"His name is Sebastian. I... I love him."

The sisters both tilted their heads, watching him fighting as bodies were piling up around him. He was outright glorious, powerful, everything any of them had ever dreamed of in a male.

And they had no idea they were ogling a vampire.

Dasha whistled. "There is much to love, sister."

Rika coughed more blood. "He is beautiful, Kader-ie." She leaned on her sword, the ultimate sign of weakness - something one simply did not do if one could possibly prevent it. "Then take us forward. Another adventure."

Dasha remained unconvinced. "There's no peace in the future, is there? We still fight vampires?"

"Yes, there are still bad vampires to fight."

"Bad vampires? As if there exist good ones? How strangely you speak."

Rika stumbled. "I'm dizzy. Call for your man."

Kaderin dropped her sword and scooped her up. "Just a bit longer, sweet."

When all around Sebastian lay an assortment of dead vampires, he spotted the past Kaderin fighting.

And stared transfixed.

She wore a golden breastplate and carried her sword and a whip. Though injured, she continued to fight savagely, shrieking her fury and orders over the deafening thunder.

Pointing her sword, she directed bowswomen with their flaming arrows and witches with their spells, as they hurtled their strikes in bright trails at the enemy.

She had blood running from her temple and the corner of her lips, and her blond hair was braided for battle. Her eyes were silver. She was absently marking the vampires she'd killed.

He was awed...

A massive vampire with a battle ax traced behind her. She hadn't sensed him in the melee. Sebastian tensed to trace -

"Bastian, no!" Kaderin screamed over the clamor from behind him. He turned, saw her handing the wounded sister into the other's arms. Kaderin ran for him. "I'll kill you!" He finally let her lead him away, though it went against everything inside him to leave her here.

When they met the sisters at the doorway, Kaderin said, "And believe it or not, I get out of that scrape. He ended up wearing that ax as a hat all night."

Sebastian yanked her to him and kissed her, pride filling him. "You were magnificent."

"Were?"

"Are. Always will be."

"Bastian, we're going back." She gave him a watery grin.

They'd saved them. He had them all here and felt twenty feet tall.

Yet then he spied her sword glinting twenty feet away. "Your sword? I can get it - "

"Leave it, Bastian. It's not important anymore! We have to go!"

No, she loved that sword. He traced to it, snatched it up, and traced back to them.

The injured sister weakly screamed, "Vampyre!"

A blade slipped between his ribs.

41

T old you they'd try to kill you," Kaderin whispered with a quirked eyebrow. She'd begun rolling a bandage around Sebastian's torso, now that Rika had been tended to.

He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck as Dasha burned holes with her eyes. "I believe Dasha wishes she'd sunk the blade instead of Rika," he muttered. "And twisted it."

Kaderin knew she needed to separate Dasha and Sebastian, but she didn't want to let either of them out of her sight. Even as she bandaged him, she couldn't help glancing at her sisters - Rika lying pale on the couch, Dasha beginning to pace - as if they'd disappear.

Sebastian stroked her shoulder. "They're back with you," he murmured. "They're not going anywhere."

"I know. It's just so strange."

Rika and Dasha began speaking in a mixture of old tongues.

"What are they saying?" Sebastian asked.

"They think you have some kind of dark magic to make me want you. That undoubtedly I'm in thrall to you." Once Kaderin finished up with his bandage, she rose and said, "I'll just go put Rika in bed and talk with them in the back for a bit." And explain again that all of us would be dead if not for him.

She didn't miss that his eyes darkened. He thought she was already drawing away.

Perhaps that was the only thing she could do at this time.

She lifted Rika and motioned for Dasha to follow. Dasha did so - after casting Sebastian a savage look.

In the bedroom, Kaderin laid Rika in bed while Dasha resumed pacing. "You knew he was a vampire. And you still fell in love with him? He's fine, to be sure," Dasha added, moving from one foreign electronic object to another, tilting her head as she lifted a clock and then a stereo speaker. "But you risk his turning."

Kaderin sat on the bed beside Rika. "Myst's husband hasn't turned. It's only when a vampire kills as he drinks. So if he drinks an immortal who can't die like that, he'll be immune - "

Her expression aghast, Dasha snapped, "You are not saying that you and Myst offer yourselves up as food."

Kaderin bit her lip. "When you put it like that, it sounds worse - "

"How else can it be put?"

Rika coughed, a rattling, ugly sound. Then, in a faint voice, she asked, "Does he actually live with you here?"

When Kaderin nodded, Dasha said, "You pluck us out of a war with vampires, then expect us to live with one?"

Kaderin exhaled, not even bothering to explain the difference between Sebastian and other vampires again. How could they believe that so readily when it had taken Kaderin weeks to see it?

Dasha lifted a hair dryer and peered down the barrel. "And what in the hell is this?"

"It dries hair." Kaderin reached forward and flipped on the switch. Dasha gasped as she aimed it at herself, then at Rika in the bed, giving Rika a look that could only be described as indicating, "Holy shit!"

When Kaderin pried it from her hands and turned it off, Dasha went straight for the closet, commenting on the clothes and tossing items over her shoulder into a pile to be investigated later. "What happened to the vampire who killed us?" she asked over her shoulder.

In a toneless voice, Kaderin said, "I tortured him until he begged for the sun, and six months later, I gave him his wish."

Dasha stopped and turned, brows drawn, as Rika murmured, "You did that, Kader-ie?"

"I didn't take losing you two lightly." And I won't take having you back with me for granted.

Sebastian had known it was coming, of course. He'd known she would take her sisters and leave him.

"I need time. With them," Kaderin had told him the day after they'd brought the two forward. He'd dreaded it but wasn't surprised. "I've taken them to this future, and they are confused by everything. I have to concentrate on acclimating them. They are my responsibility now more than ever."

He'd been tempted simply to tell her no, and could almost convince himself that part of her had wanted him to do so as well. But she hadn't wanted to choose between him and her family, and he wouldn't put her in that position. Besides, he didn't feel it was merely an excuse - her sisters truly did need extensive help.

He'd thought he'd been behind the times.

Naturally, this future shocked them at every turn, but Sebastian had learned that their first instinct in confusing situations was to resort to violence. Kaderin was right to want to shelter them back among her coven in the Valkyrie's remote manor.

Plus, the two hated being anywhere near him. The mere sight of him tracing put Dasha into a rage and made Rika grow silent and grave - which was almost worse. They were constantly wary and wouldn't let down their guard when he was near, not even Rika, though she needed to sleep to heal.

So Kaderin had shepherded them back to the coven. Once she'd gone, he could do nothing but wait as each day he grew stronger in body but weaker in spirit.

"Does she ever ask about me?" he'd asked Myst after a week had passed.

"She's been busy, Sebastian," Myst had assured him. "Her sisters' English is what you might call 'olde,' and they continue to try to slay anything unfamiliar. Kaderin will come around once they're set."

Kaderin never asked about him. Never called for him. It was as if she were willing herself to forget him. Her sisters were likely reminding her of the strife with vampires, convincing her of her folly for being with him.

"Buy an estate near her coven," Nikolai had advised. "It will be a positive gesture to her and might occupy your mind."

"Do I have enough money to buy an estate? And to live comfortably, if I'm careful?"

"You had Byzantium gold among your riches," Nikolai had answered. "A chest of it."

"What does that mean?"

"That means you are obscenely rich. And Murdoch picked the investments. He has a knack."

Sebastian turned so that Nikolai couldn't see him flush. Both brothers had helped him, expecting nothing in return. "Is Murdoch still living at the Forbearer castle?" He would go to his brother and thank him to his face.

Nikolai nodded. "Just yesterday, he uncovered some promising leads on Conrad and is impatient to follow them all, but he'll return to the castle each dawn. When you're settled with Kaderin, you can take her there to meet him if you like."

Sebastian looked forward not only to seeing Murdoch again, but also to joining in the hunt for Conrad. He wondered if Kaderin would search with him.

Sometimes Sebastian traced to her at Val Hall. From outside the wraiths' reach, he could see her through the windows as she danced with her sisters, throwing her head back with laughter, or played video games, with her face a mask of concentration. One night, he'd watched the three of them sitting on the roof, relaxed, shoulder to shoulder. When Kaderin had pointed out a star, the smallest one had laid her head on Kaderin's shoulder.

How different the stars must look to them now.

How could he compete with them for her love?

Kaderin's sisters were learning the times with her as their guide, but Kaderin was relearning life as well.

She'd found she could tear up at sad made-for-television movies and that she loved braiding Nïx's hair, now that it had regrown in mere weeks. She'd learned that Regin's antics could make her stomach hurt from laughing.

Regin delighted in making fun of Dasha and Rika's old English, though the two were learning the modern version with an astounding speed. "Their 'ye olde brew pub' style of talking creeps me out," Regin had said. "All that thou-ing and thee-ing like they're actors from a Shakespeare festival and won't go out of character." She'd drawn Kaderin aside. "I swear to the gods, Rika said 't'asn't.' What is that? No. Really."

When Kaderin had asked Regin if she was okay about her involvement with Sebastian, she'd answered, "If by 'okay' you mean 'homicidal,' then yes, absolutely." Then she'd added in a mutter, "Your leech gave us two new Valkyrie and brought you back from the dead. Because of his brother, Emmaline lives. If there existed a turn-off-millennia-of-hate switch, I might... squint at it." They'd left it at that.

The only thing that hindered Kaderin's happiness was missing Sebastian.

She knew he was watching the manor right now, looking out for her. He loved her. But this was a difficult time for her sisters, and with each of their missteps and confusion, Kaderin's guilt returned.

Still, Kaderin had begun waiting for the right time to tell them all of her decision. Until then, everyone needed to be understanding of them after all they'd been through.

Dasha and Rika needed to be treated with kid gloves and eased into this time.

"Selfish girl," Myst snapped, shoving Dasha against the wall by her neck, holding her there. "You can't comprehend what Kaderin's gone through for so long. She deserves this happiness. You have no idea how much. And yet you both still sneer at the idea of her with a vampire."

Rika kicked Myst behind her knee, making her stumble and release Dasha.

Rubbing her neck, Dasha said, "It is easy for you to accept Kaderin with a vampire, since you have one as your man."

"It doesn't matter if it's easy or not," Myst said. "You simply have to accept it - for her. She has happiness within her grasp with a strong, honorable warrior who adores her, and you are standing in their way."

"Myst, we believe even we might come to tolerate her decision," Dasha said. "But you forget, we were on a battlefield with Furie less than two weeks ago. Her nature isn't dim in our minds, as it is in yours. When Furie is found, do you think she would possibly let either of your husbands live?"

Rika added, "Would Kaderin run with this man? Become a fugitive? We would never see her again."

Myst shook her head, though she had the same fears. "Let Kaderin determine this. Let her and Sebastian decide if they'll take that risk." She regarded both sisters. "Kaderin and Sebastian can't live without each other. Mark my words, both merely bide their time."

42

"If Kaderin didn't send for me herself," Sebastian said at the entrance to Val Hall, "then I don't want to be here." Lightning clattered constantly. Smoke and fog inundated the grounds. The old manor was imposing, sepulchral.

"You aren't curious about what you've been called here for?" Nikolai asked. "Even Myst has no idea what this is about."

"All I know is, she didn't send for me." Sebastian scowled up at the ghostly specters guarding the house, and Nikolai slapped his back in sympathy.

"They will not hurt you unless you try to get in without payment or permission."

"I'm not concerned with them." At Nikolai's questioning look, Sebastian shrugged. "After the things I saw in the Hie?"

"That's right, Nïx's origami storyboard. I need to ask her about that."

Sebastian said, "I was just thinking that if this is where Kaderin calls home, she will not like the estate I just purchased."

"You gave Myst carte blanche to pick it out - a bold and reckless move, but one I feel will serve you well with your Bride."

"Kaderin asked for time." Even missing her as he did, he still felt her request was reasonable. He expected eternity with her. Two weeks was nothing. "I am intruding on her and her sisters."

Just as he was about to trace, Nikolai grabbed his arm. "How long will you wait?"

"Until she calls for me."

"I don't think it would help your cause if you shun an invitation to their coven. It's, uh, very rare." Nikolai held up a lock of red hair Myst had given him in advance. A wraith swooped down, and their way was cleared.

Reluctantly, he followed Nikolai. Inside, Sebastian heard her voice in a nearby room.

"Now, this spear is a weapon of apocalyptic power," Kaderin was explaining. "You must use it wisely, Dash. To abuse it will bring ruin to our people."

"Let me see that," Dasha said.

"No! Push the red button on the right," Kaderin said. "Your other right, Dash!"

Video games. He grinned, even as he was saddened. He missed her too much - his chest was besieged with a constant ache, and now he understood what it was.

When he and Nikolai stood at the door, Nikolai gave him an encouraging slap on the back that would have felled lesser men, then traced away.

Sebastian saw her shoulders stiffen. "Bastian?" she murmured. Lightning struck just outside.

Kaderin heard his voice, his sure footsteps. He's come for me.

Her mind seemed to go blank. The yearning she'd felt for so long turned to excitement, excitement to urgency.

She'd been waiting for the right time to tell her sisters she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. That time was now.

If she wasn't touching him in seconds, she'd go mad.

She scrambled to her feet. She knew her sisters were eyeing her strangely, knew that what she was feeling was undisguised. Right then, she didn't care. She turned and ran for him. Bastian! Standing at the door, so tall and proud.

When he saw her, his lips parted, then he absently palmed the center of his chest.

As she hadn't slowed, he opened his arms - she knew what this meant - but she didn't hesitate to run into them, leaping up and latching onto him. They would have gone reeling if he weren't so strong.

The Valkyrie who'd flown down the stairs at the marked lightning saw her. All around them, she heard gasps. One muttered, "She ran to his arms. I saw it."

"Bastian, I missed you!" Kaderin whispered.

"God, I missed you, too," he murmured, clutching her. She felt him stiffen, and knew Rika and Dasha had appeared behind her. He released her with obvious reluctance, but once on her feet, she only turned, keeping his front to her back.

Just when she thought there'd be a confrontation, Rika said, "Kader-ie, we have a thing we wish to tell thee - " She winced. "I mean you."

"What is it?" Kaderin asked, pulling Sebastian's arm around her. He tightened it immediately.

"We invited him," Dasha said.

Rika added, "And now we can see that it was a wise decision."

"What do you mean?" Kaderin asked, her voice unsteady.

Dasha answered, "You spent too many years blaming yourself for our deaths and too much time without happiness. It must stop. It is time for you to be content."

"You deserve it more than anyone," said shy Rika. She approached Kaderin and Sebastian and addressed him. "We hate that vampire for what he did to Kader-ie, and to us." She frowned at that, then said, "But you are not that vampire. If you love Kad - "

"I do," he quickly said.

She squeezed his arm.

Dasha muttered, "Then be wed with our blessings."

"Rika? Dash?" Kaderin said in a breathless voice. "Are you in earnest?"

"Kader-ie, you need him. Even if we didn't support this, you'd go to him eventually. We understand that."

Kaderin turned to him, gazing up and nibbling her bottom lip. "Yes, I would have."

"You would?" he rasped, his eyes so dark.

"Of course, Bastian." She glanced over her shoulder and said to her sisters, "Thank you. I-I don't know what to say."

"Begone," Dasha said with a scowl. "This does not mean we wish to see you two in the agonies of love, or biting, or whatever it shall be. Rika and I have video battles to master and a driving lesson with Regin and Nïx when they return with Sad Wiener gum from the pack-a-sack."

When Rika grinned and nodded, Kaderin stood on tiptoes to whisper at his ear, "Will you take me somewhere so I can kiss you?"

He shuddered as he traced.

"Where are we?" she asked, not wanting to take her eyes from him even to glance around.

"Our new estate," he said, studying her reaction, so clearly wanting her to like it. "Close to Val Hall," he added, leaning down to brush his lips over her ear, his breaths warm and already quickened with need.

She didn't have to see it to know she would like it. Sebastian was here, and that was all she needed to know. "Oh, Bastian," she sighed, eyelids fluttering closed as she ran her fingers through his thick hair, "I think it's the best house I've ever been in. I'm sure."

After making love in the living room, in the dining room, on the stairs, and over a bench on the stair landing, they'd finally made it to the bedroom. Just as they'd settled under the rich damask covers, a telephone rang from across the room. Sebastian tensed at the sound, and Kaderin peeked out, frowning. Who could have gotten the number already?

His low growl when she strode naked to the phone made getting out of the bed worth it.

When she answered, Emma said, "Kaderin, is that you?" Her voice was panicked. "Myst told me I could get you here. Have you guys seen Bowen?"

"Since when, sweet?"

"Since he went to some fire snake thingy in the Hie."

Oh, crap. Kaderin sidled back to the bed. "Bastian, after you and Bowen had your... disagreement, what exactly happened?" That whole time was a haze for Kaderin. Everything paled next to Sebastian's sacrifice for her and her family. And she didn't relish thinking about the fact that she'd... died, boiling in lava. Kaderin had contemplated cheerier scenarios.

"The Lykae vowed, convincingly, that he'd kill me and you after he hunted us to the ends of the earth," Sebastian answered. "And also that he would 'eat my goddamned heart.' " He shrugged. "I left him there in that cave - on the other side of the lava pit. I figured there would be a way out of the back."

Kaderin hesitated, then told Emma, "He could possibly still be trapped behind a pit of boiling lava, guarded by a fire serpent."

Emma cried, "For two weeks? Can you please go get him? He's my husband's cousin and best friend!"

"Are we using your tranq gun or ours?" Kaderin asked. "Emma, he'll be in a killing rage after losing his mate - again."

"I know, but I'm just worried he might... he might take the opportunity to... you know."

"Okay, okay," Kaderin said, then turned to Sebastian. "Can we go get Bowen sometime tonight? She's worried he'll dive in after the loss."

"Which would be tragic." When Emma heard him and screeched, he grudgingly said, "No, he won't do that. He'll need to kill me first. Trust me, I know this." He exhaled. "We'll get him." He seized Kaderin around her waist and dragged her back under the covers with him. "After."

"After," Kaderin agreed eagerly. She told Emma, "We'll retrieve him at sunset. If he's still there. I'll let you know." She hung up and absently laid the phone on the bedside table, but turned when she brushed paper.

"What is it?" he asked.

"A note." It was folded in three and had a crimson wax seal stamped with a flourishing R. "From Riora?"

He peered over Kaderin's shoulder as she opened the letter. "Do we really want to read this?"

She shrugged helplessly. They both read:

It is perfectly impossible for you two to be excessively ecstatic together.

Nor is it possible for both of you to have families made whole.

See you at the next Hie,

Riora, goddess of all and sundry soccer anthems

A key clanged out of the letter's bottom fold. Kaderin could hear his heart speed up when he recognized it.

Another chance at the past. For Sebastian.

"Will it" - his voice dropped lower - "could it work?"

She faced him and nodded. "Yes, I believe so. You fascinated Riora. She would want to reward you."

He swallowed. "I won't do this lightly. I must talk with Nikolai and Murdoch and, I hope, Conrad. We will decide together how and when this will occur and prepare for it."

As Kaderin gingerly set the key and note aside, he asked, "Would you be comfortable with this? With my family coming forward?"

"Like you were with mine? Of course! I'll support you in anything you want to do. And I daresay your sisters will be easier than Dash and Rika. They probably won't slay every toaster they encounter."

The corners of his lips curled. "This is too incredible. I can scarcely believe it."

"Just wait until you see them for the first time. It's a pretty big shock."

He raised his hand to cradle her face. "My sisters would like you."

She smiled back. "They will like me. And I them. Though I think you should marry me first. So we're respectable."

"I didn't believe this day could get better."

When he drew her under him, resting his hips between her thighs, she gazed into his gray eyes, the color of enduring summer storms. "I love you, Bastian."

"I'll never tire of hearing that." He nuzzled her ear and rasped against it, "Maybe one day you'll come to love me as much as I do you."

She frowned and pushed up on his shoulders so they were facing each other. "I happen to adore you, vampire." Her hands laced around his neck, and she twined her fingers in his hair. "No, I'm absolutely certain I love you more."

He grinned down at her, that half-grin that made her heart twist, then slowly rocked forward to fill her. "Tell yourself that, Valkyrie." He leaned down to catch her gasp with his lips. "As much as you like."

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