The vampires drink their champagne, bow in my direction and resume talking amongst themselves. We are forgotten. Frey and I exchange looks.

I feel like the unpopular guest of honor arriving late for her own birthday party to find her absence had gone unnoticed. Maybe until Tuesday I have no standing at all. No matter. Getting David out of here is the only reason I'd step foot in this house of horrors.

Judith Williams waves a manicured hand and the six-piece band in the corner begins to play. She fluffs her hair, composes her expression to reflect nothing but cordiality and walks over to us.

"What?" I ask, giving her the once-over. "No widow's weeds tonight?"

She smoothes a hand over the skirt of her bloodred silk dress. "I didn't expect to see you tonight, Anna, or I would have left your name at the gate." She tilts her head. "How did you manage to get by security?"

"The Chosen One, remember? Hiring a mortal to keep a vampire out is like carrying a rock to a gunfight."

She doesn't find the analogy amusing. "Is he dead?"

"I don't kill humans indiscriminately. That seems to be your thing. Do you realize how much damage you caused to the vampire community by killing those hosts in Beso de la Muerte?"

She sniffs. "If you'd gone with me, it might not have happened."

She looks at Frey. "He isn't welcome here." She gestures to the vampires behind us as if privy to some communication I am not. The vampires are no longer talking, but watching us.

No. Not us.

Frey. It's as if they've suddenly become aware he is neither vampire nor human.

I also realize she's learned a lot in a few days. Her thoughts are no longer easy pickings for me. But she's communicating with someone.

"Frey is with me."

"Then he must agree to the rules."

"Rules?"

"This party is for vampires and hosts only. Are you willing to share?"

I can see Frey's expression harden. I know what he's thinking. To stay with me, he'll agree. I speak up before he can. "No. Frey will wait for me outside."

He opens his mouth to object, and I close a steel hand around his arm. "Wait for me by the gate. I will be out with David in ten minutes."

Frey's anger burns through his eyes. "I thought we agreed to stay together."

I loosen my hold a little but not my resolve. "Ten minutes."

He's not happy. I don't care. There is something in the way the vampires are looking at him that makes me know it's not safe for him to stay. "Please, Frey. Don't argue."

There is another shift in the posture of the vampires, a subtle quiver of anticipation, like a cat gathering itself to pounce on an unsuspecting bird.

You must decide. He will stay or go. The others find it troubling that you would argue with a shape-shifter, an inferior being. They see it as a sign of weakness.

Judith's words are directed right at me. No mistaking it, she's mastered the art of psychic communication. I look from the vampires to Judith, tempted to challenge them, but it's Frey this time who touches my arm.

He was not privy to the message, but my reaction is obvious. "It's up to you."

"Go. I will be out in ten minutes."

I watch Frey make his way to the front door. I feel the others watch, too, with alarming intensity. If anyone attempts to intercept him, you will learn how weak I am.

I let the message carry over the music, over the resumed rumble of conversation. There is a heartbeat's hesitation as if consideration is being given to the sincerity of my threat. Consequences weighed against principle.

Evidently, principle isn't that important after all. Frey is allowed to leave unmolested.

Judith breathes an impatient sigh. "So much drama over one insignificant mortal. Anna, you are a puzzle to me."

Ten minutes. The clock is ticking.

"What did you give David?"

A smile. "Something wonderful. He's certainly a big one, isn't he? And so-enthusiastic."

My shoulders tense. "You seduced him?"

She laughs. "If you mean did I take advantage of him, the answer is most emphatically no. He needed very little persuasion to have sex."

I get a creepy feeling that there was more to it than sex. "Did you feed from him?"

The tip of her tongue glides over her upper lip. "Of course. Are you trying to tell me you haven't?"

She looks surprised, which gives way to a smug smile of satisfaction. "You haven't. You haven't fucked him, either. How long have you been partners? You sit across from as studly a piece of ass as I've ever seen, and you haven't fucked him."

I get an absurd flashback to the first time I saw this woman-here, in this very room, dressed in her tasteful little cocktail dress, diamonds flashing from ears and neck, looking adoringly at a man who has made my life miserable this last year. The contrast between that simpering woman and this bitch is beyond ridiculous.

She's been a vampire for less than three months. She thinks we are equals. She thinks this Chosen One thing is bullshit, even if the others seem to believe it, and she thinks if they insist on choosing anyone, she is infinitely more qualified to assume the position than I.

She lets these thoughts through because she is too stupid to realize that she is telegraphing her intentions.

In her head, Judith Williams has already assumed the role. That's the reason for the party. That's the reason I wasn't invited. That's the reason for my less-than-hearty reception. She's showing the vampire elite that she is in control. Since Warren Williams had been administrator for Avery's estate, she has access to the house and everything in it. The fact that it all belongs to me is of no importance because soon she'll fix that, too.

She had no intention of hurting David. She wanted to make sure I'd show up on Tuesday because all that's left now is the challenge. The challenge she's convinced I'll lose.

The fact that I haven't said anything, that I haven't reacted to the fact that she fed from David, that I've closed my thoughts so she can't read what's going through my mind begins to worry her.

Good.

"I'm leaving now, Judith," I say. "And I'm taking David."

I turn to go but can't resist another shot.

"Get these people out of my house. Unless I'm mistaken, this is my house, right? Your husband transferred all Avery's property into my name?"

Her mood turns sullen, dangerous.

I don't care. "You have one hour. Then I'm calling the police. You can explain being arrested for breaking and entering to the heads of the thirteen tribes. I'm sure you can make them understand.

"One more thing. Those hosts? They'd better be able to walk out of here on their own, unharmed and unassisted. I'm holding you personally responsible for their well-being. If you hurt them, or if I see you before Tuesday, you're dead."

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