I pace the billiards room like I'm trying to wear a hole in the antique hardwood floors, dinner forgotten and growing cold on the dining room table, still in its plastic take out bags.

Morana's summons shakes in my hand as I read it over and over again. The polite, formal wording leaves no room for ambiguity. I will be there, or she'll come for me, and everyone I care about. Rude cow.

"So this is obviously a trap, right?" Reina says, hovering in the door way, watching me with obvious worry. Row lingers near the pool table, a cue in his hands like he's preparing to use it as a weapon. Carver sits in the window seat, elbows on his knees, hands folded in fronts of his face, eyes closed in deep contemplation. "I'm not the only one thinking this is totally her calling you in to slaughter, am I?"

"It's very likely," Carver confirms without opening his eyes. I chew my lip until I taste blood, reading the letter again.

"So you're not going, right?" Reina pushes, staring at me, hands open as though I could give her my reassurances physically, looking for some hope that we aren't planning what she thinks we are.

"She does not have a choice," Carver replies, confirming Reina's fears. "None of us do. This is not a polite invitation to tea. This is a test of fealty. To deny her would be an open declaration of rebellion. She would be justified in responding with the full force of the Kresova army. La Tireur would be here the same day with orders to disembowel us and stake our innards out in the yard."

"That was graphic," Row says, laughing a bit hysterically. "And specific. Have you done that one before?"

"Do not ask questions you do not want the answers to." Carver replies a tad harshly.

I sit down abruptly on the edge of the pool table, my face in my hands. My thoughts are moving too fast to follow, fear chasing anger in a whirlwind of panic.

"That's all the more reason Aura can't go!" Reina insists. "Why would Morana demand this unless she knows what Aura is? What she's destined to do? She'll tear Aura's heart out!"

"She may not know," Carver says, trying to sound hopeful. "She may just be suspicious of me. Or jealous. She has never like me spending time with other women, at least not when she isn't there to watch."

"First of all: Ew." Reina is the one pacing now, shaking her head. "Secondly, that is another point in favor of Aura not going anywhere near her, ever. She needs to go into hiding until she finds all her mates and gets superpowers or whatever. We all do!"

"If we even can hide from her at this point," Row says, squeezing the pool cue so hard I can hear the wood creaking. "We're in a house she wasn't supposed to know existed, and she had a letter hand delivered to our door. Where the fuck are we going to go? Narnia?"

"We'll figure something out," Reina says, adamant. “Good pop culture reference though.” She chuckles.

I drag my hands away from my face to look at her, and I can see her shaking. I hold out my arms to her and she runs into them an instant later. I squeeze her close, both of us terrified.

"Perhaps we need to look at this differently," Carver says a moment later, frowning over his folded hands. "This may be an opportunity, rather than an obstacle."

"An opportunity to do what?" I ask, turning to look at him, my stomach twisting in foreboding.

"To discover Morana's weakness," Carver says, his voice icy calm. "And perhaps the location of Abehartach. With Lavinia vanished and the Dakvahar out of communication, this may be our only opportunity to gain the upper hand."

"By walking into the lion's mouth," Reina points out, tense with frustration. "You're not going to get any advantage over her by serving yourself up to her on a silver platter!"

"What do you mean by weakness?" I said, interrupting Reina, intrigued.

"Kresova vampires grow more powerful with age," Carver explains. "But at a cost. A new vampire like yourself is barely stronger than a human, but you have almost no weakness.”

"I'm guessing that changes?" I assume, turning to lean against the table, focusing on him.

"After a century or so," Carver went on. "Along with your physical strength, healing abilities, and any psychic powers, so too does your need for blood to keep you at peak strength.”

Even Reina was listening curiously now, captivated by this glimpse into my possible future, if I survived that long.

"When you pass the century mark, the usual weaknesses stabilize. Sunlight? No problem. A wooden stake? Might as well be a toothpick. Instead, you begin to develop stranger, more specific weaknesses. Some that I’ve known of are allergies to wolfsbane, an aversion to black cats, the inability to lie or cross running water while conscious. Odd little inconveniences that, in the wrong hands, could be deadly. Among these midcourt vampires, those over a century but not yet an elder, us it as leverage at court. It’s all about learning your rival's weaknesses.”

“And of course no one knows Moranas.” I state the obvious.

“Not that I’m aware of. Or if anyone knows it, they’re no longer breathing. While power continues to grow with age, these little flaws condense into one, crippling weakness. For the ancients, these weakness are powerful, unique, and ferociously guarded. No two are alike. I've heard of an elder past who's power grew and waned with the sun, who became mortal during an eclipse.”

"And Morana has a weakness like that?" I ask, hopes rising.

Carver nods.

"With absolute certainty," he says. "She is an ancient. Her weakness must be dire indeed. I have been trying to discover it for decades. But she did not become an ancient by being careless with such information."

"Then how do you expect to figure it out now?" Reina asks

"Before, I was biding my time," Carver says, sitting up and adjusting his jacket. "She had... certain leverage over me, which she no longer has. I no longer need to be so cautious."

"And when we figure this weakness out," I ask. "What then?"

"We are one step closer to disabling her permanently," Carver finished. "Possibly even ending her. Ancient weaknesses have been known to be fatal before."

The impact of that statement, of the mere possibility of killing an ancient, leaves us all in stunned silence for a moment.

"I'm going." I break the silence.

"Like hell you are!" Reina declares, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "This is a suicide mission! If you find that weakness it'll be blind luck and there's no way of knowing if you'll actually be able to do anything with it! What if she has something like that solar powered guy? You just going to stall her till the next eclipse? What if she kills you the minute you walk through the door?"

"I've got a destiny, remember?" I say, forcing a grin. "I don't think I'm going to die walking through a door."

"Destiny doesn't mean shit if you act like an idiot!" Reina shouts, shoving me. "No amount of prophecies in the world are going to help you if you commit suicide."

"Reina," I say seriously, looking her in the eye. "I'm going."

I don't need to say any more. She can see it in my eyes. We don't have a choice, but I'm at least going to turn this to my advantage any way that I can. Morana's hurt too many people for me to pass up the opportunity to put an end to her.

Reina stares back at me, her own face set with determination and fear for me. "Then I'm going with you."

A stab of wild fear that must have been the same thing Reina felt when I said I was going hits my chest. "Reina, no-"

"You're not going without me," Reina says, eyes fiery with determination. "Someone has to be around to remind you not to do stupid shit like this. Since you clearly don't have the common sense God gave a goldfish-"

"Reina," I plead. "It's too dangerous."

"Then don't go!" Reina snaps. "I'm fine with either option!"

"I have to go Reina, I don't have a choice."

"There is always another choice," Reina says grabbing my hand. Hers is shaking as she laces our fingers, holding on tight. "You would just rather risk your life running into danger than running away from it. Well, we're in this together, bitch. Your life is my life. If you're going to do some dumb shit my neck is on the line too, forever. Got it?"

I don't know how to respond, my eyes wide. Reina is my best friend. She knows I feel the same way. But I don't think either of us had ever said it that plainly before. To hear it in blunt words, that she would fight for me, die with me even, changed things. I squeeze her hand, touched.

"Got it," I whisper.

"I have a safe house outside Paris," Carver adds. "She can stay there. It will be safer than leaving her here anyway. You may not have many weaknesses yet, but she definitely qualifies."

"Doesn't that make bringing her into the city kind of stupid?" Row puts in, looking worried. I'd almost forgotten that he had an interest in keeping Reina safe too.

"Better that she be there and within reach if she needs help than halfway across the world," Carver points out. "We already know this location has been compromised. I would not put it past Morana to take her the moment our backs are turned. Using loved ones is her favorite way to control unruly pawns."

I pale a little at the thought of Reina in Morana's clutches. Row looks similarly distressed.

"So what's the plan?" I ask, straightening up, though I keep my tight grip on Reina's hand. "We can't just go straight to her. We need a better plan for working out her weakness."

"Lucian," Carver replies, inclining his head towards my pocket where I have the other man's address. "His name was not on the invitation, so she may not know of your connection yet, which makes him valuable if we want to surprise her. His help will be critical if things go badly regardless."

I feel that squirm of guilt in my stomach again at the thought of the other man, but I nod in understanding. He's right. Lucian may be the difference between this being the suicide mission Reina thinks it is and the strategic move I want it to be.

I take a deep breath and settle my nerves, holding it for a moment until my heart beat slows down and my thoughts clear.

"Alright," I say, opening my eyes. "Carver, get a message to Lucian. Don't use any channel we've used before. I don't want Morana finding out about Lucian before we're ready. Then get us a plane. Reina, get your stuff together. Row, pack up the take out for the road. I saw fried crawfish tails in there and I will be God damned before I miss out on the chance to eat New Orleans crawfish because of this. I will go to my death with seafood in my mouth or not at all."

"Fine last words," Carver says with an amused nod. "Worthy of Oscar Wilde."

"Wasn't he the one all worked up about the interior decorating?" Reina asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Either this wallpaper goes," Carver quotes, "Or I do. Not a Frenchman, unfortunately, but he had the soul of a Parisian"

I ignore them, digging the address out of my pocket instead. I looked down at it, banishing the discomfort which the thought of facing Lucian again created in me. Morana's letter was still in my other hand, and between the two, I'd take Lucian a thousand times.

"Okay, hop to it everyone," I declare, clapping my hands and making Row jump and drop his pool cue. "We're heading to New York."