I felt the disturbance of air as his claw descended in a violent swoop toward my throat. I raised my hand to ward off the blow and felt his claw slice through my flesh. His hand raised again and I saw the flash of gold tipped claws coming toward me, but then something moved in between us. It was Bill riding a stream of moonlight that moved fast as quicksilver. He pushed me aside and took the blow meant for me. He fell to his knees, his hand to his neck. I fell beside him, my hand meeting his over the gaping wound in his throat.

“Bill!”

Hot blood poured over our joined hands. He looked down at it, surprise widening his eyes. “Callie, look! I’m human. That must mean you …” He slumped in my arms and fell across the threshold of the door, his blood spilling on the wet ground with the last beats of his now human heart.

“Bill!” I cried, cradling his face in my hands. For a moment I saw Liam’s face superimposed over Bill’s, then the face of the incubus I’d seen in Faerie, and then just plain Bill. The man who had fixed my roof, removed a splinter from my hand telling me he was sorry he’d hurt me, and who had made love to me the last two nights. The man I finally understood I loved a moment too late.

I looked up at the winged creature above us and felt something break inside me. The last ward inside me shattered in a million pieces. Maybe it was because I finally understood that I loved Bill – or maybe it was the clarity of hating Duncan – that burned them away. I felt the last coil unwind around my heart and my full power surge in its wake. I stood and held up my arms. A great wind roared through the glade, knocking all the humans in the glade to the ground. Even Duncan stumbled backward a few feet, but he held his ground and started to laugh.

“Ah, so you’ve discovered your power, little witch. It won’t be long until you join us. I’m glad I won’t have to kill you after all. It looks like a drop of your blood mingled with the blood of one who loved you is all the blood sacrifice needed to close the door.”

I turned and saw Bill’s body dissolving into light. When he was gone the door filled with a red-gold glow and then exploded into a fireball. The force of the explosion rocked the earth and knocked me off my feet. I felt myself hurtling backward through space – and then I felt nothing at all.

Chapter Thirty-One

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

WHEN I CAME to, Mac Stewart and Frank were kneeling beside me.

“Thank goodness, she’s alive,” Mac cried.