Ariadne scootched closer, took Taylor’s hand. She spoke softly. “You had no choice, Taylor. Who knows how many lives you saved? You made a split-second decision. That’s what you’re trained to do. And it was the right one. That’s why I refused the pills. I could feel the stirrings inside me, knew that enough blood had been shed. I made a choice, too.”

How simply a life could be ended. A bullet, a flick of a knife. A heart turned to stone in despair.

The phone rang again, long and loud, the pealing bells grating on her nerves. She looked at the caller ID. Baldwin again.

Ariadne smiled. “He won’t stop trying, you know. He’s bound to you. He will protect you, whether you want it or not. Go to him. Lieutenant. Let him comfort you.”

Taylor stared into the witch’s blue eyes. Such calm, such purity. So sure of her path, her convictions. Taylor wished she was that certain.

Resistance was futile. She answered the phone.

Baldwin’s deep voice came through the line, relief bleeding through each word.

“I didn’t think you’d ever answer. Honey, are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, surprised to hear how hollow her voice sounded. That wouldn’t do. There was no need to punish Baldwin. She tried again. “The woman who worked the case with us, Ariadne? She’s here. We’ve been. ..chatting.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. “Good, you need cheering up. And I’m going to help you with that. I have some £ood news.”

“Really?” she asked. “You’re coming home?”

“Taylor, better than that. Much better. Honey, we have Fitz. We found Fitz. He’s alive. He’s hurt pretty bad, but he’s alive.”

She felt the thaw of disbelief begin.

“What?” she whispered.

“We’ve got him. He wants to say hello. I’m putting him on the phone right now.” She could hear the buoyant joy in Baldwin’s voice, and she stood up, focusing on the rustling sounds in the phone’s background. A moment later a gruff, familiar voice came through the phone.

“Hey, little girl. How’ve you been?”

“Fitz? Is that really you?”

The crusty laugh she’d been dying to hear sounded like gold. “It’s really me. Who else would it be?”

Goose bumps rippled across her flesh, so intense that Ariadne turned to stare.

“Thank God,” Taylor whispered.

For the first time since she’d killed Schuyler Merritt, she started to cry.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There was, as always, a village to help along the way:

Scott Miller-my fabulous agent without whom I’d be lost.

Linda Me Fall-my brilliant editor, who has the vision to make these stories sing.

MacKenzie Fraser-Bub-the cheer in every day, and the rest of the Trident Media crew, for all their hard work on my behalf.

Adam Wilson-the rock to our paper. Megan Lorius-my sister in OCD publicity crime. Thanks for the details! Deborah Kohan and Christine Khoury of Planned Television Arts, who are just plain wonderful. Kim Dettwiller of Team Strategies-my Nashville insider and quip manager.

The rest of the MIRA Books team: Donna Hayes, Alex Osuszek, Lori an a Saci lotto, Margaret Marbury, Diane Moggy, Heather Foy, Don Lucey, Michelle Renaud, Adrienne Macintosh, Nick Ursino, Tracey Langmuir, Kathy Lodge, Emily Ohanjanians, Karen Queme, Alana Burke, Tara Kelly and Gigi Lau-a girl couldn’t ask for a better group to work with. You’re the best!

The BMWs (Del Tinsley, JB Thompson, Janet McKeown, Cecelia Tichi, Peggy Pegen, Mary Richards, Rai Lynn Wood) for listening, critiquing and overall encouraging me.

Fellow writers Laura Benedict, Jeff Abbott, Erica Spindler, Allison Brennan, Toni Me Gee Causey, Zoe Sharp and Alex Kava, for the daily inspirations and sanity breaks.

My buds at Murderati-the very best blog on earth, hands down.

Evanescence, for getting me in the mood.

Keith Barent Johnson, for bidding on a character name and allowing me to morph him into the Vampyre King.

You’re a good sport, Keith. David Achord, who always has an answer. Andromeda DeArrnande, for her blog Spell Works, which helped set me on the path. Angie and Traci, for tons of great advice on path work. No, I won’t read the spells aloud anymore. Bad me.

Last, but not least, my darling parents, for loving me through thick and thin, and the rest of my great family, for always being there.

And Randy, my lovestruck Romeo.

Thank God you fell in love with me. What would I do without you?

This novel was a joy to write-surprisingly, no nightmares! I read a number of blogs and books getting myself into the Goth, Wiccan and Pagan worlds, research I found utterly fascinating. The blogs are easily found through Google searches, but here are a few of the books that kept me on the path during the writing of this novel:

Allen, Sarah Addison. Garden Spells. New York: Bantam Dell, 2007.

Belanger, Michelle. The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work. Newburyport, MA: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2004. ‘

Buckland, Raymond. Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2007.

Cunningham, Scott. Earth, Air, Fire & Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic, rev. ed. St Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2006.

Digitalis, Raven. Goth Craft: The Magical Side of Dark Culture. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2007.

Grimassi, Raven. Italian Witchcraft: The Old Religion of Southern Europe (Previously titles Ways of the Strega). 2nd ed. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2006.

Hesiod. Tkeogony (Translated by M. L. West). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Hesiod. Works and Days (Translated by M. L. West). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Iles, Judicka. The Element Encyclopedia of 1,000 Spells: A Concise Reference Book for the Magical Arts. London: HarperCollins, 2008.

Konstantinos. Vampires: The Occult Truth. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2006.

Konstantinos. Gothic Grimoire. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2007.

Sabin, Thea. Wicca for Beginners: Fundamentals of Philosophy and Practice. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2006.

Theitic, ed. The Witches’ Almanac: Spring 2008 to Spring 2009 (Issue 27). Newport, RI: The Witches’ Almanac.

Winkowski, Mary Ann. When Ghosts Speak: Understanding the World of Earthbound Spirits. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2007.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-6883-2

THE IMMORTALS

Copyright © 2010 by J.T. Ellison.

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