I must have fallen asleep again. When I woke this time, I was all alone. I pushed off the hay covering my body. I shivered hard in the chilly morning air dressed only in my underwear. My clothes lay in a pile on the loft floor a few feet away. They were still wet and cold, and I couldn't bring myself to put them back on. I carefully made my way down the ladder and stood in the middle of the barn, dressed only in my underwear and unsure of what to do next.

I rubbed my hands up and down my arms for warmth. Where the hell was I? I didn't know the area—the last thing I wanted to do was start wandering around in the light of day half dressed.

The barn doors gave a loud creak as they swung open. I spun around, not sure what I was about to face, and found Luke standing in the entrance. His arms were full—he was now wearing an oversize blue and black flannel shirt and a pair of faded jeans.

He gave me a wide smile "I have supplies." He walked over and laid his bounty on the floor in front of me. "I found some clothes." He rifled through a couple of plastic bags, pulled out a black T-shirt, and handed it to me.

I pulled the shirt over my head—it came all the way down almost to my knees.

Luke handed me a blue flannel shirt. I put the flannel on over the T-shirt. It felt so good to be warm again.

"How...?"

"I broke into a house not far from here. I took what I needed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?" He handed me an orange.

I was starving. I quickly peeled the orange and shoved a piece in my mouth. It was sweet and delicious. I ate half and handed Luke the other half. "You stole all this?"

He nodded his head, making short work of the rest of the orange.

"Was the house empty?" I asked.

He pulled out a half loaf of French bread from one of the bags. "No, but I got in and got what I needed without anyone spotting me. It was early and the family was still sleeping." He tore a large piece of bread and handed it to me. "I'll go back later and leave money to pay for all this. It's just some clothes and a bit of food. They won't miss what I took."

I gasped. "You could've been shot."

"Bullets don't work on us." He tore a chunk of bread for himself and started eating it.

I just stood there looking at him in amazement. I've heard the rumors, but are they really true? "Death Dealers can't be shot?"

"We are bullet proof. Way back when guns were first invented, they seemed like magic on par with the Death Arts. The guilds feared that any non-magical person could take down a mage, so now all-powerful death dealers learn to block bullets early on. Death dealers all learn combat magic, to keep us safe. I'm not quite good enough to bounce bullets back boomerang style, but I'm not in any danger from guns."

"Is this something I will learn?"

"Someday. There's no time for you to learn the spell now, so if we get shot at be sure to stay behind me." He pulled me into his arms and leaned back to study my face. "I'm sorry I left you, but you were sleeping so soundly. Are you okay? You didn't have any more bad vision or dreams?"

"No visions or dreams," I answered, looking up into his eyes.

His arms tightened around me. "I shouldn't have left without telling you. Figured I'd scout around." He stepped back slightly with a half grin, and his hand reached up and brushed the hair from my eyes. "Now eat the bread before I try to talk you into giving me your piece. I'm still starving." He leaned in and gave me a quick, gentle kiss.

I finished off the bread and watched him as he rummaged through the bags.

My upper body was nice and toasty thanks to the flannel I was wearing, but a breeze was making its way around my legs and up under the T-shirt. I looked down at my bare knees. "Any chance you found a pair of jeans for me?"

He shook his head. "I just grabbed what I could and got out of there before someone woke up."

"You didn't see the men from last night? Macaven's men?"

"No, but they might still be around."

My stomach grumbled. Half an orange and some bread barely made a dent in my current hunger level. I sorely regretted not eating more yesterday.

Luke pulled out a half gallon plastic jug of milk from the bag. He took a drink and motioned with it in my direction.

I took it from him and gulped down a couple swigs before passing it back to him.

"The question I keep coming back to, is how are these guys finding us?"

"No one followed me when I came to the magic shop. I was careful," I said.

"They have to be using magic to track us. It's the only thing that makes sense." He took a swig of milk and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "If it's magic, it's a powerful spell. I put up protection spells around Pagan's place. They shouldn't have been able to break through it, but they did. Whatever magic they are using it's not something I've seen before."

If Pagan's house was now off limits, where did that leave us? We couldn't stay here in the barn without any supplies. "So where do we go?"

"I know this area. I spent a lot of time here as a kid. There's someone I know about two miles from here. If we can get to his house, he can help us. He's not one of us—not from the guild. He's a friend I grew up with. Not mage-born, but he can lend me some money, maybe loan me his car." Luke watched me, his expression turning serious. "You said last night that you know where Darla is. Are you sure you can recognize the place?"

I nodded. "Sarah showed me in my dream." I shuddered. I didn't want to go through anything like that again. Reenacting someone's death.

Forget reenacting, more like reliving her death.

I'd felt everything Sarah did—her terror, fear, and pain as she was first hunted and then killed. I remembered the horror I'd felt as I was drowning. No, as she was drowning. It was a terror I hoped never to feel again. I glanced at Luke. He was watching me, concern in his eyes.

"They held Sarah captive for a few days before they killed her. A big place above the lake, surrounded by trees." I tried to focus in on the images of the property from the vision. "It looked too big to be a house. More like a hotel?"

Luke moved away from me and started to pace, lost in thought.

I stood by quietly, watching him.

Seconds dragged into minutes, and then he spun around and said, "There's an old resort that was popular in the twenties. The Freemont. It's big, very old school money. It's the only place I can think of that would pass for a hotel up here." His words came out in an excited rush. "It's surrounded by ten acres of private woods. You could do anything up there without people knowing about it. The closest neighbor is miles away. It has to be the place." He looked down at my bare legs. "We need to get more supplies and get you some clothes."

"All of which your friend can help with?" A friend who wasn't mage-born, Luke had said. "Can your friend help us go after Darla, too?" I asked.

Luke frowned. "He can help with supplies, but he can't help us rescue Darla. It'll just be the two of us."

"The two of us going against how many?" I demanded.

Luke didn't answer.

"When those men attacked us back at the house, I had no way to help you." I didn't want that to happen again. I looked at the bruises still visible on his face. He barely escaped with his life. The next time we were in danger, I wanted to stay by his side. "Can you teach me some of your spells?"

He shook his head. "Spells take time." He reached out and grabbed my hand. "Even if I started teaching you some spells today, it would be months before you could properly perform them."

"Then I don't understand what I can do to help when we go after Darla."

His fingers tightened around mine. "You can finish the rituals. Then you'll be able to wield banshee magic."

Banshees. I took a step away from him. "You want me to force someone's spirit to follow my orders?"

"To do your bidding, yes." Luke's voice was low. "It's a powerful magic, controlling the dead. If you had banshee magic, it might be enough—it could be the tipping point to help us save my sister. You'll be able to control banshees after the third ritual."

The time had finally arrived—the final ritual. First, I had to die, then I'd been possessed. What would I have to do in this last one?

"Tonight, we'll do the last ritual." Luke wouldn't meet my eyes.

I didn't want to know, I really didn't, but I couldn't help myself. "What do I have to do?" I whispered.

His expression was grim when he answered. "You have to take a life."