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with you if I die, will she?
His eyes narrowed and something like fear flickered behind them.
Let her go and I ll come with you willingly.
No, Dulcie! Don t! Fiona cried, tears streaming down her face.
Sebastian regarded me for a heartbeat and said, Walk halfway to me and I ll
release the girl.
I did as he asked and to my surprise he let Fiona go, shoving her toward me.
She ran to my arms and clung to me.
Now, Sebastian said, the pistol pointed at Fiona and me, she goes inside
and you come to me. A bargain is a bargain. And Dulcinea, if you make a move
toward that door I ll shoot her in the head.
Go inside, I told Fiona.
She shook her head, tears streaking her pretty face. Dulcie, she whispered.
I didn t mean it. It s all my fault. I m so sorry.
It s not your fault. It would have happened sooner or later, you know that,
I said. Go inside and bar the door, Fi, and stay away from the windows. Live
to see another dawn. For me.
She looked at me as if she were memorizing my face. I love you, she said.
I love you too. And tell the others& I couldn t finish, couldn t say it.
She nodded and ran to the house. As she closed the door, a movement behind
her caught my eye. That wee fiend of a kitten was on the kitchen counter, a
panicked look on her face and a stolen pork chop clamped tightly in her mouth.
I couldn t help it, I laughed.
I wouldn t be so quick to laugh if I were you, young lady, Sebastian said
from behind me. Your magic won t save you tonight and your protectors have
all gone hunting and left you all alone.
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There was no sense in trying to explain a kitten to Sebastian, so I let it
go. What do you mean about my magic? I asked.
Put down the knife and I ll tell you, he said, an unsettling look of
triumph on his face.
I threw the knife at his feet. Its blade sunk deep in the earth with a
satisfying thud. We both started at it. Sebastian s eyes were a little wide
when they met mine. It was dumb luck; I couldn t have duplicated that throw if
I d done it a hundred more times. But he didn t need to know that.
Sebastian seemed to collect himself. He tucked the pistol in the waistband of
his pants. For the first time I noticed that he was not dressed in his usual
impeccable style. His boots were unpolished, his jacket unbuttoned. He wore no
vest or cravat and his shirt lay open at the neck. I looked him up and down in
my best condescending manner.
Rough day, Sebastian?
I ate my valet, he said with a shrug, and it s so hard to find good help
these days.
He watched me as if waiting for my reaction. He wanted to shock and horrify
me. I pushed down my revulsion and gave him a bland stare. You said something
about my magic?
He opened his shirt at the throat. Around his neck hung a gold chain and
suspended from it was an intricately wrought gold disc. The designs around the
disc looked to be runes of some sort but I was too far away to tell. In the
center was a large ruby. For all its size it seemed to be a feminine piece. It
also reeked of magic.
My mistress has given me her talisman. Your magic cannot harm me, he said
with triumph in his voice.
Damn. He could be lying but I doubted it. I could feel the magic in the
thing. Would it harm me if I tried to use magic against him or would my magic
simply not work? I thought it best not to find out at this juncture. If
Sebastian had the talisman, that meant that Kali didn t. Perhaps I could use
that to my advantage. I tried to look bored
and shrugged.
I want this over with, Sebastian, one way or another.
Happy to oblige you at last, my dear, he said and took the pistol from his
waistband again. Motioning toward the home wood with a flick of his wrist he
said harshly, Now, move.
Chapter Twenty
Sebastian followed me through the woods, giving directions here and there but
resisting my attempts to draw him into any kind of conversation. All he would
tell me was that his mistress would reveal everything in time. After about
twenty minutes the white muslin dress with the lavender trim was soaked with
dew, clinging to my legs in what I was sure must be an obscene manner. My wet
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