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Authors: Lori Handeland
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the strega?"
"He was powerful enough to control himself."
I tilted my head. "So can you."
He threw up his hands; droplets of water smacked me in the face. "If that were true, Lizzy, I wouldn't be here."
"You aren't killing people, that's control. If you've managed to do that much in a month, eventually you'll be able to stop the vampire urges altogether."
"Maybe," he murmured. "But I can't take that chance. For all I know, the more I feed, the less human I'll get."
He could be right.
"These things take time," I said.
"We don't have time. You need me now."
"It appears we've been granted a reprieve."
He frowned. "What?"
"Did you ever hear the rumor that by killing the leader of the darkness we could end Doomsday?"
"You can't end it. Doomsday is inevitable."
"Fine." I said. "Then postpone it."
Jimmy shook his head, but he was thinking. "Reverse the prophecy, reverse the results. It makes sense." He smacked his hands together in frustration. "I should have thought of that."
"Wouldn't have mattered, I'd have killed the strega anyway."
He remained silent for several seconds, then, "What's it like out there?" He jerked his head toward the mouth of the cave.
"Calmer than it should be if chaos were reigning."
"All this means is that they'll have to kill you to start Doomsday all over again."
I shrugged. "They were trying to kill me anyway. They're trying to kill all of us."
Jimmy pressed his palms to his eyes. "I've got to get rid of this thing inside of me. You need help."
"What I need is you healthy, sane, at the top of your game."
"What if I never get there?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't leave him in this cave in-definitely; I probably shouldn't leave him here at all. But what was I going to do with him?
"Jimmy, I have to have the seers' contact information that you got from Ruthie."
"You mean the ones I stole out of her mind while she was sleeping?"
Besides being a dhampir, Jimmy was also a dream walker. He could slip into a person's dreams, steal their memories, their knowledge, their secrets, and leave no trace that he'd ever been there. That he'd been compelled to dream walk, along with everything else, didn't seem much comfort to him at all.
"If you hadn't," I said, "we'd be in trouble. I need that information."
Luckily he'd begun to remember things the Strega had made him forget soon after the miserable bastard had died.
"You couldn't just ask her when you 'see' her?" He made quotation marks in the air around the word see.
"I haven't had a visit from Ruthie since I got home."
I left out the woman of smoke and the amulet. He had enough problems without mine.
Jimmy frowned. "How did you find me?"
"Summer saw you in Barnaby's Gap and here we are."
"Jesus." He rubbed his forehead. "You came together?"
"Yes."
He lowered his hand. "Where is she?"
"In the car, I think."
"Please tell me you haven't been comparing notes."
I wrinkled my nose. "We have better things to talk about than your sexual prowess, Sanducci. She is, after all, a DK. I'm a seer, and even though I killed the last leader of the darkness, that just means there's a new one on the way. We need to replenish the federation and quick."
"How?"
"I have no idea."
"Some of the kids Ruthie had at her place were probably future federation members. She always took on the problem kids, the ones with too much imagination, the ones who lied, the ones who had problems staying with families because weird things always happened around them. That kind of stuff usually translates to special powers."
"Those kids are too young for this," I said.
"We may have no choice."
I shook my head. There was no way I was sending teenagers after demons. Unless I had to.
God, I hoped I didn't have to.
"The names, Jimmy."
He strode out of the cavern. I hurried after. All I needed was for him to take off again.
But I saw him turn and disappear down another stone hallway in the opposite direction of the exit. A few hun-dred yards away I found him in a cavern
"He was powerful enough to control himself."
I tilted my head. "So can you."
He threw up his hands; droplets of water smacked me in the face. "If that were true, Lizzy, I wouldn't be here."
"You aren't killing people, that's control. If you've managed to do that much in a month, eventually you'll be able to stop the vampire urges altogether."
"Maybe," he murmured. "But I can't take that chance. For all I know, the more I feed, the less human I'll get."
He could be right.
"These things take time," I said.
"We don't have time. You need me now."
"It appears we've been granted a reprieve."
He frowned. "What?"
"Did you ever hear the rumor that by killing the leader of the darkness we could end Doomsday?"
"You can't end it. Doomsday is inevitable."
"Fine." I said. "Then postpone it."
Jimmy shook his head, but he was thinking. "Reverse the prophecy, reverse the results. It makes sense." He smacked his hands together in frustration. "I should have thought of that."
"Wouldn't have mattered, I'd have killed the strega anyway."
He remained silent for several seconds, then, "What's it like out there?" He jerked his head toward the mouth of the cave.
"Calmer than it should be if chaos were reigning."
"All this means is that they'll have to kill you to start Doomsday all over again."
I shrugged. "They were trying to kill me anyway. They're trying to kill all of us."
Jimmy pressed his palms to his eyes. "I've got to get rid of this thing inside of me. You need help."
"What I need is you healthy, sane, at the top of your game."
"What if I never get there?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't leave him in this cave in-definitely; I probably shouldn't leave him here at all. But what was I going to do with him?
"Jimmy, I have to have the seers' contact information that you got from Ruthie."
"You mean the ones I stole out of her mind while she was sleeping?"
Besides being a dhampir, Jimmy was also a dream walker. He could slip into a person's dreams, steal their memories, their knowledge, their secrets, and leave no trace that he'd ever been there. That he'd been compelled to dream walk, along with everything else, didn't seem much comfort to him at all.
"If you hadn't," I said, "we'd be in trouble. I need that information."
Luckily he'd begun to remember things the Strega had made him forget soon after the miserable bastard had died.
"You couldn't just ask her when you 'see' her?" He made quotation marks in the air around the word see.
"I haven't had a visit from Ruthie since I got home."
I left out the woman of smoke and the amulet. He had enough problems without mine.
Jimmy frowned. "How did you find me?"
"Summer saw you in Barnaby's Gap and here we are."
"Jesus." He rubbed his forehead. "You came together?"
"Yes."
He lowered his hand. "Where is she?"
"In the car, I think."
"Please tell me you haven't been comparing notes."
I wrinkled my nose. "We have better things to talk about than your sexual prowess, Sanducci. She is, after all, a DK. I'm a seer, and even though I killed the last leader of the darkness, that just means there's a new one on the way. We need to replenish the federation and quick."
"How?"
"I have no idea."
"Some of the kids Ruthie had at her place were probably future federation members. She always took on the problem kids, the ones with too much imagination, the ones who lied, the ones who had problems staying with families because weird things always happened around them. That kind of stuff usually translates to special powers."
"Those kids are too young for this," I said.
"We may have no choice."
I shook my head. There was no way I was sending teenagers after demons. Unless I had to.
God, I hoped I didn't have to.
"The names, Jimmy."
He strode out of the cavern. I hurried after. All I needed was for him to take off again.
But I saw him turn and disappear down another stone hallway in the opposite direction of the exit. A few hun-dred yards away I found him in a cavern
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