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CHAPTER 1

My nose quivered. Something smel ed wonderful. I fol owed the scent through the crowded hal until I found myself standing next to the buffet table.

My sister Menol y and I had just stood beside our sister Camil e as she married her third husband. Three--count 'em--three husbands. Simultaneously.

Tril ian had been decked out as the best goth groom ever, wearing black leather pants that matched the obsidian gleam of his skin, a black mesh tank, and a velvet cloak the color of blood.

Morio and Smoky were dressed in what they had worn to their wedding with Camil e: Smoky was in his long white trench with a blue and gold vest, a pale blue button-down shirt, tight white jeans, and his ankle-length silver hair coiling around him like dancing serpents. Morio wore a red and gold kimono with a dress sword hanging from his side, and his hair rippled down his back.

And of course my sister looked good enough to eat, her raven hair glistening against her gossamer priestess robes, so sheer I could see her bra and panties through them. Now that she was an official priestess of the Moon Mother, she was expected to don ceremonial garb for most important occasions.

The four of them had gathered before Iris, who again presided, and together they underwent a variant of the Soul Symbiont ritual designed to bring Tril ian into their fold. Menol y and I were wearing gowns--hers of black with shimmering crystals, mine of gold--and stood as witnesses again.

Now we were into the celebration part of the affair.

I glanced at the calendar on the wal . October 22, and we were wel on our way to Samhain, the festival of the dead. It had been a month, almost to the day, since we'd unsuccessful y raided Stacia Bonecrusher's safe house.

Thinking about Stacia forced me to face another thought, one I'd been trying to avoid. I glanced across the room at Chase Johnson. The detective was sitting at a table by himself, watching the celebration with a quizzical look on his face. Unable to help myself, I headed in his direction. He watched me approach, his expression careful y sliding into neutral. I took the chair opposite him.

"It's a beautiful wedding." I nervously played with the napkin resting on the table next to me. "Don't you think?"

"Yes, lovely." He blinked, long and slow, and I wondered what he was real y thinking. "Camil e seemed a little stressed, though. What's up with that?"

Even though his tone was normal, I knew there was nothing normal about Chase. Not anymore.

"Our father refused to attend the wedding. Not only does he disapprove of her marrying Tril ian, but his official stance is that she's turned her back on her duties for the Otherworld Intel igence Agency by becoming a priestess and agreeing to enter Aeval's court. He refuses to condone her behavior by showing up, and the day she actual y pledges under Aeval's rule . . . I'm afraid of what's going to happen."

"Turned her back on her duties? That doesn't seem fair, considering al she's done for the OIA. I know Sephreh's your father, but damn, that's cold." He sipped his champagne, sounding more himself than he had the entire past month.

I glanced at the fading scars on his hands. His body had healed remarkably fast from the deep knife wounds that had laced his skin and punctured several of his organs. But it would take a long, long time for him to heal from the potion that had saved his life. The Nectar of Life had torn his entire world apart and put it back together in a crazy new patchwork. Our relationship was on rocky ground, at best.

"When she promised to train under Morgaine, and especially when she agreed to dedicate herself to Aeval's Dark Court, Father took it as a personal insult. But Camil e doesn't have a choice; she's under direct order from the Moon Mother herself."

"Yeah, I got that," he said, fiddling with his glass.

"She did everything for us when our mother died, and without her, the family would have been ripped to shreds. Father was extremely cruel to her the last time they spoke, and I'm pissed off that he didn't show today. Our cousin Shamas has been trying to fil the void, but it's just not the same."

"What did he say?" Chase played with his goblet. "By the way, wil alcohol hurt me . . . now? I haven't had a drink since before the accident."

"No, you'l be fine. You can stil eat and drink anything you want. It's not like you were turned into a vampire." I stared at my hands. As loyal as I was to our father, I couldn't blind myself to the truth. "At his last visit, things went from bad to worse. By the time he left, Camil e was on the sofa, curled up in a bal , sobbing. Smoky came in at the point when Sephreh threatened to disinherit her. In turn, Smoky threatened to shift into his dragon self and crisp our father."

"Crap. The fal out from that can't be good."

"Things were at a standstil until Menol y stepped in, told Father to go home and Smoky to chil . But definitely Not Pretty. Not at al ."

"A mess, al the way around, then." Chase morosely picked up his champagne flute and downed the last of the sparkling wine. "And so . . . here we sit."

He stared across the table at me, his gaze unreadable. "I don't know what to say, Delilah. I don't even have a clue on how to start."

Part of me wanted to cry. Nothing seemed to be working out the way we hoped it would. The world had gone to hel in a handbasket for al of us. I blinked back my tears.

"How about you start by tel ing me how you're doing? We've only talked three times in the past two weeks." I didn't mention that we'd barely kissed since he'd healed up and returned to duty.

Chase contemplated the question, looking at me through those limpid, soulful eyes. They'd only grown more luminous since he'd drunk the Nectar of Life. His aura had shifted. Some spark, some force I couldn't put my finger on, was changing him.

"How can I answer that, when I don't even know? What am I supposed to do? Jump up and shout, ' Rah rah, now I'l outlive everybody I've ever known in my life'?" He slammed the goblet on the table so hard it almost broke.

Stung, I blinked back the tears. "Giving you the Nectar of Life was the only option we had--unless you prefer the thought of dying."

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