Tril ian motioned to Morio. "Come with me, and we'l check the wild patch of woods out back." They hurried off.

Smoky said nothing but was away, heading toward the front perimeter of the land. I whirled and grabbed Menol y.

"Come on, let's check the trail down to Birchwater Pond." As we raced toward the tree line, I prayed under my breath that we'd find her. She'd be okay; everything would be fine. "She has to be," I whispered, as I caught a glimpse of Arial, on the astral, running beside us.

"Where could she be hiding?" Menol y stopped at the trail mouth, eyeing the path. "Would she be off path, or on?"

"Off, I guess. Let's just cal her out. It's safe to do so now." I cupped my mouth with my hands like a megaphone and shouted, "Iris! Iris! It's safe to come out! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Iris!" Menol y started cal ing, too, heading down the path. "You go off path to the left, and I'l head down to the pond. Iris!"

I climbed over the nearest tree trunk that was blocking the path and headed into the woods. A thought crossed my mind, and I pul ed out my phone and cal ed Vanzir's cel we'd bought for him.

"We took them out, but it was tough. You can bring Amber back now." I hung up as something caught my eye. Something sparkling, resting on the ground. I began to smel scorched earth amid the moss and mildew-thick forest. As I hopped over another tree trunk, then ducked under one that rested at neck height, I saw it. On the ground, a wand. Silver, with an Aqualine crystal.

Iris's wand. And what was it doing out here, without her?

CHAPTER 21

"Menol y! Get your ass over here. Now." I knelt by the wand and ran my fingers along the scorched ground next to it. As I brought my fingers to my nose, I could smel Demonkin scent . . . bloatworgles. Had to be. Had they kil ed her? If so, where was her body?

"What did you find--oh fuck." Menol y stared at the wand. "The ground's been charred."

"Go get Camil e and tel her we need her to do a spel of finding right away. And I cal ed Vanzir, told him to bring Amber back." I sat on one of the deadfal s, not caring that my butt was cold and that the continual drip of the boughs was hitting me and running down my col ar.

Where are you, Iris? What happened to you?

This was al turning into one big mess. How the hel were we supposed to deal with everything coming at us? Had this been retaliation for our actions against Jaycee and Van? We'd trashed their lab, trashed their shop, and put an end--at least for the present--to them producing Wolf Briar. As I sat there, staring at the wand, my phone rang. I flipped it open.

"Delilah, get back up here to the house. Carter's here. We have another situation." She hung up.

Carter? He never left his basement apartment, as far as I could tel . Frowning, I grabbed Iris's wand and headed back to the house at a dead run. Vanzir drove into the yard as I looked up. Amber was stil with him, safe and sound. I motioned to him.

"Take her into the parlor and make sure she's comfortable, then join us."

He nodded. "Wil do."

Smoky and the guys had piled al the bodies to one side, and I skirted my way around them, then darted up the stairs and into the living room. Wilbur was just leaving, muttering about reruns on Nick at Nite, and how Martin was waiting for him.

Sure enough, Carter was sitting in the living room, his horns gleaming under the glow of the lamps. His foster daughter Kim sat next to him, but I noticed she was wearing some sort of chain around her waist and similar ones around her wrists.

Carter nodded for me to sit. We were al here--al except Iris--and I was frustrated, wanting to find her. Now.

"I hate to interrupt, but considering what your sisters have told me," he said, nodding to me, "it's imperative that I do."

"What is it?" I looked over at Kim, who sat unmoving, eyes cast down at the floor. A red mark on her cheek told me she'd been slapped and slapped hard.

"Remember how you were thinking there might be a leak in information? Someone feeding your moves to the Bonecrusher so she'd stay one step ahead of you?" His lips were tight, and I suddenly understood the chains around Kim.

"Oh, not you, Kim." I looked at her, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. I glanced over at Camil e and Menol y. Both looked ready to kil . "Is this true?"

"It's true," Carter said. "I found her copying my notes, and she also had a tape--she's been recording our conversations and taking them back to her new mistress. My foster daughter has put you into grave danger. There's no way I can ever atone for her actions, but I can help you now."

"But why? How? I thought Kim was . . ."

"She doesn't have to speak to relay information. She's highly intel igent, can read and write with ease . . . she's mute, not mental y deficient. And apparently her mother's blood is stronger than her father's, because she's chosen to walk the path of the Demonkin rather than find her own balance within society."

Carter glared at her, and she shrank back, wincing. "I should kil you here, now, without another word. You ungrateful turncoat. You traitorous bitch. I treat you like my own daughter, and this is how you repay me."

The look in Carter's eyes made my stomach knot. He was furious, and I was afraid he'd make good on his threat. "We need to know what she told them. We need to know what she knows about them. Don't hurt her. Yet." I glanced at her, and she met my eyes then, contemptuous and sul en. "We can't trust her to give us the proper information, so what do we do? And she can't talk . . ."

Vanzir stood up. "You know I can get in her mind. Knock her out, and I'l go in and find out what she knows. I can dig through her defenses, and she won't be able to stop me."

A dream chaser demon, Vanzir could do exactly what he said. He could feed on her life force, too, if he wanted. I looked at Menol y and Camil e. They nodded. We had no choice--we had to know what Kim had told Stacia. She'd probably listened in on every conversation we'd had with Carter and every bit of information he'd cal ed us about.

"Do it. You can find out why she's chosen to align herself with them, too." I stood up and walked over to Kim, who flinched away. "Menol y, can you mesmerize her like you can an FBH?"

"I'm more than wil ing to try." She strode over to where Kim was sitting and yanked her to her feet, baring her fangs. "Don't resist, or I wil do it the bloody way. Got it?"

The girl nodded, now looking petrified more than angry. Menol y leaned close and whispered something in her ear, grazing Kim's neck with her fangs, slowly slicing through the flesh to bite deep and hard. Kim gave a silent gasp, and a look of bliss washed across her face as Menol y lapped at the blood trickling out of the puncture.

After a moment, my sister pul ed back. Kim was in a stupor, and Menol y said, "Sleep. Sleep until you are commanded to wake. Do not resist--open your mind, and slumber." Her voice was so hypnotic it made me want to sleep, but I shook my head and caught Kim as her knees buckled. We laid her out on the sofa.

"Do you need privacy?" I asked Vanzir.

"It would probably help. I'l let you know when I'm done. It shouldn't be too long." He flushed, and I remembered how much he loved to feed and how he did his best to avoid it. Life force was addictive, and Vanzir was a demon who didn't real y like himself or what he did.

As we escorted Carter into the kitchen, Menol y opted to stay and guard Vanzir, just in case anything went awry.

I placed Iris's wand on the table. It looked forlorn, and I winced, hanging my head. "I can't stand that she's in danger. I can't stand that they may have her."

"I can't believe that Kim is a traitor." Camil e leaned over and pul ed Iris's wand to her. "I hope we're wrong. I hope Iris is just hiding someplace where she can't hear us. Carter, how did Kim fool you?"

He blushed, staring at his hands on the table. "Again, my apologies. I thought Kim was happy. I thought . . ." With a shrug, the demon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "I came home today and found Kim listening to a tape. She didn't expect me til later, and she had al sorts of documents lined up on the desk--private, confidential documents. Not only about you but about other members of the Demon Underground here . . . the demons who al hope Shadow Wing wil fail. When she saw me, she tried to hide everything, but despite my brace, I'm quick, and I'm powerful. I stayed her, and once I looked through the reports, it was obvious she was spying on my clients and me. I wasn't sure who for first, but then . . . then I found this in her purse."

He tossed a necklace on the table. A gold snake. "That's the symbol of Stacia's troops--the golden serpent. Only her most trusted confidants wear them, her spies and cronies. I recognized it from al the research I've done on her. Kim's been a spy for her since . . . wel . . . I don't know how long. But long enough to muck things up for you."

"We talked about the ley line that ran through Harold Young's house into the graveyard in front of her--after you bought the land. Stacia must know we're the ones who broke her spel ." I moaned, rubbing my head. "You tel us every time you've got a new sighting, but by the time we get there, she's gone.

Kim's been warning her."

"No wonder we haven't been able to get to the bitch!" Morio grumbled, slamming his fist on the table.

"What are you going to do with Kim after we've got our information?" Camil e caught Carter's gaze.

He met her eyes, unblinking. "Traitors are worse than enemies. There is only one punishment for treason. It can be quick, or it can be drawn out. I have no taste for torture, but I'm sure that if I told Stacia that Kim confessed she'd been spying, the Bonecrusher would love to have her little stool pigeon back.

But there's an old adage among my mother's people: Do not leave your enemy alive. They will return to bite you. Kim is now one of the enemy. If I let her go, she'l come back to haunt us. As much as this whole affair pains me, I'm afraid I'l have to put her to death."

The words were cold but true. If we left her alive, she'd be so angry we found out that she'd do her best to run back to Stacia and do her best to help them against us. "How . . ." I wasn't sure how to ask what I wanted to ask.

Carter gave me a cold smile. "I have many powers from both my father, Hyperion, and my mother. Don't forget, I am of the Demonkin as wel . I'l give her better than she deserves--a quick and painless end. But make no mistake: Kim has chosen her fate."

As Morio took Maggie on his lap, there was a shimmer in the kitchen. I pul ed out my dagger, jumping to my feet, but Arial, who was padding around in her spirit shape, growled a warning.

No, don't attack.

"Arial says don't attack." I lowered my blade, waiting to see what was coming through. The men stood at the ready, waiting. As the shimmer grew brighter, a low sepia-toned mist spil ed out from its center, and then, a bril iant light flashed as two figures stepped out of the roiling smoke.

Out of the mist stepped a man, a wave of energy rocking the kitchen. He stopped, his gaze fastened on me.

Shade.

And behind him raced a much shorter figure. Iris. As they materialized in the room, Arial quietly slipped away, brushing me with her astral tail. I smiled, content that I knew how to contact her now.

Iris gave one long cry of joy and threw herself into Camil e's arms.

Smoky let out a low growl as he faced Shade, but I pushed past him. First, before anything, I yanked Iris into my own embrace and kissed her forehead.

"Thank the gods you're alive--we were terrified Stacia got hold of you. What happened? Where did you come from?"

I found her when I showed up, looking for you." Shade's voice, honey on peaches, washed over me, and I turned, sliding into his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I felt you put on my ring."

In a louder voice so everyone could hear, he said, "I came as soon as I could. I had no idea I'd show up in the middle of an invasion. Your friend was running from one of the beasts in the woods. I caught her up and shifted over to the shadow realm before she could be mauled by that mockery of a life-form."

"You're Shade," Camil e said, stepping forward. "Delilah's new . . . her . . ." She stopped, blushing. "Welcome, and please, don't mind some of us who happen to be a bit churlish." She gave Smoky a long look. "We came home to find Iris missing and demons rampaging through the place. It's been one hel of a night, and we're suspicious about everything and everyone."

The others gathered in, greeting him and hugging Iris as I stood back, wondering how this was going to play out.

Smoky and Shade circled each other warily, eyeing one another like two male lions. Camil e looked at me, then grabbed my hand and dragged me into the center between them.

"Listen, dudes--we have no time for your posturing. We have a crisis on hand, and if you two want to play king of the dreyerie, it wil just have to fucking wait. Got it?" She rested her hands on her hips, glaring at Smoky.

His lip twitched, even as his gaze flickered over our heads to stare at Shade. A moment later, he let out a long sigh and backed off.

"My wife requests we give it a rest. What say you, Master of Shadows?"

Shade glanced at Camil e, then at me. "Is her sister just as demanding?"

"In other ways, I'm sure. At least my wife doesn't turn into a tabby cat and play with my toes at night, as I've heard Delilah is wont to do." Smoky gave me a snarky grin, then abruptly sat down again, pul ing Camil e onto his lap.