We discovered that Belinda was missing about five minutes before Saer and his army of Nazis descended upon Christian's house.
"What do you mean, she's gone?" I asked Allie as she hurried past me on the way to the basement. "Gone where?"
"Christian didn't say. Antonio checked the house - he says Belinda is nowhere to be found."
"Oh, great," I moaned, pausing in the middle of drawing a complicated strengthening ward on a window. "Where's Adrian?"
"On the roof with Christian setting traps. I want to ward the basement windows again, just to be sure." The words trailed behind her as she trotted down a flight of stairs to the basement, the dark-eyed ghost I had met in Christian's castle following on her heels. He paused to waggle his eyebrows suggestively at me.
"I'm sorry" I said, waving a hand at the flock that stood hopefully behind me. "I already have mummies."
"Eh," he said with a dismissive shrug, then floated down the stairs after Allie.
I finished the ward on the window, mentally dividing my brain power between it, a review of my checklist of tasks to be accomplished before Hurricane Saer hit us, and trying to think where Belinda might have gone. Surely she knew that Saer was a danger to her? Surely she must know he was going to try to use her? She had to know that the only way both she and Damian would be safe would be to keep as far away from Saer as possible...
"Hell!" I spun around, suddenly sure of where she had gone, and why. I ran straight into the mummies, scattering their emaciated forms throughout the hall. "Sorry! Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."
I raced up the stairs as fast as my weak leg would allow me, sprinting down the hall that ran the length of the house until I reached the end, yelling, "Belinda's missing! I think she went out to try to stop Saer by destroying herself. We have to get to her before she does anything stupid!"
Melissande was on the second floor, carefully scattering bits of broken glass before the windows. There wasn't enough time to ward all the windows in Christian's eleven-bedroom mansion, so Allie and I had concentrated on protecting all the doors and windows on the ground floor and basement, while Melissande was in charge of prohibitive measures for the second floor. She sprinkled broken glass on the floor before the window, pausing to frown over her shoulder at me as she straightened up, absently dusting her glass-encrusted leather gloves together. "What did you say about Belinda? What's the matter with her?"
I skidded to a stop, avoiding the glass scattered in front of a nearby window. "She's gone. She's being all noble and self-sacrificing and martyring herself to bring down Saer. Dammit, I knew something was wrong when she hugged me before she went to check on Damian. No one hugs like that when all they're going to do is check on a child!"
"Belinda wishes to destroy Saer?" Melissande gasped, throwing down the metal can that held the shards of broken glass. I spun around and headed back down the hall, Melissande on my heels.
We ran down the stairs, coming to an abrupt stop at the front door. "Can you open it?" she asked.
"Sure. It's warded to keep things from coming in, not from letting us out." I opened the door a crack, peering outside to make sure no army of white supremacists stood outside. The street was empty and quiet, a few forlorn brown leaves scuttling quietly down the gutters in the predawn breeze. "All clear."
We slipped out the door, shivering as we looked around. Christian's house was detached, a red-brick former ambassador's residence set back slightly from the rest of the residences, with a minuscule garden to the side, garage to the rear, and wrought-iron-fenced area to the front. The traffic in this part of London was at a minimum at four in the morning, so we had the street to ourselves as we trotted down the empty sidewalk.
"Where are we going?" Melissande asked, her voice hushed as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Are you sure that Belinda has gone to destroy herself? She is Saer's Beloved - she knows that to destroy herself would mean his end as well."
"Oh, she knows what she's doing. Or she thinks she does." I stopped in the middle of the street to look back at Christian's house. Silhouetted against the black sky, blacker figures moved around on the roof, setting up quickly rigged sensors that would alert us to anyone who tried to get in via the top floor. "First Adrian, now Belinda... I don't know why everyone thinks the only solution to the problem of your brother is to martyr themselves. Why don't we split up? You go down that way to the intersection. I'll go this way."
"But she's had at least ten minutes! We'll never catch up to her - "
"She doesn't have a car, there are no buses or trains running at this hour, and heaven knows there are never any taxis when you need them, so she must be going to Saer on foot. I'm assuming that he is fairly close, as she probably knows. I know when Adrian is around."
Melissande stilled, closing her eyes as she held her breath for a few heartbeats. "He is near. Very near." Her eyes opened again, and even in the dim light from the streetlamp I could see her fear. "Oh, Nell, what are we going to do? If Saer knows that Belinda intends on stopping him" - she choked for a moment - "I have been so stupid, so blind, but I see it all now. Forgive me, Nell - "
We didn't have time for her to unburden herself about either her treatment of Adrian or her unquestioning acceptance of whatever Saer told her. I gave her arm a squeeze before gently shoving her in the direction of the intersection. "You can don your hair shirt later, after we find Belinda and stop her."
She didn't say anything, and I didn't stay around to give her another chance to vent. I jogged down the road, trying to open myself to possible movement ahead, but the only thing I sensed was a sudden rush of anger that washed over me at the same time a voice barked in my head.
Hasi! By Christ's bones, what are you doing, woman? Are you out of your senses?
I turned in mid-jog and waved at the dark figure that blended into a gable on the roof of Christian's house. Not quite, although I'm seriously starting to wonder if I wouldn't prefer life as a boring old history professor rather than a dashing, adventuresome Beloved to a nummy blue-eyed vampire. Belinda's gone. I think she's planning to kill herself in front of Saer in an attempt to destroy him, too. Melissande and I are trying to find her, scouting around the neighborhood for signs of either of them.
Swearing of the most profound sort filled my mind, quickly replaced with a familiar arrogant voice. You will do nothing of the kind! It is dangerous to be outside the safety of the house! Not even for Belinda will I have you risking yourself. You must return immediately. I will find her.
Don't worry, we know how to protect ourselves, I told him with a whole lot more confidence than I was feeling.
Hasi, I insist that you return at once! You do not know the danger you are in!
Sorry, I must be going out of range of my receiver. You're breaking up. All I can hear is static.
You can hear me with perfect clarity, Nell. Distance is no barrier to us. Do not move one more step! I am coming down.
You can't. You have to stay there. You're the one with the ring. If you go, Damian will be unprotected.
More swearing echoed in my head. I will give it to Christian. Do not move.
I stopped at the end of the street. Although I was too far away to see anything, I knew Adrian was making his way through the house. It was imperative that he stay there to protect Damian. If Saer got his hands on the boy... just the thought of it made my stomach roil. Adrian, my love, I know you want to protect me. I know you want to save Belinda, too. But you must stay there and keep Damian safe. Saer will use him to bring us all to our knees if he is left unprotected.
Hasi -
I think I see something. It looks like a woman running down the middle of the street. I'll let you know if it's Belinda.
Nell, I command you -
Roger wilco, over and out!
I closed my mind to Adrian's increasingly incensed orders, focusing my energy on making my weak leg carry me down the road without collapsing. "Immortal my ass. What I'd give for a good bionic leg," I grumbled as I ordered my body to put on a bit of speed. "I just hope being immortal means you can't die of a heart attack... Belinda! Hey, Belinda! Stop! It's me, Nell!"
Needless to say, it was Belinda who was pelting down the street. She disappeared down one side street, only to return and cross the road to another street. Obviously, she too had been searching the neighborhood for Saer, but surprisingly, she hadn't found him. He must not have been as near as Melissande thought. "Belinda!"
She stopped as my bellow echoed down a row of semi-detached houses, turning to face me as I huffed and puffed my way up to her. "Thank... God... I... found... you before... too... late... man, I'm... out... of... shape."
"Nell," she said, clasping her hands together and looking just like you'd expect someone to look when martyring themselves for a deranged power-crazy vampire. "Don't try to talk me out of this. It's the only way to stop him. I'm his Beloved - I'm the only one who can do this."
I doubled over, clutching my knees to keep from keeling over. "What is it with you people? It's all or nothing, do or die to you guys. Well, that's not the American way, dammit, and I'm not going to stand by while you commit suicide in the name of honor and all that other crap. Damian needs you. I need you. I assume you've got some sort of time-share arrangement, or whatever you call it, worked out with Adrian, and that means I'm going to have to be a stepmom to that monster, and I'll be damned if I'll do it without you helping me!"
She looked indignant for a moment over my reference to Damian as a "monster" then her eyes puddled and she threw herself on me, engulfing me in a hug. "Oh, Nell, you're the sweetest person! I'm so glad Adrian has you. He's needed someone for so long. I knew that when we were together. After we'd have sex, he'd have the most heart-wrenching, lost look in his eyes." I pulled myself free, holding up a hand. She stopped, hiccupping twice. "Too much sharing?"
"Way too much. I would greatly appreciate it if you could expunge from your mental filing cabinet any and all intimate memories of Adrian. I can cope with you and him having a child together, but I'd really rather ignore what went into making that child."
She gave an odd little laugh, brushing away the tears that had rolled down her cheeks. "I will expunge."
"Thanks mucho. Now, if you're done with the Saint Belinda routine, can we get back to the house? Adrian's probably having a hissy fit to end all hissy fits, and he really is a lot easier to deal with when he's allowed to have his own way."
"But Saer - "
"We'll deal. Remember, we have the ring, and all he has are a bunch of hatemongers."
"Yes, but - "
"No buts. Come on, we're short of time." I tugged her the way I'd just come. She resisted for a moment, then gave in and trotted next to me.
"You do not know how angry Saer will be to find that you and Adrian have joined forces with Christian. He was counting on Christian's assistance to destroy Adrian."
"Tough noogies. Christian's on Team Nell now." I slid her a glance. Her lips twitched. "I mean Team Adrian. So Saer can just suck on that fact."
She laughed as we picked up the pace. The back of my neck was beginning to tingle, as if there were a lot of static electricity in the air. "You've learned quickly about Dark Ones and their need to always be dominant."
"I had a crash course in it from a master in the art. Hey, do you feel something - "
The words died on my lips as Adrian merged himself with me, not just his mind, but his whole being, his frustration and white-hot fury boiling into me until it obliterated everything I was. Hear me, Beloved. Do not return to the house! Belinda has betrayed us. Saer is here in the house, allowed in by her treachery. Christian has smuggled out Damian and will guard him with his life. I will use the ring against Saer, but, Hasi, I must know that you are safe before I do so. And whatever you do, do not attempt to find Belinda! She will lead you directly to Saer.
I stumbled so hard that I went down on my knees, sick with the dread that had leeched into my mind from Adrian's. Belinda had betrayed us? Her niceness and concern and willingness to help us were all a trick? She had sided herself with Saer against us? She was his Beloved, yes, but did that mean she could turn on us? "Nell? Are you all right? Let me help you up." I looked at the hand held in front of me, aware but strangely uncaring that I was on my knees in the middle of a damp street, and the woman who threatened the love of my life was offering her hand to me. For one wild moment I saw red, my hands itching to draw something - ward or curse, I didn't know - my brain picking through the memorized charms from the book Gigli had given me to find something to destroy Belinda. All my rage and anger and fury that she would threaten the man I loved were channeled into one brilliant focus, and for a moment power was mine, filling me, snapping like stray bits of current from my fingertips as I looked up at her, the words of a destructive curse on my lips. Belinda's eyes widened as she stepped backward. I pulled on Adrian's darkness, the connection to a demon lord that I needed in order to draw a curse, sucking power out of the very surroundings until the streetlamp nearest us flickered and started to fade. The power within me took shape as I started to direct it at her, but at that moment pain blasted into my head, cutting through bone and tissue with ease, piercing every atom with the familiar white agony, a warning that I was about to seriously overload my brain.
Both the power and pain faded as I fell forward onto the street, sobbing with frustration and anger. Without the ring to guard my brain, I could wield no powers. I was helpless, useless to Adrian, just one more responsibility for him, one more reason for him to sacrifice himself.
And I had been about to destroy someone I had thought was my friend.
"Nell, what's wrong? Are you all right? You seemed to have some sort of fit. Are you epileptic? Should I get a doctor?" I sensed her hovering near me, but I couldn't bring myself to face her. I was shaken by the extent of my reaction to Adrian's fury. It was as if it had possessed me, consumed me. I lay on the street and thanked God that my brain had stopped me from killing a second time. "I'll get Adrian," Belinda said.
"No!" I yelled, prying myself off the wet street. She was there immediately, helping me up with solicitation and concern. The remnants of Adrian's anger fought with my own disbelief that she would turn on us. I struggled with the conflicting desires, but his emotions were still pouring into me. The anger won.
"Nell - "
I grabbed her arms, shaking her a little as I fought to regain control over myself. "Did you betray us?"
"What?" We stood in the blue-white pool of light from the now steady streetlight. The light washed all the color out of the surroundings, leaving Belinda's gray eyes black, her skin a deathless white. "Did I what?"
"Betray us? Did you lure me away from the house, separating me from Adrian so he'd be weaker? Did you do that? Did you betray us to your Dark One?"
"No!" she gasped, her teeth chattering in response to the shaking. "I swear to you, I haven't done anything like that! I would never endanger Damian that way!"
I dropped my hands, the exhaustion that always followed one of my brain fits crashing over me like a fifty-ton weight, mingling with my regret that I had put Adrian's anger into words against Belinda. Sanity prevailed once again, and I believed her. Everything about her, everything in her eyes and voice, protested her innocence. She loved Damian - I knew that without a doubt, just as I knew she realized that to Saer, the boy was nothing more than a prize to be offered to any demon lord who would favor him. As much as it tore her up to leave Saer, she would not risk Damian's life by rejoining Saer.
"Come on," I said, turning wearily and starting toward the street where Christian's house was. "Saer managed to find a way into the house through our defenses. Christian has taken Damian off somewhere safe, but we have to help Adrian. I have a feeling that even with the ring, he's going to need us. I don't trust Saer any further than I can long jump, and if Sebastian is helping him, that makes it two against one."
"More, with the Aryans."
We ran around the corner to Christian's street, and stopped, shocked for a moment by what we saw. The house was crawling with Nazis, at least twenty cars parked haphazardly up and down the street, acting as barricades to keep anyone from traversing the street. Every car bore red banners with the white and black Wolfsangel symbol the white supremacists favored. On the car nearest us, a hand-painted sign hung in the back, declaring "WAR - WHITE ARMY REVOLUTION - HAS BEEN DECLARED!" Beyond the cars, a handful of guys wandered around in front of the house, some holding baseball bats and other large, hard objects. Lights blazed from the house, and in the gap in one of the ground-floor curtains, I could see figures moving around inside.
From a distance, the wail of a police siren cut through the night; apparently, someone in the neighborhood had seen Saer's army descend upon Christian's house.
"Aren't they a happy little army?" I asked under my breath as we started toward them, my fingers itching to draw all sorts of horrible things upon them.
"Nell, wait!" Belinda cried, grabbing my arm and stopping me before I made it more than a few steps toward the Nazis.
I shook off her hand. "Wait? I don't think so. That's my vamp in there going up against those guys all by his onesie. He needs me. I'm going."
She grabbed my arm again, this time shoving me into the darkened doorway of a nearby house. The Nazis hadn't seen us, but I didn't really mind if they were alerted to our presence. They were road hash as far as I cared. "We can't just walk up to the house!" Belinda said. "We have to have a plan. We have to figure out some way to distract those men so we can sneak inside and do what we can to defeat Saer and Sebastian."
"Plan schman," I sneered, my lip curling with scorn as I pulled away from her and started toward Christian's house. "We're immortal now, remember? They can't kill us. You can stay here if you want, but I'm going in to kick some serious Nazi butt. And then it's Saer's turn."
"Nell - "
The distress in her voice was evident, but I didn't have time to reassure her. I charged forward, my hands fisted as I tried to decide which of the two curses mentioned in the charm book would be the worst - turning the Nazis into voles, or impotent. I decided that while the latter might keep them from breeding, the former was the way to go.
"We can be killed, you know," Belinda said, deathly white with fear. "If our heads are cut off, that's it."
"Piece of cake. Voles aren't known for their tendencies to gnaw off human heads."
"Voles?" Belinda asked, jogging to keep up with me. One of the Nazis, evidently on patrol around the perimeter of the grounds, spotted us and yelled to his buddies.
I waved at them as they took up protective stances.
"Water voles, to be exact. That's the only curse I can think of that won't actually kill them." I slowed my trot to a walk, slapping a confident look on my face.
"You can't turn those men into water voles," Belinda said, clearly shocked by my intention.
I stopped for a moment and gave her a long look. "If I do not change them into water voles, it will take us much longer to get inside the house, and while I'm willing to bet that we won't actually be killed if they beat us up, it will probably hurt. A lot. Not to mention delaying us helping Adrian. Besides, there's something much worse for you to consider than watching me turn a few lowlifes into voles."
"There is?" she asked, blinking a couple of times.
"Yeah. If they win, you'll be Beloved to the head Nazi."
She grimaced. "It's not that I don't want to help, but... they have terribly large sticks."
I paused, watching men bolt out of the house in response to a warning call. The Aryans stood in a line, each armed with some form of weapon - several baseball bats, one cricket bat, and a couple of tire irons with spikes welded to the end to form a mace - all of them hurling taunts at us. Belinda had a point. I like to think I'm not a coward, but there was no sense in getting smacked around before I could turn them into voles.
"Turn around," I ordered her, raising my hand to draw a ward. I kept her turning until I had drawn protective wards all around her, repeating the action on myself.
"Will this work?" she asked in a nervous whisper as we marched toward the line of Nazis that filled Christian's driveway.
"Of course it will. I'm a ward drawer from way back," I lied, praying the wards might actually hold out if she believed in them.
"What do you two think you're doing?" one of the Nazis stepped forward to ask with a sneer. He slapped his bat against his gloved hand and raked us both with a look so foul it left me craving a bath to wash off the residue.
I stopped and smiled, Belinda bravely beside me. The words of the curse were on my tongue as I took a deep breath, then tapped into the darkness that Adrian carried within him, the darkness that bound him to Asmodeus. I pointed my finger at the lead Nazi, saying in my best Gothic voice of doom," 'The guardians of the four quarters lay open their minds, filled they are with blood, guilt, and fear. Within you, loathsome beast most blind, thy tongue shall taste of... er... shall taste of...'" Crap! I'd forgotten the words of the curse. Desperately I tried to visualize the charm book, now sitting on a shelf in Christian's library.
"What's the matter? Why have you stopped?" Belinda asked me in a worried whisper, one eye on the Nazis as they moved restlessly.
"We have us a witch, lads," the head Nazi snarled, brandishing his bat. "And what do we do to these filthy women?"
"Kill them!" the gang yelled, raising their weapons to pump them in the air.
"I can't remember the rest of the curse," I mumbled to Belinda, running back over the curse in my mind." 'Within you, loathsome beast most blind, thy tongue shall taste'... hell! It's gone! I just can't remember what comes after that."
"Beer?" Belinda suggested, stumbling backward as the men started toward us.
I shrugged. "Works for me. I'll just wing the rest. Halt!" I held up my hand and gestured dramatically. The men ignored me, moving faster now that they smelled fear. I spoke quickly, drawing once again on Adrian's darkness, sketching the symbols of the curse that bound the words to the victims." 'The guardians of the four quarters lay open their minds, filled they are with blood, guilt, and fear. Within you, loathsome beast most blind, thy tongue shall taste of stale beer!'"
The men stopped, looking puzzled. I held my breath, waiting for them to turn into small, furry brown ratlike creatures. Although a couple of them twitched, and one started batting at his ears, they were all still human.
Well, as human as neo-Nazis could be.
"Is that it?" Belinda asked, peering around me at the men. "Is there supposed to be more to the curse? Aren't they supposed to change, or are they more mental voles than actual voles?"
"I think there's more, but I can't remember it. Um. OK, how about this. 'Nazi, Nazi, go away. Become a vole today, I say!'"
Thunder rumbled overhead, a cold breeze whipping around us. Long-dead leaves were caught up in a maelstrom, a veritable tornado of spinning fury. Belinda cried out as she ducked behind me. I covered my face to keep from being struck by the wild leaves. In the center of the windstorm, the Nazis all fell to the ground, covering their heads.
The leaves were so thick, and the wind and cold so intense, that I turned away for a moment. When I turned back, the sudden wind had died. Leaves drifted slowly to the ground in a spiral pattern on the flagstones of the courtyard. Collected in the middle of them was a group of small, squishy brown things.
"Did it work?" Belinda asked, spreading her fingers to peek through them.
"Kind of," I said, prodding one of the small objects with the toe of my boot.
"Those aren't voles," she commented helpfully.
"No, they're not." I sighed, stepping around the slimy mass. "I'm two for two on curses. I guess that's a sign I should give them up, although I think there's a certain amount of poetic justice in this."
"Really? You think so?" she asked, confused as she followed me up the front steps.
I smiled. "Who better to be a slug than a Nazi?"
