Aradia knelt beside them, graceful in the darkness. She touched Delos's arm gently, then sighed.
"I'm sorry," she said. "Even if I were at full power, there's nothing I could do."
Maggie let out her breath.
"That's the only thing I regret," Delos said. "ThatI can't save you."
"You have to stop thinking about that," Maggiewhispered.
She was filled with a strange resignation. Itwasn't that she was giving up. But she was very tired, physically and emotionally, and there wasnothing she could do rightnow....
And maybe nothing ever, she thought dimly. Shefelt something steadying her and realized it was Delos's arm. She leaned against him, glad of hiswarmth and solidity in the darkness. There was a tremendous comfort in just being held by him.
Sometimes just having fought is important, shethought. Even if you don't win.
Her eyelids were terribly heavy. It felt absolutely wonderful to close them, just for a moment ...
She only woke up once during the night, and thatwas because of Delos. She could sense something in himsomething in his mind. He seemed to beasleep, but very far away, and very agitated.
Was he calling my name? she wondered. I thought i heard that ...
He was thrashing and muttering, now. Maggieleaned close and caught a few words.
"I love you... I did love you ...always remember that ..."
"Delos!" She shook him. "Delos, what are youdoing?"
He came awake with a start.
"Nothing."
But she knew. She remembered those wordsshe'd heard them before she had actually met Deloson the mountain.
"It was my dream. You were ... going back intime somehow, weren't you? And giving me thatdream I had, warning me to get away from thisvalley." She frowned. "But how can you? I thought you couldn't use your powers."
"I don't think this took vampire powers," he said,sounding almost guilty. "It was more-I think itwas just the bond between us. The soulmate thing.I don't even know how I did it. I justwent to sleepand started dreaming about the you of the past. Itwas as if I was searching for you-and then I foundyou. I made the connection. I don't know if it's ever been done before, that kind of time travel."
Maggie shook her head. "But you already know it didn't work. The dream didn't change anything.I didn't leave as soon as I woke up in the cart,because I'm here. And if I had left, I would never have met you, and then you wouldn't have sentthe dream...."
"I know," he said, and his voice was tired and abit forlorn. He sounded very young, just then. "Butit was worth a try."
Chapter 19
"The hunt of your lives," Hunter Redfern said. Hewas standing handsome and erect, smiling easily. The nobles were gathered around him, and Maggieeven saw some familiar faces in the crowd.
That rough man from Delos's memories-the one who grabbed his arm, she thought dreamily. And the woman who put the first binding spell on him.
They were crowded in the courtyard, their faceseager. The first pale light was just touching thesky-not that the sun was visible, of course. But it was enough to turn the clouds pearly and cast aneerie, almost greenish luminescence over thescene below.
"Twohumans,a witch, and a renegade prince,"Hunter proclaimed. He was enjoying himself hugely, Maggie could tell. "You'll never have another chance at prey like this."
Maggie gripped Delos's hand tightly.
Shewasfrightened butatthesame time strangely proud. If the nobles around Hunter wereexpecting their prey to cower or beg, they were going to be disappointed.
They were alone, the four of them, in a littleempty space in the square. Maggie and Aradia and Jeanne in their slave clothes, Delos in his leggingsand shirtsleeves. A little wind blew and stirredMaggie's hair, but otherwise they were perfectly still.
Aradia, of course, was always dignified. Just nowher face was grave and sad, but there was no sign of anger or fear in it. She stood at her full height,her huge clear eyes turned toward the crowd, as if they were all welcome guests that she had invited.
Jeanne was more rumpled. Her red hair was disheveled and her tunic was wrinkled, but there wasa grim smile on her angular face and a wild battlelight in her green eyes. She was one prey that wasgoing to fight, Maggie knew.
Maggie herself was doing her best to live up tothe others. She stood astall as she could, knowing she would never be asimpressive as Aradia, or as devil-may-care as Jeanne, but trying at least to look asif dying came easy to her.
Delos was magnificent.
In his shirtsleeves, he was more of a prince thanHunter Redfern would ever be. He looked at thecrowd of nobles who had all promised to be loyalto him and were now thirsting for his blood-and he didn't get mad.
He tried to talk to them.
"Watch what happens here," he said, his voicecarrying easily across the square. "And don't forgetit. Are you really going to follow a man who cando this to his own great-grandson? How long is itgoing to be before he turns on you?Before you findyourselves in front of a pack of hunting animals?"
"Shut him up," Hunter said. He tried to say it jovially, but Maggie could hear thefuryunderneath.
And the command didn't seem to make much sense. Maggie could see the nobles looking at each other-who was supposed to shut him up, and how?
"There are some things thatt have to be stopped,"
Delos said. "And this man is one of them. I admitit, I was willing to go along with him-but that was because I was blind and stupid. I know betternow-and I knew better before he turned againstme. You all know me. Would I be standing here,willing to give up my life for no reason?"
There was the tiniest stirring among the nobles.