“My daughter, as I assume your mother told you, is mad. I mean, a stark raving lunatic. I blame the fact that there are three strands of blood in her veins. Oh, but trust me when I say there is absolutely no goodness in that girl’s heart. She’s as ruthless as her mother. She will take down her prey in due time.” He frowned at me. “Lilly wants your Wesley to assist her in taking over the world. If the purebloods are all dead, the hybrids and half-breeds will be free to rule the Earth. No need for Heaven, no need for Hell. Evil would exist as good, and good would exist as evil. Do you see what I am saying here?”
“So, you have a lot to lose if your daughter actually wins,” I said.
“I didn’t know that at the time that we first talked. Lilly had said she wanted to rid the world of the elements, but she didn’t mention that she meant to do it to make the pure weak.” He looked sad like his own daughter had betrayed him. “I blame Sheridan, really, for all the issues that Lilly has. You know, for about ten years she was locked up in Bedlam. One of her ‘toys’ had her committed when she bit him. That asylum was good for business as a matter of fact; all those tortured souls... she was able to claim quite a few of them.” He looked at Shawn. “It is odd to see you here, Shawn. You never seem to stick to one place long enough to be found. Always on the run, this one is. Either from his father, the ghost of his mother, or some girl’s husband who found out he was sleeping with her.”
“You two seem like you are quite chummy,” I murmured to Shawn through clenched teeth.
“There was a time, in 1792, when he saved my life,” Shawn said quietly.
“What did he save you from?” I whispered.
“His daughter,” Shawn growled.
“Sharing secrets, are we?” Xic sighed. “You know, the mortal shouldn’t be here.” He pointed at Adam, who had remained quiet the whole time.
“He’s not going anywhere,” I said, sparking.
Shawn grabbed my hand and squeezed it to make the tingling stop.
“But what do I care about a human? He’s a good soul, anyway; no way is he going to wind up in Hell. Innocence is a virtue, Dawn. You should have thought of that before giving yours away so quickly to that boy. What was his name?”
“That is none of your business,” I said defiantly.
“He thinks about you still, if that eases your pain at all. He often wonders where you are and how you are doing.” Xic sighed again. “At least he didn’t give his soul to you like the other two nincompoops.”
“Are you trying to detain us from some other mission?” asked Shawn. “Because we have some things we would like to do. Though it has been a pleasure catching up.” There was more than a hint of disdain in his voice.
“No, no, not detaining. More like… preventing. If you find out that the three who died were element Carriers, it could bring war between angels and demons. Lilly would have no reason to kill us because we would be killing ourselves.” Xic groaned. “I am quite attached to myself, thank you. I have no intention of being sent into oblivion.”
“What kind of creature tears the face off a boy and leaves a girl drained in the woods?” Adam demanded, stepping forward.
“The human speaks,” Xic muttered, putting his hand to his chin.
“If this were Lilly’s doing then it would have to be a hybrid of some sort,” Adam said. There was a confidence in him that I had never seen before. Few mortals would dare to address a demon so boldly.
“The bodies were bloodless?” Xic asked.
Adam shook his head.
“But the face was torn off… that almost sounds like a were-vamp.” Xic looked at Shawn. “Remember that were-vamp we met in Paris in the early nineteenth century, the girl with the violet eyes?”
“Yeah, I remember her,” Shawn admitted.
“She said she was the last of her kind in existence.” Xic smiled cruelly at Shawn. “And then she died.”
“You’re telling me that there are such things as were-vamps?” I asked. “Who came up with such a stupid name anyway?”
Adam glanced at me. He didn’t seem shocked by the appearance of my eyes; in fact, they seemed to comfort him.
“Well, they did exist,” Xic corrected me, starting to pace up and down. “I suppose it is possible that another one was born. We thought we had wiped out a lot of races, only to find that there was one who escaped.”
“What if you let us find out if these people are element Carriers and we then figure out if it was the work of a were-vamp?” asked Shawn in a reasonable tone. “I promise you no war will begin. This is just something that I need to know.”
“You were always good to me,” Xic said, sighing. “Fine! But just this once, Shawn. If you double-cross me again, I will not be so nice the next time we meet.”
“Again?” I asked, glancing at a blushing Shawn.
“Long story,” he said. “Has something to do with a girl, a chicken and lots of alcohol.” He turned back to Xic. “I promise you, old friend, no war. This may be what the creature is intending to do, to start a war between the purebloods in the sky and underground while the hybrid creations fight for the rights to the land. Because one thing is for sure, out of all the purebloods, humans die the easiest.” Shawn let go of my hand as his eyes turned back to their normal brown.
“Why did you want Dawn?” Adam demanded as he registered that the danger was over.
Xic looked at him dumbfounded. “Have you seen her? Have you felt the
