Claimed by Shadow Page 0,85

ever feel like this again? I'd had twenty-four years of reality and never even come close. Wasn't a lie this good worth something? My body's answer was a resounding yes. Only, some tiny voice whispered, that wasn't really the question, was it? Not was it worth something, but was it worth everything, because that was what the spell demanded.

And that it couldn't have.

"The person who initiates the spell controls it," the Consul was saying. "But you left it untended for more than a century.”

"Not intentionally!”

She arched a perfect eyebrow and repeated the unofficial vampire code. "We are discussing outcome, not intent." Vamps are extremely practical about such things. The results of an action are always more important than whether or not harm was intended. And the result of my action was catastrophic.

"What about the original spell-the one Mircea put on me?" I asked desperately. "If he removes it, maybe the… the effects will lessen." And buy us time to find a mage who could lift the duplicate.

"That has already been tried, Cassandra," the Consul informed me patiently. "The spell is proving remarkably… resilient.”

"It won't break?" I tried to wrap my mind around that, but Mircea was making deep thought impossible. I tried to step out of his embrace, just long enough to clear my head, but he gave an inarticulate sound of protest and pulled me closer.

"It will not," the Consul said mildly.

I gave her a look meant to scald, uncaring for the moment how stupid that was. If she wanted to help Mircea, she was doing a lousy job of it. According to Casanova, the spell would grow faster with Mircea and me in close proximity, and we couldn't get much closer than we currently were. Soon, neither of us would care about anything else. And that meant there would be no one to stop Myra. I was beginning to see how my vision could easily come true.

For a moment, I contemplated trying to explain the situation to the Consul, but I doubted she'd believe me. I had zero proof to offer, and vamps aren't exactly known for taking things on faith. I moved slightly so that I was momentarily hidden from her sharp gaze and met Mircea's eyes. He'd thought to bring the shoe, which meant that, at some point, he must have figured out what had happened. I just hoped he remained lucid enough to understand what I needed to tell him.

" Myra," I mouthed. The mages were out of earshot, and with no magic they couldn't use enhanced hearing. But the vamps would hear any conversation just fine.

Mircea gazed at me for a long moment, and I could almost see him putting the pieces together. How much he understood I didn't know, but he'd been with me when Myra and I first met. He knew she'd tried to kill me and that she'd gotten away. And he'd heard me call her by name in London, assuming he remembered so minor a detail after so long. I frankly doubted it. He would probably guess that she was up to the same tricks, but not that he was her new target. And I had no way to tell him.

Not that there was much he could do even if he did know. Mircea might be able to defend himself in the present if forewarned, but Myra could attack him in the past. The fact that he was still here was proof she hadn't yet succeeded, but if I didn't remain sane enough to stop her, that wouldn't be true for long. History would rewrite itself, without Mircea in it. And with Myra as Pythia.

After what felt like a year, Mircea gave a slight nod. "Two minutes," he said silently. I stared at him in confusion until I figured out what he meant. He was telling me when the null bomb would wear off.

He was going to let me go.

I gazed at him in disbelief. "What about you?" I mouthed. He shook his head. I didn't know whether that meant he couldn't tell me with such limited communication or whether he didn't want me to know. I realized I was gripping his arms hard enough to bruise, had he been human. But it was only when I let go that a spasm of pain crossed his face. I felt an echo of it myself, a physical ache from the lessened contact, and had to force myself not to reestablish it.

"You must go," he said silently.

I swallowed. The second geis was