And destroyed them all.

She awoke sprawled on the deck, shuddering helplessly in the balmy night. Her skin was damp and there was the electric smell of ozone stinging the air. Her stomach spasmed as she pushed herself to her hands and knees.

Too weak to stand, she stayed there, rocking gently, taking gulping breaths to feed her starved lungs. The roaring in her head subsided and became the endless rolling of the sea. It had never come on her like that, never so abruptly, so physically. Not even when she was practicing, when she had willingly sought such things.

She wanted to crawl back into her room, to curl up on the rug in the dark and whimper like a baby. It was the small, pitiful sounds coming from her own throat that made her force herself up until she was kneeling, until she was breathing deep and steady again.

With the vision still pounding at her, she scrambled to her feet and ran. Thirteen

“A re you sure you want to do this?” Nell linked her hand with Zack’s, deliberately slowing the pace. Thin clouds sailed overhead, filtering the starlight. The fat curve of moon was a soft and waiting white. She knew her way in the dark, through Mia’s gardens, past her jutting cliffs and into the winter forest. With her hand warm in Zack’s, she let Mia and Mac pull ahead.

She could hear Mia’s voice, like a light trail of music, slip back through the trees and shadows.

“Would you rather I stayed behind?”

“No. It’s just that you’ve never come with me before.”

“You never asked me before.”

Her fingers curled in his, she stopped. She could see him clearly enough. She could always see him clearly. “It wasn’t that you weren’t welcome.” In the starlight, she saw his brows arch, and she smiled.

“Exactly.”

In a slow, easy movement, he lifted their joined hands to his lips. “Does my being here make you uncomfortable?”

“Not uncomfortable. A little nervous, maybe.” Because she was, she touched him, just a skim of her fingers over his arm. “I’m not sure how you might react, how you’ll feel about this part of me.”

“Nell.” He put his hands on her shoulders, gave them a little rub. “I’m not Darren.”

“Who?”

“You know—Darren. Bewitched. You twitch your nose and I get all grumpy about it.”

It took her a minute, then she wrapped her arms around his waist. Nerves, doubts, worries, were completely swamped by joy. “I really love you.”

“I know. There is one thing. I was going to be open-minded and not bring it up, but . . .” He glanced over to where Mac had disappeared into the dark with Mia. “I’ve read up on rituals and magic and that sort of thing, and I know that sometimes they involve getting naked. I don’t care how stupid it sounds, but I want you to keep your clothes on when Mac’s around.”

She tried to hide her amusement. “He’s a scientist. Like a doctor.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass. In this particular area, I’m Darren.”

“Well, Darren, it’s not warm enough to go skyclad. And to be perfectly frank, I keep my clothes on even when it’s just me and Mia. Apparently I’m a very prudish witch.”

“Suits me.”

They began to walk again, with him letting her lead the way. “So . . . does Mia get naked?”

“Skyclad,” Nell corrected. “And I don’t see why you’d be interested.”

“Purely from an academic standpoint.”

“Yeah, right.”

They were still teasing each other as they stepped into the clearing. Shadows, gray as smoke, ringed the edges. Hanks of dried herbs and chains of crystals hung from the bare branches of the trees. A trio of stones rose up in a kind of altar. Mac crouched in front of it, busily taking readings.

Mia had denied him his video camera and tape recorder. No amount of persuasion had moved her on that point. But she had permitted his sensors and his notebook.

And his mind.

Mia had already set down the bag she carried, and now walked over to Zack to take the one he’d brought for Nell. “Let’s give our scientist a moment to play, shall we?” She gestured toward Mac. “He’s so happy.”

Then she slipped an arm around Nell’s shoulders. “There’s no need to be nervous, little sister.”

“It just feels a little odd. And I’m still new to all this.”

“Your man stands with you. You come here already more powerful than you were the first time, and more aware of self.” She shifted her gaze to Zack, studied his face. “Can’t you feel his pride in you? In all that you are? There are some who never have that vital magic. Without it, the light’s never quite bright enough.”

As much to bolster herself as Nell, she gave Nell’s shoulders a little squeeze before going to join Mac.

“She’s so lonely,” Nell confided to Zack. “She doesn’t think it, and she’s so confident, so complete, no one sees it. But there are times she’s so lonely it makes me ache.”

“You’re a good friend, Nell.”

Mia laughed at something Mac said, then spun away from him. It wasn’t quite a dance, Mac would think later. But still somehow balletic. Her long gray dress billowed, then settled as she lifted her arms. And her voice, rich and full, was the music.

“This is our place, the place of the Three. It was conjured from need and knowledge, from hope and despair. From power turned away from death and fear and ignorance. This is our place,” she repeated,

“passed down to us, the Three to the Three. For tonight, we are two.”

Mac got slowly to his feet. She was changing in front of him. Her hair was more vivid, her skin sheening like marble. Her already staggering beauty increased, as if some thin veil had been lifted. He wondered if she used her magic to enhance what she had now, or if she used her gift to dim it at other times. And he cursed the lack of recording equipment.

“We come here to give thanks, to honor those who came before, to offer, and remember. This ground is sacred. You are welcome here, MacAllister Booke, when you’re invited. I won’t insult you by asking for your promise not to come here otherwise.”

“You have it anyway.”

She inclined her head, a regal acknowledgment.

“Zack, you are Nell’s, and this place is hers as much as mine. So it’s yours. You can ask questions if you like,” she added as she bent to open her bag. “I imagine Dr. Booke has most of the answers.”