I stood on the second floor landing and stared out the window to the East. The sun was still below the horizon, but I sensed it would be peeking over the hilltops in a few hours. The schola was quiet at the moment since the students were all in their rooms for the night's rest.

I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds around me. Gran, I know you're with me. Please give me a sign. Is this the right thing to do? Or is this a mistake I'll regret forever?

I didn't expect an answer, and I didn't get one either. I opened my eyes and focused on the night sky. It was clear and filled with stars. I felt small looking at them, which was the way it should always be.

I walked down to the first floor where Taylor and Witt were waiting to escort me. They fell in line as I walked through the schola and down its long carpeted hallways. The Greek knot pattern that repeated on every rug was oddly comforting, despite the fact it wasn't my style.

We arrived in a small chamber down the hallway from the utility room. As I entered I had to catch my breath at the sight. The body of the man I loved was lying on the floor. It was covered in a black cloth that was decorated with a small ovis pattern. Standing around his body were Dylan, Benjamin, Bruce, Dibs and Leander.

"Leander?"

"Hello, Miss Dru."

"I can't believe it's you. I thought I'd never see you again. You left so suddenly… I thought I'd done something…" I ran and hugged him tightly without asking for his permission.

"No, Miss. You did nothing wrong." He gently patted me on the back. "I was ordered to leave the schola by my superiors. But alas, I was given permission to come back… under the circumstances." He half-smiled as he pushed my shoulders back, looking me face to face. "Our friend needs us."

"Yes, he does." I smiled big.

"Let's get started then."

Within minutes, the smell of burning incense filled the small room. My head was beginning to dizzy with the heaviness of the scent. I was so tired I was the most awake I'd ever been. I was still running on the fumes of Christophe's blood.

"Everyone please stand back." Leander quietly commanded.

Out of his blue silk robes, he pulled an ornate bowl. It was gold painted and decorated with odd-looking creatures. I started at the images for a moment before I realized what they were. The animals were dreamstealers, which were not nearly as ugly as I knew them to be. The thought of one sucking on my face like Aliens made me shudder.

Leander stood over the corpse. The expression on Christophe's his face wasn't natural. It reminded me of the last time I saw Gran at her wake. I hated that image. I reminded me of how lonely I truly was then. A tear rolled down my cheek but I wiped it away fast, hoping no one noticed.

A high melodic chant filtered through the room. Leander spoke in Sanskrit as he uttered the same three verses over and over.

"Om Nirantaka Bhava,

Om Niraamaya Bhava,

Om Satata-yogi-rupa Bhava."

I fell in line and began to chant along. Leander nodded in approval and looked around the circle. Bruce began to sing. Then Dibs, Dylan and finally Benjamin. The sound was hypnotic and nothing short of powerful.

Leander tipped the painted bowl on its side until a black liquid poured out of it. The fluid dropped onto Christophe's body. However before it touched his skin, the liquid dissipated into a cloudy film, flowing over the length of the body. The sight was beguiling.

From my right, Dylan stepped forward, holding the book. He remained focused on the chant and looked only to Leander. What the hell? Why didn't Dylan tell me he had the book?

The djamphire opened the journal and began flipping through the pages, as if he was searching for something. Finally he looked up. "Where is it? You said I would know when the time was right. Now would be appropriate."

"What's going on?" I questioned them both.

"I am sorry for not telling you I had the journal, Dru. I had a good reason. The Maharaj said that the rebirth spell was in here." Dylan nodded his head in Leander's direction.

Leander's eyes remained closed as he continued chanting in the ancient language. Finally his lids popped open and he turned to look at me. "Incorrect. I said that the spell would be revealed at the proper time."

"When will the time be then?"

Leander was silent once again. His eyes scanned the room until they rested on me. "Now."

"Now?

"Yes, milady, the powers have revealed… the answer lies within you."

"How would I know? I've never done this before." My hand touched my heart and it was then I felt something, Mom's locket. It was hot.

"I'm just as clueless here. One of you needs to expl…"

I stopped mid-sentence. I noticed everyone stopped moving. Not only was there no movement, but they all looked frozen, or better yet paused. Dylan was still holding the book in an awkward way with one hand as if he was trying to give it to me. Leander's left arm was extended outward while his right held the wooden bowl. They others just stood with their mouths gaped open. Additionally the room was completely silent.

"What the fu…?" I was confounded by the moment.

"Do not worry. They are unharmed." A calm but unsettling voice emanated from a distance. "I promise, rajkumari."

I realized who had spoken just before she stepped into the circle. Her long brown hair was gently pulled to one shoulder. Her blue eyes were fresh and almost shimmering. She wore a light pink dress that hung to her mid-calf. She was young and beautiful looking again.

I began to reach for a weapon but stopped midstream. Something is different. "Magdalena?"

"I am here to help you. I owe you for setting me free again."

"Free from what?

"Do you not know, milady? The blood dark. It was your action that set me free." She bowed her head towards me. I still maintained eye contact. I wasn't about to start trusting her after all she put me through.

Lena continued to walk around the small room, weaving in between each body. "I have come to remind you of something… important." She stopped to stare into Dylan's face and touched his cheek lightly, admiring his Romanesque features. "Hello love."

I waited for her to continue.

"Something your friend Skyrunner said. She gave you the answer. You know?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Lena."

"She did." Lena pointed at Christophe's body. "I loved Louis with all my heart. The day we were separated was… heartbreaking. But he never gave up on me. He knew that one day, you'd find a way."

"Me? How would you know? How it that possible?"

Lena smiled. "Anything is possible." She raised her hand and caressed Dylan's cheek. Then he hand dropped to his shoulder and down his chest. She sighed as she stepped back from him. "My time is ending here. I'm being called back."

"Wait. Please. What answer did Nat give me?"

Lena turned and started walking away as if she was heading for the door. "Do widzenia, Dru. Skyrunner said to 'tell the djamphire'. You know the rest."

"Wait, I don't remember. Please…wait." But like a blink of the eye, Lena was gone. Within a millisecond, the room came to life again. The chanting filled the air and once again white fog rolled over the length of Christophe's body.

"Dru? Are you okay? You look strange." Dibs reached out to me.

"Yes, I think so. I need to think. I have to remember… tell the djamphire… about… about…" Finally it came to me. "…about the number seventy-eight!"

I turned to Dylan. "Nat said 'Tell the djamphire … the answer is 78. Does that mean anything to you?"

He was quiet for a long moment. Finally Dylan raised an eyebrow as a slow smile spread across his strong features. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out an object. It was long and slim. He used his thumb to push one end of it in. It clicked.

Leander nodded in approval, then turned to me and gave me a look of look to bolster my courage. It was as if he was telling me the world was okay and so was I.

Dylan began to write in the journal. He scribbled furiously and with so much intensity I had to look away. Finally he stopped, then handed the book to me, open faced. "Dru?"

I took it from him apprehensively, taking care not to drop it. I looked at what was written in black ink, emphasized by the whiteness of the parchment.

"I don't understand."

"No you wouldn't, however let me explain." He took a slow breath in. "Lena loved Norse mythology and studied it almost obsessively in the years before she bloomed. The study of Immortals was a childhood fantasy. However her favorite deity was Thor, the God of Thunder. She was fascinated with his power but also his desire to protect humans from harm."

Dylan paused before continuing. "She likened me to Thor at times and teased me for being so modest. I guess our polarities fueled our attraction for one another. But I digress. Forgive me. The numeral seventy-eight pertains to the year 78 AD."

"But what does that have to do with anything?" I was impatient.

Dylan smiled and held up his palm to me in a gesture of patience. "This year began on Thor's day, more commonly known as… Thursday. Please re-read what I have written, milady. But this time slowly and out loud."

I took a deep breath. My hands were shaking. And they were balmy with apprehension. My head felt a bit dizzy as I looked at the parchment.

"Thor, the God of Thunder. His power bestowed rain on the Earth, which brought Life. Life is balance in nature. Each season brings a change around and among us. Not excluding our perceptions. Winter becomes Spring which becomes Autumn, then turns to Summer. The cycle repeats itself."

I thought for a moment as I struggled to identify where I heard that from before. It sounded like the echo of a dream I once had. Was it a dream or was it real? I knew one thing… the voice who said it was someone I loved very much. It was a voice of experience and wisdom and respect. The voice belonged to Gran.

I realized that a wind started to push through the small room. I squinted my eyes as a reaction. My hair was blowing into my face so I held it back with one hand as I looked on. The sound of the wind began to raise louder. The others in the room began to falter a bit as the air pushed them from all sides. I couldn't tell where the wind was coming from. "What's happening?" I yelled in Leander's direction.

"You did it, Miss Dru! You said the incantation to bring Him back to life. Now…who shall be the one to travel on in his place?" Leander looked amongst those of us standing in the room.

"I will!" Bruce stepped forward. "Its my honor to do this. I created the blood dark that took Magdalena. Reynard's death is my doing. I should be the one to give my life." Bruce nearly yelled over the sound of the winds.

"What!" I looked to the others in disbelief. Dibs' eyes were wide, almost scared.

"No! I will, Levant." Dylan reached out to Leander and touched him on his shoulder. "I will!"

"Dylan you can't do this. Neither of you can do this!" I looked at both Kourio. "Why does anyone have to go, Leander?"

"That is the only way! Without an exchange of energy, the body will be soul less. Only a shell of the being it once was. He would become revenant."

Dylan placed his hand on my arm. "Dru, I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you sooner! This is the only way it works. Please forgive me. Consider this my gift to you and to him. Let me go!"

"This can't be happening! You just came back." Tears were streaming from my eyes. My heart was beating tremendously in my chest while my head was swarming with mixed emotions. I looked around the room again. Graves and Jae-Hwa were holding on to the door frame trying to stay vertical as the winds whipped through the tiny room.

Dylan grabbed my hand and held it tightly. "Tell Reynard… he will always be my brother. Take care of him, Dru. He won't admit it, but he needs you."

I barely had time to nod as Leander released the final words of the incantation.

"Vinimaya!"

Suddenly a flash of blue light lit up the room. Dylan's hand pulled away from mine. I felt a coldness touch my skin. The floor jolted as a tremor moved the tectonic plates beneath us. Strangely it reminded me of time we summoned the cave fairies.

I fell to my knees as the room, the schola and the earth shifted unexpectedly. I laid across the body of the djamphire out of protective instinct.

Like the blink of an eye, all was quiet.

I looked around as the lights returned to their normal state. The blueness was gone. The winds were gone. And Dylan was gone.

A faint but familiar voice mumbled from nearby. "Moja ksiezniczko."

I lifted my head up just in time to have seen fingers twitching to life. I couldn't believe it. I slowly moved up his body until I was able to look him in his face and see for myself his true blue eyes. They were alive and moved across my face in a look of total reprieve. His hand reached up and brushed a long lock of hair out of my face.

"You came back for me."

"Of course I did. I promised. Didn't I?"

He was silent and without the proper words. And I didn't care. A tear rolled down his cheek and back into the hairline of brown. His aspect fluttered slowly, causing his fangs to elongate then retract. Christophe's eyes searched the room from where he laid. Dibs came from behind him and we slowly brought the djamphire into a seated position.

"Welcome back, Reynard." I heard Bruce's voice resound from above.

He smiled. "Dzieki."

Christophe's eyes continued to search the room but didn't find what he seemed to be looking for. I watched as his expression changed from anticipation to sadness. He finally realized just who was missing.

"I'm sorry, Chris. You need to know… he was ready for this. He knew all along." I attempted to console him.

Christophe's face was more expressive than I'd ever seen it before. "And Magdalena?"

I slowly nodded. "She wanted you to know… she's free now. And she'll be waiting… when you're ready."

Christophe's arms reached around me and pulled in tightly. And I let him hold me for as long as he wanted.

Nearly three days later, I sat in the foyer nearby one of the tall windows that faced the front of the schola. I looked out and across the campus to the hills. The sun was high in the sky and only a few clouds hung across the blue. I relished the feeling of being in the sunshine. I had been a long time since I could enjoy its warmth.

I thought about all that happened with Lena, Dylan, Nat, August and Christophe. I still hadn't made sense of it all and probably wouldn't ever. I was haunted by Nat's final words. How did she know the clue to bring Christophe back from the dead?

"Pardon me, milady?"

I turned and looked across the entryway. Jae-Hwa was standing with her bags in her arms, once again wearing the white pantsuit she arrived in. I remembered how much I feared her when I first saw her image from afar.

"Ms. Park. All packed up?"

"Yes, the caravan is ready and I think we ought to start getting on. We've got a lot of work to do now that Pactus is done. The schola system will need help to spread the word about the new rights and policies for wulfen. But first we have to visit the Asian Council and give them a full debriefing."

"Sounds like you'll be busy then." I fidgeted with the zipper on my top. "Jae-Hwa, I'm glad you won the fight… at kyoso." It came out awkwardly.

"Me too." The she-wulf smiled. "But I didn't mean to hurt you. Really I didn't. I'm glad you are okay now."

She extended her dainty hand to me. I stared at it like it was a foreign object. Finally I reached out and squeezed. "Thank you."

Jae-Hwa picked up her bags and walked to the front steps, where a wulfen advisor greeted her. An assistant picked up her bags and loaded it into the back of one of the SUV's.

Ash bounded up to me in the lobby. He nearly knocked me off my feet had he not hugged me so tightly. "Whoa, big guy." I patted him on his back in return.

Without letting go, Ash spoke over my shoulder. "They've asked me to go with them, Dru. So I said okay."

I slowly stopped patting his back. I knew it was coming.

"Okay, Ash." I didn't let him see my face. I pulled away and kissed him on his cheek. "Do you need help packing?"

"No, I'm done. Its here."

"Oh, okay." I tried not to sound disappointed. "Listen to them and learn a lot. I know they'll take good care of you, Fuzzball. Write and call me often. Okay?"

"I will, Dru. Love you."

"Love you too."

Ash lugged his one bag outside and into the second SUV. He climbed into the front seat of the vehicle and waved at me from the window.

"So, just you and me, one more time, huh?"

I turned around slowly and glanced upwards. The loup was nearly healed and looked damn perfect again. His diamond earring flashed in the sunlight. His hair was combed in the mussed up fashion again, just the way I liked it. I couldn't resist and reached up to toss his bangs between my fingers. Graves pulled my hand aside and held it.

"Seems like we've done this before. Haven't we Drusilla?"

I smiled and fought back the urge to show him I cared too much. "Maybe once or twice before. But who's counting?"

"I am." Graves smiled. His white teeth contrasted with his deep green eyes. My voice stuck in my throat for a minute.

"I've been thinking about Nat. Do you have any idea how she knew the key to bringing Christophe back?"

Graves seemed puzzled as well. "It's been on my mind too, to be honest. It kind of freaks me out when I think about it too long. Shanks is still shaken up." He paused. "I guess the only thing I can think of is that Nat and Christophe had some kind of connection, something divine or some shit like that." He chuckled. "Maybe that connection was also with Lena? I don't know, Dru. Don't think too hard about it. Just accept that fate was on our side that day. You can't control everything. Let destiny drive for a while." He smiled.

I didn't have a retort for him and decided it was best to be sub for once.

"Um Dru, I just wanted to say…" Graves put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He looked like a little boy for a minute. "…I'll stay in touch better this time. We're going to be moving around a lot but Ash will be with me so we'll write and call you. We're planning on visiting anyone he might still know in Montana."

"That sounds great." I tried to sound enthusiastic. "Take really, really good care of him, Graves. Don't forget he likes to read at night before bed. And he still needs help working on his vocab. You can't just let him…"

"Dru, I got it. Ash is going to be fine. Better than fine. He's coming home."

"I know."

"Sir, we're just waiting for you luggage now." A wulfen assistant stuck his head in the front and interrupted.

"Yeah, here you go." Graves rolled his suitcase to the door. "Tell Ms. Park I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes, sir."

Graves fidigeted with his Ray Bans in his hands. "Hey, so I've got to go. I guess… I'll see ya when I see ya."

"Yup, okay. Take care of yourself, Graves." I extended my right hand.

Instead of taking it, his arms pulled me in. He lips pressed firmly on to mine. After a very long second, he let go.

"See ya, kid."

I was without words. Graves put on his shades, turned and walked out the front doors. I strode slowly to the threshold. I watched him walk to car one where Jae-Hwa was waiting. The driver opened the backseat door for him. He turned around to look up at me. Then he gave one last Goth Boy smirk before the door closed.

Ash waved at me from car two. I waved back and blew a kiss as I fought back the urge to get sentimental. Two of my favorite guys are actually leaving me. The entourage piled into the remaining SUV and started buckling their restraints. Finally, three vehicles circled the driveway of the schola and took off down the road and toward the main drive.

I watched them go until they disappeared over the distant hills. I exhaled slowly then pivoted and walked back inside. Witt was in the lobby waiting to escort me. "Where to, milady?"

I was silent for a moment as I contemplated.

"Christophe's room. He needs me."