"Valentin?"

He turned his face away for a moment, his shoulders rigid, and then regarded her. "Liling. I don't know how this has happened, but you are changing. You are no longer human. You are becoming a vrykolakas. We call ourselves the Darkyn."

The last word stole all the breath out of her lungs.

Darkyn. If he had punched her in the stomach, she would not feel as shocked. "No. I can't be that. I'm human. I can't change into a demon."

"We are not demons, Geliebte." He reached down to take her hand in his. "We were human once, like you. We are still like humans in some ways."

"But it's not possible." How could she explain to him what she was? She shoved her fingers in her mouth, and pulled them out again to stare at the clots of blood. "You're wrong, Valentin. I'm sure they're only fever blisters. When we go to Atlanta, I'll see a doctor."

"We are not going to Atlanta," he said quietly. "As soon as I can arrange transportation, I am taking you back to Chicago."

The pain in her mouth doubled, making it hard to speak. "You can't do that."

"I will protect you from the Brethren, Geliebte."

She backed away from him. "If you take me back the priests will find me. Now that they know I'm alive they'll never stop hunting me. They'll hurt you to get to me."

As soon as she said that, she recalled that he was one of the maledicti, and if what the priests had taught her was true, he could not be harmed or killed so easily.

That's why he didn't drown. She changed tactics by saying, "They could find where you and your friends live."

"Geliebte, they already have tried." His expression changed, grew gentle. "The pilot who hijacked my plane didn't know who I was. He had been sent to abduct and murder you."

All of this had happened because of her? Liling curled up, pressing her forehead against her knees.

The priests had taught her about the maledicti, how evil they were, and how the order had been formed to fight them.

They had wanted her to do the same. Now Valentin was telling her that he was Darkyn, and everything she knew about him directly contradicted the teachings of the priests.

It seemed almost funny that she might become one as well. Was it revenge, or some sort of twisted justice? Did he even know what she was?

"Did you do this to me?" Liling asked him without looking at him. "Make me like you?"

"I did not intend to. I would never curse you or any human with my fate. I cannot explain how it happened, only that my blood must have mingled with yours… and then…" He trailed off as if unsure of how to explain it.

She raised her head. "You can do this to a human being and you don't know how it works?"

"Our blood is poisonous; we know that," he admitted. "It is why we never try to turn anyone. No one had survived a change for centuries. But in these last few years, there have been a few who didn't die. Other women. You must be like them somehow."

Liling went cold inside. He didn't know what she was. He might not believe her if she told him. It didn't matter anymore, not now that Kyan had found her. "Whatever is happening to me, it is not your fault. I don't blame you. But you must do something for me now."

"Anything."

"Kill me."

He drew back. "Anything else."

"You must." She saw in his eyes that he wouldn't, felt it in the shift of tension in his skin. "Very well." She climbed out of the bed, holding herself with her arms. The door seemed so far away as she hobbled toward it.

A cool hand touched the back of her neck, holding her back. "Why do you want to die?"

"I want to live." The pain inside her body was nothing compared to the agony in her heart. "But I can't. Not like this. He is… Even if I get away… you'll despise me."

"Never." Jaus spun her around and pulled her into his arms. "You will live. You will live for me, do you understand? Whatever it is that frightens you, we will fight it together. I promise you."

Liling closed her eyes as he brought his mouth down over hers, and felt something punch through the sore place on the roof of her mouth. He used his tongue to stroke the sharp points that had come down into her mouth, and she tasted blood, both his and her own.

He lifted his head. "You must take more of my blood to complete the transition. Then you will be stronger, more like me."

Liling's stomach surged. To take his blood, she'd have to bite him. "I can't do that."

"You must." He tilted her face back, making her look at him. "However it happened, I did this to you. It is my blood that runs in your veins. You are my sygkenis. You belong to me now. Liling. You must let me take care of you."

Liling's teeth throbbed, and as wretched as she felt, a deeper, hotter rhythm of empty longing echoed between her legs. The press of his body, the feel of his penis, long and thick and straining under his trousers, called to the need inside her. She moved, intending to put some space between them, but her body had other ideas. Suddenly she rubbed against him, seeking, inviting.

"You see." He filled his hands with her hair. "You feel it as I do. You know me now." He kissed the place just under her chin, sliding his mouth up to her ear. "Do you want me inside you when you bite me?"

She couldn't speak. He asked too much of her, and she wanted to agree, to surrender, to do exactly as he wished. If she did, she suspected that she would never be able to leave him.

Valentin caught the lobe of her ear between his teeth, biting down until she quivered. "You were made for me, for my pleasure. I will give you everything you desire. Do you want me?"

She struggled against him, pushing and then pulling at him.

He would not relent. "Tell me."

"I want you. Yes. I want you inside me." She was begging, and she didn't care. She needed this; she needed him. He would keep her safe. He would answer her longing. He would fill the hollow places inside her. She wanted him to do that. She wanted to feel him so deep inside her that she could never take another breath again without feeling him there.

"If I take you, there will be no more talk of dying." He sounded furious now, his fingers tightening against her scalp. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

His eyes were changing, the pupils splintering, the pale blue glowing with fierce passion. "I am your lord now. Your master."

Something melted inside her, perhaps the last of her resistance, perhaps her heart. "You are."

"Who am I?"

"You are my master."

She allowed Valentin to guide her head to his throat, and there she kissed the smooth skin with her lips. She knew what he wanted, but she waited, tormenting him as he had her.

"Liling." His hand clamped on the back of her neck. "Take my blood."

Her mouth opened, and the unfamiliar teeth stretched, aching and eager for what he offered. She could feel his blood rising, pulsing under his skin, coming to her, luring her, until with a soft sound of defeat she bit down, driving her fangs into his flesh.

"You did not tell me there would be alligators." Rain complained as he shouldered his way through a tangle of palmettos. One of the fan-shaped leaves sprang back and slapped him in the face. "Or that I would be molested by vengeful weeds."

"It was your nose that led us down this path." Farlae stopped and scanned the area before them. "The alligator did not bite you. If you keep complaining, however, I will."

"No, you won't." Rain predicted gloomily, and filled his chest with the damp, chilly night air. "When we find Jaus, I will ask him to reward me with a place among his jardin. He will make me his seneschal, and give me leave to collect all of the tin windup toys I wish."

"If we find Jaus before I throttle you," Farlae corrected, "we will radio the major and he will send the helicopter, and we will return to the Realm. Then I think I will throttle you anyway."

Rain stopped and turned. "I am twice your size, and I love you. Rather more than my collection of windup toys."

"Of which you never tire," Farlae said. "God help us."

Rain continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I have done wicked things with you for years that, should I ever die, are going to be the reason our heavenly Father sends me to burn in hell for all eternity. And you liked them, or you would have surely cast me aside for another. So why are you always bullying me?"

"If I did not," Farlae said, "we would be back at the Realm playing strip Monopoly instead of finding Suzerain Jaus."

Rain's broad, plain face crinkled into an enormous grin. "When we get back, you can be the thimble."

The two men moved deeper into the marsh, slopping occasionally to check the air. After another hour of searching, Rain muttered something and crouched, filling his cupped hand with water and bringing it to his lips.

"There is oil in that water," Farlae warned. "It will make you sick, and I will not kiss you until you wash your mouth out with soap." He looked again, and narrowed his flawed eye as he saw the subtle coloration of the pollutant. "That is not oil. It's petrol, but not like any I've seen."

"Jet fuel." Rain brought his wet hand up to his nose and breathed in, and then tasted the water again. "Humans, three of them, but not like humans. Two females and one male. And Jaus." He plunged forward, dunking his head into the shallow water before lifting it out. He pushed his dripping hair back and pointed. "Some distance that way."

"Some distance?"

Rain fiddled with his radio. "Ten miles, perhaps fifteen. There is blood; one of them is injured. Which button do I push to call the major?"

Farlae took the radio from him and clamped a hand around Rain's strong neck before he brought his mouth down and gave his lover a slow, deep kiss. "You," he said, "are brilliant."