A fight to the death.

Of course it is. What should provoke a startled reaction gets instead a resigned sigh. How could I expect anything less than a fight to the death when it involves the vampire community?

I meet Frey's anxious gaze. "That's why you didn't tell me about the challenge sooner? Because it's a fight to the death? Did you think that would scare me?"

Frey shakes his head. "No. I knew you wouldn't be scared. Judith Williams, though, doesn't know you as well. She would mention an escape clause for only one reason. She knows there will be a challenge."

No. I stand up and push the chair away with an impatient shove. "Pretty improbable, don't you think? When she came to us a few days ago, she didn't even know where to go to feed. Now she's organizing a challenge?"

"I can't explain it. But if she put it in the note, it means she expected you to ask me about it. Expected you to learn the truth. Maybe she thought it would scare you into doing something stupid."

"Like what?"

"Like not showing up for the ceremony."

"If we can get David out of there before Tuesday, why would that be such a bad idea?"

"Because, if you don't show up, you've declared yourself rogue. No ceremony. No challenge. The Chosen One's duty is to set the path for the next two hundred years. By ignoring what is written, you disrupt the balance. There must be a Chosen One. Only by your death can another be marked."

He doesn't say any more. He doesn't have to. It's obvious what follows. If I don't go through with this crazy ceremony, I'll be hunted down.

Great.

Just great. I'll spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. May as well stake myself now.

Still, David is out there somewhere. Whatever that crazy bitch tries to do to me, I can protect myself. David is defenseless. "Well, nothing you've said changes what we have to do now. We'll drive out to Avery's. If I'm wrong and the house is deserted, we'll decide the next step then."

He slips off his jacket and leaves it with the briefcase and book on my couch. We go out through the backyard and into the garage. Neither of us has much to say on the ride to La Jolla. While I'm still having a hard time accepting the notion that the fate of the vampire world rests on my shoulders, the sad truth is, there seem to be many out there who do. Including the two people whose opinion I've counted on most since becoming vampire-Frey and Culebra.

Maybe if I were smart, I'd stop fighting. There must be some vibe I send off that makes crazies like Underwood and not-so-crazies like Frey and Culebra see something in me that I do not. Maybe I should simply go to Judith Williams and tell her I'll do whatever she wants. Honor the crazy dreams of her crazy husband. Let her determine the course of my life for the next few hundred years. Become the Chosen One and rule from the ivory tower of her choice.

All I'll ask in return is David's safe release and a few weeks a year to visit with my family.

An offer she can hardly refuse.

If that is indeed what she wants.

I'm so deep in my own thoughts that the drive to Avery's is done on automatic pilot. Frey is quiet, too, probably afraid of setting me off again. It isn't until we're about a mile from the house on the top of Mount Soledad that I pull the Jag over and stop.

Frey turns toward me. "You want me to get out here and shift?"

"I think that's a good idea. There's lots of cover. Trees. Bushes."

It's dark on the road. Not many streetlights. There doesn't have to be. The homes on this street all have their own brightly lit security gates attached to high walls of brick or stone. The closer you get to the top of the mountain, the higher the fences, the more secure the gates.

Frey takes off his shoes, tosses them into the backseat. He unbuttons his shirt and shrugs it off and slips out of his slacks. No underwear. He catches me watching him.

"I think Layla would disapprove of the expression on your face."

"To the contrary, I think Layla would approve. Right before she scratched my eyes out. Anyway, get going. The sooner you find out how she's guarding David, the sooner we can make a plan to get him out."

I give Frey a description of the layout of the place-how the detached garage is at the back of the house, how there's a walk connecting the garage to the back door, how the back of the house is floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Pacific far below.

It's not easy talking logistics to a naked man. My eyes tend to wander. I'd forgotten what a nice body Frey has. He shifts slightly in the seat, giving me a better view. He knows exactly what he's doing, exactly what I'm doing. Probably the reason he undressed before we had this conversation instead of waiting until after.

At last he opens the door and steps out. He melts into the bushes without a backward glance. There's a rustle and a low catlike growl and the bushes beside the car no longer move.

I rest my head against the seat, close my eyes. I figure ten minutes for Frey to get to Avery's, thirty minutes max to check out the house, ten minutes back.

May as well take a nap. Otherwise all I'll do is stew.

A rap on the window brings me upright with a jerk. Frey is on the passenger side of the car, trying to keep out of sight. He's already shifted back from panther to human and from my low vantage point on the front seat I have an interesting view.

I glance at my watch. He's only been gone fifteen minutes. I hit unlock on the console and he slides into the seat.

"Did you get lost?"

He's reaching into the backseat for his clothes. "Of course not."

"Then why are you back so soon?"

"Panthers move fast." He pulls on his jeans, puts on the shirt, slips his feet back into his shoes.

"So what is it then? You couldn't have checked the place out in such a short time."

"Didn't need to." Frey drags his fingers through his hair. "We can do it together."

"Shit. The place is deserted?"

He smiles. "Just the opposite. I think Judith Williams is throwing a party."

A party? Frey is grinning at me and I realize immediately that we couldn't ask for a better scenario. I fire up the Jag and steer onto the road.

"Pretty ballsy on her part," Frey says. "Taking over Avery's house . . ." He shoots me a sideways glance, "Your house, actually, is one thing, but to openly throw a party is quite another. Who do you think she's invited?"

"No mystery there. I know who she's invited. Since the guest list for the ceremony on Tuesday includes the world's vamp royalty, I imagine they've already started arriving."

"She didn't invite you."

That provokes a laugh. "She didn't have to, did she? Because here we are. I have to admit, she's inherited her husband's ability to anticipate my every move right along with his ability to piss me off."

"She knew you'd come looking for David."

"And she knew I'd come looking here. She is a crafty bitch."

Frey's voice takes on a tone of warning. "Don't take any chances tonight. Keep close. Let me watch your back."

We've pulled up to Avery's gated entrance. The house is ablaze with lights. Music floats on the air, live music from the sound of it. A man approaches from the house side, opens the small gate set into the stone wall surrounding the place and comes to the car. He has a clipboard in his hand.

"This is a private party," he says.

"I believe I'm on the guest list. Anna Strong."

I follow his eyes as they scroll down the page, lips silently mouthing the names. After a moment he looks up. "No Anna Strong on the guest list. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

He's human, big in a former pro-wrestler-gone-to-fat kind of way. His suit fits awkwardly across the chest, partly because he has too much chest and partly because of the not-very-well-concealed gun against his right shoulder.

"Well, here's the thing," I reply with my brightest good-girl smile. "I'm the owner of this house, and I didn't give permission for anyone to have a party."

That gives him a moment's pause. Long enough for me to shove the car door open. It slams into his gut and he goes down with a whoosh of expelled air. He struggles to get up. I jump out and clock him again with an elbow to the forehead. This time he's down for the count.

Frey is at my side. We each take a leg and drag him into the guardhouse. I take off his belt and use it to tie his hands, then shove his own handkerchief into his mouth. I wish we had something to secure his legs, but I can't find anything and neither Frey nor I are wearing belts. In his jacket, I find a set of keys, separate from the usual car and house keys most people carry. On a hunch and after a couple of misses, I find the one that will lock the guardhouse from the outside. After pulling down the shades, and locking the door, our rent-a-cop is tucked away for a nice, long nap.

Frey and I exchange glances. Obviously, I was wrong about Judith expecting me to show up. She didn't include my name on the guest list.

Frey says, "Front door or back?"

I think about it a minute. "Hell. Front. May as well shake things up."

I don't pull the car into the driveway but back it up and park it on the shoulder a few yards away from the gate. If we have to make a quick getaway, Frey and I can jump the fence and get to the car. Anyone following us will have to open the gate first.

Which gives me an idea. I bend close to see how the gate latches. "Think we can jam this?"

Frey gives it the once-over. "It's electronic." He looks up and around. "The sensor is up there on that post. If we broke it . . ." He starts looking around. "Here we go." He hefts a good-sized rock, balances it on his palm, aims and fires it straight at the little blinking light on the top of a ten-foot pole.

It shatters and goes dark.

"Good arm! I didn't know you had it in you."

"Three years of college ball."

For a brief sliver of time, Frey and I smile at each other like two kids pulling a Halloween prank instead of two adults breaking and entering.

The moment passes. "Better move," Frey says. "Someone may have heard the glass breaking."

We jog up the long driveway toward the front of the house. The music gets louder, the lights brighter. In the turnaround near the front door, half a dozen stretch limos sit empty. No drivers. I open one of the doors and sniff. Vampire and human.

No surprise there.

Frey touches my arm. "How do you want to handle this?"

I tug the hem of my T-shirt down and run a hand through my hair. "Let's party."

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