“And they would be right,” she replied grimly. “The Wraiths are not ones to make friends, not even amongst themselves. We gather just once a year, more to mate than anything else. But I’ve never…I hear they’re grim affairs.”

“You’ve never gone to one of these gatherings?” Jackson asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I wouldn’t be well received. You see, I am a half-breed. That is not looked upon with a kind eye amongst Wraiths.”

“But it is looked upon with a kind eye amongst us,” Jackson said quickly. “The more people who can communicate with the other Nightwalkers the better.”

“Are you sure I can do it?”

“All the other half-breeds can.”

“Oh. Well, I would like to try.”

“Perhaps later,” Kamen said. “Right now I need to go to my room and gather some spell components together. I need to read up on something called a witness spell. And I will need you, Jackson, and Marissa for the spell. You will be a key component.”

Jackson frowned. “We do not like magic,” he said hesitantly.

“Why not?” Viève asked defensively. “It has allowed him to make great strides in this peace accord you are so keen on.”

“It’s just…it has always meant something negative for the Politic. It is hard to change that way of thinking.”

“Well now you have more than one magic-using Templar that has defected to your side. It might be wise to open your mind to it a little. It may be key to breaking this curse and defeating Apep,” Kamen said.

“I realize that,” Jackson said grimly. “It’s just habit. There are a lot of people here who feel the same way. The Politic have been fighting the Templars for so long…but I have great hopes that one day there will no longer be Templars and Politic. It will just be Bodywalkers as a whole. And there will be no First Faction or Second Faction of Nightwalkers; it will just be Nightwalkers, fully united.”

“That sounds almost like a dream.” Viève sighed. “Everyone finally getting along with everyone else. Wouldn’t that be nice?” But then she said, “But I wouldn’t count too heavily on the Wraiths. They are very selfish.”

“And you? Are you selfish?” Jackson asked, a tease to his tone.

“I can be, I suppose. Aren’t we all in our way? We all want what’s best for ourselves. In this case, we hope what’s best for us is understood by everyone to be us all working together.”

“To that end, I must go to my rooms. Jackson, will you see to it Viève is introduced around the estate?”

“Of course. Viève,” Jackson said, holding out an inviting elbow. It was a gesture of pure trust, she realized. He had to know that a Wraith’s touch could kill him. But he had seen Kamen touch her with no ill effect and was assuming there would be no malice to her touch. She took his arm with a shy smile. Kamen studied them critically a moment then, with a short nod, he left to go up to his rooms.

Viève followed Jackson around the huge house. They first entered an enormous living room, where she met Ahnvil’s wife, Kat.

“This is my blushing bride,” Ahnvil said, his thick Scottish burr as deep and warm as the look in his eyes when he gazed at Kat. It was a study in contrasts. The huge Gargoyle male was extremely tall and buff; his muscles seemed to have muscles. Kat was small and petite, lost completely in his loving hug as it swallowed her whole. “We got married last week to the day. ’Tis our one week anniversary. And I’ve something special in mind, make no mistake about that, Kat lass.”

“Stop it!” she cried, blushing a pretty shade of pink. “Do you have to tell everyone?”

“And anyone. The whole world’s to know how I feel about you, Kat lass, and I doona want to change that.”

She sighed, clearly put upon, but she smiled fondly at him and patted him on his bulging biceps. “Don’t mind us,” she said. “What were we saying? Oh yes, I was the first half-breed to make contact with the First Faction of Nightwalkers. It was quite by accident, although Bella, the Druid whom I ran into, says a premonition drove her to be exactly there at the exact time she needed to be there. You see, she has these super intense premonitions. Oh, and she’s an Enforcer. Which is like a cop. A real bad-ass kick-ass cop that keeps Demons in check. And if you knew how powerful these Demons are, you’d know keeping them in check ain’t easy.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

“But enough about us, let’s talk about you,” Kat said, leaning forward with interest. “Tell us all about yourself.”

Viève paled. If there was one thing she didn’t want to do, it was talk about herself. She suddenly missed Kamen’s protection and she found herself a little stunned by the feeling. Since when had she started thinking of him as her protector? They hadn’t even known each other for more than a few hours. Why was she suddenly so dependent on him?

Because she was completely out of her element. She was not the right choice for an assignment such as this. She knew nothing about diplomacy. She didn’t even like to talk to people. She had learned to keep quiet and not ask any questions. She had never even travelled away from her house, not even for the Kinua. All she did was work in her garden or, in the winter months, read and sew. She did her share of chores…more than her share. But no one in the cell, not even her mother, went out of their way to talk to her. There were days when she didn’t speak a single word to anyone. And that was just the way they liked it.

She wondered why the Doyen would give such an important job to someone like her. He had clearly known she was a half-breed. Why would he even trust her? According to her cell she wasn’t worthy of trust. By nature of her human side she was prone to be a deceiver and a liar.

“There’s nothing to tell. Just that I’m a half-breed Wraith and I’ve been sent here to see if you can get all eleven Nightwalkers together before we agree to become the twelfth.”

“And if we can’t do that, the Wraiths won’t join us? What will they do when Apep goes gunning for them?” Kat asked.

“Apep has already made contact with the Wraiths,” Viève said quietly. “He demands that they serve him as they have done in the ancient past.”