Radu didn’t want to wake up from his dream. He was warm, comfortable, happy. He was walking through a field of green grass, looking out over rolling hills, no worries to be had. Carrie was by his side, holding his hand, smiling her beautiful smile.

But as luck would have it, he had to wake up. In the space between asleep and awake, he struggled to stay where he was, on the hillside, enjoying the sunlight on his human skin.

It was a memory but in his dream he’d added Carrie to it. His ultimate happiness.

He rolled over on the couch, still naked, and sat up. The first thing he noticed was that Carrie was not on the couch with him anymore. It alerted him to his surroundings, waking him up completely. Carrie was sitting on a high-backed cushioned chair near him, the book open in her lap, her eyes blank. She was staring out into space, seemingly in a trance. He grabbed his trousers and pulled them on as he went to her. He crouched beside the chair and looked up at her.

“Carrie. Carrie, come back to me.”

He waited a few seconds before snapping his fingers in front of her eyes. “Carrie. Carrie, come back.”

Her eyes slowly focused and rolled down to look at him. “Radu.” Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away. “Radu.” She repeated his name as she came back to reality, looking into his eyes. “I have something to tell you.”

“I am listening,” the vampire said, still crouching beside her chair. He put one hand on her knee and squeezed reassuringly. “Tell me what you know.”

“I have seen Helga. I used the book and opened my mind to see where she is and what she’s doing.”

“She did not know you were there?”

Carrie shook her head. “She didn’t see me. I used a spell that cloaked my mind from her.”

Radu reached up and rubbed one hand over his mouth and chin. He worried about Carrie. He was going to protect her no matter what it took. But he couldn’t control her completely. Sometimes she would put herself in danger and he would have to accept that. When she did, though, he was going to rescue her, even if she put herself in danger to begin with. She was a witch, she could handle herself.

At least, that’s what he wanted to believe.

“What does she know?”

“She knows that we can’t get into the fortress without the sword. She knows we are looking for the sword. She has people watching the churches in Romania where the sword is possibly hidden. They are waiting for you…for us…to come and fetch the sword. I don’t know how we can get it without being caught or at least having to fight for it.”

“That was a given to begin with, Carrie, you know that.” Radu stood up and went back to the couch. She watched as he slipped his shirt back on, regretting that he was covering up. Her desire for him knew no bounds. She would have preferred him naked every minute if it was possible.

But then they would never get anything done.

She grinned.

He looked at her. “What do you find funny now?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Just a funny thought that crossed my mind. Tell me, Radu, what are we going to do? You know where the sword is, don’t you?”

He nodded.

“I thought it was in this cathedral, in the catacombs.”

He shook his head. “Not this one. It isn’t here. It’s underground, yes, and I will have to search for it. But it isn’t here. And that’s a good thing because we are surrounded by enemies.”

Carrie looked at him, confused. “We are always surrounded by enemies, Radu. How can it be any different here?”

“This cathedral is not as well guarded. It has many entrances that anyone with a special power would find.”

“I put a deflection spell on that door when I came in,” Carrie mentioned. “I knew you would know where it was but anyone who doesn’t shouldn’t be able to find it.”

“That’s good thinking, Carrie. I’m impressed.”

His approval made Carrie smile.

“There must be more in the book to help us,” Radu said. “We are being hunted. We need to get to the sword, get in the fortress and destroy Solomon’s power. If we aren’t able to do that, we’ll have to take the book and sword and hide them again, somewhere that no one will find them, no matter how powerful they are. Those two are a bad match. We’re going to have to take care of them.”

Carrie nodded, closing the book and setting it aside. She stood up and moved to sit next to Radu on the couch. “What’s our next move then?”

“They are guarding all of the churches, I’m sure. We need to get the sword first. I’ll take you to the church. I’ll have to stay there during the day while you take care of business. Then, at night, we will meet back up and go to the fortress. Is Helga there with him?”

Carrie nodded, a sad look on her face. “She is so taken with him, Radu. It’s disappointing. It’s a shame. She was my mentor. She taught me so much. How can she be so wrapped up in someone who is so very evil? I remember her telling me that my powers should only be used when necessary. That spells should be learned for self-defence or to make things easier.” She lifted two fingers, mumbled a few words and they watched as the chair she’d been sitting in moved closer to the couch. “I don’t understand why she would turn to someone so evil. She was such a good witch.”

“Now she is a powerful witch. She knows too much and has gone too far. She must be stopped.”

Carrie felt a deep sadness overcome her. Her memories of the good Helga had done for her and for the other witches in the coven were strong and persistent. She didn’t want to believe the woman she had looked up to for so many years was capable of doing what she was doing.

“I wish I could talk to her. I wish I could make things change.”

Radu shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s a dream that will not come true.”

“But how do you know?” Carrie exclaimed. “How do you know she can’t be brought back to the good side? She could help us defeat Solomon! Imagine if she was on our side and fought with us against him? He wouldn’t survive the battle.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” Radu agreed. “But we must accept the fact that she is not on our side. She is against us. She will fight us. She could possibly kill us. You must accept that, Carrie. If you don’t and we are in the middle of a battle against her, your feelings for her will hold you back. You must be ready and willing to take her out. Both of them. You must learn as much as you can from the book. She is more powerful than you. You must rectify that.”

Carrie felt indignant, even though he was right. She didn’t like having it pointed out that Helga was more powerful. Of course she was. She had been a witch much longer than Carrie. Radu noticed the look on her face and grinned.

“Don’t be upset, Carrie. You are a strong, powerful woman and you will become a better witch than her in time. The student will surpass the master. But for now, you will need to continue learning, teaching yourself all you can and practicing often. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Carrie nodded. “I’ve been working on it, Radu. I’ve been studying the book as much as I can, memorizing spells. My wand is going to be overused.” She chuckled at her last statement. He grinned at her.

“What do you want to do right now?” Carrie asked, leaning over the back of the couch to set the book on the table behind them. She saw the look in his eyes and pursed her lips. “We don’t have time for more of that, Radu. We must go. Unless you need to feed. I’m right here if that’s what you want to do. But we will run out of darkness if we don’t go very soon.”

He nodded. “Yes, you are right. We do need to leave. I would like to feed a little more. Not much. I do not want to deplete you of your energy.”

She nodded. “I appreciate that. I’m going to need that energy when I go up against Helga. You realize it will be just me. You can’t do anything during the daylight.”

“This is not news to me.” Radu laughed. He stood up and finished getting dressed, pulling on a pair of black boots and tying them up tightly. She did the same, putting her small feet into sturdy ankle boots with flat, tough heels. It would be easier to run and maneuver without slipping with those particular boots on. They were her favorite pair.

Once they were out in the darkness, Radu had to lead her by the hand down the dark alleys. There were lights all around them but most of the route they took was in near complete darkness. They moved quickly but didn’t run. Radu didn’t want her to be out of breath or weary. She had too much to do. He would need to get to ground before long but he had to make sure she was in the right place.

“Do you think you will be able to disguise yourself to get in the church and get to the sword?”

“Yes, I found a spell that will keep me from being seen.”

“Even by the witches in your coven? Won’t they sense your presence? Helga surely will. She’s…”

Carrie shook her head. “You will have to trust me, Radu. I know what I’m doing. She may be more powerful than me in some ways but I have my ways, too. I have spells I can cast that she does not do as well as I do nor can she hold them for as long as me. I have my ways, Radu. Trust me.”

It was strange but Radu did trust Carrie. She was one of the women he’d been brought to feed from but she had become much, much more than that to him. She was battling her own mentor, the woman who had made her the witch she was today. And that had to be one of the most difficult things for a young witch to do.

“There is a cemetery near the church where you will find the sword,” Radu said as they skirted the streets toward the outskirts of town. “That’s where I will go to ground. I will need the rest and I must be sure to get in there as soon as possible. I can’t let what happened before happen again. I need to recover from that hibernation.”

“You will be strong again, Radu,” Carrie said. “I know you will. I’ll help you however I can.”

He nodded at her. “I know you are always there for me, Carrie. I appreciate you more than you know.”

They reached the cemetery well before the sun rose over the mountains. Carrie looked up at the church nearby. It was an old one, for sure. But she doubted it could have been more than a hundred years old. “This is one of your recent churches,” she murmured, glancing at him. He reached back and took her hand, pulling her toward the cemetery.

“There is a special place for me here,” he said. “But I need you to help me cover up. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course, Radu, whatever you need.”

Before she knew it, Carrie was hurrying toward the church, doing her best to get there before sunrise. She’d be able to get in and underground before anyone could see her. She gripped the map Radu had drawn for her in one hand, afraid that if she put it in her pack, she would somehow lose it. All those spells she’d memorized and he’d insisted she bring a hand-drawn map with her. It made her nervous that she would somehow forget the directions and get lost in the catacombs.

That was the last thing she needed.