Stay here," Rashel said sharply, but Hannah ran with the rest of them toward the front of the house. She
could hear a ferocious snarling and barking outside-a very familiar sort of sound.
Nilsson and the other CIA guys were running around. They looked grim and efficient, moving fast but
not frantically. Hannah realized that they knew how to do this sort of thing.
She didn't see Lupe.
The snarling outside got louder, building to a volley of short barks. There was a yelp-and then a
scrambling noise. After a moment of silence there came a sound that lifted the hair on Hannah's
forearms-a wild and eerie and beautiful sound. A wolf howling. Two other wolf voices joined the first,
chording, rising and falling, interweaving with each other. Hannah found herself gasping, her entire skin
shivering. Then there was one long sustained note and it was over.
"Wow," the tiny blond called Gillian whispered.
Hannah rubbed her bare arms hard.
The front door opened. Hannah felt herself looking toward the ground, but nothing four-legged came in.
Instead it was Lupe and two guys, all disheveled, flushed, and grinning.
"It was just some scouts," Lupe said. "We ran them off."
"Scouts from Maya?" Hannah said, feeling a tightness in her stomach. It really was true, then. Maya was
trying to storm the house to get to her.
Lupe nodded. "It'll be okay," she said almost gently. "But I think all of you better stay inside today. You
can watch movies or play games in the game room."
Hannah spent the day talking with the Circle Daybreak members. The more she found out about them,
the more she liked them. Only one thing made her uncomfortable. They all seemed to defer to her-as if,
somehow, they expected her to be wiser or better because of her former lifetimes. It was embarrassing,
because she knew she wasn't.
She tried to keep her mind off Thierry... and Maya.
But it wasn't easy. That night she found herself walking restlessly through the house. She wound up in a
little anteroom on the second floor that looked down on the enormous living room.
"Can't relax?"
The lazy murmur came from behind her. Hannah turned to see Ash, his lanky elegant body propped
against a wall. His eyes looked silver in the dimly lit room.
"Not really," Hannah admitted. "I just wish they'd find Thierry. I've got a bad feeling about it."
They stood for a moment in silence. Then Ash said, "Yeah, it's hard to be without your soulmate. Once
you've found them, I mean."
Hannah looked at him, intrigued. The way he said that...
She spoke hesitantly. "This morning Thea said you were all here because you had human soulmates."
He looked across the room at French doors that led to a balcony. "Yes?"
"And-well..." Maybe she's dead, Hannah thought suddenly. Maybe I shouldn't ask. "And you
want to know where mine is," Ash said. "I didn't mean to pry."
"No. It's okay." Ash looked out at the darkness beyond the French doors again. "She's waiting-I hope.
I've got some things to put right before I see her."
He didn't seem scary anymore, no matter how his eyes changed. He seemed-vulnerable.
"I'm sure she is waiting," Hannah said. "And I'll bet she'll be glad to see you when you've put things
right." She added quietly, "I know I'll be glad to see Thierry."
He glanced at her, startled, then smiled. He had a very nice smile. "That's true, you've been in her shoes,
haven't you? And Thierry's certainly tried to make up for his past. I mean, he's been doing good works
for centuries. So maybe there's hope for me after all."
He said it almost mockingly, but Hannah caught an odd glistening in his eyes. "You're like her, you
know," he added abruptly.
"Like my-like Mary-Lynnette. You're both... wise."
Before Hannah could think of something to say to that, he nodded to her, straightened up, and went
back into the hallway, whistling softly through his teeth.
Hannah stood alone in the dim room. For some reason, she felt better suddenly. More optimistic about
the future.
I think I'll be able to sleep tonight. And tomorrow, maybe Thierry will be here.
She clamped down hard on the rush of hope that filled her at the thought. Hope... and concern. After
all she'd said to him, she couldn't be absolutely sure how Thierry would receive her. What if he doesn't
want me after all? Don't be silly. Don't think about it. Go outside and get a breath of air, and then go to
bed.
Later, of course, she realized just how stupid she had been. She should have known that getting a breath
of fresh air only led to one thing in her life. But at the moment it seemed like a good idea. Lupe had
warned her not to open any outside doors-but the French doors only led to a second-floor balcony
overlooking the backyard. Hannah opened them and stepped out.
Nice, she thought. The air was just cool enough to be pleasant.
From here she could look across dark stretches of grass to flood-lit palm trees and softly splashing
fountains. Although she couldn't see Thierry's people, she knew they were out there, stationed around the
grounds, watching and waiting. Guarding her. It made her feel safe.
Nothing can get to the house with them around it, she thought. I can sleep just fine.
She was about to turn and go back inside when she heard the scratching.
It came from above her. From the roof. She glanced up and got the shock of this particular lifetime.
There was a bat hanging from the roof.
A bat. A bat.
A huge bat. Upside down. Its leathery black wings were wrapped around it and its small red eyes shone
at her with reflected light.
Wild thoughts tumbled through Hannah's mind, all in a fraction of an instant. Maybe it's a decoration...
no, idiot, it's alive. Maybe it's somebody to guard me. God, maybe it's Thierry....
But all the while, she knew. And when the instant of paralysis passed and she could command her body
again, she sucked in a deep breath to scream an alarm.
She never got the chance to make a sound. With a noise like an umbrella opening, the bat unfolded its
wings suddenly, displaying an amazingly large span of black membrane.
At the same moment something like sheet lightning seemed to hit Hannah, a blinding surge of pure mental
energy. She saw stars, and then everything faded to darkness.
Something hurt.
My head, Hannah thought slowly. And my back. In fact, she hurt all over. And she was blind-or she had
her eyes shut. She tried to open them and
nothing changed. She could feel herself blinking, but she could only see one thing. Blackness. Utter,
complete blackness. She realized then that she'd never seen real darkness before. In her bedroom at
night there was always some diffused light showing at the top of her curtains. Even outdoors there was
always moonlight or starlight, or if it were cloudy, the reflection of human lights, however faint.
This was different. This was solid darkness. Hannah imagined she could feel it pressing against her face,
weighing down on her body. And no matter how wide she opened her eyes or how fixedly she stared,
she couldn't see even the slightest glimmer breaking it.
I will not panic, she told herself.
But it was hard. She was fighting an instinctive fear, hardwired into the brain since before the Stone Age.
All humans panicked in complete blackness.
Just breathe, she told herself firmly. Breathe. Okay. Now. You've got to get out of here. First things first.
Are you hurt?
She couldn't tell. She had to shut her eyes in order to sense her own body. As she did, she realized that
she was sitting up, instinctively huddling into herself to keep safe from the darkness.
Okay. I don't think you're hurt. Let's try standing up. Very slowly.
That was when the real shock came.
She couldn't stand up.
She couldn't.
She could move her arms and even her legs. But when she tried to lift her body, even to shift position
slightly, something bit into her waist, keeping her immobile.
With a crawling feeling of horror, Hannah put her hands to her waist and felt the rough texture of rope.
I'm tied. I'm tied....