"I'm all right," I said, my voice a croak as hands helped me off Kristoff and the stone. My head was swimming, but I made an effort to clear it. Alec, after having kicked the gun from Greta, sent her flying into Rowan's waiting arms, and staggered toward me, grabbing me in a careful but tight embrace.

"My love, my brave love. It is all over, my Beloved. Do not cry, it is over."

I wasn't crying, but I was shaking with the aftereffects of having been twice stabbed. I didn't complain, however, as Alec cradled me, murmuring words of comfort.

"What are you doing? You can't move her!" Magda ordered, trying to pry Alec's hands off of me. "She's been stabbed! We have to get her to a hospital! Dear god, don't any of you know how to treat someone who's been stabbed? Pia, sweetie, lie down. We'll call an aid unit."

"There is no need for mortal assistance," I heard Christian say. I lifted my head, looking at him. He eyed my back carefully for a moment, then, to my surprise, smiled.

"I realize you don't like me, and you'd probably like me dead at this very moment, but I would like to point out that I did not harm any of your people, and I am wounded."

"That doesn't matter anymore," he said, the odd smile still on his lips.

Alec suddenly stepped back, an indescribable expression on his face.

"There will be repercussions, Pia."

"What?" I dragged my attention from Alec to him.

"I'm sure you still want me dead, but I can assure you—"

"The council will speak to you later, after things have sorted themselves out."

"I must be in shock again," I said, shaking my head. "None of this is making any sense."

"If you are in shock, then so am I. Why are you standing around smiling?" Magda demanded to know.

"She is a Beloved. She is immortal," Christian said, and before I could say anything he plucked the knife from my back.

I yelped and spun around. "Hey!"

"The wound will heal by itself in a few minutes," he told me, glancing beyond to Alec. "I will leave you to Alec. He will no doubt wish to explain to you what it is to be a Beloved."

"But I thought…" I blinked a few times, but as usual, that didn't make things any clearer. "A Beloved? How can that be?"

"You sacrificed yourself," Alec said, his expression stunned. "You saved Kristoff. They would have killed me, too, after him, but you… I… I don't know…"

He stumbled off a few feet, looking as if the ground had been pulled out from under his feet.

I looked over to where Kristoff was being assisted to his feet by Rowan and Andreas.

"So I really am a Beloved after all?" I asked, feeling oddly empty inside.

"You are." Christian gave me a long look, then handed me a business card. "We will be in contact."

Then he turned and strode off to where the others were holding Frederic and his buddies.

"What is happening?" I asked no one in particular.

"I'd say your friends are all nutters, but you know, that guy is right—the wound has healed itself up," Magda said, examining my back.

"I'm Alec's Beloved," I said, trying to come to grips with the fact. Saying it aloud didn't seem to help.

Kristoff took a step toward me, hesitated, then walked past without saying a word.

Pain lanced through me. I saved his life and he couldn't even acknowledge that? More than ever I felt like crying. Kristoff might be upset that I was his friend's Beloved, but it hurt that he couldn't even face me.

"You're welcome," I said, fighting tears.

"He has been gravely wounded," Rowan said before he went over to help the others as they stood guard over the Brotherhood people.

Ulfur stood silently watching us, Ragnar behind him, both of them nearly invisible. They must have exhausted their reserves.

"Thank you," I told Ulfur, and he summoned up enough energy to materialize a physical form long enough for me to hug him. "You saved us all, but the time has come for you to go. Everyone is waiting for you."

He gave me a sad smile and faded back to a translucent state. "It's too late."

I turned to look at the entrance to Ostri, but it was gone. It must have disappeared when the ritual was stopped.

"No," I said, my shoulders drooping. "Oh, Ulfur—"

"It's all right," he said, lifting a hand to me. "I kind of like this world. It is interesting, at least. Be well, Zorya Pia. Go with the blessing of the village."

Pain spun through me, pain and regret so great I wanted to howl to the sky about the injustices of the world that couldn't be made right.

Magda touched my arm. "Is it over?"

"Yes." I couldn't move. My legs were like lead weights, as heavy as my spirits.

"The good guys won?"

"Yes."

She patted me gently, careful to avoid the two puncture points. "You did the right thing, but I never doubted you would. And hey, look at it this way—you not only got a new career and two husbands, now you have a vampire of your very own."

A vampire of my own. I stood numbly thinking about that as she wandered over to offer her help to the remaining vampires. Lucky me, bound for all eternity to man I didn't know.

But it didn't have to stay that way, did it? We were bound together now—Kristoff had said that Beloveds and their Dark Ones could talk together without words, use some sort of mental telepathy to communicate. It seemed to me that would offer a good way to learn about someone.

Are you out there? I asked, my eyes on the retreating figure of Alec as he caught up to Kristoff, the two of them about move out of sight into the trees. Can you hear me? Does this really work?

Yes, it does. The voice was instantly there in my head, as loud as if it had been spoken in my ear.

My delight was short-lived. The man who turned back to look at me with an expression of stunned surprise wasn't Alec… it was Kristoff.

Dear god. It wasn't Alec. My mind whirled around helplessly, trying to understand what had happened.

Kristoff's gaze met mine over the distance, and I realized that the pain and regret I felt originated from him. He didn't want me. He never had I was merely a warm body to feed him and satisfy a purely physical need. His heart was still bound in grief to the woman who'd been so cruelly killed, a woman who by all accounts should have been the one to redeem him.

Not me. But life is cruel, and we'd been bound together for the rest of our lives.

For eternity.

My heart cried out as he turned away and disappeared into the inky darkness of the forest.

Chapter 20

"You are free to go."

"What?" I roused myself out of the stupor that had claimed me several hours before, focusing on the square face of the policeman who sat opposite me. "I'm what?"

"Free to go. Unless there's something else you wish to tell us?" A blond eyebrow rose in question.

"No." I blinked a couple of times, looking around at the police station. It hadn't been busy at all when the vampires arrived with Denise, but that quickly changed.

"You mean you don't want me to tell you about Anniki and Denise anymore?"

The policeman, whose name I vaguely remembered was Jan, shook his head, gesturing toward a stack of paper. "Not unless you have something new to add. The woman you helped to catch has confessed to the murder of the Frenchwoman."

The woman I helped to catch. I rubbed my head, trying to process everything that had happened in the last few hours.

"Your friend is here, if you wish to leave." He turned to a computer terminal and began to tap on a keyboard.

I gathered together what wits remained me, and staggered out of the room to a reception area, where Magda was chatting with a familiar man.

"I didn't really think you would turn Denise over to the police," I told him.