I looked down at the bundle of knitting clutched in Diana’s hand. She’d knitted about two inches of a very skinny scarf.

“The woozy feeling will go away when I cast off,” Diana assured me. “But it will take me a few days to finish it. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it safe.”

The pile of bright pink wool in her hand was sympathetically connected to my spine. I just had to hope she didn’t drop any stitches.

“Thank you,” I said to Diana, and then, turning to Soheila and Liz, “Thank you, all. You saved my life.”

“We endangered it in the first place,” Liz said, surreptitiously wiping water from her face. It was still raining too hard to tell if it was a tear. “And soon we’ll all be in danger of pneumonia if we don’t get someplace dry. This storm doesn’t look like it’s ending any time soon.”

“I must have really ticked off Lorelei,” I said as Liz and Diana each took one of my arms to help me walk. I really didn’t need any help but there was no telling them that. Besides, it made it easier to be heard over the sound of the rain and our Wellies squelching in the mud. Soheila walked ahead clearing wind-fallen branches and whole tree trunks with gusty waves of her hand.

As we made our way through the honeysuckle thicket, I told Liz and Diana everything that had transpired in Faerie – except for the part where I made love with Liam. I did tell them, however, how he’d twice saved my life.

“It does sound rather as if he’s trying to make amends,” Diana said in her usually generous manner.

“But it might be just a ploy to gain your sympathy, Callie,” Liz added in a sterner tone. “Incubi are extremely manipulative,” she whispered, presumably so Soheila wouldn’t hear. Soheila could probably hear the slightest whisper carried on the wind, but she seemed preoccupied with the mayhem surrounding us. The storm had knocked down dozens of trees. The last time I’d seen this kind of destruction had been when I’d tried to banish the incubus and he’d retaliated by raising a tsunami-sized wind. Liam had been born that night out of my ambivalence and inability to whole-heartedly banish him.

I brushed away a tear and Diana patted my arm. I could tell she was getting ready to utter another consoling platitude so I changed the subject.

“What are we going to do about the undines?” I asked when we’d almost arrived back at my house. “Lorelei might be crazy, but they’re not all like her. The young one I helped – the one who called herself Raspberry – was very sweet. If the Grove convinces IMP to close the door they’ll become extinct. Do you think there’s any chance at all that we could convince them the door needs to stay open?”

“I’m afraid that this temper tantrum of Lorelei’s will just convince IMP that the door should be closed,” Liz said. “I’ll contact the other members of the governing board and see if I can get a feel for how they’ll vote, but I think we should concentrate on figuring out how to keep the door open should the Grove and IMP vote to close it.”