I woke in a haze with the ghost of Cern's touch still on my skin. Skin that was still warm, like the heat that is retained in sunbathing. He was no longer here, in fact I was no longer in the temple anymore. He must have popped me back to the hotel in my sleep. It irritated me at first, waking to an absent lover felt almost like rejection. The tiny buzz that still remained beneath my skin however, was reminder enough that Cern was no normal man. If he was finished with me I would know it.

My room was dark, and no light peeked in through my window, so it had to still be night. My time with Cern had felt like an eternity, but I had no way of telling for sure. In fact, I had yet to see the forest in the day. Perhaps time moved differently there. At this point, nothing would surprise me.

There was music playing out in the living room. Something soft and classical. I took a few minutes just laying there, listening to it. Since living with the vampires I had learned to appreciate most forms of music. Their tastes were so eclectic, and mine was slowly becoming so as well.

My body was heavy, weighted from exertion, and yet I felt better than I had in months. Memories of the god came back in teasing flashes. His fingers trailing down my sides, leaving electric currents in their wake. His lips, soft and warm on my throat, my chest, my thighs. At times, the experience had been almost painful, the range of sensations all crashing down on me at once. I had been confused and desperate, pleading when he'd stopped touching me, and then when my body was too exhausted to move, I pleaded for rest. He had followed me into my dreams then, where exhaustion was no longer a factor.

Cernnunos had been right. In his arms there had been no time to think about Isaac or what I may or may not feel for him. No time for Josep, yet another friend I would lead to the slaughter, like the mother goose of death. There was only us. Only feeling, colored by the occational hoarse cries of harder, faster, deeper.

My legs shook when I first tried to stand, my body protesting that it was not yet ready for movement. However, the vicious knowing in my gut would not be ignored. I was starving and the scent of red meat was already laced throughout the hotel to tease me. I steeled myself and made my way into the livingroom. The music played from the expensive stereo against the far wall, but there was no one listening to int. In fact, the place seemed empty.

There was a brief moment of panic when I thought I had been abandoned until I reminded until I saw the table. Set for one with a glass of white wine already poured and waiting on the table. In the small kitchenette, something hissed and released another wave of wonderful mouth-watering smell. Hunger pains made me shake again. My knees wobbled, then buckled beneath me, but I didn't hit the ground as expected. Someone had caught me.

"Are you alright?" Josep asked, startling me. He moved me into the chair at the table and knelt down o inpect my face. "You're feverish, Mira, are you ill?"

I shook my head, "I feel great actually, just a little weak."

The vampire frowned, tilting his head in question, "Then what have you been doing all this time?"

I must have blushed because Josep chuckled, shaking his head, and handing me the glass of wine from the table. "I see. And how was the god?"

When I didn't answer, he grinned wider and took the chair beside me. "Really Mira, I didn't know you had it in you. A night with him perhaps, but three? No wonder your legs aren't working."

My embarrassment was shoved aside for horror.

"Three days? I've been gone for…no I…" Josep watched me panic, calmly sipping his wine. He seemed greatly amused by my reaction, but after a few moments took my hand comfortingly.

"Hush, sweetheart, it's not the end of the world. Who wouldn't lose track of time panting beneath a fertility god? I'm sure you had much better things to worry about at the time, darling."

"Oh god." My eyes shot wide again, "I left Isaac! What about Dahlia and-"

"Calm down," Josep laughed and moved into the kitchen to the hissing skillet on the stove. "He figured it out after a little panicking. The shadow was taken care of as they always are."

I nodded, but downed the rest of my wine. I'd left Isaac, yes, but my worry was in the way I'd left him. I'd very nearly slept with him. Not only that, but I denied him, only to turn around and throw myself on Cern. I already knew that once he pieced it together, the hell would be a painful one. I doubt I would ever hear the end of it.

If I had a super power, it would be getting myself into trouble.

Josep returned to sweep something delicious looking onto the plate sitting in front of me, then set down his own and piled it on. "After a three-day tantric vacation, I imagine you're starved."

My stomach growled at the sight of the food, shredded bits of beef with sautéed peppers and what looked like raspberries. I nodded enthusiastically and he smiled in his charming boyish way, his chocolaty eyes sparkling.

"Then it would be an honor if you joined me for diner."

"I would love to." I smiled back as he refilled my wine glass and stood to take the skillet back to the kitchen. I closed my eyes, basking it the scent of the beef and sighed contentedly. I was even going to sneak a tiny piece but Josep appeared beside the table again to swat my hand away with an arched brow.

"Presentation is crucial." He said, tipping a small pot over to drizzle a sweet smelling sauce over everything. More raspberries and the hint of something spicy and I was practically holding myself to the seat to keep from attacking the plate. He covered his own plate then returned the pot to the stove. I think by that point he was taking his time on purpose to tease me.

"Where are the others?" I asked when he finally sat down across from me and motioned to dig in. Which I did, like a starving beast. I managed to use my utensils, but the wonderful blend of spice and sweet was too good to waste and I sucked it down like a vacuum.

Josep noted this with a pleased grin, "There has been a development," he said, taking a small bite from his own plate. "Colette has sent them out on another job."

"What kind of development?" I frowned.

Josep gazed down solemnly at his plate a moment, swirling the wine around in his glass. "It seems I will have company in my cell at the Queen's."

The forkful that had been on its way to my mouth paused then fell back to my plate. "Don't." I said, barely audible, though I knew he heard me.

"Don't what?" he asked slowly, I could feel his eyes boring into me, though for a long moment I couldn't bring myself to meet them.

"Please…if you're going to bring it up at all, don't do so casually. I know you're strong and you've accepted this, but I still don't believe that you want to die. Don't talk about it like the weather, as if you don't give a shit."

Josep laced his fingers, watching me over his hands with an expression I couldn't decipher. "Would you rather I burst into tears on your shoulder, Mira? Personally, I think that might be awkward for both of us."

"Why don't you run?"

The vampire sighed, setting down his fork and leaning back in his chair. "You've asked this already."

"And your answer was stupid."

Josep laughed, raising his brows, "you must work on your dinner conversation, darling."

"I'm serious, Josep!" I said, leaning forward, "Hell, you could go now, no one's watching you, and I would never stop you. Hell, I could even tell them I let you."

"No." Josep's sudden serious tone made me jump and when I looked up at him, his expression was severe. "You must never do anything to lose favor with Colette."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my food, but he was suddenly kneeling in front of me, lifting my chin to gaze intently into my eyes.

"You listen to me, child." he said, "As long as Isaac keeps business with the bitch-queen you must watch yourself. She is cold and she is cruel. Colette knows what kind of asset he is, and will do anything to keep him from the other elders. She will look for any excuse to get rid of you, in hopes that he will return to her bed and her influence." He took my hand, squeezing it hard enough that I flinched. "She will kill you if she gets the chance, Mira. You must never let that happen."

I looked down, pulling from his grasp, "Why does it matter?"

The vampire finally smiled again, and with the expression, returned the warmth of the room. "Well, "he began, ducking his head to find my eyes again, "My own selfish reason is that I like you, Mira. I'm not really sure why. You are stubborn, and contrary, and far too naive for one who plays with the forces you've gathered."

"Gee thanks." I muttered, but he continued as if I hadn't spoken.

"I think that in your small way, you're even good for Isaac. You infuriate him, yes, but you have given him drive again." He chuckled, though the sound was sad, "There was a time I feared he was losing himself, as Amhlaoibh did. The isolation, his refusal to take in shadows...we all know the signs." Then he smiled and the light returned to his chocolate eyes, "But look at the boy now. Keeping company with Sanura, who had feared he would never trust her again, poor love-sick thing. Even opening himself to human companionship after Daniel's brainwashing. If you aren't the cause, you are the catalyst, Mira."

"I appreciate that you want to make me feel better, but Isaac doesn't really give a shit about me. He never has. Any interest he shows in me now is because he and Cern are convinced I'm special."

Josep sighed heavily and sat back in his chair. "I'd forgotten. You don't really understand him at all."

"Can we change the subject, to NOT Isaac?"

"Would you rather we discuss how you fled when things became too intimate between the two of you?"

"He told you about that?" I glared down at my plate, "That fucker."

Josep laughed, propping his elbows on the table and resting his chin in his hands. "Yes, well that 'fucker' felt the rejection. He's been a little more irritable than usual." He rolled his eyes, "the boy can be so childish. I would hate him for it if it wasn't so endearing."

"I thought you liked children." I muttered.

Josep smiled devilishly, his eyes glinting, and went back to eating without reply. I followed suit, happy to move away from that conversation. Why did everything have to relate to the vampire?

After that the evening become rather nice. After dinner, Josep helped me to the couch (I was still a little shaky and feverish) and we watched some strange british soup opera. Josep explained the plot up to that point and then we were gushing together about who was right for who and which of the women on the show were just bitches. It was odd, but I felt as if I had traveled back to my high school days, with my girlfriends and chick-flick nights.

It wasn't until several hours of soup operas, when Jean was finally confessing his love to Charlotte when there was a bang outside the door, followed by wild giggles. Male and female. At first I imagined Isaac and Sanura falling on each other in post-slaughter glee, but when the door swung open and the vampire tumbled through it onto the floor, it wasn't Sanura who followed him down.

"I see it went well." Josep said looking over the back of the couch. I remained snuggled close to him, peeking over his arm.

Sanura, frowning at the pair on the floor, closed and locked the door behind her, and stepped over them while Isaac pulled the other woman into a drunken kiss. She flung her jacket over the back of the couch and eyed us a moment before plopping down beside me.

"It could have been worse I suppose." She sighed. "When we got there, they'd drugged her up so much she was barely lucid. Isaac had to drain her until she stopped screaming and running from us." The irritated vampire waved at the giggling couple on the floor. "As you can see, he's acting like an idiot. Whatever they gave her, it was strong and he's feeling it." I looked back at the pair, starring at the back of the girl's head and feeling a cold curling of unease in my gut.

White hair, the color of fallen snow, and I knew when she rose her head, her eyes would be a milky white as well. Blind eyes that saw regardless. I looked back at Sanura and frowned.

"Why is Lidia here?"

"Because one of the human's here has to be interesting." Isaac said, titling his head back on the floor to look at me upside down. I ignored him, pleased to see that Sanura shot him an irritated scowl, then took my hand. Her scowl became worry in an instant.

"Oh, honey, you're burning up." She looked to Josep who covered a laugh, then frowned. "Are you doing alright?"

"If she isn't we could leave her here. Holloway Sanatorium has a new opening." Isaac chuckled at his joke and turned back to Lidia who was snuggling against his chest like a cat. I think she was even purring.

Sanura gave a short sigh before standing up and pulling me with her. "I'm serious, you ass, she's got a terrible fever. What have you been doing?"

At this Josep cleared his throat, "I think the question is who."

Sanura looked back to me with raised brows and a grin. "Oh," she said slowly, "I bet that was fun."

I shrugged, enjoying the way Isaac had gone stiff on the floor to listen. "Cern took me to a fairy orgy…it was interesting."

"I never get to go to the fun parties." Josep sighed theatrically while Sanura wrapped and arm around my shoulder and walked me to the fridge for some ice.

"Holding out on us huh?" she winked.

Still feeling playful, I grinned. "I'll get you into the next one."

From the floor, Lidia squealed, only half in pain, and jumped up off of Isaac. He remained on the floor, starring up at the ceiling with black eyes. Was it terrible of me to want to laugh? Instead, I let Sanura worry over me, wrapping ice in a towel and leading me back to the couch to hold it against my neck. I wasn't sure when exactly we had bonded, but I wasn't going to complain about it. Especially not when it seemed to irritate Isaac so badly.

It seemed Lidia was interested in my condition as well. She made her awkward way to the couch, looking at everything as she went, then sat down on her knees beside me. I tried not to seem uneasy, but the girl's blind eyes made me uncomfortable. More so when I knew she could see me just fine. I leaned closer to Sanura and Josep, noticing my discomfort, tried to get her attention.

"How does it feel to be out of your cage?"

She didn't look away from me, but titled her head, speaking in a soft voice. "One cage for another." She leaned in, speaking to me as if I knew what the hell she was talking about, "the lions aren't trustful, you see." I nodded to humor her, but her eyes narrowed as she continued to stare at me.

"If only they could see. Silly blind things." Suddenly she was sitting forward, leaning against the front of the couch and far too close to me. "You can see. You have light dancing off your skin." She smiled faintly reaching out as if to touch something floating above my arm. "Ribbons of light from the sun, but they're broken." She pulled back to tilt her head at me, "Would you like me to fix them?"

"That's very thoughtful of you, but-"

Sanura reached out to pull me closer to her and away from the crazy woman. "Leave her be, Lidia, go play with your boyfriend."

The girl shook her head, looking severe, "Daddy doesn't allow boyfriends."

"And if he finds out you have one, he'll have to spank you." Lidia flushed happily at Isaac's words, but turned her attention back on me quickly.

"I promise it won't pinch, just a quick look, while you can still see." She said, reaching out to grab my arm. Sanura's hand shot out too and she managed to slip it halfway under the crazy woman's, but even that it seemed was not enough.

The feeling was instant, like cold hands dragging me down into myself, and then I went blind. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound escaped. I was paralyzed, unable to do anything as color and scent and sound swirled around me in a confusingly fast whirl. Slowly the blurred color became an image, but it wasn't mine. It was strange, and I couldn't explain how, but I knew this was Sanura's mind. Her memories.

Sanura sat on a roughly crafted wooden chair, gazing off into the field that surrounded her home. Winter had turned the greens into dead and melancholy brown, and as the wind kicked up, she wrapped her arm around her distended stomach as if to protect the child within. Her clothing was stitched of rough fabrics, telling me there was no great wealth here.

"You'll catch your death out here." The deep male voice, was rough, but kind, and at the sound of it, she smiled and reached out to take his hand. The dark-skinned man was older, maybe in his forties while Sanura seemed barely twenty, but I knew, because this was Sanura's memory, that she loved him more than anything. He knelt down to touch her belly and grinned when the child kicked, then reached out to draw her forward kissing her forehead with a whispered "I love you."

"Momma!" the adolescent cry came from the open doorway and a child no more than 3 came waddling out. He smiled happily, pink tongue flicking out between his missing front teeth and reached his chubby little fingers out to grab at her skirt.

"I finded you a buddafwy!" he exclaimed excitedly, opening his other hand to show the ruined thing in his palm. She sighed while her husband scooped the child up in a fit of high-pitched giggles, but there was no mistaking the happiness there.

The image suddenly faded, curling away into nothingness like smoke, but I could still feel the ghost of her husband's kiss on my forehead. The child's hand on my leg. Then the colors began spinning again, and formed into another scene.

Sanura fell to the ground in a lavishly decorated parlor with a sharp cry. On her way down, she'd knocked a candle from its holder and now the thick, white wax was coating the carpet. It burned where it had splashed across her fingers, but she wasn't worried about that. Her arm went up to block her attacker and she shook her head frantically.

"Please! I have children, "she pleaded, "My husband-"

"Will mourn your loss and support your offspring. It is far better than the alternative."

The man who spoke was richly dressed and in his late twenties. He had dark brown hair that had been pulled back by a leather tie and an intimidating goatee that spoke of the times. And then there were his eyes. Bright and blue, the color of a frozen river. As Sanura stared up into them, I could feel her mind numb. They were beautiful, the way ice could be beautiful, but I just knew that if you broke their surface, you would be met with nothing but endless, terrifying cold. He seemed to emanate power, and the feeling was oppressive.

The man knelt down to drag her onto her knees. "If you refuse me, they all die."

Sanura hung her head, quietly sobbing. It took her a long moment, but she finally turned back up at him, looking defeated and lost.

"Yes Daniel."

Before I could grasp back at the image of the infamous vampire, the scene once again shifted.

Isaac was pulling a giggling Sanura into the shadowed isolation of an alley. Both were dressed in the fashions of the roaring twenties. He in a dark, blue and grey suit and bowler, and her in a black cloche hat and blue dress that flared out just above her knees.

Isaac spun her around, and pushed her up against the rough stones, stepping up to press against her back. His hands went to the dress, bunching the material of her skirt up around her waist. Sanura was smiling, breathing hard, but her eyes snapped to the mouth of the alley.

"Someone will see us." She protested without much conviction.

"Best to move quickly then." He replied against the back of her neck, where he was nipping her spine.

"Daniel's waiting for us." She continued, voice hitching. Her tone was even less serious than the first time, almost as if she said it out of obligation. Isaac's hand slipped around the front of her dress and she groaned into the bricks, brow knitting. He chuckled into her hair and nipped at her throat again.

"If you want me to stop…" but Sanura gave a throaty chuckle and pressed back against him. It was answer enough.

I could hear the muffled sound of shouting around me as this image faded, but it was not replaced as the others had been. Instead I felt as if I'd been dunked under water. Someone was shaking me and yelling above me, and as I blinked the hotel room came back into sharp focus. I could see Sanura on the couch beside me, eyes wide and drawn up against the arm as if it would protect her from me.

"Mira?" Josep said again, and then with a curse, he slapped me. As my head snapped to the side, I cursed as well, regaining control of my body and rolling nearly off the couch until he caught me.

Isaac had joined us as well, but he stood far away from the couch, holding Lidia tightly to his chest as she scratched and clawed to get away from him.

"No!" she screamed, "How can I finish this puzzle when the pieces are missing?"

Isaac pulled her back against his chest petting her hair to sooth her. He arched a brow at me and I afforded him a quick shake of the head. "Calm down bit. We'll get you a better puzzle, with oversized pieces you can't swallow."

He kissed the top of her head and murmured something into her ear that made her smile faintly and nod, while I clutched the couch cushion behind me until my fingers ached, trying my best not to look guilty.

She knew, the nosey little psycho! She'd seen that part of my memory was gone. If she told the others, I didn't know what I would do. I felt ashamed for my choice and its consecenses, stupid even, and was perfectly happy taking that secret to my grave. I could only hope that Lidia's jumbled mess of a brain kept her vague, or better yet that she couldn't understand what she'd seen. Perhaps her confusion would make processing the information impossible.

One could only hope.

"Come on, bit," Isaac smiled, stroking his thumb across Lidia's lower lip and letting her bite at the tip of it. "We've got an early flight in the morning."

She grinned, "Can we play a little until then?"

Isaac laughed softly, and nodded, leading her back toward his room and slamming the door. He was ignoring me at the moment, which while not expected, wasn't terrible. I couldn't handle his anger at the moment, and I'd known without a doubt ,in the single glance I caught from him, that he was furious.

That would be something fun to deal with later, though I couldn't say I hadn't seen it coming.

Josep was whispering with Sanura in the kitchen, but when they noticed me still sitting on the couch, they returned. I noticed that Sanura placed herself out of my reach this time, though she smiled and asked me if I was alright. I played along, and we all pretended that nothing had happened, even turned the soups back on.

As the night wore on, we had to turn up the volume to cover Lidia's ridiculous cries, but for the most part it was ok. I slowly settled back into my place against Josep, and then as she got more comfortable, Sanura joined us, though she sat on his opposite side.

"I've got the pimp seat." He joked and we laughed and gushed over the show.

I fell asleep tucked under his arm, worrying that Lidia would have a rare moment of clarity and give me away, and when I dreamed it was of a faceless woman screaming in the woods over her blurred husband, and the faceless girl who was ripped apart beside her.

Sooooooooo…..yup.

Just wanted to say, that to those who are pissed at the lack of Isaac reaction, patience is a virtue they tell me. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but we shall see as there are quite a few finals I'm going to be studying for.

For now, tell me what you thought of this, though I'll admit it was mostly a filler chapter before we get back to the Americas and…teeheehee…the things that are going to happen there.