This chapter's a little shorter than previous chapters, so I hope you don't mind.

Chapter Thirteen

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."

- Robert Ingersoll

___

Izzy gasped, staring at the woman sitting across from her in horror. Neve? She couldn't say the same aloud.

"…I see you know me," Neve said, removing her hand from her now frozen cup. "That will save me explanations."

"Marach, it's Neve! This woman is Neve!"

"Do not distress, Isabel. I cannot rise yet, but Gary is coming. And I can fight her effectively enough through you."

"Through m—"

"Are you talking with your lover now?" she asked, watching Izzy closely. "Are you telling him I'm threatening you? It isn't nice to lie."

Izzy swallowed, trying to stay calm. So Neve knew about lifemates. It only made Izzy even more uneasy. "…Y-You said you were offering me a proposition."

"Yes, I am." Neve uncrossed her legs smoothly and recrossed them. "I need your help."

Izzy stared at her mutely for a minute. "You want my help?!"

"Yes."

"Y-You…" Izzy was dumbfounded…and furious. She jabbed a finger at Neve, momentarily forgetting the danger she was. "You tried to kill me! I was nearly ripped apart by your spell and you want my help?!"

"Yes," Neve said. She calmly folded her hands on the table, unfazed by Izzy's outburst. "Will I need to repeat myself once more?"

"Y-You…" Izzy shook her head. "There's no way in hell I would ever help you!"

Neve sighed shortly. "Always an American, making loud outbursts in public." She had the nerve to sound embarrassed! "For aligning yourself with cretins seeking solidarity, you certainly like to draw attention to yourself."

"C-Cretins?!" Izzy snapped, now completely outraged. "Don't talk about them like that! They've helped me so much!"

Neve raised a blonde eyebrow slightly. "And you reward their help by revealing you are their ally to me?"

Izzy stiffened, and clenched her fists on the tabletop. "Marach, please help me…"

"I won't help you," she said stiffly. She stood up from the table. "Don't ever come near me again."

"Please don't be so hasty," Neve said, raising a hand as though trying to soothe an angry child. "Think about what I have to offer you."

"You've sicced vampires on us and tried to kill me," Izzy snapped. "Why should I care what you have to offer me?!"

Neve slowly lowered her hand, but she clearly still held the authority over this conversation. "Do you find Carpathians to be so innocent, Isabel?"

Izzy stared at her, though she knew she should run. "What?"

"I'm going to make a guess that they fed you a sob story about the suffering of their kind. It's all self-induced, girl. I'm also going to guess they have told you of the massacres of their people by mages." Neve flicked at the frozen cup of ice. Surprisingly, the ice cracked in the glass without the glass breaking. "But I bet they haven't told you the crimes they committed against my people."

"What crimes?!" Izzy fumed. "All I've seen so far is you trying to kill us!"

"I'm not the only mage, Isabel," Neve said. "There are others like me. And I'm not the only one who has drawn the attention of Carpathians. Many of my associates have been viciously murdered by Carpathians." She looked at Isabel, her brown eyes hard. "Did your lifemate tell you about that?"

"Isabel, these mages she spoke of acted to kill us. We only acted in self-defense."

"I'll bet your lifemate didn't even tell you what one of his kind did," Neve said. Her calm tone now dripped with open disgust. "To one of my people in South America. We never found his body, but we have eyes and ears. They were too cowardly to kill him and so they turned the animals upon him. Filthy little Jaguars who believe they are better than everyone." She laughed humorlessly. "They are so great that are easily impressionable. Funny how a simple mind works, isn't it? But…they tore him apart like he was a piece of meat. It would appear neither kind likes seeing a human with a little bit of power."

"Dragă, I know what this woman speaks of. A mage tried to attack the De La Cruz family and sprung upon unprotected women, two of whom were Jaguar, with a whole pack of bloodthirsty Jaguars. I do not condone violence against Jaguars, but Jaguar men have been positively vicious to their female counterparts in recent years. One of the women thankfully turned the tide against the mage. That is what happened. He went there, looking to kill and to steal a Jaguar woman as bait for the other men, and he lost his life."

Izzy stared at Neve for a long moment. She believed Marach's side of the story, although she didn't know if Neve really meant what she said or was trying to milk sympathy from Izzy.

She knew she had to go with her gut feeling on this. And Neve had tried to kill her, whereas Marach had never meant her any harm. "I don't know what's going on with you guys," she said, slowly sitting back down. "But I want nothing to do with you. Please, leave me alone."

It was Neve's turn to stare at Izzy in silence. She looked neither offended nor surprised by Izzy's decision, but Izzy kept her body tense, waiting for the shoe to fall.

Then, Neve spoke. "It's really a shame at how daft you are. We are the same species, Isabel. It's impossible for me to manipulate you as those leeches do. For what purpose would I have to lie?" She leaned forward again, her brown eyes holding Izzy's. "I like to look out for my own."

Izzy looked right back at her and said, "I'm not one of your own." She quickly reached under the table and grabbed her helmet. She threw it at Neve and jumped from the table, not waiting to see if she was hit. Ignoring the puzzled customers and staff, she ran for her life for the door. She couldn't afford to wait for Gary now, but maybe she could find him along the way?

"Liquid droplets all nearby/

Beckon upon the lone figure/

Freeze the ground with elements you ally/

Surround the girl, grow bigger."

Izzy screamed as the solid ground beneath her feet suddenly grew slippery. She skidded and slid a couple of feet before slipping completely and falling hard to the ground, just beyond the threshold outside.

"Frozen ball/

Hear my call/

Ice to all that touch/

Destroy that you may clutch."

The large display window showing the interior of the restaurant suddenly exploded. People on the sidewalk screamed and ran as shards of glass rained over everything in its path, including Izzy. She covered her head, but screamed again when something hard, almost like a baseball, struck her shoulder hard. She briefly looked up to see a white-blue ice ball bounce off the sidewalk and calmly roll away. It took her a few seconds to realize that this was the frozen ice Neve had produced in her glass of water.

"Why must you make things difficult?"

Izzy stiffened and rolled over onto her back. Neve calmly stepped through the doorway, completely unmoved by the mindless damage she'd caused. But Izzy couldn't afford to be angry. Her insides twisted as she noticed a visible change in Neve. The eyes that looked upon her weren't light brown anymore. They were darker, a mix of brown and red, almost burgundy, and they blazed with fury…and power.

"W-What…" but Izzy couldn't say any more. "Marach, what's going on?"

"That's the color of her mage power. The Dragonseeker's eyes turn blue, and hers is this. I don't know what clan has this color, though…"

"What do I do?"

"Stay focused on her. I don't wish to use you in any way, but I can attack her through you."

"Do whatever you have to, but stop her!"

Neve stood there over her, watching her calmly. Her mage power began fading form her eyes. "I know what you're doing. The one you've whored yourself to is going to use you as a weapon. As you've all done so many, many times to us humans and my colleagues."

Her high-heeled foot shot out suddenly, catching Izzy in the stomach and pinning her to the ground there. "Well, I'm ready. Go ahead and fight me, bloodsucker." She folded her arms over her chest, looking down at Izzy as though she were something vile. "That is…if you can."

Izzy grabbed the foot and tried to twist it, but she screamed when Neve sunk her heel deep. "Can he attack me, Isabel? Can your strongman dare to take the life of a woman?" she laughed with genuine humor in her voice. "Their kind can barely stand to let a woman out of the house! They are misogynists, little girl, completely sexists in terms of how they handle women." She leaned over Izzy slightly. "Well, can you Carpathian? Will you murder a woman, as you've done so with men?! I'm threatening your lifemate, aren't I?!"

Izzy tried with all her might to pull the foot off her stomach, but Neve wasn't budging. Even more frightening was that she could sense Marach's reluctance. "What are you waiting for?! I told you, use me for whatever you need!"

"…Look at her," Marach said finally.

Izzy did. Neve's face suddenly twisted up in pain and she recoiled back, clutching at the left side of her chest. She wheezed softly in pain, but her face was suddenly filled with fury. "You—!"

Izzy sat up partially, but her nerves were shot. Neve was hurt, but she was reacting as though somebody had punched her hard in the chest. Marach had attacked her, but hadn't killed her. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Somebody suddenly came up behind Neve, pressing a pistol to the side of her neck. "That's enough."

"Thank God!" Izzy gasped, sitting up fully as she recognized Gary standing behind her. Tension eased out of her as Neve raised her hands slightly. "Where the hell were you?!"

"I'm sorry," Gary said shortly. "But she sprung a trap on me that kept me occupied until now." He cocked the hammer on the pistol. "You're through. You may be a powerful mage, but you're human. A bullet to the head will kill you, no matter what."

Neve still had her hands raised, but she looked completely calm. The tension came back to Izzy quickly. She was through; no spell she could chant would outrun a bullet. So why was she still operating as though she were in complete control of the situation?!

Neve turned suddenly, her hands still raised, until she faced Gary. The gun was now against her throat. "What will you say, then?"

"Say to what?" Gary demanded, raising the gun higher.

Neve stepped forward, boldly pressing her throat against the barrel. "When my lifemate comes looking for me. How will you explain to him that I'm dead?"

Shock and horror rocketed Izzy. She realized Marach's reluctance then; this woman was a mage, not a regular person. It was very likely that she had a lifemate, even though she was siding with people seeking to kill Carpathians. No matter what her actions were, killing her would condemn her unknowing lifemate to a half-life.

Just as Serenity was.

"He's out there, isn't he?" Neve asked Gary. Her tone suddenly grew soft. "He's probably looking for me right this minute. And you will simply kill me, and let him suffer, just because we're on different sides?"

"He's better off without you!" Gary snapped, though Izzy could visibly see that his drive was fading. "You're trying to kill his kind! He has no use for a lifemate like you!"

Neve sighed shortly. "He will die regardless, once you kill me. How long has he lived, I wonder? What kind of a person is he?" she looked skyward all of a sudden, her brown eyes almost misty. "Sometimes, I just feel this…tightness in me that I feel like I'm suffocating. It hurts, it hurts so badly…" she looked back down at Gary. "Is he feeling like this, in his lonely world of gray? If I'm gone…" she pressed her throat tighter to the barrel. "Nothing can save him. But, if you think I'm no-good, go ahead and pop me off."

Gary faltered. He knew the suffering of the Carpathian males; he lived with them long enough to see it in their faces, to sense their loneliness. Only their promised lifemate could save them. It made him sick to his stomach sometimes, thinking about the lifemate promised to Gabrielle. He often asked himself these same questions. But…but, he didn't want to give Gabrielle up. And if her lifemate died, she would end up like Serenity. He wanted Gabrielle all to himself, to share his life with her. But…

His hands drooped slightly, the gun falling away from Neve's throat. A smirk suddenly broke out on Neve's face. She raised her foot and connected it hard with Gary's groin. He wheezed, and involuntarily stepped backwards, giving Neve the perfect opportunity to grab for Gary's gun. "Gary!" Izzy screamed, jumping to her feet.

Gary didn't even have time to recover. He kept hold of the gun, but he couldn't stop Neve's fingers from curling around it, curling around the trigger, and for the gun to be shoved downwards…

BANG!

"AAAHHH!" Gary couldn't help but scream as a bullet ripped through his abdomen. He clutched at his wound as he slumped against the side of the building. The reaction to the gun blast was instantaneous; everyone on the street and inside the restaurant began screaming, running in all directions.

Izzy wasn't thinking. Neve was now armed with the gun and she was a mage. But none of that stopped Izzy from diving into her, slamming Neve hard into the wall.

It was a furious struggle for the gun. Izzy kicked and punched as hard as she could, and she even pulled Neve's hair. Neve didn't conjure anymore spells, but unfortunately she wasn't a pushover, either. She fought Izzy just as furiously, both women falling hard to the ground and grappling. Even as the wrestled for the gun, Izzy noticed Neve wasn't trying to use it on her. Incapacitate her, yes, but she wasn't fighting to kill.

"Bitch!" Neve roared, punching Izzy in the face. Then, as though acting on impulse, she wiped Izzy's blood across her white sleeve.

Izzy suddenly heard the screech of tires not too far away. Neve grabbed her by her collar and slammed her hard into the ground before she quickly stood up. The mage looked a little worse for wear, her lip was swollen, her left check had an angry welt upon it, and her hair was completely mussed. But the drive for fighting seemed to have left her. She calmly smoothed her hair back and brushed off her now filthy suit.

Izzy rolled over onto her stomach, trying to grab for her. "Wait!"

Neve smiled at her plainly, calmly stepping out of her reach. "We'll meet again, Isabel Crane. You can count on it."

Izzy managed to sit up as what looked like a black Ferrari came to a screeching halt at the curb. Izzy caught a glimpse of a man behind the wheel, but his face was obscured behind dark sunglasses and dark tinted windows. The most she could surmise was that the man had dark hair, either brown or black.

With a casual amount of grace, Neve swept into the passenger side, and the car took off before she even closed the door. "Wait!" Izzy shouted, struggling to her feet. But the car whipped around the corner and out of sight. She didn't even have time to see its license plate.

She heard a soft groan behind her and she spun around. "Gary!" she rushed over to the injured man, noting his pale expression. "Marach, he's been shot!"

"I know." Marach's tone was incredibly grim.

Blood was seeping out of the wound, soaking his shirt. Izzy tried to maintain control, to remember her training. "Call an ambulance!" she shouted at people starting to gather. She floundered for a Romanian translation.

"O CHEAMA ambulanta," Marach supplied her.

She repeated the words frantically, even as other people rushed over to help. Gary was still conscious, but his breathing was so shallow. It was still too early for the Carpathians to rise; they would need human help for this for the time being.

Please, please survive!

___

Everything was just one big mess. Hunting down all the people who witnessed the fight against the mage and wiping their memories wasn't easy. Neve didn't seem to be one for discretion, or maybe she was and simply left them to clean up the messes, as the vampires did. But resetting everything like nothing had happened proved to be a hassle.

The bullet missed all of Gary's vital organs, but it still caused a lot of damage and blood loss. He was given a transfusion at the hospital and they performed surgery to repair the worst of the damage. Once the Carpathians got to him, though, they would be able to fully heal him.

Izzy injuries were patched up; even though she knew it wasn't necessary. Something bothered her, though. Her injuries…weren't healing. Well, they were, but not as quickly as they should be. The cut on her lip should've healed within moments, though it was sealed hours later, she could still feel the sting. The welts and bruises on her face should've faded, but they were still green and yellow.

She looked at her reflection in confusion, her tongue playing with her split lip. What was going on? Why wasn't she healing as quickly as she usually did?

"I have failed you."

Izzy couldn't help but jump as Marach materialized behind her in the mirror, arms sliding around her in a comforting, possessive manner. She could feel his distress quite profoundly and it broke her heart. "You didn't fail me, Marach."

"You were being attacked by an enemy. You gave me permission, and ample opportunity to kill her. But I didn't, and my hesitation caused you to get hurt and it nearly killed a trusted ally of ours." He buried his face into her hair. "I'm so sorry, iubita mea. I will carry this shame with me for all time."

"Marach…" Izzy closed her eyes and swallowed thickly. "No. It's not your fault and I don't blame you. I'm alive, aren't I? Gary's a little worse for wear, but he hesitated against her, too. It really doesn't help that she's aware of lifemates, and that she's holding the existence of a potential lifemate over your heads. I-I…" she shook her head. "Serenity is hurting so much, Marach. I don't want somebody else to go through it, even if it's some unfortunate guy who's tied to her."

"This is a difficult situation for everyone involved." He leaned down and kissed her temple tenderly. "I will have to answer to Mikhail for my inaction, in addition to my other crimes, but don't worry. He will not take my life, not when we already have Serenity to deal with."

"They'll punish you?!" Izzy cried. She pulled out of his arms and turned to face him. "B-But we acted on our own! You didn't put a gun to my head and force me to go out with Gary! He knew the danger, too! If they're going to blame you for Neve getting away, they all might as well share the blame!"

Marach smiled and touched her on the cheek. "It will be all right, dragă. Having a woman enemy will be difficult for all of us to deal with, especially since the ancients protest so much to women being part of our warrior council. But I made a mistake today, and my mistake very well might cost us lives. However Mikhail punishes me, I will take it because I deserve it."

Izzy grabbed his hand. "Let me go with you. I'll talk to Mikhail, let him know I don't blame you. As far as I'm concerned you only need to answer to me over this and I don't blame you."

"He is my Prince, Isabel, and he cannot afford to let offenses slide. Our former Prince and his father did, and it nearly caused our extinction. Neve is dangerous because she is manipulative. And sadly, it appears we cannot afford to kill her so long as a lifemate exists out there for her."

"And she won't change her mind easily. She made it clear she hates Carpathians."

Marach frowned thinly. "And that only adds to or problems."

Izzy didn't like to see him look and feel so destitute. She raised a hand to his arm. "Come on, let's go see how Gary's doing." She started to walk past him out of the hospital room, but Marach gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "What is it?"

"Let me…" his voice trailed off as he dipped his head towards hers. He kissed her full on the mouth, his tongue trailing over her lips, using the healing agent of his saliva to heal her split lip. He held the kiss several moments longer before he reluctantly broke the kiss, pressing soft kisses to her bruises face and bathing the surface with his tongue. He could sense her confusion at her slow healing. The tight knot in his chest began to tighten even more. It was his fault, of course. His blood flowed through her bloodstream. His Carpathian blood may or may not be strong enough to overpower her regenerative blood, but he had a feeling it was diluting it. And if he continued to dilute it, without even intending to convert her…

Izzy couldn't stop the sigh from escaping her throat, her knees weak. All he was doing was kissing—and licking—her face, but it was…need began consuming her senses. She had to cling to his arms to keep herself steady, even as he held her upright. He was healing her, and for once she needed it…

But she wasn't stupid. She could sense some of his thoughts through his bond. And she knew what worried him. "Marach…if you change me, will I lose my healing abilities?"

Marach paused, his lips still on her cheek. "…I don't know dragă. Unfortunately it might happen. We have Jaguars, mages, lycans, and psychics who have been converted who lost their abilities. Your healing abilities are involuntary and they still work now, but it appears my blood interferes with the process. That's probably why you aren't healing as quickly as you're use to."

Izzy opened her eyes slightly and looked at him. "Do you still want to convert me?" she asked quietly.

"I would rather you not lose this ability, because it's very powerful. As I said it's involuntary, whereas our abilities require attention." He framed her face in his hands. "But I won't take your blood again, iubita mea, and I won't give you mine." He was surprised at how much it hurt to say these words, to deny something so natural between them. But it was so risky as it was, and just one more formal blood exchange will turn Izzy.

Izzy managed a smile, even as she felt uncomfortable by the situation. "Thank you, Marach." Serenity still clouded her mind constantly, but she was becoming more and more aware of his feelings. And she found she liked responding to them in a positive way. She wanted him to be happy, as she wanted Serenity to be happy. However, she was reluctant to admit her feelings extended so far.

They left the room and walked down the hall towards I.C.U. They'd denied her access all day, but this time the hospital staff didn't even glance at them. As they rounded each corridor, Izzy began to recognize several dark-haired men in dark clothing. None of them looked at her as she passed, but they gave Marach very knowing looks. Many of the looks were as dark as their appearances. Marach didn't flinch, but Izzy grabbed his arm a little tighter.

She knew they'd arrived at Gary's room because she saw Mikhail. He was looking into the room with an unreadable expression on his face. Izzy glanced at the glass and saw Gary lying in bed, hooked up to many machines. He was conscious, and was speaking to Gabrielle, who was by his side and holding his hand. Gregori was at his other side, but it was…strange. He seemed to be not a solid form, but a force of life.

"Mikhail." Marach broke away from Izzy and walked over to Mikhail. Instead of bowing though, he knelt down to the floor, his head bent. "Forgive me my negligence. This carnage happened because I did nothing against our enemy. I accept full responsibility for this and any punish the warrior's council may produce against me."

Mikhail looked at him for a long moment and then looked at Izzy. Izzy wanted to come to his defense, but Mikhail spoke before she could. "Please, stand up. You mustn't humble yourself in such a way unless you have cause a great grievance."

Marach looked up, and slowly rose from the floor. "Mikhail, I—"

"Your lifemate spoke the truth earlier," he said plainly. "All of us were alert and aware of what was going on. We could've acted, if not through Isabel then through Gary. But we did not. Neve escaped because of our inaction, not just your own."

"Y-You could hear us?!" Izzy cried, feeling heat on her cheeks.

Mikhail looked amused. "Just a little." He looked at Marach again. "But nobody acted against her. She was obviously expecting this, and this creates problems for us. Many of the warriors will not accept a woman as our enemy, and if she were to attack again they surely would not fight to kill her." he paused before he continued. "I don't know if she has a lifemate, though. Because she uses him so freely against us, I don't know if he's alive or if he really exists. But…"

"But because we can prove neither, we cannot take chances." Gregori finished Mikhail's thought as he came through the door and into the hallway. "Gary will be fine now. The human doctors gave him a decent blood transfusion, and so he won't need any of our blood. I healed his remaining injuries, but he's still very weak. He should be fine in a few days, though."

Izzy nearly collapsed in relief. "Thank God. He bled out so much and he got shot in the chest…"

"He was lucky," Gregori agreed. "But he's always been so lucky." Gregori glanced at Mikhail. "I'm still looking into who this woman is, and the man that was with her. Even through both Isabel and Gary's eyes I couldn't get a good look at him."

"W-Wait, what?!" Izzy cried. "You looked into my head?!"

"I was in your head," Marach corrected. "They saw only what I saw, Isabel."

"Oh." She didn't understand it, but she shrugged. "If that'll help catch her, then that works for me."

"The only thing that we can surmise is that Neve isn't her real name. We got the license plate of her Ferrari, but it's registered under a fake name. We can't really determine what will happen once we pinpoint her, but we have to stop her. Even if it means we have to risk killing her."

___

Neve reached out and smoothed a hand over the aging desk. She stared at the lonesome piece of furniture for a long moment before she realized her hand was trembling. She retrieved it from the surface as though it had burned her. Forcing herself to be calm, she looked up and over her shoulder. "Eis."

"We're in the clear for right now. They recognize us as allies, but they're unpredictable." A tall man circled the perimeter of the room. Dark brown hair lay thick on his head and fell into his face, but turquoise blue eyes remained on the even bluer walls around them. "We'll have to conduct our business quickly, Neve."

They weren't speaking their real names, but code names designated to them. They knew each other's real names and they were alone in this foreboding place, but there was never such a thing as certainty. They had to be cautious, especially while on the job.

Neve nodded. "Don't worry. I've waited far too long for this to simply let opportunities slip away." She pulled the chair out from the desk. The ornate piece of furniture groaned against the icy surface of the floor, and the room shifted ominously. Out of the corner of her eye, Neve saw Eis take off a glove and stroke the wall as though soothing an animal, reminding it of who there were. Slowly but surely, the room relaxed, even as the ice shift in weight all around them.

"He sure knew how to build the perfect sanctuary for himself, didn't he?" Eis asked her dryly.

Neve tried not to wince at his use of past tense as she removed her jacket. She prided herself in her luxurious clothing. She'd worked too hard her whole life, living off the streets of Surrey, to simply do nothing with the wealth now acquired of her. She was furious such a simple-minded, brainwashed woman would put her hands on her, and filthy her clothes.

No, there was no use getting upset over it now. Not when there was important work to be done.

A pair of hands rested on her shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"Of course I am," she answered sharply. "I just want to complete all of this quickly." She held up the sleeve with the smear of blood on it. "I got it."

Eis nodded, though he wasn't moved in any way by her anger. "Are you sure this will work? A Carpathian has claimed her. Her blood might be diluted."

"Diluted or not, it still has the pathogens in them. Besides…they owe us." She clenched her jaw slightly before she relaxed again. "They owe him."

Eis carefully kneaded her shoulders, trying to ease the ever-present tension in them. "They certainly do, but I believe you're acting on anger now. She attacked you and hurt you, and we don't heal as they do. It's easier for you to handle this operation as he says, but…"

"I can do it." She wanted to relax, she really did. But every time she relaxed…it reappeared. And then it was impossible to think of anything else. "This was entrusted to me. Our brethren have been viciously murdered by these monsters for centuries. And…I am a woman. It may have been some stupid girl who attacked me, but he was right. None of them attacked me, only when they had no options left. They really don't have many experiences killing women, and their reluctance to hurt me will be our gain."

"They won't remain reluctant forever, Neve."

"This is why we'll have to act quickly." She reached into the desk and withdrew surgical tools. They were as aging as the desk itself, and slightly rusted. But they would simply have to do. She started scraping some of the blood off the sleeve and into a test tube.

"Will the cells still be viable now?" Eis asked. He removed his hands from her shoulders and stepped to her left side.

"These cells will never die, even if their host does. But, we mustn't let it come to that yet." It wasn't a lot for a sample, but it would have to do.

As she corked the test tube, Neve's pocket vibrated. The melody "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" suddenly filled the room. Eis stiffened, and quickly looked at Neve. But Neve calmly reached into her pocket and turned off the ringer.

"Didn't you want me to answer it?" he asked.

"It will go to my voicemail," Neve said easily enough, holding up the test tube to the dimming light. "She always leaves a voicemail."

"Yes, but she always sounds so angry on them." Eis patted his own pocket. "She left me one just this afternoon."

"So why didn't you pick up? Why complain to me about not picking up?"

"Because I was driving out to get you."

"And you haven't called her back."

Eis paused. "No, I haven't."

Neve sighed and shook her head. "We'll call her back later, Eis. Right now we have to get this done."

"Do you have the other sample?"

"Almost." Neve stood up from the desk and walked towards the center of the room. Her eyes were on the blue floor. "Isn't it somewhere in here?"

"Right there," Eis said, pointing to a spot on the floor. They both could see a rack of test tubes a few centimeters beneath the icy surface. Each one was filled with a red substance.

"Do you want to do the honors?" Neve asked, tossing him a bottle of water.

Eis smiled only very slightly. "Sure." He clenched the bottle in his left fist. In the blink of an eye the water froze to ice in the plastic bottle. Then, the ice began to expand inside its confines. Even more quickly the bottle exploded, pieces of plastic flying everywhere, as the ice grew bigger, longer, forming the shape of an ice chisel. It broke off suddenly into a separate piece. Eis caught it, and it took the shape of a small hammer

Neve watched all of this in silence, though she couldn't miss the swell of pride in her chest. Eis and she had always been paired together because not just because they were both British citizens, but their control of spell casting seemed to rest with the element of water. Most notably, the phasing of water. For as strong and advanced as Neve was, Eis was even more powerful than her, and yet he never flaunted his power. He was always subdued, never proud, and he made a perfect second.

The icy room protested their invasion of its surface, but Eis barely faltered, calmly chiseling away the thin ice surface to get to the sample beneath. It still took a long moment for him to finish, and he was quick to retrieve the test tubes. Neve quickly stepped in to reset the circle he'd cut out, and the ice floor quickly absorbed it as though it'd never been cut.

Eis picked up one of the test tubes, staring at the red liquid. "It's frozen, but…" he looked at all six of them. All of them were nearly filled. "He filled them to the brim?"

"Why shouldn't he? It's his blood; he could do what he wanted with it." Neve took the test tube from Eis and held it up. She held up the other one with minimal blood. "We must try it now. And if this succeeds…then I can hold off any thoughts of revenge."

"We could use both women if we have to," Eis pointed out.

"I fully intend to use the both of them if needed. Who do they have to thank for everything, anyways? Their blood, their stable lives…they're completely daft, is what they are. But they'll repay them anyhow." Neve looked down at the blood samples again. "They'll repay everything they owe to Xavier…and to Rothelmi as well."