"Answer me." The hilt of a sword was gouging into my ribs, I realized vaguely, and something was…was wrong about that. Where was the holster lump on his thigh? Or the ratty leather belt studded with weapons and potions, like a homicidal mad scientist? And since when did Pritkin wear cologne?

I suddenly panicked. None of this made sense. I was absolutely not standing in the middle of the lobby making out with Pritkin while all hell broke loose. I pushed at him, with no more result than trying to move a boulder. "Let go!"

Power flooded the air, making the hairs on my arms stick up in alarm and sending a scorching tide rolling across my body. "I said let go," I murmured, suddenly lost in a pair of crystal-clear eyes. His mouth claimed mine again, fierce and possessive, not at all shy of anyone who might be watching, and something about it made the rest of the world fall away into pure hunger. The scent of him was maddening—something elegant and expensive and completely unexpected, with the musk of skin and need beneath the rest.

He pulled back and I looked into the face of a stranger, one wearing an expression of hawklike intensity. "Answer me." The command surged through me with the irresistible force of a tidal wave. I opened my mouth in unthinking response, just as a new shower of plaster from above dropped on top of us.

I sputtered and choked on a mouthful of gray dust, and Pritkin gave a frustrated sigh. "For a place filled with incubi," he said dryly, "managing a seduction here is surprisingly difficult." I stumbled back into another group of security men headed for the crisis of the hour, and by the time we got ourselves sorted out, Pritkin was gone.

"You know, I'm not so forgiving, either," I said, glaring at the pixie. As if I didn't have enough trouble with Pritkin going insane, Radella had come up with exactly zilch.

Françoise was still pawing through the alarming number of weapons Casanova had stockpiled in a storeroom on Dante's lowest level. I'd decided that, given the number of people who wanted me dead, maybe I should stock up. And with Radella still scheming against her, I figured Françoise might be able to use a few items herself.

She held up something. "Q'est-ce que c'est?"

I squinted at it. "It's a Taser. It shocks people."

"Quoi?"

"Like lightning." I danced about a little and understanding lit her eyes.

She looked at the pixie, who was hovering well out of reach near the ceiling, and smiled. "Shock me and I'll cut your heart out," Radella promised.

Françoise didn't comment, but she clipped the small device to the olive green, army-style tool belt she'd found in a weapons locker. It looked a little odd next to her outfit. She was still wearing the dress from the fashion show, although the spiders were starting to look a bit lackluster. Two had stopped moving altogether, and the one on her shoulder had been weaving the same web for the last twenty minutes. It looked like the charm was meant to last for one day only.

Other than the dress she'd had on when she escaped from Faerie, it was the only outfit I'd seen her wear. It suddenly occurred to me that she might not have any others. I made a mental note to take her shopping.

"What seems to be the holdup?" I asked Radella, while examining a 9 mm. It didn't look like the grip was any smaller than mine, so I put it back.

"I can't find it, all right?" She fluttered to the top of a gun cabinet and sat down, chin in hand. Her iridescent wings drooped around her shoulders dispiritedly. "I've looked everywhere!"

"Then look again!"

"If the portal was here, I'd have found it!"

"Well, obviously not," I pointed out. "Because it is here."

"Then it should have been easy to locate," Radella groused. "The power output alone—"

"Come again?"

She gave me a disgusted look. "Portals don't run on batteries! They're rare not only because they're regulated but because few people have a power source capable of handling one."

"What kind of power are we talking about?"

"A lot. A ley-line sink is usually required, although there are talismans capable of opening a short-term gateway. But they're rare. I doubt that vampire had one."

"A ley-line what?"

"Where two lines cross and pool their energy," Radella said impatiently. I blinked at her. "Ley. Lines," she said, very slowly and distinctly. "You do know what those are, right?"

I had heard of them, but the memory was vague. Just something about a lot of ancient monuments being constructed on parallel lines. "Assume I know nothing," I told her.

She smirked. "I always do." Françoise said something in a language I didn't know and Radella flushed bright red. She slapped her tiny hand down, making the whole cabinet shudder beneath her. "Quiet, slave! Remember to whom you're speaking!"

"I always do," Françoise told her sweetly.

"Ladies!" I looked back and forth between the two of them, but nobody was going for weapons, which made it a pretty congenial conversation for those two.

"To put it really, really simply," Radella said icily, her eyes still on Françoise, "ley lines are borders between worlds: yours, mine, the demon realms, whatever. When those borders collide, you get stress, like when two of your tectonic plates rub together. And stress creates energy."

"Like magical fault lines."

"That's what I said!" Radella snapped. "Only in this case, there's no land to move, only magical energy getting hurled about. Therefore, instead of earthquakes or tsunamis, you get power, which can be used for various applications by those who know how."

"Like running portals."

"Under certain circumstances. If two particularly strong ley lines cross, they might generate that kind of energy, but it doesn't happen often."

"Then all we have to do is look for this sink thing," I said excitedly. "If it's putting off that kind of power, it should be easy to find!"

Radella sighed and muttered something I was just as glad I couldn't understand. "There are ley lines all around Vegas," she finally said. "But none cross anywhere near here. The closest area where they do is the MAGIC enclave, which is why it was built where it is."

"So what was Tony using?" I asked impatiently.

"As a guess?" Radella pursed her little mouth. It made her look like professor Barbie. "Death magic. Quick, powerful, easily obtained."

"As long as you 'ave the stomach for eet," Françoise muttered darkly.

"Wait a minute." I was really hoping I'd heard wrong. "You're saying that, even if I find Tony's portal, I'd have to kill someone to use it?"

Radella shrugged. "Well, you know. Not anyone you like."

"I'm not committing murder!"

"I theenk I could power ze portal," Françoise said, "for a short time. With some help."

She was looking at me, but I shook my head. "I was never trained. Tony was afraid of having a powerful witch at court."

"But…you know notheeng?" She looked horrified.

"Pretty much."

"But, you run 'ere and zere" — she made some flailing motions in the air—“doing theengs, all ze time!"

"As opposed to what? Waiting for someone to come kill me?"

"But, eef the dark mages catch you, they weel drain you of your power! Eet would be awful!"

I smiled grimly. "Yeah. Only they'd have to get in line."

"Quoi?"

"Nothing." I glanced at the pixie. "We can worry about how to power the damn thing once we find it. Any little ideas on that?"

She looked thoughtful. "It has to be a hidden portal. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"We know it's hidden!" I said, exasperated.

"No, hidden hidden. As in, not in this world until summoned."

"Did you hear me just say I know nothing about magic?"

Radella scowled. "Think of it like a door. A door that uses energy whenever it's open. So you keep it closed until needed."