Anne sat back and thought for a moment. "I really know very little about her. I've never actually seen her but I first heard the name when I was in Italy in the 17th century." She turned to Bill. "That was where I first met Anastasia Lucaccio. I gather she is a friend of yours?" She gave me a quick, sideways glance as if unsure that I should be privy to this information.

I gave her a tiny smile. "Yes, I've met Anastasia." I said patiently. I was well used to female vampires being unable to understand what Bill saw in me. It still annoyed me but I had come to accept it. Anne obviously assumed that Bill's relationship with Anastasia was either a secret, or was even ongoing without my knowledge.

"Well, Lucilla's name was well known in Florence, among certain circles, as a witch. She advertised discreetly by word of mouth. Apparently she made quite a good living. Ladies would go to her to purchase potions to attract a lover, and then to purchase others when the first was too successful!"

Anne's young face was a mask of disdain at the thought of any woman deliberately wanting to attract a man. I have to admit to feeling slightly sorry for her. After all, her experience of men had been unremittingly bad. Married off by her father to the son of her greatest enemy in an attempt to further his political ambition. Her husband and father killed by the army of the three brothers who had been brought up as her friends. No wonder she despised them!

"I had few suspicions at first. She might simply have been one of the many wise women who were knowledgeable with herbs and wished to help their sisters. However, the same name kept coming up, years later, in different parts of Europe and then in the New World. When I first heard the name again, perhaps fifty years later in France I assumed that it was a co-incidence, or perhaps her daughter, or granddaughter using the same name. It is possible that this may be the case, that there are many women in the same family, all with the same skills and using the same name, but from studying her actions and talking with her customers when I could I became convinced that it was the same woman."

She sat forward in her chair and looked at Bill seriously. "You appreciate what this means. If it is the same woman then she must be a practitioner of necromancy, one of great power if she is able to cheat death in this way."

There was silence for a moment. "Poor Diana, when Lucilla was first reported to be in this area she was curious about her after everything I had said. She actively sought her out." Anne put her head in her hands. "This is my fault! I should never have told her my suspicions. She must have found Lucilla and fallen under some spell. Nothing else would have made her betray her Queen."

The Queen came over and knelt in front of Anne's chair. "You mustn't blame yourself. Diana knew what she was doing. It was her decision."

Bill sat up a little straighter. "Actually we don't know that she does practice necromancy at all. The creature that she coerced to help her says that she does not. She is obviously a powerful sorcerer, but not a necromancer."

Anne sat up suddenly. "You spoke to that creature? How is that possible?" She turned to the Queen who said "Yes, he spoke to it and it understood him."

She stared at Bill in astonishment. "It was Lilith who understood it, not me" he explained with a smile.

"But if she is not a necromancer then…is this not the same woman?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

"Oh I believe it is" said Bill. "Apparently she practices a form of magic which enables her to steal another's body. The creature called her the corpsetaker. This is how she has survived so long. By moving from one body to another. Since she has continued to do this over centuries she has acquired considerable knowledge and also great power."

I had a sudden thought. "So what if the person who broke in here wasn't Diana?"

The Queen gave me a pitying look. "My dear, she was seen and recognised. She is well known in my court!"

"But what if Diana wasn't bewitched by Lucilla?" I persisted. "What if Diana IS Lucilla?"

Everyone stared at me. "Did she speak to anyone?" asked Bill.

"No" said the Queen. She turned back to Anne. "Is this possible?"

"If what this creature said is true, then yes. But what will have happened to Diana?" She and the Queen turned to Bill.

"I'm sorry" he said sadly. "From what the creature told me I'm afraid she is gone. I think Alex is right. This would be a sensible move for her if she really is looking for me, as a vampire and a member of your court she would expect to have had much greater access to information and might even possibly have been invited to meet me. Suppose that she had not been discovered that night? Would she not have been in this house now?"

"She would indeed" said the Queen.

"Do you have a photograph of her?" asked Bill.

The Queen stood up and went to the door just as it opened and Ulrich and Gerry came in. She slipped out and gave an order to the secretary who was standing just outside.

"Have you managed to get any more information?" asked Gerry.

Bill stood up and turned to them. "It would appear likely that the witch Lucilla is now inhabiting the body of Diana. However, she has not tried to return here, or not yet anyway."

"Do we know what she looks like?" asked Ulrich practically.

"Her Majesty has sent for a photograph, we should get copies to all the security teams. In the meantime I can see no alternative but to carry on as normal. She is presumably unaware that we know who she is and if we change our plans it will only scare her off. That is, if we're right of course!"

"Don't we want to scare her off?" asked Gerry, surprised. "Sounds like a good idea to me!"

"But then she would only try again and we would be unaware of it" said Bill. "At least now we know what we're up against."

We left shortly afterwards to return to the relative safety of the Hotel. Copies of a photograph showing Diana with the Queen were circulated to all our security personnel. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about her appearance. She was of average height with short dark hair and brown eyes, I stared at the photograph, wondering if I would recognise her if I saw her.

Over the next few nights we attended various events organised by the Illinois Court but there was no sign of Diana. Bill and I were introduced to influential members of the courts of both Illinois and Indiana, the territory that Queen Francesca de Luca technically ruled jointly with her husband. At first everyone was on high alert but gradually we began to think that, since Diana had been discovered at the mansion on that first night, she must realise that she would be stopped by the Queen's security and might not be able to talk her way out of it.

On our final night in Chicago the Queen had arranged a visit to the Field Museum for our party. I loved museums and, since Bill was going to be there, several others from the Authority and the various vampire courts had decided to join us. The fleet of cars dropped us on Lake Shore Drive, opposite Soldiers Field and we walked across and looked out over the dark expanse of Lake Michigan.

Bill put an arm around my shoulders. "Have you enjoyed the trip?" he asked.

"So far yes" I answered. "Though I admit, I'll be happier when we're safe at home."

I could see from Bill's face that he didn't think we would be safe, not anywhere. But he changed the subject. "So what do you want to see in the museum?"

I leaned my head on his chest and thought for a moment. "Well" I said "they have the biggest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in the world!" I could feel the vibration in Bill's chest as he struggled not to laugh out loud.

"How on earth do you know that?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Oh, I don't know. I read it somewhere! She's called Sue!" I laughed.

"You never cease to amaze me! You seem to absorb information like a sponge!" he said, leaning down to plant a kiss on my forehead. "Well! Let's go then, we don't want to miss this!"

We strolled, hand in hand, up the broad flight of steps to the entrance. Information on our visit must have leaked out somehow as I noticed a small group of protesters with placards and "Fellowship of the Sun" baseball caps by the doors but there were a couple of cops keeping them back as well as our security staff. The main hall of the museum was a long two storied room with balconies on three sides. There was a plinth on which stood two enormous stuffed African Elephants on the right hand side and further back another one holding Sue the T Rex.

Bill and I strolled over to Sue and gazed up at her. "Those are the genuine fossilized bones too." I told him. "None of that plastic reproduction nonsense! Except for the head, that would have been too heavy."

"That's one nasty looking set of teeth!" said Bill.

I chuckled. "You're a fine one to talk."

He laughed and slipped an arm around my waist. "Let's go and take a look around shall we?"

We wandered around some of the side galleries for a while until Bill looked up suddenly from a case full of American Indian artefacts and asked "Did you hear that?"

"What?" I asked, instantly alert. "You heard something?"

We had wandered away from the others and were alone in the gallery. Bill gestured to me to stay where I was and as he did so there was a loud crash from the direction of the main hall.

"Okay! I heard that!" I whispered.

"Stay back" said Bill and began edging silently to the door. He peered carefully round the doorpost and then gestured to me to join him. "It's coming from the main Hall" he whispered. "Stay behind me!" He slipped across the room and peeped out into the Hall. "It's those damned protesters!" he muttered. "They've started a fight!"

"We should just wait here." I whispered urgently to him. "Harry and his men will sort them out."

"They're outnumbered" Bill whispered back. "It'll take them a while to regroup. You wait here, I'll just go and get Dan and Azaria out of the way."

"Bill! You should stay here!" I hissed.

Bill looked down at me impatiently. "Come on Alex! I can deal with a few humans! I won't be a moment." He slipped silently around the door and disappeared.

I stood for a moment with my back to the wall beside the door listening to what sounded like a riot going on in the main Hall. I told myself firmly that I should stay here and keep my head down. That lasted all of thirty seconds until I just had to know what was happening. As carefully and quietly as I could I peered around the door into the Hall. It was carnage! The couple of protesters we had noticed on the way in had been joined by a lot more who were fighting with the Police and the security guards. However, my eye was drawn to a woman who was standing alone beside the entrance gate, she was not human, I could tell this from the pallor of her skin and her unnatural stillness, but I didn't know her. She seemed familiar somehow though, one of Queen Francesca's court perhaps?

As I stood watching her she turned her head slightly and I was able to see her face clearly. It was Diana! I recognised her from the photograph!