“And if I refuse?”

He pauses for just a few seconds before answering, but the melody suggests the piece is about to end, and I sense he does not wish to prolong our discussion beyond this single, hateful danse macabre.

“As I said, we will have the Elixir. The time is right for the Sentinels. We will not be denied what is rightfully ours any longer. The only choice you have in the matter is whether you give it to us or you have it taken from you.”

The music stops. I let go of his hand and step back. Around us guests clap with delight, and the mood is happy and carefree, and yet in front of me stands a man who threatens to be my nemesis. I swallow the cry in my voice that would burst forth if I let it. The cry for Freddie. The cry for the girl, the sister, the lover, I cannot ever be. The cry for the fact that no one can ever mean more to me than my duty to the coven. The noise level in the room is enough that I can be confident only Stricklend hears my words.

“I am Morningstar, Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven, and I will never reveal the Great Secret, to you or any other Sentinel, no matter the threat, no matter the sacrifice!”

Before he can respond I turn on my heel and march from the ballroom. From the corner of my eye I see Louis watching me go. I hurry on so that he cannot delay me. The one thought on my mind now is to find Freddie.

In the hallway, maids and footmen scurry to assist me, offering to fetch my cape or call a driver, but I tell them I am feeling faint and I need a quiet room to sit in for a few moments. A sprightly maid leads me upstairs and shows me into a small bedroom. I decline her further offers of help with my clothes or fetching water and suchlike and she leaves me. The second I am alone I stand at the window, eyes closed, and call to my guardians. As they rejoin me I bid them show themselves. At such a time I have a very human need to see them, to make them feel as tangible, as substantial as the threat to me, even though they are not.

My brave captains are the first to come. Their fury at my distress is evident, and they are all for taking off after Stricklend and tormenting him, but I don’t believe he would feel threatened by them. Sentinels are known to have powerful individual defenses against either spiritual or physical attack. Instead I dispatch them to search the house for Freddie.

The Goth I will send to watch Stricklend closely.

Do you wish me to confront him, mistress? I can enter his thoughts and see what lies there.