The Last of the Red Hot Vampires - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,104

isn't right.

Theo looked thoughtful. Everyone else, myself included, looked stunned to the point of insensitivity.

Tell me I don't have to choose between your soul and the continued existence of the whole, friggin' Court.

The existence of the Court is not your responsibility. The present hierarchy, however...

There has to be some other sacrifice I can make. This can't be the only thing.

Theo's silence was incredibly unnerving.

Theo? Surely there must be something else?

I don't know, he said at last, sorrow filling my mind. I don't know enough about Dark Ones to know if just any sacrifice will work, but I suspect... His sigh wrung my heart. I suspect, sweetling, that it is that which would cost you the most that will be the act necessary to fulfill the last stage of Joining.

The weight of the world seemed to descend upon me, pressing me down into the earth until there was little left of me.

Portia, I meant what I said. Just having you in my life is more important than anything else. You are a smart woman. Do not allow Milo to manipulate you into something you will later regret.

I sent Theo a sad smile, and straightened my shoulders.

"This is ridiculous," I said, watching the mare. They were consulting each other, but the looks on their faces didn't give me much hope that their game plan was to clap Milo in irons and dismiss his troublemaking attempts with nothing more than an airy wave and an amused laugh.

Terrin glanced my way. I focused on him as a relatively sane person, someone who made a lot of sense when I'd spoken to him. "I may not be an expert on the social structure of the Court, but I can't believe that all it takes to bring the whole thing down around your ears is the antics of two people."

"This is an unusual situation," Terrin said slowly, his eyes guarded. "That's not to say it's without precedent - the Court has survived several renascences in its history."

"What was it you were going to tell me when I was called away by Portia?" Theo asked him.

Terrin's face grew dark. "I wished to explain to you the dangers I felt Portia was in. I didn't imagine that things would come to a head quite so quickly, or I would have warned you earlier."

"I don't understand," Sarah said, joining our little threesome. "Milo wants to remake the Court? Why doesn't the sovereign simply say no?"

"The sovereign will uphold the laws of the Court. Technically, Milo Lee is within his rights to call a renascence - traditionally, such things have been achieved by use of a demon in place of a Court member, but the laws are such that a mortal, too, could be considered sufficient grounds for beginning the unmaking."

"But why does he want to remake the Court?" Sarah asked. "What does he get out of that?"

"Milo is a vessel," Theo answered, his eyes on the man in question. "Hope was a virtue. Both are on the bottom of the hierarchy. Vessels serve mortals, while virtues have little purpose but the occasional control of weather when ordered by a superior."

"Milo said he was looking for a new job," I said, suddenly remembering the conversation we'd had while he administered the trial I didn't know about. "Why doesn't he just try to get a different one? Why does he have to destroy the whole Court first?"

"It is tradition that the Court members who instigate a renascence have a role in restructure. It is one way the sovereign ensures that only those members who have the quickness of wits, intelligence, and general fitness desirable for the upper positions claim those positions."

"In other words," I said, disgusted by the thought of Milo in a position of power, "it's a system that rewards anarchy."

"The sovereign, I believe, prefers to think of it as survival of the fittest," Terrin said mildly, craning his head when one of the mare gestured for him. "You will excuse me, please. I believe their graces wish to consult me on a point of etiquette."

"So what do we do?" Sarah's voice was little more than a whisper.

What will the mare do? I asked Theo at the same time.

His eyes lightened a couple of shades. He pinched his lower lip, a sign, I was coming to realize, that he was troubled. I am not sure. They are bound by the laws of the Court just as we are.

I will not be used in this way, Theo. I will not allow