"Excuse me!" Holly protested.

"Oh!" I dropped beside her and worked at the knots, but they were too tight from her straining against them. I reached for the knife, hesitated.

"Here," Amber said, handing me a pocketknife. "That one's a fake."

I cut the strings and Holly immediately went to inspect herself at the mirror. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"Do not apologize, child." The Elder, leaning on her staff beside her, was grinning at me. It was unnerving. "I am Vilna-Daluca. Your solution to our play is one I will have to ponder before I can decide how to judge it."

"Damn," Holly said, fingers poking at a bruise swelling on her cheek. "You're going to have to start asking contestants if they know judo, Vil."

Vilna-Daluca laughed heartily. "I'll personally drive you to the dentist tomorrow if it is necessary."

The Elders drive? Why did that stick out to me as ludicrous in this moment?

Probably because everything else was tripping my weird-o-meter into the red zone, my thoughts centered on that trivial thought. What kind of car did Vilna-Daluca drive? Did she wear the robes—no, no, that was just silly. I'm sure even the Elders were like normal old women when they weren't doing witchy things. Probably played bingo and dominoes and everything.

"Fear not, Holly, you will heal," Vilna-Daluca said, but her interest was centered on me.

Oh, shit. I showed them I could—and was willing to—fight. I went for a subject change. "What normally happens?" My voice conveyed meek innocence.

"You should have cowered, or screamed, or fled," Holly said. "Fighting back is unheard of. Detrick?" she called.

The police officer opened the door and poked his head in. "Yeah?"

"He would have been blocking the door," Holly pointed at him. "So you couldn't escape."

"It's over?" he asked.

"Duh," Holly said.

"How'd she do?" Detrick asked.

Holly pointed to her swelling cheek. I'd punched her and whacked her head on the floor. That was going to swell a lot.

"She decked you? All right!" He gently punched my arm. "Slugger! Were you filming, Vilna?"

My eyes went wide.

"Yes."

"I'll mop up the fake-blood mess in a minute; I wanna see." He shuffled past us to the area behind the wall.

"Yeah, I bet," Holly retorted.

"You're bleeding," Vilna-Daluca said to me. She indicated my hand.

I had a cut on my knuckle. It wasn't bad; I grabbed a paper towel to wipe it.

"Yeah, worry about her," Holly mumbled. To me, she continued explaining, "After you'd tried to run and couldn't, I would have moved in. If you had broken down and cried, I would have scolded you for being weak and trying to lead a coven. If you tried to talk me down—which I thought you were starting to do—I would have reconsidered killing you, we would have talked a bit more and seen where you went with it."

"Oh-ho!" Detrick hooted from the back area. "That had to hurt!"

Holly went to join him. I dropped the paper towel into the trash and eased across the space to peer into the back. This was a classroom like the others, but the «restroom» facade had been constructed around the door to facilitate the setting. There was a whole production room set up back there! The paramedics, Lehana, and Suzanne lay sleeping on cots farther back in the room. "It's incredible," I whispered.

"C'mon," Amber said. "Time to go get Maria."

As we walked back to the holding room, Amber explained, "We each have a stone, we're supposed to invoke it when it's our time to 'play dead. It gives that appearance to anyone who's checking us. Lehana is new to the troupe and played with hers; Hunter picked up on it. That surprised me. But she thought it was a vinculum. I guess that is the most obvious guess, what with Holly planting her seeds of mistrust with WEC and all."

"Completely had me." Now I understood what had been different about Hunter when they came back to the holding area—she'd had this part of the test while I was with the vampires. She was dealing with the vampire test now, while Maria slept. Amber and I stepped inside; Maria continued snoring. "So you have to set up again for" — I whispered and pointed in the direction of the snoring—"now?"

"Yeah," she said. "But first," she pulled her purse from under her cot, "let me show you this." An atomizer was in her hand. She sprayed it. "Your turn to nap," she said.

I woke up sometime later on the cot.

Hunter was shaking my shoulder. "Wake up!"

I didn't want to. "Hmmm? I'm up." I sat up. "You just back from the vampire test?"

"Yeah. Lydia brought me back. Amber had already started the scenario with Maria." She very nearly giggled like a delighted little girl. Maybe Hunter got giddy when she was tired.

I stretched. I was so short on sleep I was beginning to go numb. "What time is it?"

"It's after four."

I sat up and glanced toward Maria's empty cot. "And you're not trying to sleep? Why?"

"Oh, I have to talk to someone about this! I mean, Goddess, that was outrageous! We were punked by the Elders!"

She'd woken me to share in her enthusiasm, but I couldn't. Being roused from a valerian-aided snooze left my eyelids as heavy as I ever remembered them being.

"Lydia told me that Amber would wake Maria and tell her it was almost time for her turn," Hunter went on. "Then Amber would start the scenario for Maria, and afterward they'd see her to the vampire test. She'll probably soon be transferring to the office for that test."

I felt downright groggy. "I need caffeine," I said, thinking but not adding, if you insist on keeping me awake to talk. "Suppose we can go to the kitchen and help ourselves?"

"Don't see why not, whether or not Maria has moved on to the vampire part, we won't cross her path between here and the kitchen. But there's still no electric."

"Damn." I paused. "Did you notice if it was a gas stove?"

"Think so, why?"

"I need coffee." Bad enough to make it the hard way.

We took our candles, pushed some boxes and furniture aside in the hall, and proceeded to the kitchen. When we arrived, however, I found the overhead lights did work. I headed for the coffeepot. "I bet the power outage was all a part of their show."

"You're probably right."

I got the coffee brewing and sat at the table to wait. Hunter said, "I should probably thank you for the reality check earlier."

I looked away, feeling embarrassed as I remembered what I'd said. Then I decided that I was being stupid. She had needed it and she wasn't angry now. I faced her and snorted a little laugh. "Promise you'd do the same for me?" The smell of the coffee was perking me up.

"Yeah." She laughed softly. "I do have a business degree and I did grow up with a silver spoon. My mother probably spoiled me a little because of my allergies; maybe it helped create that ego." She paused. "You're very perceptive."

"Usually gets me in trouble, helps me make enemies." I tried to play it down.

Hunter remained serious. "I want to win, Persephone. As much as you do, I'm sure. I want this more than anything, and I swear, if I win, I will do this right. I'll be all that a high priestess is supposed to be—not a trophy-wife version of a leader."

I had, as Nana would've said, "knocked Hunter off her high horse" with my speech. The least I could do was give her a hand up so she could brush herself off. "I believe you," I said.

"So what's your story?"

The coffeepot dinged to signal it had completed brewing. I got up to pour a cup. "Journalism degree. Raised by my grandmother—no silver spoon." I indicated the pot. "You want a cup?"

"Please."

I returned to the table with two Styrofoam cups and a yawn. "Not a moment too soon," I mumbled and took a long sip of the dark liquid. "Mmmm."

"Oh my," she said. "That's strong."

"It'll put hair on your chest."