Mary-Lynnette's hearing had gone funny. Sheheard Kestrel's words like a character remembering a
phrase In a bad movie. Kill them, kill them, kill them.
Mark laughed In a very strange way.
This is going to be really rotten for him, MaryLynnette thought, curiously dispassionate. I mean, if we
were going tolive through this, which we're not, it would be really rotten for him. He was already afraidof
girls, and sort of pessimistic about life in general
"Why don't we all sit down?" Rowan said with astifled sigh. "We've got to figure this out."
Mark threw back his head and gave another shortbark of a laugh.
"Why not?" he said. "Let's all sit down, why not?"
They're fast as whippets, Mary-Lynnette thought.If we run now, they'll catch us. But If we sit, and they
get comfortable, and I distract them-or hitthem with something...
"Sitl" she ordered Mark briskly. Rowan and Kestrel moved away from the deer and sat. Jade
stood with her hands on her hips for a moment, then sat,too.
Sitting, Mark was still acting punch-drunk. Hewaved the flashlight around. "You girls aresomethingelse.
You girls are really-"
"We're vampires," Jade said sharply.
"Yeah." Mark laughed quietly to himself. "Yeah," he said again.
Mary-Lynnette took the flashlight away from him. She wanted control of it. And it was heavy plastic and
metal. It was a weapon.
And while one layer of her mind was thinking:Shine the light in their eyesat just the rightmoment andthen
hit oneof them; another part was thinking:Shemeans they'repeoplewhothinkthey're vampires;peoplewith
that weird disease that makes them anemic; and one final part was saying:Youmight as well faceit;they're
real.
Mary-Lynnette's world view had been knocked rightout of the ballpark.
"Don't you justhate that," Mark was saying. "You meet a girl and she seems pretty nice and you
tell all your friends and then before you know it she turnsout to be avampire.Don't you just hate it when
that happens?"
Oh. God, he's hysterical, Mary-Lynnette realized. She grabbed his shoulder and hissed in his ear, "Get a
grip, now.",
"I don't see what the point is in talking to them,Rowan," Kestrel was saying. "You know what wehave to
do."
And Rowan was rubbing her forehead. "I was thinkingwe might influence them," she said in an
undertone.
"You know why that won't work." Kestrel's voice was soft and flat.
"Why?" Jade said sharply.
"They followed us for a reason," Rowan saidtiredly. She nodded toward the hole. "So they've
been suspicious for a while-for how long?" She looked at Mary-Lynnette.
"I saw you dig the hole Tuesday night," MaryLynnette said. She nodded toward the hole. "Is that
your aunt in there?"
There was a brief silence and Rowan looked selfconscious. Then she inclined her head slightly.
Gracefully.
"Oh, hell," Mark said. His eyes were shut and his head was rolling on his neck. "Oh,hell. They've
got Mrs. B. in a bag."
"Two days," Rowan said to Jade. "They've suspected for two whole days. And we can't remove
memories that are interlaced with other things for that long. We'd never know if we got them all."
"Well, we could just takeeverything for the last two days," Jade said.
Kestrel snorted. "And have two more people wandering around with lost time?"
Mary-Lynnette's mind went click. "Todd Akers andVic Kimble," she said. "You did something to give
them amnesia.I knew there had to be a connection."
"There's no other choice for us," Kestrel said quietly to Rowan. "And you know it as well as I
do."
She's not being malicious, Mary-Lynnette realized.Just practical. If a lioness or a wolf or a falcon could
talk, it would say the same thing. "We have to either kill or die; it's as simple as that."
Despite herself, Mary-Lynnette felt something like fascination-and respect.
Mark had his eyes open now. And Rowan was looking sad, so sad. It's awful, her expression said, but
somebody here is going to have to get hurt.
Rowan bowed her head, then lifted it to face MaryLynnette directly. Their eyes met, held. After a
moment Rowan's face changed slightly and she nodded.
Mary-Lynnette knew that in that instant they werecommunicating without words. Each recognizing the
other as an alpha female who was willing to fightand die for her kin.
Meaning they were both big sisters.
Yes, somebody's going to get hurt, Mary-Lynnette thought. You threaten myfamily,I fight back.
She knew Rowan understood. Rowan was going to really hate killing her....
"No," a voice said passionately, and MaryLynnette realized it was Jade. And the next second
Jade was on her feet, hands clenched, words erupting like a steam boiler exploding. "No, youcan'tkill
Mark. I won'tletyou."
Rowan said, "Jade, I know this is hard-"Kestrel said, "Jade, don't be a wimp-"
Jade was trembling, body tensed like a cat ready to fight. Her voice was louder than either of them.
"You just can't do itl I think -Ithink-" "Jade-"
"I thinkhe's my soulmate!"
Dead silence.
Then Rowan groaned. "Oh, dear..."
Kestrel said, "Oh,sure."
They were both looking at Jade. Focused on her. Mary-Lynnette thought, now.
She swung the flashlight viciously at Kestrel, wanting to take her out first, betting that Rowan would stay
behind if Kestrel were hurt. But the swing never connected, Mark threw himself in front of her, slamming
into her arm.
"Don't hurt Jade!"
Then everything was just a mad tangle. Arms, legs,grasping fingers, kicking feet. Jade and Mark both
yelling for it to stop. Mary-Lynnette felt the flashlight wrenched out of her hand. She found long hair, got
hold of it, yanked. Someone kicked her, and pain blossomed in her ribs.
Then she felt herself being dragged backward Mark was holding her, pulling her away from thefight.
Jade was lying on top of Kestrel and clutching at Rowan.
Everybody was panting. Mark was almost crying.
"We just can't do this," he said. "This is terrible.This is all wrong."
Meanwhile Jade was snarling, "He's my soulmate,okay?Okay? I can't do anything with himdead!"
"He's not your soulmate, idiot," Kestrel said in a somewhat muffled voice. She was facedown on the
carpet of needles. "When you're soulmates, it hits you like lightning, and you know that's the one person
in the world you were meant to be with. Youdon'tthink you're soulmates; you just know it's your destiny
whether you like it or not."
Somewhere, deep in Mary-Lynnette's brain, something stirred in alarm. But she had more urgentthings
to worry about.
"Mark, get out of here," she said breathlessly. ?Run!?
Mark didn't even ease his grip. "Why do we have to be enemies?"
"Mark, they're killers .You can't justify that. They killed their own aunt."
Three faces turned toward her, startled. A half-fullmoon had risen above the trees, and Mary-Lynnette
could see them clearly.
"We didnot!" Jade said indignantly.
"What made you think that?" Rowan asked.Mary-Lynnette felt her mouth hang open. "Be cause
you buried her, for God's sakel"
"Yes, but we found her dead."
"Somebody staked her," Kestrel said, brushingpine needles out of her golden hair. "Probably a