Karen Chance - Claimed by Shadow

I clambered to my feet. "When have you ever believed in a level playing field?”

She grinned. "Good point." Then her face changed as she got a good look at me. "So, you managed to complete the ritual. Congratulations. Unfortunately, your reign is destined to be the shortest in history.”

I got a good look at her, too. For the first time, she was solid. It made sense, considering that she'd been attacked last time in spirit form. It didn't make her eyes look any less creepy, I decided.

"Answer me one thing," I said wearily. "Why always London? Why 1889? It's starting to get tedious.”

"Convocation is being held in London this year," Myra answered, sweetly obliging. "That's the biannual meeting of the European Senate.”

"I know that!”

"Oh, of course. I keep forgetting, you grew up at a vampire's court, didn't you? Well, then, maybe you already know this, too. The Senate usually meets in Paris, but they've traveled to London this year to settle an old score. They got the idea that the crimes being reported in the newspapers as the work of Jack the Ripper were really being done by Dracula. He escaped their version of an asylum shortly before they began, so it seemed reasonable.”

"What does that have to do with me, or Mircea?”

Myra looked entirely too pleased with herself. "Everything. Mircea and that vampire the North American Senate sent to help him-”

" Augusta.”

"Yes. They proved that the crimes were the work of a human by capturing the man calling himself Jack.”

"And Jack was punished." I'd seen part of that myself, firsthand.

"Yes, but it seems that Jack went on his killing spree in an effort to impress Dracula, hoping to win a spot in his new stable. So the Senate blames Dracula for what happened.”

"And they want him dead.”

"Finally, you're starting to get it!" Myra clapped her hands approvingly. "Mircea managed to convince the European Consul to grant him a' few days to find and trap his brother before drastic measures were taken, but not everyone agreed with that decision. It seems Dracula made a few enemies through the years.”

I had a very bad feeling that I'd heard this story before. And it didn't end well for Dracula. Some senators with long memories had lynched him one foggy night in London. This night.

“They plan to kill him.”

Myra laughed. "They do kill him-it's part of that timeline you're so concerned with protecting, Cassie. Only this time, with a little help from me, Mircea found him before they did. And something tells me they aren't going to hesitate to take your vampire out as well, if he gets between them and their revenge.”

And he would. Mircea had spent years arranging for me to become Pythia in order to save one brother. I couldn't see him standing aside while another was murdered.

"It's simple enough, Cassie," Myra said brightly. "You want the position? Not a problem. Just be better than me.”

She flashed out, and at the same moment, I was tackled from behind. I hit the road again, this time face-first. That wasn't the reason I yelled, though. The geis was definitely still there, and it hadn't changed its mind about John Pritkin. Based on the spike of pain that jumped from my body to his, I was betting the geis had confused anger for passion. The mage was too macho to scream like a little girl, but he let me go fast enough.

I turned to find him lying on the sidewalk, looking dazed. He made no attempt to immediately come after me, but I didn't take much heart from the fact. He was probably just waiting to recover. He must have been near enough when I shifted to piggyback along for the ride. Great.

"I won't let you do it," he gasped. "No matter what the price!”

I was suddenly grateful for the geis, because he looked truly homicidal. But just because he couldn't touch me, didn't mean I was safe. He could still shoot me and not feel a thing. I decided to get out of there before that occurred to him, too.

I smashed one of the theatre's windows and wiggled inside, gaining a new respect for burglars on the way. I cut my hand, tore my dress and almost threw my shoulder out of joint, but I managed it before Pritkin could come after me. Unfortunately, I didn't manage it quietly.

"What do we have here?" Augusta 's voice sounded in my ear a second before I was jerked off my feet and slammed against the wall. A tiny, blue-veined hand held me there effortlessly. She settled her blue woolen skirts into perfect folds with a few flicks of her wrist. They had an elaborate design in black braid around the bottom, which matched the frog closures and jet brooch on the front of the gown.

"Nice dress," I croaked.

"Thanks. Yours, too." She looked me over. "It is Fey, but you"-she squeezed a little and my vision started to darken-"you are not.”

I didn't spend a lot of time debating options. Augusta could snap my neck with less effort than I would use to break a twig. I couldn't fight her, but I could use her. Pritkin would be far less of a problem with Augusta 's strength on my side.

I didn't like possessions; they weirded me out and left me feeling faintly dirty. That wasn't surprising since they were, no matter how I might justify them, a violation. I had planned to avoid them in the future if at all possible, but not at the cost of my life. The only question was, could I do it?

I'd possessed a dark mage once, although I'd been shoved out of his body within a couple of minutes. And that was with Billy Joe to help me. I'd never brought Billy along on a shift before, but had foolishly hoped he might be a useful ally. He wasn't sounding real useful at the moment, however. He was still a gibbering wreck, and I couldn't even get his attention, much less ask for help.

But if Myra could do it, damn it, so could I.

Luckily, Augusta 's knowledge of warding was amateurish: if she could ward with more than one element, I never saw any sign of it. Her shields looked impressive-towering slabs of steel riveted together like the side of a battleship- but a closer examination showed spots so weak with rust that they were almost transparent. That's what you get for not maintaining your shields with a little daily meditation. If Augusta 's protection had been as strong as it looked, she might have been able to expel me before I could take over. As it was, my fire burned a hole through her metal with surprising ease.

Everything was suddenly brighter, sharper, and closer than before, and I found myself staring into my own frightened eyes. I put a hand over my mouth before Billy Joe could make a racket, but that seemed the wrong thing to do because he went berserk. I finally bit the bullet and slapped myself across the face. I tried to do it gently, but I think I miscalculated because Billy's eyes rolled up and for a second I thought he was going to pass out. "It's me," I hissed.

He slowly nodded. After a moment, he got his borrowed lips to work. "I need a drink," he told me in a shaky undertone. "I need a whole freaking brewery.”

"Are you okay?" He didn't look it. My face was pasty white and my mouth was trembling. "If you're going to be sick, tell me now.”

Billy laughed, and there was a disturbing hysterical note in it. "Sick? Yeah, I guess you could say I was sick. Ghost, human, ghost, human; hey, it's all good.”

I stared at him in concern. "I don't understand-”

"What's there to understand? I just died, that's all!”

"Billy," I said slowly, "you died a long time ago.”

"I died a long time ago," Billy repeated, mockingly. "I died today, Cass, in case you missed it! An encore performance, courtesy of Faerie! Oh, God.”

His face crumpled and he sank to the floor, shaking. I hugged him, finally realizing why Billy was freaking out. When he went through the portal, his new body had been ripped away. I'd known that would probably happen but hadn't thought about the ramifications. He possessed people all the time, including me, and it had never seemed to bother him when he had to leave. But I guess it was different with his own body. He hadn't been possessed; he'd been alive. And when he went through the portal, he had, in fact, died all over again. I hugged him harder, forgetting whose strength I had now, but let go when he gave a bleat of protest.