Note: Please see Prologue for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.

The Item

We were among the first to make it to the parking lot, followed by Brother Stephen and his three werewolf friends. I started for the van I'd been driving, but Cormac laid a cold hand on my arm. He let me go before I had a chance to pull away from his touch.

"I think I have a faster way to get there," he told me. He took a set of keys from his pocket and headed for a dark Buick parked nearby.

We climbed in quickly and I found myself wedged in the front seat between Cormac and Stephen. The muscles in my shoulders began to ache from the stress of being with the vamp who'd once been my lover and worrying about Corrine's safety.

"We will save our daughter," Cormac assured me, noticing my tenseness.

I glanced at his face in the passing streetlights. "Ah, one thing you should know," I warned him softly. "She doesn't know who her parent's are. She was adopted."

He shot me a strange look. "We adopted her?"

"No," I replied sadly. "I gave her up for adoption." I rubbed a hand across my eyes, remembering what it had been like those first few years in Bar Harbor. "I had no choice."

When I looked up, we had stopped just down the block from Mother Abigail's. The street was quickly crowded with vehicles; I think half the vamps in Salem were there for the occasion.

An older man, or rather vamp, was standing near the back of a pickup truck handing out stakes. I grabbed a couple from him and looked toward Mother Abigail's, but we were too far away to see in any of the windows.

The old vamp stood in the truck bed and held up a rough sketch of the floor plan of Mother Abigail's. He quietly instructed everyone in the strategy that would be used to enter the home. Everyone was assigned an opening, and told to wait for the signal before attacking. As one, the crowd surged toward the house.

Cormac, Stephen, the werewolves and I ended up at the back of the house, near what was the dining room. A glance through the sliding glass door showed Corrine pinned to the wall by a tall black Kindred who had to be the Akari Elvira wanted alive. As we watched, he tried to get close enough to bite her, but she was fighting him off.

The blood drained from my face and I grabbed a nearby tree trunk to stop myself from going in. I knew if I let myself frenzy I'd forget about the plan and kill the vamp. My contract wouldn't save my life if I did, the prince would see me dead for disobeying her. Who would protect Corrine then?

At a softly spoken word from Cormac, two of the werewolves climbed to a second story window and waited silently. Cormac and Stephen stepped forward and I followed close behind them.

"If you think I'm letting you go in there without me you are out of your mind," I hissed at him as Akari viciously pulled Corrine's head back and bit her throat.

"I did not think to stop you," Cormac assured me as he raised his gun to aim at the monster.

A moment later the signal came and Cormac fired. The glass shattered and Akari's leg exploded in a shower of flame and he fell backward, still clutching my daughter, still feeding from her. Cormac fired again and she was free, sliding down the wall and kicking the vampire away from her.

Almost absently, I threw a knife at the ghoul who had been intent on raping one of the other girls on the dining room table. It embedded six inches in his back as I dashed in through the broken window to Corrine's side, brushing past Cormac to reach her.

The girl was barely maintaining her control, but she was dealing. I was proud of her restraint and hugged her fiercely; not many humans could survive an attack like that and not freak out totally.

I helped her to her feet and together we wrapped Cormac's trench coat around the naked girl on the table and got her outside.

"What the hell was that, Eliza?" Corrine asked in a hushed whisper.

"A bad guy, luv," I told her, trying to steady the other girl and get her away from the house.

"I know that," she hissed. "He bit me. Was he some kind of vampire?"

I glanced at her neck, but it didn't seem to be bleeding too badly. Somehow I'd have to make sure she forgot what she'd seen here tonight. "Vampires aren't real, Corrine," I said softly, ignoring the burning itch at the base of my spine that told me I was surrounded by them. "He was just some psycho looking for a cheap thrill."

She shivered. "He was crazy."

One of the Tremere ghouls came over to us and took the stunned girl off our hands. I turned to my daughter and pulled her into my arms.

"Are you all right?" I asked urgently.

"I'm fine, Eliza," she assured me, holding on tight. "Do you know who that was that shot him?"

"Yeah," I admitted. What could I tell her about him? She thought her birth father was dead. "He's an old friend. Look, I need to go back in and see if I can help."

"What can you do?" she asked, surprised.

Of course she had no idea what I do every night. How do you tell your child that you kill supernatural creatures professionally? Let me tell you how; you don't. I didn't want her to know anything about what lived in the darkness just out of sight. I figured it kept her safer that way. As it turns out, I was wrong, but we'll get to that part soon enough.

"There are other girls inside," I reminded her. "I've got to see if I can get them out." I also found myself thinking that I had to watch Mac's back and I had to shake the thought off. He was a fucking vamp, he could take care of his own damned back.

"Isn't there someone else who can go?" she begged.

I hugged her tight for a moment, then pulled away and looked into her eyes. "Corrine, I have to see if I can help. You stay here with this woman and I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise. Okay?"

When she nodded, I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't really want to bend her mind to make her let me go back inside, but I would have if it had come down to it.

"Stay here," I repeated. "Stay safe." I let her go and walked back to the house without looking back.

I stepped through the shattered door to see Cormac standing over the Kindred who had attacked our daughter. I gasped when I saw blood flowing from the weakened vampire's eyes, mouth and wounds rising in the air toward Cormac's mouth. When the blood stopped flowing, Akari was unconscious.

Visions of the vamp's teeth in Corrine's throat flashed through my mind. I pulled a wooden stake from the small of my back and strode quickly to his side. I had learned a long time ago the best method to stake a vamp through the heart, and I did it now without thought or hesitation. It's like riding a bike, you know? Once you learn how, you never forget. I really wanted to take the bastard's head off but I knew it would only cause problems for all of us and I wouldn't risk Corrine.

I shook my morbid thoughts away and stood, looking toward the living room and Cormac. I watched while he and his friends took care of the last of the Sabbat pack. I don't know what bothered me more; watching him feed from Akari, or seeing him stake and kill the enemy vamps without thought or hesitation. You'd think he'd care more about his own kind, wouldn't you?

I thought most of the other vamps in the room were Tremere, and I recognized Brenda Thompson among them. I'd dealt with Brenda recently; in fact I'd used her as my contact to get intel to the prince more than a few times when I couldn't find Kate. She seemed nice for a blood-sucking fiend, but I still couldn't stand her. A vamp is a vamp, you know?

Brenda was searching for a her puppy's—ah, ghoul's sister, and when the whole group went to look for her, I went to talk to Gillian Hollroyd, a friend of mine and Corrine's, although Corrine had no idea that the woman was a mage.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. There was blood on her chest, but I thought that most of her wounds looked self-inflicted. Some witches used blood to focus their power, and I guess Gillian was one of them.

"I'm fine," she told me, running a hand across the scratches. When she lowered her hand, the injuries were gone. "Can you help me get these girls outside?"

Two of the young residents of the house were sitting stunned on the couch. We walked them past several staked vampires and out into the back yard. Corrine saw us and came over quickly to make sure everyone was all right. She was holding a handkerchief to her throat, but it looked like the bleeding had stopped.

"This sounds kind of strange," Corrine said softly to me, "but do I know the guy that saved me? Something tells me I should know who he is. Don't you have a picture of him?"

She must have seen it a long time ago when I'd lived in Bar Harbor. She knew where the apartment I kept was, the one I kept secret from St. Stephens, but she'd never been inside. I tried to keep traffic to it at a minimum so I didn't have to explain to the Society that I needed my own private space.

"Yeah," I admitted softly. "I knew him a long time ago."

"It couldn't be that long ago," she replied with a smile. "You don't look a day over eighteen."

I shook my head. "I'm a lot older than I look," I told her. "The women in my family age well." For instance, Kate was over a hundred years old and she still looked in her mid twenties. Personally, my forty-eighth birthday was only a few days away.

Gillian smiled at my words and I suspected that she was also much older than she looked, but for a much different reason.

"Gillian, could you look after Corrine for a moment for me?" I asked. "I need to talk to someone." She agreed.

I knew that the vamps would be manipulating memories and I wanted to talk to one of them before they got to my daughter. I quickly found Zora Yale, a woman Kate had told me was some kind of Tremere bigwig.

"I know that your people will be changing memories in these people's minds," I began slowly, glancing over my shoulder at Corrine.

"Yes," she replied coolly.

I took a quick breath and hoped I was doing the right thing. "It's important that Corrine Wright be allowed to remember Cormac Brennan rescuing her."

The vamp looked at me in surprise. "I'd heard the item was here. Is she all right?" she demanded.

"She's been bitten," I told her gravely, "but she'll be fine. I'd like her to forget the bite but remember Cormac."

"I see." She was too polite to ask why. Since she was Ford's grandchilde and had called Corrine the 'item', I figured she knew all about me.

"This won't affect the contract," I told her softly. "Make it happen." If she didn't, I was fully within my rights to demand Ford's life and I didn't think she wanted that.

Zora nodded. "I will take care of her myself," she assured me. "She will remember that Cormac shot and killed the man who was trying to force himself on her."

"My thanks," I told her respectfully, although it almost killed me to do it. I hated dealing with those monsters. Things had been much easier when I was killing them on sight. I walked slowly back toward Corrine and Gillian.

"We have to talk to one of the detectives before they will allow us to leave," Gillian said meaningfully when I rejoined them.

I nodded. "I just spoke with Detective Yale," I replied. "Make sure that she is the one you talk to, Corrine, she seemed very nice."

Corrine agreed, then said, "I know you are helping here but when you're done, could you come by my apartment?" she asked sheepishly. "I hate to ask but I'm a little spooked and I just want someone to check on me."

"Of course," I said with a smile. I didn't want to leave her in the middle of all these vamps, but I caught sight of Ford Radek nearby and knew that she'd be the safest person there. I hugged her again, then asked Gillian to see Corrine home after they had talked to the 'detective.' She agreed.

I excused myself and went back toward the house, where I could still hear sporadic gunfire. Down the street I saw flashing lights from police cruisers, and wondered just how much of the cops the vamps of Salem controlled.

In the study, I spent several minutes talking quietly with Elvira. It was our first face to face meeting, although we had talked several times on the phone.

"I was not surprised to see you here," she said guardedly.

"I wasn't interfering, madam," I told her. "The 'item' volunteers here, and when I heard that there was trouble, Mr. Brennan offered to bring me with him."

"Would that be Cormac or his nephew?"

"Cormac, madam."

She studied me closely for several minutes then nodded to herself. "I met Cormac many years ago when he came through town with his sire, Dougal Galloway."

I couldn't stop myself from stiffening at the name and I knew she saw my telltale movements. "I knew him a long time ago, in fact I thought he was dead until I saw him this evening."

"He is dead," she reminded me. "He is Tremere. Surely you know what that entails."

"I am aware of your clan's loyalties, madam," I said softly. I knew it wasn't a good idea to disrespect to the prince, but what I really wanted to do was slap her for reminding me that the Mac I'd loved didn't really exist anymore.

"And how is the 'item'?" she asked offhandedly.

She didn't fool me, we both knew that I could have her sire destroyed for what had happened here tonight. "She will be fine," I assured her. "She won't remember most of the evening." I'd hated doing that to Corrine, but it was for the best.

Elvira seemed relieved, though she tried to hide it. "Then we can expect no further repercussions from this incident?"

I shook my head. "Not unless there is further damage done from this."

Luckily, at that moment Cormac entered the room with Stephen and a few others, which drew Elvira's attention away from me. I walked to the back of the room and watched Elvira deal with the remainder of the Sabbat pack. She killed Akari herself, something I was more than happy to see. She ordered the leader of the pack taken into custody for questioning. I thought that was a mistake, but since she didn't ask my opinion, I didn't offer it.

When Elvira dismissed everyone, Cormac joined me and asked how Corrine was doing.

"She'll be all right," I assured him. "I sent her home with a friend. I told her I'd stop by after we finished up here."

He began to say something, then stopped abruptly and looked away.

I shook my head at my carelessness. I knew he wasn't Mac anymore, but still I should have known that he'd want a chance to talk to Corrine. "You could come with me if you'd like," I offered before I thought about taking a vamp to see my daughter. Still, if Zora had done as she had promised, I knew that Corrine would welcome seeing her rescuer.

Cormac tried not to look too enthusiastic about coming with me, but it was wicked obvious in his eyes. Stephen and one of his friends offered to drop us off back at Guilty Pleasures for my van, and we agreed.

I wasn't concerned about the contract; I knew that Ford would count on me to choose what violated it and what didn't. I'd make sure that they weren't worried about Cormac's presence in Corrine's life, but if he hurt her, I'd destroy him myself.