*THA-WACKKKK!*

The whip cracked loudly over the heads of the two panicked horses racing Lord Phantomhive's private carriage toward its destination.

"For pity's sake, Sebastian!" Ciel called loudly from the cabin, trying to be heard over the thundering of the horse's hooves. "Get us there in one piece, at least!"

"I might point out, My Lord," Sebastian answered from the box seat as he held tightly to the reigns, "that we wouldn't be trying to beat Grell there right now if you hadn't been quite so arrogant."

Ciel scowled and held on to his cane and the window with one hand while gripping his seat tightly with the other as he was violently jostled about.

*A demon hunter with amnesia, a fake nanny under suspicion for murder, an overly protective brute of a dog as well as three well-meaning but altogether apocalyptic house servants…don't forget poor Tanaka...LIZZIE…* he thought with a chill. *And a Grim Reaper on the way there?*

"Oh God." Ciel grimaced. "I never reinstated the property insurance after the fire."

*THA-WACKKKK!*

Mey-Rin regarded the young man before her with doubtful eyes. He certainly seemed sincere enough. And if he had wanted to kill her he could have easily done so. But still….

Phoenix leaned against a wall across from her, looking entirely relaxed and almost indifferent. He was waiting for her to answer him, but she hadn't quite managed to process the whole thing just yet.

Sitting on the edge of a barrel in the basement she kept sizing him up. In truth, however, Mey couldn't be sure if it was in an attempt to determine his character or if it was just because he was quite easily one of the most gorgeous men she had ever laid her far-sighted eyes on.

*He's beautiful!* she sighed inwardly. *So tall and powerful and his hair…even Mister Sebastian's hair isn't so dark it's shines blue like his does!* Then realizing her admiration was bleeding into her reverence for the Head Butler she admonished herself, *But he's no gentleman, no he's not!* she frowned rubbing her sore wrists.

"You didn't have to be so rough, no you didn't." she mumbled to him, recalling how easily he had disarmed and subdued her.

"Your two friends beg to differ." He replied coolly, holding up her two guns and expertly snapping the cylinders open to let the live rounds clatter to the stone floor. "And I'd wager these aren't the only side arms you're concealing under that uniform." He paused for a moment, narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her intensely.

Mey began shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. She did have a small derringer nestled in the band of her drawers and a thin dagger tucked into her boots…Her eyes popped open, *What if he decides to go looking for them?* She didn't know if she was excited or horrified by that prospect and she pushed herself even further back onto the barrel.

Phoenix's demeanor changed suddenly, smiling as if he knew what she had been thinking. He walked toward her and flipped the pistols around, butt end facing her. "Here." He said. "Just don't make me regret it."

She took the guns slowly, a look of stunned disbelief washing over her features.

"But….." she mumbled. "You ain't here to harm the Young Master or the Lady Karma?"

Phoenix turned his back to her and walked to the high window, taking a sudden, keen interest in the scenery beyond it. He gazed outside and raised his right arm over his head, leaning it against the wall while the fading sunlight painted him in shades of oranges and reds.

"You're her friend." he said, not turning to look at her.

"I try to be, I do." Mey answered in a small voice and she slid off the barrel. "I want to be. It's not that simple, you see." she explained as she went about gathering scattered ammo, never taking her eyes off the stranger for more than a second.

"Why not?" Phoenix asked bluntly. He could hear Mey-Rin reloading her guns behind him.

She slid one cartridge after another slowly into the cylinders of the custom revolvers and watched him simply standing there, impassively.

"Young Master says it's improper for a well-born lady to fraternize with the house servants. He was mighty displeased when he found out she had been eating breakfast with us, yes he was."

*CLICK*

Mey-Rin snapped the cylinders shut with a flick of her wrists.

Phoenix didn't appear to have noticed, but she knew he had.

"That's a little unfair, don't you think?" he asked, crossing his arms as the sun finally sank behind the tree line.

Mey-Rin's arms were by her sides, a gun in each shaking hand. This man's demeanor…his very presence…threw her off and confused her. She knew he was dangerous. In that she had no doubt at all…but to who?

"To isolate a young girl simply because she might turn out to be nobility?" he continued, obvious disapproval laced his words.

"Young Master did the right thing, he did." Mey said evenly. "He was trying to protect her from herself…keep her from sullying her name."

Phoenix's laughter was completely out of place there in that tense basement room, and it was not entirely jovial. There were definite tones of sarcasm and anger in it. He turned to face her.

"Her name?" he said after a moment, regaining his composure but keeping the amused smile. "What is her name Mey-Rin?" he said leaning down to peer into Mey's nervous eyes. "Hmm? Who is her family? Where does she hail from?"

He sniffed with contempt. "How do you protect something that you don't have any working knowledge of in the first place? Trying to do that is a great way to get that thing killed."

Mey's arms relaxed and she looked to Phoenix with a straight, resolved expression.

"Who are you, then?" she asked boldly as she returned her weapons to whatever hiding place they had originally come from deep in the folds of her skirt.

"Tell me, Mey-Rin," he replied with an impish grin. "Do you believe in God?"

Beverly stood over the kitchen stove, stirring a small copper pot and humming quietly to herself. She watched the amber colored liquid eddy around in the center. Bits of tea leaves, spices and herbs were all caught in its weak vortex and disappearing beneath the surface. *Very much how I've been feeling of late.* she smiled.

Baldroy appeared from the servant's stairs and greeted her with a smile.

"'ello, Miss Bishop!" he stood over her shoulder and took a deep breath, appreciating the aroma of a hot drink. "Making Lady Karma's evening tea?"

"Yes, indeed." She answered politely.

Baldroy's nose wrinkled a bit and he took another whiff. "I don't think I recognize that brew." he said curiously. "Is it foreign or something? Smells strong"

Beverly laughed good naturedly, "Yes…indeed it is. The main spices come from very far away, in fact. It is an old family recipe, known to cure whatever ails you."

"No kiddin'?" Baldroy sounded impressed. "I'll have to try me some, then."

Beverly smiled warmly at him. "Baldroy, would it be too much trouble to make a request for Karma's breakfast in the morning?"

Baldroy's eyes widened and his jaw fell slightly slack.

"You…you want me to fix breakfast for the little Lady?" he asked incredulously. "Really?"

"Certainly." She replied. "You are the Phantomhive chef after all, are you not?"

"Yes'sum." he agreed, scratching his head with a look of consternation. "Only, I think you're the only one here who realizes it."

"Well," Beverly moved the pot off the heat and wiped her hands on her apron. "I am much too busy with my own duties to arrogantly assume yours as well, wouldn't you agree?"

Baldroy watched her in astonishment. Of course the whole household felt that way about Sebastian on frequent occasions, but he had never met anyone with the audacity to actually voice it. He just nodded, cigarette hanging loosely out of the corner of his mouth.

"Good." she said cheerfully fetching a teapot and covering the open top with a strainer. "I was hoping Lady Karma might get a special treat tomorrow morning."

"Sure thing, Miss B…whatever she wants!"

Beverly beamed. "She does so love a good pheasant egg on sausage-toast breakfast, I understand. Do you think you could rustle up some fresh pheasant eggs for that? We'll give her a splendid surprise when she wakes up! That accompanied by grapefruit, strawberries with cream, a small glass of orange juice and a nice cup of Earl Grey should fix her up nicely for the day!" Beverly clapped her hands together as if elated by the very thought of pleasing her mistress.

"Yeah, sure!" Baldroy fell in line perfectly, appearing to catch "Miss Bishop's" excitement as though it were contagious. "But…where'm I gonna find pheasant eggs?"

Beverly glanced out of the kitchen window at the extensive grounds.

"Well, the sun is just now setting so the birds should be nesting for the night." she instructed. "There's a nice patch of ground cover on the south side of the manor, a bit a-ways from the carriage house, down the main lane. I've seen them frequenting that area the few times I've gone through there."

Baldroy nodded and listened as she continued while fishing a small wicker basket from the cabinet.

"Take this egg basket and line it with a towel to keep the eggs from breaking. Go there and make a racket when you get close to the undergrowth. That should flush the birds out so you can see where their nests are located. We only need four or so, leave the rest to hatch." She handed him the basket and smiled. "Think you can do that?"

"Of course I can!" Baldroy said proudly, looking ridiculous with the small basket on one arm.

"Of course you can." she repeated, tinging the words with admiration. "My father always told me, 'A man that can track and flush his own fowl will never fail to feed his family. That's a man worth his salt.' he'd say."

Baldroy smiled like a loon and ran out the delivery door of the kitchen, promising to be back soon with his prize.

"He really is a lovely man." Beverly said quietly to herself, waving as he disappeared into the shadows of the late evening. "So very helpful."

She turned back to her pot of tea sitting on the counter and pulled an ornate, silver dagger from her apron pocket. Setting it to the side she picked up the sugar and poured it slowly out onto a large plate, drawing a Triquetra first, then adding the Celtic Ogham symbol Ruis directly beneath it.

Closing her eyes she held her hands, palms up, over the plate as if in supplication.

"Mo cuimhne ambas mestas le mise," she chanted softly.

"Mo spiorad ambas mestas le mise."

Her eyes began to glow the same flaming blue white that Phoenix's had in the church with Veronika.

"Mo fuil ambas mestas le mise.

Mo bás mar chúiteamh ar son do aiseag"

With that she picked up the dagger and grabbed the blade, slicing the palm of her hand open. There was a blinding flash of pure white light as she lifted her face to the heavens and said "Bíodh sé amhlaidh!" *see author notes

Her blood dripped steadily into the sugar symbols below it, creating a thick, deep red paste.

Beverly's eyes returned to their normal hazel and she calmly picked up a nearby towel, wrapping her hand in it. She poured the hot tea through the strainer on the teapot, removing tea leaves and large bits of other seasonings and additives. She placed the pretty little pot on a tray next to a small pastry then picked up the plate with the bloody sugar mixture, spooning a good quantity of it into the tea. Stirring, she softly hummed that tune Karma, or more correctly, Eve was so fond of.

She placed the spoon in the sink and a tea cup on the tray, then gathered it all up and headed out the door, switching from humming to singing the last few words of the song as the door swung closed behind her.

"Though sad fate our lives may sever

Parting will not last forever,

There's a hope that leaves me never,

All through the night."

Phoenix was perched atop a tall Elm tree at the turn off from the public route onto the Phantomhive Estate's long private drive, looking back at the manor in the distance when a bright flash originating from the kitchen lit up the dusky sky. Immediately the sky grew black as dark storm clouds materialized out of nowhere and rain slowly began pitter-pattering in big, heavy drops.

Phoenix's eyes wavered and dropped, his mind and heart locked in a battle for control of the moment. When he looked up, resolve had replaced reservation and his eyes steadily observed the manor with no emotion.

He was certain the maid would keep her word to keep Tanaka busy long enough for Beverly to complete her goal. Oculous and Vigil were off running a fool's errand hunting herbs to keep them out of the way, the chef was likewise searching for pheasant eggs…in the dark, and he had seen Finnian napping beside the carriage house on the way out.

He heard the fast approaching sound of a speeding carriage and watched as Lord Phantomhive's private barouche skidded dangerously around the sharp turn onto the drive leading to the manor. Sebastian, at the reigns, glanced up directly at Phoenix as they passed by. Even at that great distance there was no mistaking the deadly warning in his eyes as he roared by, Young Master in tow. Phoenix never even blinked.

*THA-WACKKKK!*

The whip cracked as the carriage rumbled off into the distance. Phoenix stood, his leathery wings spreading out from nowhere, and he took to the night, determined to fulfill his part in this plan…if for Bev's sake alone.

Ciel had seen the blinding white flash moments before they reached the turn off to Phantomhive manor. *What the hell was that?* his mind yelled impotently.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded again, this time shouting to Sebastian over the roar of the carriage wheels and horse hooves.

"I'm sure I don't know, Master." and then with maddening calm he requested, "Please hold tightly to something secure." just before veering onto the drive of the estate.

Ciel had not had time to do so and wound up in a heap on the floor of the cab, legs sticking straight up against the bench seats, hat rolling around next to him.

"DAMN DEMON!"

Beverly entered the girl's room softly, trying not to disturb her.

Eve was sitting up in bed, her back supported by numerous pillows and her thick coverlet pulled up around her shoulders.

*Bless…she looks truly pitiful.* Beverly thought ruefully. *The process has not been an easy one for her, to be sure.*

"Well! You're looking a sight better, I must say!" she lied.

Eve smiled weakly, "Really?" she asked, trying to sit up a little more. Noticing Beverly's hand she frowned and reached for her. "What happened?"

"None of that!" Beverly fussed at her gently. "You just save your strength. You'll never feel better if you keep using up all your energy for such silly, unimportant things! I just had a little accident in the kitchen, is all."

Beverly sat the tea tray down on the night table and settled next to Eve on the bed. She brushed the girl's hair away from her pale forehead and smiled down at her.

"My father always used to say, 'A dull knife is more dangerous than a honed one.' Well, I dare say he's never used one of Mr. Sebastian's knives." she laughed.

"Lizzie came by to keep me company a few minutes ago." Eve smiled back.

"Did she now?" Beverly sounded truly impressed.

"She wanted to get a doctor, but I told her I didn't need one. It's just a trifling tired spell, after all." Eve scooted back down some with Beverly's help.

"Well, now…" Beverly carried on the pretense, "if you're still feeling poorly in the morning we certainly will call a doctor! I won't have my Lady looking like death warmed over!"

"But I don't feel sick!" she insisted. "I just feel really, really…drowsy. Like I'm stuck between two worlds, a world of truth and a world of lies"

Beverly poured her a glass of tea and gave it to her, helping to steady her hands as she took the small cup.

"You've been dreaming?" she asked with marked interest.

"Yes!" Eve confirmed eagerly. "So, so much! Sometimes it's wonderful and then sometimes…" she broke off for a moment. "Sometimes it's horrible." she finished, a pained look in her distant eyes. "I don't even know which world is real anymore. I'm I awake here, talking to you? Or am I awake there, talking to her?"

"Her?" Beverly ventured carefully.

Eve's big eyes lifted quickly to hers. "The Lady." They filled with a mix of emotions only Eve could completely untangle. It was enough to tell Beverly what she needed to know.

It was working.

"Drink your tea, dear." she said, and helped the young girl steady the cup while she drank deeply from it.

"She's so beautiful…" she said dreamily, pushing the cup away.

Beverly set it on the tray. "This Lady?"

"Yes!" Eve stretched, yawning. "And she's so nice to me."

She looked into Beverly's eyes, her own quickly glazing over. "Do you think she's my mother, Miss Bishop?" she asked as they closed, too heavy now for the weak young girl to fight. "Do you…do you think…she's.….real?" The last was little more than a breath as she succumbed to sleep once again.

Beverly repositioned the small, limp body and tucked it in securely. She kissed the girls forehead. "Yes, Eve…She was very, very real. And she loved you very, very much." She leaned down, listening to Eve's heart beat slow down and then checking her shallow breath.

Beverly poured another cup of the tea and set it on the tray close to the bed. She lifted Eve's free hand and produced the dagger. With a set face she sliced the girls palm open and let the blood drip into the cup. Beverly watched as the dark red drops struck the amber tea and spread, turning it reddish-brown and staining the sides of the white teacup. She laid the girl's arm down, palm up and stirred the mixture with her finger.

Beverly removed the towel from her own hand and grasped Eve's in it, pressing the two cuts together, then drank the tea down in one, quick gulp. Kneeling over her she began…

"Mo cuimhne ambas mestas le mise,

Mo spiorad ambas mestas le mise…"

A portal of bright light appeared on a chimney atop the roof of Phantomhive Manor and a lithe, brightly garbed Grell stepped through into the dark, stormy night.

"Oh my!" he gasped dramatically, touching his chin and taking in the unusual, unnatural weather. "How horrible!"

Winds whipped about him from all sides while clouds rolled in the night sky like an angry pot boiling over. Lightning struck a tree in the distance, causing a short lived fire. The brief illumination of the sky from it gave one the impression that the clouds had drawn together, forming one big skull head.

"I didn't dress for rain at all."

He looked down as the sound of a quickly approaching carriage reached his ears and saw the Phantomhive barouche speeding toward him.

He threw his head back and struck a sensational pose, using what little moonlight that escaped the overcast sky to his advantage, thoroughly convinced an impressed Sebastian was watching from below.

"Good thing I'm even more fabulous wet than I am dry!" he said with a flourish, whipping out his custom death scythe.

Grell gracefully back flipped from his perch atop a large chimney and landed perfectly on the flat rooftop, swirling in the widely scattered rain drops like a ballerina and ending with a seductive pose, a big drop or two of rain water running down his face.

"My public awaits!" he sighed melodramatically, directing his attention to an upstairs window.

Suddenly a second portal opened near him and William T. Spears, supervisor of the Dispatch Management Division and Grell's direct superior, stepped out, looking around with disdain.

"William?" Grell said with surprise. "I thought you were finally taking a day off!"

"Yes, well," came the monotonous response, "so did I. Things change, unfortunately."

William looked down as the carriage finally reached the front of the manor and the two occupants raced out of it. He adjusted his spectacles with the blades of his pruner death scythe.

"I was called in to handle this particular harvest. I understand it's not of the usual variety, so…"

"Wait just one minute, Will! This is my assignment!" Grell whined shrilly.

"Was your assignment." William corrected flatly. "These cases can be tricky to say the least, and the board wanted to make sure it was handled smoothly by someone with experience in these situations." Lowering his voice he added grumpily, "Heaven knows I'm not exactly thrilled about it either."

Rain suddenly began falling much harder and far heavier. William stuck his hand out, palm up. "Perfect." he said, as rain drops splattered his spectacles.

"But I've been looking forward to it all day!" Grell moaned, "and besides…" he leaned in to William and batted his eyes, glowing, "Bassy's here! How can I ever win his love if he never gets to see me at my best?" he asked, pouting pitifully. Suddenly jumping up he struck another spectacular pose using his scythe as a prop. "It's time he sees just how deadly efficient I can be!" he asserted flamboyantly, emphasizing this with his trademark, three fingered hand gesture. Lightening seemed to frame him from behind while the wind gave a thrilling lift to his long, dark red hair, imparting an impressive flair to the overall picture.

Coming back to reality he realized William Spears had simply left him behind during his display and was climbing through the window.

"Oh!...Wait!...William?" he hurried off to catch up, finger raised and heels clicking lightly against the shingles.

Ciel and Sebastian burst through the front doors. They quickly scanned the large foyer.

Mey-Rin was standing at the foot of the Grand Staircase next to Tanaka. She looked decidedly fidgety. Tanaka looked…well…like Tanaka.

"Mey-Rin?" Sebastian asked, narrowing his eyes, "Where are the others?"

"Finney got caught in the rain so he's downstairs changing and Baldroy's running an errand for Miss Bishop." she half smiled and averted her gaze. "Me an' Tanaka are here, though…yes we are." he voice trailed off nervously.

"And Lizzie?" he prodded sharply.

"Oh! She and Miss Paula left for home just a few moments ago, yes they did. You didn't pass them on the way here?"

Ciel had seen a carriage on the main road but he had been too distracted to give it much thought at the time. *Well, at least they are safe.* he thought with some relief.

"What of Karma and Miss Bishop?" Ciel demanded.

Her eyes snapped up for an instant. "Miss Bishop's with the Lady Karma in her room. My Lady's feeling poorly since they returned from town so she's fixed her some special tea, she has."

"I'll bet she has." Ciel frowned and swept past Mey-Rin, headed up the stairs. "Sebastian! Check on the others then meet me in Karma's room!"

"My Lord…" Sebastian raised a protest.

"Do I have to make that an order?" Ciel stopped and glared from the landing in front of the west wing.

"No, My Lord." the butler conceded as Ciel turned and continued down the long, shadowy hallway, lit up only by the occasional flash of lightening.

"Mo cuimhne ambas mestas le mise,

Mo spiorad ambas mestas le mise.

Mo fuil ambas mestas le mise.

Mo bás mar chúiteamh ar son do aiseag"

Beverly continued again and again, over and over while Eve seemed to become more agitated each time, her face drawing down into a frown and her eyes darting around nervously behind her eyelids.

*THUD!*

The sound of a body hitting the locked door behind them was unmistakable.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

A loud, demanding knock pounded indignantly.

"Why is this door locked!?" a muffled but clearly irate boy's voice challenged from the other side.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

"Open up, Miss Bishop…or whoever the hell you are! I am the Earl Phantomhive and this is my home! I will not be barred from any part of it!"

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

"Karma!" he called out.

Beverly opened her eyes and smiled softly at the unconscious girl before her.

"I'm afraid, my dear, we have just run out of time together, you and I." she sighed and patted Eve's hand.

She looked to the window ahead of her and her eyes glowed fiercely. Her hair turned from mousey brown to jet black and her teeth sharpened into points as she grimaced, leathery wings bursting from her shoulder blades.

Outside the door an enraged Ciel was flushed and fed up. He didn't immediately see the two reapers approaching him from further down the hall.

"Open up, I say!" he barked and began kicking the door in frustration.

"My, my" Grell's honeyed voice cut in. "I wouldn't open the door for you either, with those horrid manners."

Ciel spun to confront the irritating reaper and caught sight of his straight-laced boss standing severely beside him.

"I take it the subject in question is in there?" he asked flatly.

"Wait!" Ciel ordered, "She doesn't even know who she is…you can't do this yet! How will you be able to judge a blank record?" he reasoned.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ciel Phantomhive." William frowned, "But you are in the way at present and I will have to ask you to move aside."

"I won't." Ciel glared defiantly.

Without warning and so fast it was almost imperceptible, William's scythe zinged past the young lord, hitting the door knob and cleanly severing it.

The bedroom door creaked open and the three looked in. There, kneeling on the floor next to a small girl in an oversized bed, was "Miss Bishop", although she looked nothing like the Miss Bishop Ciel had come to know over the last two days.

Her jet black hair fell loosely to the floor and pooled in a heap behind her and she folded two enormous bat wings protectively over the child. Her large feet had torn her shoes open as though they had simply burst through them and there were long, nasty looking black claws on each toe. She turned her head slowly to eye the intruders and smiled, sharp teeth lining her wide mouth.

"I think we're a tad early, yet." Grell said uncomfortably, stepping behind William and holding his right upper arm. "She doesn't look dead at all."

"Ahem" William cleared his throat, never losing his professional demeanor. "Miss Beverly Walsh," he stated with authority. "I am William T. Spears, director of the Dispatch Management Division for the English branch of the AGR, the Association of Grim Reapers." He pushed his glasses up, more out of force of habit than necessity. "I have been sent to harvest your soul tonight. I understand you've made this arrangement yourself?"

"I have." the Nephilim answered in an unfamiliar, guttural voice.

"Wait!" Ciel broke in. "You're not here for Karma?"

"Who's Karma?" William raised an eyebrow, looking about the room.

"I think he's referring to the girl there, Will." Grell nodded in the direction of the bed, not letting go of his arm.

"Eve?" he asked Ciel, betraying slight confusion. "No, of course not…she still has some time left yet."

Ciel looked from Beverly to "Eve" and back to Beverly.

"Who are you?!" he demanded. "And what do you want with her?"

"I am nobody, My Lord." she laughed. "Like the rest of my kind I am a mere shadow of this world, charged with protecting the chosen and helping to maintain the natural balance between light and dark."

"You're a Nephilim, aren't you?" he said, watching her closely.

"You've been doing your homework, I see." She replied

"You killed the demon, the real Miss Bishop, and took her place here to be near Eve."

"I had her killed, yes." she confirmed. "I had heard you were keeping Eve safe here, and at first it seemed like the ideal place for her to recover, being as this place is more of a fortress than a manor." Her eyes hardened as she locked them onto Ciel. "Imagine my surprise to find that some time ago you had contracted with a demon…the very thing we were trying to keep her hidden from was living right under the same roof with her."

"She's been here for nearly three weeks now! Why wait? If she was in so much danger, why come now after all that time? Why not retrieve her as soon as you knew the situation?" Ciel inquired, contempt lacing his words.

"A colleague kept us apprised of her progress and determined the risk in leaving her here, weighing the options and choosing the best path to take at any given moment. Ironically enough," Beverly sneered, "the memory loss actually worked to protect her from detection by your butler. So long as she was still unable to recall her true nature, she was relatively safe."

"But something changed." Ciel prodded.

"Yes," she hissed. "Jessica Bishop knew of the girl and wanted to take advantage of her weakened state to eliminate the threat she represented. She was on probation at the agency you went through to hire her when your request came through for a lady's maid. Too many unfortunate coincidences in her work history for the agency to totally ignore, it would seem. She saw her chance and convinced the manager there to give her the job." she smiled. "I couldn't have that, now could I?"

"So what are you trying to accomplish here now?" he interrogated, nodding at Eve asleep on the bed.

"Sometimes one has to be swallowed up by the darkest abyss in order to find the light that will lead them home." Beverly answered vaguely. "I cannot protect her forever, and an even more deadly threat is circling her at this very moment, waiting for the chance to devour her." For a brief moment the creature's hard eyes softened, giving her an unnerving appearance of human sadness. "She must return to us, whole once again. She must continue her fight! That is what I'm trying to accomplish here."

William looked at his watch and readied his scythe, the shears on the end snapping open. Grell gave him a concerned glance and drew in closer, stepping a bit further behind him.

"Do you mind?" William asked in a low, exasperated voice while trying to maintain an unobtrusive presence.

"The preparations are complete." she continued, glancing out the bedroom window through the corners of her eyes. "The charge is set. All that's left is to light the fuse."

With that she lunged forward without warning, snatching Ciel up by the neck in her large, freakishly strong hands and pinning him to the wall.

"Now!" she growled, "Let's have a look at your shame, shall we?"

Everything happened so fast one would have wondered if it had happened at all were it not for the evidence left behind in the aftermath.

Beverly snatched at Ciel's eyepatch, ripping it off as he gasped for air, kicking at her and trying desperately to free himself.

"Well, boy!" she laughed. "Save yourself, if you dare! Or will tonight be the night your weary heart finally gives in to the peace only the dead can know?"

Even though fighting for his life her words struck a sensitive chord. Ciel's face changed from deep red to an ugly purple as he mouthed words no ear could hear. His right eye bulged while his left eye lit up, the contract seal glowing in the dim light of the room.

"Sebastian!" he finally choked out in a raspy squeak, unable to be more specific than the single name.

Immediately the bedroom window shattered inward as the demon crashed through it, landing effortlessly in the center of the room. At the same time he drew a handful of kitchen knives and fluidly released them in one smooth motion, burying several in Beverly's back. One key projectile lodged in the back of her head.

Ciel saw her face flinch and she seemed to smile. Her grip loosened slowly as they both sank to the floor.

"Master!" Sebastian called, leaping over the bed and snatching him up. He set the boy to the side and turned his attention back to the dying Nephilim.

"What have you done, you old fool!" he spat, seeing the satisfaction in her eyes.

Beverly managed to laugh just a bit, then gave him a triumphant, piercing leer. "You should have killed her when you had the chance, demon." she breathed. "Veronika may be a filthy devil too, but she was right about one thing…your devotion to that boy will be the death of you!"

Sebastian snarled at her. Reaching behind her head he grabbed the protruding knife and twisted it. Her body jerked spasmodically for a moment, then went completely limp.

At that moment a dog howled miserably in the distance.

The bed behind him began to shake violently and Sebastian removed the blade from Beverly's head. He turned to see Eve going into some sort of fit, her entire body flopping uncontrollably on the bed. His eyes glazed over as he began to approach her.

William began methodically collecting Beverly's cinematic record, unconcerned about the rest of the world around him, while Grell watched him, fascinated at witnessing his first Nephilim harvest.

Ciel sat up on the ground where he had collapsed, coughing and rubbing his bruised neck. His eyes widened as Sebastian reached the bed. Horrified, he watched helplessly as the butler raised the knife over his head, poised to strike the girl down.

Veronica answered the front door. The doorbell ringing at this hour was odd enough, but finding an envelope in the mail slot after post hours was even odder still. She took it inside and wondered for a moment who it could be from. Her name was scrawled on the front in very elegant handwriting. Flipping it over she saw a red wax seal bearing the image of twin eagles behind a shield. "Potentia Regere" the banner below them read…"The Power to Rule".

Veronica smiled to herself. She had a good guess whose house that crest would belong to.

*Author's notes ~

Triquetra: A triangular knotted Celtic symbol that has been used by Christians in the 19th century as a sign of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)

Ruis: Celtic symbol for the Elder tree, known for its healing power and representing death, cycles, rebirth, renewal, creativity, regeneration, and transformation.

Irish Gaelic translations:

a) Mo = my

b) Cuimhne = memory

c) Spiorad = spirit

d) Fuil = blood

e) Ambas mestas = confluence

f) Le = with

g) Mise = yours

h) Bás = death

i) mar chúiteamh = in exchange

j) Ar son = for

k) Do = your

l) Aiseag = restoration

m) Bíodh sé amhlaidh = So be it