you. I just wasn’t expecting him to be THAT aggressive, okay?”

“Fine, but you’d better be ready,” Ivy said hotly as she moved across to Steve. Steve stayed where he was, looking sluggishly around the room. He appeared almost drunk as the girl said, “Get to your feet, blondie.”

Not even acknowledging her existence, Steve continued to look from side to side in the room in an absent manner. Another command to stand up was met with the same lack of response. Ivy sighed. “Well, guess he’s not going be much good, huh? Are you sure they don’t make feeble minded people into vampires?”

The cage door slammed as Lynn said, “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve seen him before, somewhere, so I know he’s right in the head. We’d better keep an eye on him, cuz he might be trying to fight the spell already…”

Lyra didn’t hear anything else as a bolt of lightening seemed to throw her from her feet. Trying to stand up, Lyra found herself facing Marcus and two other men. The two girls spun around and let out a scream as soon as they saw her. A second jolt sent her body slamming into the wall next to Victor’s cage.

“Imbeciles!” Marcus cursed as the man beside him wound another spell around Lyra, holding her in place. “How could you not see her sitting there watching you?”

“WHAT?” Ivy cried as Lynn cowered next to Sav’s cage. Lyra looked up and saw him staring into space, his eyes totally blank. “She was watching us?”

“So, lovely, who brought you here?” said one of the men over Marcus’ shoulder. Lyra’s brain screamed in pain as he probed through her mind, tearing into it to find his answer before she could shut him out. “Ah, so you’ve come for that one, huh?” The man turned and said, “Test the one with the long hair in the corner. No, that one,” he hissed as he pointed at Sav. Lynn walked into Sav’s cage and told him to stand up, which he did quickly and obediently.

“Hey, he might work!” Lynn said gleefully.

“Fine, get him out of the cage and upstairs,” Marcus said quickly. “We’ll have to work the spell elsewhere, though. Our hiding place isn’t so secret anymore, so we’ll have to get out of here.” Turning to the other men, he said, “Chain her up over there.”

Lyra hissed, her fangs at the ready as the men came at her. A second later, she felt a searing pain shoot through her body as one of the men made a quick gesture. Then the world went black and Lyra’s body fell to the floor completely limp.

When she came around, Lyra tried vainly to remember where she was. She couldn’t move her arms without the clanking of heavy metal chains, that much she knew. And her head felt fit to burst. Opening her eyes was an adventure in pain, the room covered in a thick haze she felt she should have recognized. She couldn’t tell just how much time had passed. Then it hit her where she was. Pulling hard against the chains, she looked around and realized just what that haze was. Smoke. In a panic, she thrashed out and tried vainly to pull the chains from the wall.

“SAV!,” she screamed, trying to reach him with her mind and yelling his name into the haze around her. It was no good. Sav was still as gone form his mind as when she’d first arrived.

“Okay, Lyra, think,” she whispered into the darkness. Steve, where was he? Concentrating hard, Lyra could barely feel him in the back of her head. She focused hard, though it was difficult with the pain in her head. A second later, Steve popped clearly into her mind and she heard him scream, “LYRA!”

“STEVE! WE’VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!” she yelled.

“I’m in a fucking cage, Lyra!” Steve shouted back.

“Break the door, luv!” Lyra replied, counting on the fact that the mortals who held them didn’t know how strong Steve really was. She could hear a shuffling noise that was nearly drowned out by the cracks and pops of the fire that must be burning in the upstairs of the house. Then the sound of metal rending covered everything else.

“Fucking thing is pretty strong, Lyra,” Steve called. “But I think it’s gonna give…”

“Keep trying, baby!” Lyra shouted encouragingly. Then she focused on the next person she could think of. Dovic’s mind was cloudy, but there was still a slight trace of a link there. Closing her eyes, Lyra could envision the block as a wall and saw herself pounding against it with all her considerable will. As the barrier began to crumble, she heard Dovic call softly, “MUM?”

“Dov! Snap out of it, sweeting!” Lyra cried. “We’re in danger!”

“MUM!” Dovic shouted. “Where are you?”

“I’m here!” Lyra called back just as the metal Steve was working against let out an enormous groan. As she went to say something more, she choked on a lungful of harsh, black smoke. Her breath was taken away for a moment as she heard metal slamming into hard concrete.

“WHERE ARE YOU, LYRA?” Steve screamed into the darkness, then his breath was lost to the same haze of smoke.

“Get Dovic out!”

“LYRA!” Steve yelled again, trying to find her.

“Dovic and Phil are in the same cage, Steve! Get them out of here!” Without another word, she heard him groan as he started to pull on the frame of another cage. The bars creaked in protest while Lyra tried to find the last of her coven. Michael’s mind was foggy, as though he was wandering without any aim. Then, without warning, the fog was gone and Lyra heard him yelling after her in the gloom.

“MICHAEL! HELP STEVE! GET THE OTHERS OUT OF HERE!” As soon as he realized what was happening, he found Steve in the smoke filled room and started pulling on the bars. The other vampires in the room came out of the spell at the same moment and saw what Steve and Michael were trying to do. Five male vampires threw themselves at the bars almost in unison and the entire front of the set of cages was ripped from its welding. Michael and Steve barely dodged the falling metal, jumping out of the way at the last second. Louis panicked, running for the door almost immediately. The second he threw it open a straight shaft of noontime daylight burst into his corner of the basement. Lyra could only see him vaguely through the haze, but she heard his scream pierce the air and her mind at the same moment. In his blind panic, he’d forgotten the deadly rays of the sun could be waiting for him outside the smoke filled basement. He’d paid for that moment of forgetfulness had cost him his existence as he burst into a fiery ball at the end of the basement.

“SHIT!” Steve cursed, trying to think in the gloom. By now, all the males had been freed from their imprisonment, yet Lyra was still chained in a hidden corner of the basement. Through the yelling of the other vampires, Michael shouted calmly, “Okay, anyone who can’t go out in the daylight needs to grab a blanket. Cover yourselves, then get out of here!”

Phil stood closest to Michael and felt the younger vampire push a covering into his hands. “What about you, mate?”

“I’ll be fine,” Michael said evenly. “Just get yourself out of here now!” He turned in the darkness, hearing Lyra still yelling directions to the others and screamed, “LYRA! WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Don’t worry about me!” Lyra shouted “Get out of here!” At just that moment, the wall above Lyra seemed to explode. In the collapse, one of hers hands was freed. She tugged at the chain, from which a large chunk of brick still hung. A second later, she felt a pair of hands pulling at her and looked up.

“How the hell do you manage to get into this shit?” Cyra asked breathlessly.

“Yeah, I know,” Lyra managed to laugh despite the desperate nature of her situation. Just over Cyra’s shoulder, Steve stumbled to help her. It took one swift jerk to pull the other chain free of the remaining wall.

“Leesha should be getting Phil and the others out of here,” Cyra yelled, pushing Lyra towards the door. But all three of them froze when they heard a high, feminine scream coming from behind the wall.

“Jesus, that’s got to be Lily!” Lyra shouted to Cyra. “The people who had all the men talked about having her here!” Before either Cyra or Lyra could even turn towards the voice, Steve had taken off flying in it’s direction.

“STEVE!” Lyra cried, flying right behind him. “DON’T!” The smoke cleared as she entered the room, allowing her to see the small, dug out room that the wall had hidden. Steve was already pulling at the bars of Lily’s rough hewn cage, trying desperately to free the young girl. Looking into the cage, she could see the young vampire huddled in a corner, cling to a large bundle.

“We’ll get you out!” Cyra called from behind Lyra.

“HURRY!” Lily cried, fear evident in her voice. There was a loud groan, echoed a second later by a shower of falling dirt. Steve didn’t even notice it as he continued to pull on the bars with all his considerable strength. Chunks of sod, displaced by his work, fell all around the three vampires on the outside of the cage. Giving one last, furious tug, Steve fell backwards as the bar gave way. Cyra jumped clear, pulling Lyra away as the roof over their heads collapsed down onto Steve. A shaft of daylight overhead shone through the smoke and dirt like a beam from heaven, brightly illuminating a pile of dirt and debris that nearly covered Steve’s form. Only one arm lay exposed to the sunlight; the rest was covered in a heavy layer of dirt and muck.

“STEVE!” Lyra cried, rushing to his side as Cyra bundled Lily up in a heavy blanket and asked quietly, “Where’s the baby, luv?”

“Here,” Lily answered softly once she’d realized the fire actually wasn’t posing a threat to them immediately. She pulled back the blanket to reveal a child that looked to be closer to six months old that five days. “She’s grown so fast, Cyra…”

“Don’t worry, Lily,” Cyra whispered, recovering the child and wrapping the blanket around Lily. “I’ll explain later.”

At just that moment, Michael popped his head down into the hole over their heads, shouting, “Everyone okay?”

“We’ve got Lily!” Cyra yelled as Lyra screamed, “Steve’s buried, Michael! Come help me!”

“He’s safe form the fire, Lyra,” Cyra said calmly. To Michael, she answered, “Take the baby while I get Lily out of here.” She handed the child up to Michael, who disappeared quickly from view.

“What about Steve?” Lyra cried.

“Bury his arm, try to tell him to stay still,” Cyra replied as she picked up Lily. “As long as the flames don’t touch him, he’ll be fine. A bit uncomfortable, true, but safe.”

“I can’t leave him!” Lyra answered, refusing to move as Cyra motioned her up into the daylight.

“Patience!” Cyra cautioned as she took to the sky carrying the younger vampire. In the distance, Lyra could hear the faint wail of a fire engine, a sure sign of trouble for her kind in this situation.

Fighting panic and feeling an agonizing pain coming from Steve‘s mid-section, she looked around and whispered frantically to Steve, “Stay put, baby. We’ll get you out of here.”

Michael jumped back down into the hole and ran to Lyra’s side, saying quickly, “Okay, here’s the situation, Lyra. They must have dug this hole out of the ground beside the house. There’s nothing but grass over our heads right now. As long as the firemen don’t try coming in here, Steve should be fine til the fire’s out. We can just block up the hole in the wall over there, then they’ll have no reason to come looking in here, okay?”

Pain filled Lyra’s mind, a pain not her own, but Steve’s. Fighting just to think, she watched as Michael went to the opening and began piling dirt in front of it as quickly as he could. He glanced at Lyra, sure he was feeling some kind of distress from her, but uncertain as to the cause. Dragging herself to his side, Lyra helped him finish closing it up before sitting against the wall and shaking her head.

“Come on, honey,” Michael said softly as the roar of the fire trucks got louder. Apparently, the first truck had reached the edge of the yard.

“If it’s safe for him, it will be safe for me, too,” Lyra whispered so softly that Michael barely heard her.

“Christ, Lyra, why are you being so stubborn?” Michael hissed, grabbing her to pull her out of the small room. He wasn’t counting on her resisting, much less throwing him across the enclosure.

“I AM NOT LEAVING,” she said angrily.

“Fuck, guess I’ll stay with you then,” Michael sighed as he got to his feet and walked back to her side. Tugging on her arm, he said, “Come on, let’s get in this corner behind him. Lyra?” The last was said as Lyra nearly collapsed down to her knees. “Damn, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m not,” she said between pained breaths. “He is!”

“Fucking A, man, it must be serious if you’re feeling it this strongly,” Michael replied, bending down and picking her up gently. “Come on, maybe he’ll heal some while we wait for them to get this fire out.” With that, he settled her into his lap as he sat down against the wall.

“Where the hell are they?” Cyra cursed, surveying the scene of firemen rushing into the house. “Michael should have gotten her out of there by now!”

“If I know my Mum, she refused to leave him in there,” Dovic sighed with a smile. “I can say this much, she’s alive. But somewhat is definitely wrong with her or one of the others. It’s like, um, a shadow of pain I’m getting from her.”

“Bloody hell, I wish Phil was awake,” Cyra said angrily. She turned to where the others were hiding from the daylight in the abandoned house they’d found next door. Alexander was just coming up from the basement as she said, “At least then we’d know what was going on with Steve a little better…”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Dovic sighed as they settled down to watch the fire fighters do their work.