A/N: Wow, these chapters are coming out really fast aren't they? My muse has been really busy giving me ideas and my temporary writers block is completely gone. There are only a few more chapters left in this fic. Which is very sad because I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with all my time when I'm done. I'm considering writing a sequel about Ravyn, but I don't really have ideas. I have an opening paragraph floating around in my head, but no idea where to go from there. I'm also considering writing a bunch of one-shots about Selene/Michael, or Ravyn/Selene discussions, and maybe even a bit about Endainme En'Dae's past. Send me review and let me know what you think I should do first, because it will all be done at some point. I don't think I explained this in any of my other chapters so I'll say it here, because it is kind of important to understand some of Endainme En'Dae's actions in this chapter: She was an Amazon Queen and she and Marcus were lovers. (she knew he was a vampire, but she didn't care and didn't want to be turned.) Then one night, Marcus lost control of himself (he was really young at the time, only a century or two.) and bit her. She broke off their relationship as lovers, and they eventually became friends. Also, I mention sais in this chapter. My ex-boyfriend, who took karate for a while, tells me that sais are the weapon the girl in Daredevil uses. So, that being said, here's chapter 8!
Disclaimer: don't own, don't sue.
Chapter 8: The Truth
"Erika," Marcus said, closing the door behind him as he entered their room. "Endainme En'Dae said you were looking for me?"
"Yes, I was afraid Selene might have found you first," Erika said, standing from her place in an arm chair and walking over to him.
"Selene?"
"She wants to kill you and she's in a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of mood."
"Why does she want to kill me?"
"She thinks you took Ravyn." Marcus looked at Erika for a long moment, seeing in her eyes that she desperately wanted him to tell her it wasn't true, to deny what had happened, to convince her that there had been no reason for him to take Ravyn. But he hesitated too long and Erika's eyes filled with tears. Marcus took her in his arms and she pressed her face into his chest.
"Why?" she asked, voice muffled against him. "She's a harmless little baby. She can't even walk. What could she do?"
"It's more her mother I'm worried about," Marcus told her. Erika pulled away sharply, confusion on her face and something that looked suspiciously like fear in her eyes.
"I know you're her friend Erika," Marcus said gently. "But I think that she may be a lycan spy. Ravyn is the daughter of a lycan, or maybe even that hybrid Michael. I smelled her hybrid scent when I held her last night."
Erika laughed, a genuine laugh, with relief as she realized that Marcus didn't know about the renegades and didn't suspect her in the least.
"I can assure you Marcus," Erika said with a smile. "Selene is definitely not a lycan spy. I would bet my life on it." The smile faded. "Now where's Ravyn?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that."
Erika's eyes flashed angrily. "For heaven's sake Marcus, she's a baby! A baby! She needs her mother. Now where the hell is she?"
Marcus stepped away from Erika and opened the door, saying, "I'm sorry Erika, but I can't tell you that. The child is an abomination and must stay in my custody."
"Marcus, you're a goddamned abomination!" Erika shouted after him. "Stop acting like that moron Viktor and tell me where the hell you left her!" Her only answer was the sound of the door closing.
"Fuck!" she shouted to no one in particular, then stormed out of the room to 'talk' some sense into him.
Endainme En'Dae examined the stick she had just finished carving, twirling it in her fingers to see if it was straight. It spun without a wobble, so she set it down on the table and looked through the pile of iron arrow heads. When she found the one she was looking for, she took a file and sharpened the edges before attaching it to the stick. After she added the feathers, she put it on top of a pile of other finished arrows.
The table she sat at was covered with weapons. Endainme En'Dae had been an Amazon Queen and she made all of her own weapons, except guns, which she rarely used. A sword hung in an elaborate hand-sewn sheath off the back of the chair she sat it. A set of throwing daggers was piled near her, the sheaths already concealed on various places on her body. Two stilettos, ready to be strapped to her wrists, sat just beyond the daggers, and above them, were two sais, Endainme En'Dae's favorite weapon. A cross bow sat in the middle of the table, beside it a pile of bolts Endainme En'Dae had spent the last hour making. Her longbow was laid across another chair and the arrow she had just finished was for the six-foot bow.
The door opened and instantly a throwing dagger was in Endainme En'Dae's hand, but it was only Marcus.
"Got enough stuff there?" he asked jokingly.
"No." Most of her attention was focused on carving the slit in the bottom of the arrow for the string straight, but she once she was done, she looked up and saw Marcus carefully moving her longbow out of a chair and sitting down. "What's up?"
"Erika's mad."
"Don't blame her. I'm mad too, but I've known you for centuries and I know it's pointless. Even the fury of an Amazon won't sway you when you've made up you're mind."
"I just don't understand why she's so mad. Ravyn's safe, and no harm will come to her. She is only a baby. I wouldn't—"
"That's just it Marcus. She's a baby. Erika doesn't understand why you kidnapped her."
"I did not—! Well, I guess I did kidnap her, but I have to protect the coven against the lycans. If Selene is a lycan spy, then I can blackmail her into telling us what she knows of the lycan plans."
"I don't think it's the lycans that Selene is spying for."
"What do you mean? Who else could she spy for?"
"Renegades."
Marcus laughed. "Endainme, there are no renegades!"
"Have you forgotten Xavier already?"
"Xavier? He's no threat."
"What about Kestral?"
"She's no threat either."
"But together, with all the other vampires that left when Sonja died, they are a formidable force. And they are planning an attack on Ordoghaz."
"Nonsense. How would you know anyway?"
"Marcus, I was an Amazon Queen for nearly four decades. When you are a battle queen for that long, you learn when a battle is coming. And trust me, one is coming. And it's not with lycans either."
"I should get Erika out of Ordoghaz then."
"I don't think you have to worry about her," Endainme En'Dae said, standing and sliding the throwing daggers into their proper sheaths.
"Why?" Marcus said suspiciously as she slid stilettos into the sheaths at her wrists.
"I think she's a renegade spy too."
"Nonsense," Marcus repeated, but there was an unsure note in his voice. "She's in love with me. She wouldn't spy on a man she loved. Would she? She is in love with me?" He meant to say it as a statement, but it came out a question.
"Just be careful" Endainme En'Dae said, strapping her sword around her waist. It was the last remaining weapon. "I want you to promise me that you'll be careful." Marcus nodded, and Endainme En'Dae came around to the other side of the table and kissed him gently on the lips. "I don't want to see you hurt again." With that, she left the dojo, heading back to her own room, pretending not to hear the scuffle of feet, nor see the flash of blonde hair as someone ducked into hiding to avoid being seen by her.
But Marcus did hear, and he turned and saw the bit of blonde hair disappearing around the corner.
Erika's hair.
How could he? Erika thought over and over as she fled the dojo at a dead run. How could he do this to me? She had thought that he truly loved her, that this wasn't just a game for him anymore. But wasn't it a game of her own, one that he didn't know about? She had allowed herself to like him to get better information to pass on to Xavier. She hadn't planned on falling in love. In fact, Xavier and Kestral had both warned her not to get emotionally involved with him. But the pain that gripped her heart told her she had failed.
She loved him.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she fought for control of her emotions. Marcus was following her, she knew, and she didn't want him to see her cry. She didn't want him to know how much she cared for him.
She slowed to a walk when she realized that she was in the servants' quarters. She hadn't been there since Marcus had made her his consort. She wiped her streaming eyes, satisfied that Marcus wouldn't follow her here.
She paused by the door to her old room, wondering what her roommate, Dominique, would say if Erika showed up. She decided not to find out and continued down the corridor, not having a destination clearly in mind, but knowing she would not be going back to the room she shared with Marcus. Not tonight; she knew if she did, that Marcus would convince her that it was nothing and that he would kiss her, and she would let him, and everything would follow as it nearly always did when he kissed her. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but Erika was in no mood to give any of herself to Marcus, not after what she had witnessed in the dojo.
She heard footsteps behind her and she knew Marcus had followed her after all. Shit, she thought, picking up her pace and trying to get away from him. The servant's quarters were a maze of interconnecting hallways, and Erika tried to loose Marcus in them, but the footsteps kept pace with her.
"Erika, wait!" Marcus's commanding voice called from behind her. Unable to help herself, Erika turned and hesitated for just a moment before remember that she was trying to get away from Marcus, and started walking again. But that second of hesitation was all Marcus needed to catch up to her.
"Erika, Erika, listen to me!" He tried to step in front of her and halt her progress down the hall, but Erika just gave him a glare and stepped around him.
"Erika, if you will just let me explain—"
Erika turned sharply and, if looks could kill, Marcus would have died on the spot.
"I don't want your excuses Marcus! There is nothing you can say that excuses what happened!" She continued walking.
"Erika listen! Endainme En'Dae is just a friend! Nothing more! There is nothing between us, I promise! I love you! Erika! Erika, please!"
"Look Marcus. I don't care! I don't give a damn what she is to you. You can explain it away, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you let her kiss you. And that, combined with everything else that's happened in the last twenty four hours, has not exactly made you a nominee for 'boyfriend of the year' so I would appreciate if you would just leave me alone!"
Before Marcus could react, or even do anything more than stand there with a stupefied expression on his face, Erika had started walking again and had gone through the first door she saw, a large steel one, and locked it behind her, baring Marcus from doing anything less than what she had asked.
It took Marcus almost a full minute to realize what door Erika had gone through. Of all the door she could have picked, he groaned mentally. Why that one? He banged on the door, but it was made of solid steel and didn't even dent under his fist.
"Erika, open this door! You have no idea what you're getting yourself into!" She didn't respond, but he knew she was waiting just on the other side.
Damn it, Marcus thought. Of all the doors in the castle, she picks the one that I don't have the fucking key to! Now I have to go beg it off Endainme En'Dae. Damn! He left at a quick walk towards Endainme En'Dae's room, and away from the door that led to the dungeons.
Erika waited until she was sure Marcus was gone, then looked around to see where she was. She was in a dark hallway that led out into the darkness. Erika had to find out what the door was guarding, because big steel doors are put there for a reason, and she wanted to know what it was.
She walked carefully down the dark corridor, feet feeling for unevenness that might cause her to trip. The hallway wasn't long, she found, but she wished she had a torch or something so she could see where she was going.
She saw a light in the distance, and she hurried towards it. The light seemed to outline a door, and when Erika reached it, she felt for a handle. Her hands touched old wood, and a large brass doorknob that squeaked as she turned it.
Inside there was a vast cavern Michael would have recognized as the one from Lucian's memories. Light poured from torches all over the walls, giving the room the look of daylight. At first,Erika thought it was empty, but when she heard a moan, her eyes were directed to a figure huddled on the floor, bound by silver chains. Erika took a tentative step closer and picked up a strong smell of hybrid. Not one she was used to either. The man on the floor had been a lycan before he was bitten by a vampire. Or had he been bitten? His neck was covered by a thick mane of black hair and beard that Erika couldn't see through. Hands shaking as she realized who it must be, Erika reached for the cell phone in her jeans' pocket.
"What do you mean 'no'!" Selene said furiously, slamming her hands on Xavier's desk. "She is my child dammit, and Marcus has her! I can't get her back by myself, Xavier!"
"I'm sorry, Selene," Xavier told her, rubbing his eyes with one hand as if he had a headache, which he did, a splitting one. "But I can't risk exposing us. We won't be fully prepared with all of our people until the end of year. I can't risk an attack on Ordoghaz until then, unless you can come up with about a hundred extra vampires."
"Damn it Xavier," Kestral said. "She's only one day old. If we don't get her back soon, I don't know how long she'll live without her mother."
"Why did he take her anyway? He has no reason to suspect us. Why would he take her away?"
"He knows who her father is," Selene said miserably. "I saw it in his eyes when he held her. He probably thinks I'm a lycan spy."
"What—?" Xavier was clearly very confused. Kestral obviously hadn't told him who, or rather, what the father was.
"The father is a lycan," Selene explained.
"Why don't you go to him for help then? The lycans have enough numbers."
"Why would they want to help a vampire? You'd have to give them something they really want," Kestral said.
"He doesn't know. And I can't—" She was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. "What?"
"Selene," Erika's voice came over the phone, nervous and frightened. "I found the dungeons of Ordoghaz."
"Good for you Erika!" Selene snapped. "That must be a big achievement for you!"
"Selene, I think Lucian may still be alive. I don't think Kraven killed him."
"What does that have to do with Ordoghaz's dungeons?"
"There's a man here. And he smells like a hybrid, and he's not Michael, and he's not Marcus. He looks like what you described Lucian as. I really think he is Lucian." A slow smile crept across Selene's face as a plan began to form in her mind.
"Can he talk?" she asked. There was a pause on the other end and a new voice came on the phone.
"Selene? Where's Michael?"
"Is that all you ever ask me, Lucian?" Selene said, remembering her run-in with the hybrid when she had soon after she had joined the renegades. "He's with the lycans, don't worry. And I'm going to let him know where you are, and he'll get you out of Ordoghaz." Her battery died. "Damn," she muttered and snapped the stupid thing shut.
Disclaimer: don't own, don't sue.
Chapter 8: The Truth
"Erika," Marcus said, closing the door behind him as he entered their room. "Endainme En'Dae said you were looking for me?"
"Yes, I was afraid Selene might have found you first," Erika said, standing from her place in an arm chair and walking over to him.
"Selene?"
"She wants to kill you and she's in a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of mood."
"Why does she want to kill me?"
"She thinks you took Ravyn." Marcus looked at Erika for a long moment, seeing in her eyes that she desperately wanted him to tell her it wasn't true, to deny what had happened, to convince her that there had been no reason for him to take Ravyn. But he hesitated too long and Erika's eyes filled with tears. Marcus took her in his arms and she pressed her face into his chest.
"Why?" she asked, voice muffled against him. "She's a harmless little baby. She can't even walk. What could she do?"
"It's more her mother I'm worried about," Marcus told her. Erika pulled away sharply, confusion on her face and something that looked suspiciously like fear in her eyes.
"I know you're her friend Erika," Marcus said gently. "But I think that she may be a lycan spy. Ravyn is the daughter of a lycan, or maybe even that hybrid Michael. I smelled her hybrid scent when I held her last night."
Erika laughed, a genuine laugh, with relief as she realized that Marcus didn't know about the renegades and didn't suspect her in the least.
"I can assure you Marcus," Erika said with a smile. "Selene is definitely not a lycan spy. I would bet my life on it." The smile faded. "Now where's Ravyn?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that."
Erika's eyes flashed angrily. "For heaven's sake Marcus, she's a baby! A baby! She needs her mother. Now where the hell is she?"
Marcus stepped away from Erika and opened the door, saying, "I'm sorry Erika, but I can't tell you that. The child is an abomination and must stay in my custody."
"Marcus, you're a goddamned abomination!" Erika shouted after him. "Stop acting like that moron Viktor and tell me where the hell you left her!" Her only answer was the sound of the door closing.
"Fuck!" she shouted to no one in particular, then stormed out of the room to 'talk' some sense into him.
Endainme En'Dae examined the stick she had just finished carving, twirling it in her fingers to see if it was straight. It spun without a wobble, so she set it down on the table and looked through the pile of iron arrow heads. When she found the one she was looking for, she took a file and sharpened the edges before attaching it to the stick. After she added the feathers, she put it on top of a pile of other finished arrows.
The table she sat at was covered with weapons. Endainme En'Dae had been an Amazon Queen and she made all of her own weapons, except guns, which she rarely used. A sword hung in an elaborate hand-sewn sheath off the back of the chair she sat it. A set of throwing daggers was piled near her, the sheaths already concealed on various places on her body. Two stilettos, ready to be strapped to her wrists, sat just beyond the daggers, and above them, were two sais, Endainme En'Dae's favorite weapon. A cross bow sat in the middle of the table, beside it a pile of bolts Endainme En'Dae had spent the last hour making. Her longbow was laid across another chair and the arrow she had just finished was for the six-foot bow.
The door opened and instantly a throwing dagger was in Endainme En'Dae's hand, but it was only Marcus.
"Got enough stuff there?" he asked jokingly.
"No." Most of her attention was focused on carving the slit in the bottom of the arrow for the string straight, but she once she was done, she looked up and saw Marcus carefully moving her longbow out of a chair and sitting down. "What's up?"
"Erika's mad."
"Don't blame her. I'm mad too, but I've known you for centuries and I know it's pointless. Even the fury of an Amazon won't sway you when you've made up you're mind."
"I just don't understand why she's so mad. Ravyn's safe, and no harm will come to her. She is only a baby. I wouldn't—"
"That's just it Marcus. She's a baby. Erika doesn't understand why you kidnapped her."
"I did not—! Well, I guess I did kidnap her, but I have to protect the coven against the lycans. If Selene is a lycan spy, then I can blackmail her into telling us what she knows of the lycan plans."
"I don't think it's the lycans that Selene is spying for."
"What do you mean? Who else could she spy for?"
"Renegades."
Marcus laughed. "Endainme, there are no renegades!"
"Have you forgotten Xavier already?"
"Xavier? He's no threat."
"What about Kestral?"
"She's no threat either."
"But together, with all the other vampires that left when Sonja died, they are a formidable force. And they are planning an attack on Ordoghaz."
"Nonsense. How would you know anyway?"
"Marcus, I was an Amazon Queen for nearly four decades. When you are a battle queen for that long, you learn when a battle is coming. And trust me, one is coming. And it's not with lycans either."
"I should get Erika out of Ordoghaz then."
"I don't think you have to worry about her," Endainme En'Dae said, standing and sliding the throwing daggers into their proper sheaths.
"Why?" Marcus said suspiciously as she slid stilettos into the sheaths at her wrists.
"I think she's a renegade spy too."
"Nonsense," Marcus repeated, but there was an unsure note in his voice. "She's in love with me. She wouldn't spy on a man she loved. Would she? She is in love with me?" He meant to say it as a statement, but it came out a question.
"Just be careful" Endainme En'Dae said, strapping her sword around her waist. It was the last remaining weapon. "I want you to promise me that you'll be careful." Marcus nodded, and Endainme En'Dae came around to the other side of the table and kissed him gently on the lips. "I don't want to see you hurt again." With that, she left the dojo, heading back to her own room, pretending not to hear the scuffle of feet, nor see the flash of blonde hair as someone ducked into hiding to avoid being seen by her.
But Marcus did hear, and he turned and saw the bit of blonde hair disappearing around the corner.
Erika's hair.
How could he? Erika thought over and over as she fled the dojo at a dead run. How could he do this to me? She had thought that he truly loved her, that this wasn't just a game for him anymore. But wasn't it a game of her own, one that he didn't know about? She had allowed herself to like him to get better information to pass on to Xavier. She hadn't planned on falling in love. In fact, Xavier and Kestral had both warned her not to get emotionally involved with him. But the pain that gripped her heart told her she had failed.
She loved him.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she fought for control of her emotions. Marcus was following her, she knew, and she didn't want him to see her cry. She didn't want him to know how much she cared for him.
She slowed to a walk when she realized that she was in the servants' quarters. She hadn't been there since Marcus had made her his consort. She wiped her streaming eyes, satisfied that Marcus wouldn't follow her here.
She paused by the door to her old room, wondering what her roommate, Dominique, would say if Erika showed up. She decided not to find out and continued down the corridor, not having a destination clearly in mind, but knowing she would not be going back to the room she shared with Marcus. Not tonight; she knew if she did, that Marcus would convince her that it was nothing and that he would kiss her, and she would let him, and everything would follow as it nearly always did when he kissed her. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but Erika was in no mood to give any of herself to Marcus, not after what she had witnessed in the dojo.
She heard footsteps behind her and she knew Marcus had followed her after all. Shit, she thought, picking up her pace and trying to get away from him. The servant's quarters were a maze of interconnecting hallways, and Erika tried to loose Marcus in them, but the footsteps kept pace with her.
"Erika, wait!" Marcus's commanding voice called from behind her. Unable to help herself, Erika turned and hesitated for just a moment before remember that she was trying to get away from Marcus, and started walking again. But that second of hesitation was all Marcus needed to catch up to her.
"Erika, Erika, listen to me!" He tried to step in front of her and halt her progress down the hall, but Erika just gave him a glare and stepped around him.
"Erika, if you will just let me explain—"
Erika turned sharply and, if looks could kill, Marcus would have died on the spot.
"I don't want your excuses Marcus! There is nothing you can say that excuses what happened!" She continued walking.
"Erika listen! Endainme En'Dae is just a friend! Nothing more! There is nothing between us, I promise! I love you! Erika! Erika, please!"
"Look Marcus. I don't care! I don't give a damn what she is to you. You can explain it away, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you let her kiss you. And that, combined with everything else that's happened in the last twenty four hours, has not exactly made you a nominee for 'boyfriend of the year' so I would appreciate if you would just leave me alone!"
Before Marcus could react, or even do anything more than stand there with a stupefied expression on his face, Erika had started walking again and had gone through the first door she saw, a large steel one, and locked it behind her, baring Marcus from doing anything less than what she had asked.
It took Marcus almost a full minute to realize what door Erika had gone through. Of all the door she could have picked, he groaned mentally. Why that one? He banged on the door, but it was made of solid steel and didn't even dent under his fist.
"Erika, open this door! You have no idea what you're getting yourself into!" She didn't respond, but he knew she was waiting just on the other side.
Damn it, Marcus thought. Of all the doors in the castle, she picks the one that I don't have the fucking key to! Now I have to go beg it off Endainme En'Dae. Damn! He left at a quick walk towards Endainme En'Dae's room, and away from the door that led to the dungeons.
Erika waited until she was sure Marcus was gone, then looked around to see where she was. She was in a dark hallway that led out into the darkness. Erika had to find out what the door was guarding, because big steel doors are put there for a reason, and she wanted to know what it was.
She walked carefully down the dark corridor, feet feeling for unevenness that might cause her to trip. The hallway wasn't long, she found, but she wished she had a torch or something so she could see where she was going.
She saw a light in the distance, and she hurried towards it. The light seemed to outline a door, and when Erika reached it, she felt for a handle. Her hands touched old wood, and a large brass doorknob that squeaked as she turned it.
Inside there was a vast cavern Michael would have recognized as the one from Lucian's memories. Light poured from torches all over the walls, giving the room the look of daylight. At first,Erika thought it was empty, but when she heard a moan, her eyes were directed to a figure huddled on the floor, bound by silver chains. Erika took a tentative step closer and picked up a strong smell of hybrid. Not one she was used to either. The man on the floor had been a lycan before he was bitten by a vampire. Or had he been bitten? His neck was covered by a thick mane of black hair and beard that Erika couldn't see through. Hands shaking as she realized who it must be, Erika reached for the cell phone in her jeans' pocket.
"What do you mean 'no'!" Selene said furiously, slamming her hands on Xavier's desk. "She is my child dammit, and Marcus has her! I can't get her back by myself, Xavier!"
"I'm sorry, Selene," Xavier told her, rubbing his eyes with one hand as if he had a headache, which he did, a splitting one. "But I can't risk exposing us. We won't be fully prepared with all of our people until the end of year. I can't risk an attack on Ordoghaz until then, unless you can come up with about a hundred extra vampires."
"Damn it Xavier," Kestral said. "She's only one day old. If we don't get her back soon, I don't know how long she'll live without her mother."
"Why did he take her anyway? He has no reason to suspect us. Why would he take her away?"
"He knows who her father is," Selene said miserably. "I saw it in his eyes when he held her. He probably thinks I'm a lycan spy."
"What—?" Xavier was clearly very confused. Kestral obviously hadn't told him who, or rather, what the father was.
"The father is a lycan," Selene explained.
"Why don't you go to him for help then? The lycans have enough numbers."
"Why would they want to help a vampire? You'd have to give them something they really want," Kestral said.
"He doesn't know. And I can't—" She was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. "What?"
"Selene," Erika's voice came over the phone, nervous and frightened. "I found the dungeons of Ordoghaz."
"Good for you Erika!" Selene snapped. "That must be a big achievement for you!"
"Selene, I think Lucian may still be alive. I don't think Kraven killed him."
"What does that have to do with Ordoghaz's dungeons?"
"There's a man here. And he smells like a hybrid, and he's not Michael, and he's not Marcus. He looks like what you described Lucian as. I really think he is Lucian." A slow smile crept across Selene's face as a plan began to form in her mind.
"Can he talk?" she asked. There was a pause on the other end and a new voice came on the phone.
"Selene? Where's Michael?"
"Is that all you ever ask me, Lucian?" Selene said, remembering her run-in with the hybrid when she had soon after she had joined the renegades. "He's with the lycans, don't worry. And I'm going to let him know where you are, and he'll get you out of Ordoghaz." Her battery died. "Damn," she muttered and snapped the stupid thing shut.