Tears welled up in her eyes. "My sister Sara… she was the last Zorya. She… she was killed two weeks ago, probably by a Dark One. They found her with…"

She slumped against the wall, digging through her bag for a tissue.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Please don't distress yourself by telling me any more," I said, feeling horribly gauche.

"No, it is all right. Sara would have wanted people to know how bravely she gave her life to the cause of the light." She gave a harsh little laugh. "Some people call us reapers, you know. Reapers. As if that is all we do."

"I'm sorry," I said again, not knowing what else I could say.

She dabbed at her nose and eyes and made an effort to gather her control. "When I heard that Sara had been killed, I was destroyed, you know? But then the Zenith told me that I was to take her place."

"The who?"

"Zenith. It is a title, the name of the person who heads our order. Since I was not with Sara when she died, I could not take the stone from her. The Zenith told me to pick it up here before I went to marry the sacristan, but me, I am horrible with the directions, and I lost the information where to find the stone. But now you have found it for me, so I can take up the battle where Sara left it."

"That's really amazing of you," I said, still rubbing my arms. "I don't know that I'd be able to do something so selfless."

She gave me a tremulous smile. "You are not an ordinary mortal, Pia Thomason. I sense that about you. I have no doubt that you would do just fine as a Zorya."

"Well, luckily, we don't have to put such a generous assessment to the test."

Anniki murmured an agreement as she glanced at her watch.

"You must be wanting to go meet with your people and see your hubby-to-be," I said, putting a couple of coins on the table before gathering up my things and standing.

"Yes, it is late, but I hope to find them before the sun rises." She pressed my hand. "Thank you for guarding the stone so carefully, Pia. You are truly blessed by the light."

"Thank you," I said, wondering if that qualified as doing my good deed for the day. Somehow, casting my mind back over my actions of the evening, I had a feeling it wouldn't. "Good luck with your battle. Oh, the ghosts! There are two of them in the corner over there. Karl and Marta. Want me to introduce you to them?"

"Not yet. I will tend to them as soon as I have seen the Brotherhood. May the light continue to shine upon you," she said, waving good-bye as she hurried off into the dusky twilight.

I glanced at the corner where the ghosts had been when we entered the café, but they were gone. I wondered if they'd given up finding their way, but decided it was Anniki's problem now.

I made my way out of the café at a slower pace, mulling over everything she'd said to me. I glanced around at the people strolling around the edges of the square, the center still being packed with dancers. Vampires! Wandering around pretending they were human! Who knew!

"Pia! What luck!"

Startled, I spun around, but it was a familiar voice that shouted out my name.

"Over here!"

My heart fell when Denise clawed her way over to me, one hand firmly on the sleeve of a balding man with a handlebar mustache. There was a look of desperation in his eyes that I wholly sympathized with. "This is Sven. Or Lars. Or something like that."

"Oskar," the man said, giving me a faint smile.

"Nice to meet you."

"Still alone?" Denise asked, pretending to look around. "Aww. That's too bad, it really is."

I bit back any number of retorts and just smiled a little smile. "I'm so tired, it's probably for the best. I think I'll go back to the hotel."

"Night's young yet," Denise said, grabbing Oskar with both hands and hauling herself up to him. "But suit yourself. I suppose if I was in your shoes I'd rather be by myself, too."

I gave her victim a sympathetic smile and left Denise to her gloating, thinking with pleasure how her expression would change if she'd known about the two men with whom I'd spend the last hour, not to mention the odd, but now seemingly genuine, offer of marriage by Mattias.

"There you are! We've looked all over for you. Are you going to the hotel?" A hand descended on my arm, but it wasn't the hard, unyielding grip of Kristoff.

Magda emerged from the crowd, her face flushed, her black eyes dancing. Immediately behind her our fellow tourist Raymond followed, his look of anticipation a clear indicator of how he expected his evening to end.

"I am. I'm a bit tired, to be honest."

"We can get a taxi together. If there's a taxi to be had," Magda said, laughing as we wove in and out of the crowd toward the busiest of the streets. "I think everyone in all of Iceland is here tonight!"

"Certainly everyone in this town is," Raymond agreed. "I'll see if I can find you ladies some transportation."

Magda blew him a noisy kiss, taking my arm and walking slowly with me to the edge of the square. I listened with only half an ear to her giddy talk about how much fun she and Ray had during the celebrations, most of my attention being spent on scanning the people wandering around, but I didn't see anyone who resembled a fanged, murderous vampire.

I sat in silent contemplation of the evening as the taxi that Ray had found whizzed us up the hill to the top of the town, where our hotel resided. I thought we passed the street that led to the church I'd been to earlier, but was too distracted to pay much attention. Not to mention the fact that my brain was starting to feel fuzzy around the edges. Magda kept up a non-stop conversation that luckily required only the briefest of responses to keep going.

"… so outstanding, I never could have imagined anything so beautiful in a country that sounds like it's nothing but ice and snow. This is definitely the best money I've ever spent," Magda said, shooting Raymond a mischievous look. "I hope you're having a good time despite that bitchy Denise. She's just horrible, isn't she? And did you see that poor soul she got her clutches into? That man had no idea what he was in for when she spotted him alone. I wanted to warn him, but eh. He is a grown man, and certainly should be capable of telling her he's not interested in what she has to offer."

The memory of nearly identical words directed at me made me squirm uncomfortably on the seat. Is that what I had appeared like to Kristoff? A desperate, man-hungry woman who lacked self-control? I would have rolled up into a mortified ball, but the thought of Alec's smile and the warmth in his eyes gave me a little courage. So his friend thought I was the worst sort of hussy—what did that matter when Alec had a better impression of me?

What foolish thoughts. "It doesn't matter at all what they think," I lectured myself as I got out of the taxi.

"No, of course it doesn't," Magda said, calmly climbing the stairs to the hotel's entrance. She paused to shoot me a conspiratorial smile as Ray paid off the taxi. "You have something on your mind, dear Pia. Or should I say someone?"

My cheeks grew hot again, and I damned my Irish genes that allowed everyone to see my every blush. "It's been an interesting evening. Eye-opening, in fact."

"Ah, like that, is it? Well, I don't doubt it'll improve. Ready for a little nightcap, Ray?"

I left them giggling and stealing kisses and made my way up to my room, emotionally exhausted by the evening's adventures.