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.She blinked.He extended his arm, pointing it at the wall, and drew a dagger from his belt.Maggie had forgotten about the blood part.She bit the inside of her cheek and didn't say anything as he opened a small cut on his wrist.Blood welled up red, then flowed in a trickle."Just a little blast," Delos said, and looked calmly at the wall.Nothing happened.He frowned, his golden eyes flaring dangerously.Maggie could see the concentration in his face.He spread his fingers.Still nothing happened.Maggie let out her breath.I guess spells are invisible, she thought.The brace was just for show.Delos was looking at his arm as if it didn't belong to him."We're in trouble," Maggie said, trying not to make it sound like I told you so."While they thought they were alone in here, they were talking about all kinds of things.All Hunter cares about is getting you to help him destroy the humans.But there's been some big split in the Night World, and the witches have seceded from it."Delos went very still, and his eyes were distant."That means war.Open war between witches and vampires.""Probably," Maggie said, waving a hand vaguely."But, listen, Delos, the witches sent somebody here, an ambassador, to talk to you.To try to get you on their side.Hunter said they've got one of the Wild Powers on their side already-the witches, I mean.Are you getting this?""Of course," Delos said.But now his voice was oddly distant, too.He was looking at something Maggie couldn't see."But one out of four doesn't matter.Two out of four, three out of four-it's not good enough.""What are you talking about?" Maggie didn't wait for him to answer."But, look.I know the girl who came to talk to you.It's the girl I was with on the rocks, the other one you saved from Bern.She's Aradia, and she's Maiden of all the witches.And, Delos, they're looking for her right now.They want to kill her to stop her from getting to you.And she's my friend.""That's too bad.""We've got to stop them," Maggie said, exasperated."We can't."That brought Maggie up short.She stared at him."What are you talking about?""I'm saying we can't stop them.They're too strong.Maggie, listen to me," he said calmly and clearly, when she began an incoherent protest.That's the first time he's said my name out loud, she thought dizzily, and then she focused on his words."It's not just the spell they've put on me.And it's not just that they control the castle.Oh, yes, they do," he said with a bitter laugh, cutting her off again."You haven't been here very long; you don't understand.The nobles here are centuries old, most of them.They don't like being ruled by a precocious child with uncanny powers.As soon as Hunter showed up, they transferred their loyalty to him."'BUt-"'"He's everything they admire.The perfect vampire, the ultimate predator.He's ruthless and bloodthirsty and he wants to give them the whole world as their hunting grounds.Do you really think any of them can resist that? After years of hunting mindless, bewildered animals that have to be rationed out one at a time? With maybe the odd creaky slave for a special treat? Do you think any of them won't follow him willingly?"Maggie was silent.There was nothing she could say.He was right, and it was scary."And that isn't all," he continued remorselessly."Do you want to hear a prophecy?""Not really," Maggie said.She'd heard more than enough of those for one lifetime.He ignored her."My old teacher used to tell me this," he said."'Four to stand between the light and the shadow,Four of blue fire, power in their blood.Born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision; Four less one and darkness triumphs.'""Uh huh," Maggie said.To her it sounded like just more of the same thing.The only interesting thing about it was that it mentioned the blind Maiden.That had to be Aradia, didn't it? She was one famous witch."What's `born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision?"' she asked."It means all the Wild Powers are the same age, born seventeen years ago," Delos said impatiently.`But that's not the point.The point is the last line, `Four less one and darkness triumphs.' That means that the darkness is going to win, Maggie.""What do you mean?""It's inevitable.There's no way that the humans and the witches can get all four Wild Powers on their side.And if there's even one less than four, the darkness is going to win.All the vampires need to do is kill one of the Wild Powers, and it's all over.Don't you see?"Maggie stared at him.She did see what he was saying, and it was even scarier than what he'd said before."But that doesn't mean we can just give up," she said, trying to puzzle out his expression."If we do that, it will be all over.We can't just surrender and let them win.""Of course not," he said harshly."We have to join them."There was a long silence.Maggie realized that her mouth had fallen open.".what?""We have to be on the winning side, and that's the vampire side." He looked at her with yellow eyes that seemed as remote and deathly calm as a panther's."I'm sorry about your friends, but there's no chance for them.And the only chance for you is to become a vampire."Maggie's brain suddenly surged into overdrive.All at once, she saw exactly what he was saying.And fury gave her energy.He was lightning-fast, but she jumped up and out of the way before he could close his hands on her."Are you out of your mind?""No"You're going to kill me?""I'm going to save your life, the only way I can." He stood up, following her with that same eerie calm.I can't believe this.I.really.can't.believe this, Maggie thought.She circled around the bed, then stopped.It was pointless; he was going to get her eventually.She looked into his face one more time, and saw that he was completely serious.She dropped her arms and relaxed her shoulders, trying to slow her breathing, meeting his eyes directly."Delos, this isn't just about me, and it's not just about my friends.It's about all the slaves here, and all the humans on the Outside.Turning me into a vampire isn't going to help them.""I'm sorry," he said again."But you're all that really matters.""No, I'm not, " Maggie said, and this time the hot tears didn't stop at her eyes, but overflowed and rolled down her cheeks.She shook them off angrily, and took one last deep breath."I won't let you," she said."You can't stop me.""I can fight.I can make you kill me before you turn me into a vampire.If you want to try it that way, come and take your best shot."Delos's yellow eyes bored into hers-and then suddenly shifted and dropped.He stepped back, his face cold."Fine," he said."If you won't cooperate, I'll put you in the dungeon until you see what's best for you.Maggie felt her mouth drop open again."You wouldn't," she said."Watch me."The dungeon, like everything else in the castle, was heart-stoppingly authentic.It had something that Maggie had read about in books but hadn't seen in the rooms above: rushes and straw on the floor.It also had a stone bench carved directly into the stone wall and a narrow, barred window-slit about fifteen feet above Maggie's head.And that was all it had.Once Maggie had poked into the straw enough to discover that she didn't really want to know what was down there and shaken the iron bars that made up the door and examined the stone slabs in the wall and stood on the bench to try to climb to the window, there was nothing else to do.She sat on the bench and felt the true enormity of the situation trickle in on her
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