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Carter held up his hand. “No, Delilah—not a good idea. But even if the five of you do go after the gate, you won’t be able to destroy it. You must have a powerful sorcerer to disrupt the field of the Demon Gate. And none of you can do it. It doesn’t take someone quite as powerful as the conjurer of the gate, but none of you have nearly enough power to destroy it.”
I sat very still for a moment. A thought was creeping into my head, and I really wished it would go away because it meant asking a favor from someone I never wanted to meet again. “How powerful?”
“Powerful enough to disrupt spirits—someone who’s been working magic for a long, long time. Again, they cannot be mortal—unless they’ve been around a thousand years.”
Anxious, I pushed myself to my feet and paced. “I might know somebody, but I have to make a call first. May I step into your kitchen, please?”
“Use my parlor.” Carter ushered me into a small chamber off the living room. I’d never been in here before and was quite surprised to see a television set and a stack of DVDs. Movies of all sorts. I gave Carter a quizzical look.
“Movies? TV? You? Really?”
Carter flashed me a sheepish smile. “I have my moments, Menolly. You are very quick to assume, I’ve noticed. Perhaps that is one quality you should be working on.” The rebuke was gently given, and I gave him one of those what can you do looks.
“I am what I am, Carter. I try, but…”
“But you enjoy jumping to conclusions; you leap first and look later, and I think that’s just your nature, girl.” He headed toward the door but stopped to look back at me. “I offer criticism only with the best of intentions. With your strength, and the fact that you are a vampire, it would be easy to act first and come to regret afterward. And I somehow think…regret weighs heavy on your shoulders when it makes its appearance.”
With that, he exited the room. I stared at the door behind him. He was right. I had a great deal of power and strength, and it would be so easy to abuse it. I’d seen that lack of restraint in other vampires, and I’d seen the bloody results.
“Maybe you’re right,” I whispered to the closed door, before taking out my phone. As I punched in Mallen’s number, I grimaced. I’d be waking him out of a sound sleep. But there was no help for it.
He answered the phone after three rings. “Menolly, charming. Do you realize what time it is?”
I’d never heard Mallen being quite so churlish before. “I’m sorry to disturb you. Is everything all right?”
He let out a long sigh. “No. We lost three patients today. We have no clue why they died—well, we do, but there’s nothing we can do. Charlotine told me they were drained. Apparently, whatever it is, isn’t just draining of life force that can kill, but also draining magical abilities and energy.”
I held the phone to my ear, staring straight ahead. “Yeah, we know.” I made a decision and filled him in on the bhouts. “The deaths began with the guards on our land.”
“And they’re likely to continue. We’ve got a full schedule tomorrow of people complaining of the same symptoms. I don’t know what we’re going to do. Sharah’s having to slow down a little because of the baby. The pregnancy is taking a toll on her—she’s got such a slight frame.” Mallen usually wasn’t this outgoing with information. It worried me because it meant things were on the downswing for sure.
“We may be able to stop this plague. We have some information that might just change things. But if we can find the core of the problem, we’re going to need help in putting a stop to it. Apparently none of us are strong enough to do anything about it.” I paused.
“What can I do to help?”
I swallowed my pride. “Your friend—Charlotine. You said she’s a powerful sorceress? We need her. Will you talk to her and ask her to call me?”
Mallen chuckled. “Menolly, that’s the last thing I expected you to ask.”
“Me, too,” I said. “Me, too.”
Chapter 16
By the time we got home, everybody had gone to bed. I’d told the others about Charlotine, and they agreed to give her a chance, but first we had to find the cave. Tomorrow, the others would start searching for a plausible spot where Gulakah was gating in the bhouts.
I peeked into the parlor. Nerissa was asleep on the sofa. Marion and Douglas were staying in one of Delilah’s spare rooms—we’d put up an air mattress for them, and they and their cat, Snickers, had settled in. Delilah and Snickers got along surprisingly well, and she spent time in her tabby form chasing him around the house. He never fought back and followed her around with those big round moon-eyes, both when she was Tabby and when she was Kitten. Misty, Camille’s ghost cat, got in on the act, and all three of them would go tearing around the joint, knocking things over and racing up the curtains.
I crept into the parlor and over to the sofa. Nerissa was snuggled beneath a thick comforter, and her long tawny locks fell across her face in the most winsome way. She might be a powerful woman when awake, but in her sleep she looked young and vulnerable. My heart melted as I softly sat beside her, stroking her hair away from her face.
“Sleeping beauty.” I whispered softly so as not to wake her, she looked so comfortable. The boxes and bags were over in the corner and I decided to take a peek, stopping by the fireplace to stoke the fire. I didn’t want to turn on the lights—that would wake her up—so I lit a couple of vanilla-scented candles.
Tiptoeing over to the pile of shopping, I settled myself in the center of all the goodies and started carefully picking through the bags. The first contained shoes—two pair in silver, one in Nerissa’s size, the other in mine. Hers were stiletto pumps, and mine were strappy sandals with a platform heel. I smiled as I slid them back into the boxes and set them to one side.
The next box contained a rich plum halter-top gown, velvet and stunning, with a plunging V-neck. I held it to my face, the material soft against my skin. Nerissa would be so beautiful in it. Refolding it, I examined the next box. My dress. I let out a quiet “Oh” as I held up a silk gown. The neck was Grecian, while the arms attached from tiny bows on the top of the shoulders, creating a draped sleeve. The color was the color of spring lilacs, of pale lavender, and it would blouse gently at my waist, then fall in sheer layers to create a diaphanous effect.
For some reason, I felt a little let down and I didn’t quite know why. The dress was gorgeous, but something nagged at me. However, Nerissa would never know that I felt this way. She’d only know that I loved what she found for me.
I slipped the dress back in the box and set it aside. The rest of the bags contained an ivory bra, garter, and stockings in Nerissa’s size, and pale white in mine. Evening bags and jewelry rounded out her shopping spree, and as I stared at the finery around me, I suddenly felt horribly sad and, realizing what was upsetting me, I slowly walked over to Nerissa, kneeling down beside her.
