"I command thee, Bael, lord of Abaddon, to my will by the virtue of my power." The air in the circle shim-mered, a low howl like the wind in a storm filling the club. The people around us stood frozen, as if in fear of what I was about to do.

Perdita stared at it in horror. "Please! I beg of you, do not! I will be lost!"

"Aisling," Drake said, stepping forward. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I have no choice," I said, keeping my eyes on the woman at my feet. The air within the circle grew pearlescent, as if something was forming, the wind howling within the club growing until it was shrieking like a dying animal. My stomach tightened, my soul sick with dread. "She will not admit her guilt

otherwise. By my hand thy shall be bound, by my blood thy shall be bound, by my voice thy shall be—"

"I confess!" Perdita shrieked. She clawed the air, drag-ging herself to her feet. "I will confess all, only do not bring him! He will take me with him if you do, and I will be damned for all time! I confess, please, I confess!"

"You confess your guilt to everyone here? You confess to the murders of Aurora Deauxville and the Venediger? You confess to arranging the crimes so that Drake and later I would be blamed? Do you confess to binding your-self to the demon lord Bael in exchange for bringing him the Tools of Bael?"

"Yes, yes, I confess it all. I threw suspicion on Drake. I arranged the murders to blame the Otherworld so as to confuse the police. I confess. I confess…." She col-lapsed, sobbing hysterically as she writhed before the cir-cle.

"I release thee, Bael, by my hand and my blood and my voice, thy shall return to thy dominion."

I rubbed out a bit of the blood forming the circle. The howling grew even louder, until everyone in the club screamed and clutched their ears. The air within twisted as if it were raging against my will, and for one horrible moment I feared I wasn't strong enough to send Bael back, but the lodestone burned hot in my hand with power. With a terrible noise that sounded like a thousand souls in torment, the howling abruptly ceased, the air in the circle slowly returning to normal. Perdita curled up into a fetal ball, rocking as she repeated over and over in a childish singsong voice, "I confess, I confess."

I walked over to Drake and stomped on his foot. Hard. "What will I give you to help me? What will I give you?"

He stood on one leg rubbing his foot, grinning a grin so steamy, it almost melted my underwear. "I never doubted you would defeat her. You are my mate. You could do no less."

I pointed a finger at him. "You are too arrogant for your own good. I officially de-mate you. Go away. I never want to see you again. Except maybe tonight. Naked. Your place. But after that, no more."

I turned back to the now-babbling audience. Rene was being propped up by the crowd; his head was bloody but he appeared to be OK. Amelie was fussing over him, in-structing people to bring her water and herbs.

Drake's men pulled Perdita to her feet. She hung limply between them, her hands moving incessantly as if she were drawing something. I moved closer to speak to her, but Pal shook his head. I understood why when I saw her eyes. They were mad, totally mad. She had snapped under the strain of my threat to bring Bael forward to confront her lies.

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself, chilled by the proof of what power the Eye could wield, my whole body shaking with the realization of what I had done to another human being.

Warmth flooded me as Drake's hand slid around my waist. I fought the need to lean into him for a moment, then gave in and allowed his fire to flow into my frigid blood. His voice stroked my skin like the sheerest silk. "You are not responsible for her madness. She walked that path long before you came. Is it not the work of a madman to kill for gain?"

"Yes, but… but I scared her by summoning Bael."

"She sold herself to Bael in exchange for power. She made the decision to do so, not you. The price she pays now for that choice has nothing to do with you."

They were nice words, and they made a lot of sense, but they didn't ease all my guilt.

'Too bad we didn't have any Jell-O," Jim said as it strolled over to sniff Perdita. "Think of the money we could have made charging everyone to watch you three babes go at it!"

"You do what I think you're intending on doing, and you will be on nothing but dry dog food for the rest of your unnatural life," I warned it.

Jim lowered its leg and gave me a sour look as it walked away from Perdita.

"What will you do with her?" Amelie asked me, nodding toward the slumped figure.

I looked out at the dissipating crowd. "I don't know—it's not really my decision, is it? Why is everyone leaving? You all belong to the Otherworld, not me. It's up to you guys to decide what happens to her."

Amelie smiled a sad smile. "You have defeated the one who would be Venediger. By rights, that makes you—"

"No!" I yelled, dropping Drake's hand and backing away from them. "It's bad enough I'm a Guardian and a wyvern's ex-mate, and a demon lord. I'm not going to be a Venediger, as well! Jim, I command you, clear me a path! We're getting out of here before anything else hap-pens!"

Epilogue

Do you want me to castrate you right here and now?" "Sheesh!" Jim flared its cloggy nostrils at me and low-ered its front from the overstuffed armchair. "I had an itch, that's all! I just wanted to scratch."

"In the last two days you've humped two pillows, the corner of my bed, and the vacuum cleaner the maid left while she was cleaning the bathroom. Drake's furniture is nice. I'm sure he'd appreciate it if it remained that way." •

Jim threw itself to the floor. "My heart is breaking, and you won't even let me get a few jollies with a stupid chair. Fine. Be that way. You can tear me away from my beloved Cecile, but I won't forget her. Our love will last through all the long ages of mortals."

I patted Jim on its head. "I never said we weren't com-ing back—I just said I had to go home and explain to my uncle what all the fuss has been about. And whither I go, you go. So stop pouting."

"When I die, I'm coming back to haunt you." "You can't die, silly." I strolled across the thick car-peting of Drake's private study and examined the paint-ing hanging behind a monstrous mahogany desk. It was a simple pencil sketch of a seated woman holding an urn,