"No problem--go for it." I waved her up the stairs. Turning back, I looked over at Camil e, who was stil snuggled in the rocking chair. She looked a little better, but damn, the Wolf Briar had real y hit her hard. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, but I stil feel like death warmed over." She nodded. "We need to find out who's making it and put a stop to them. It's dangerous to far more than just werewolves. If I'd taken a bigger blast of it, I could stil be paralyzed."

Smoky growled. He was sitting by her side, and now he looked over at me. "You have my help if you want it. There is dark magic, and then there is this.

And if you find out who planted the blast that hit Camil e, I'l remove them from this world."

"I'm sure you wil . Who would know about sorcery shops in town?" I leaned forward, playing with a piece of the cornbread. "Any ideas?"

"Wilbur." Morio slowly raised his head. "Wilbur would know. Somebody care to go escort him up here? And make sure he leaves Martin at home."

I groaned. Wilbur, our neighbor, wasn't my favorite person in the world. A necromancer, he walked on the shady side of gray, but he'd helped us more than once, and we managed to form an uneasy truce with him after Menol y broke Martin's neck and almost pul ed his head off.

Martin was Wilbur's ghoul. Martin was long dead but wel -preserved, and looked like a ghoulish accountant and wore a suit. Wilbur and Martin had a master-servant relationship that I wasn't entirely comfortable contemplating, because at times it seemed a little too chummy, but I wasn't about to ask awkward questions that might tel me more than I wanted to know.

Menol y grumbled. "I suppose I'l go. You guys always send me because you know Wilbur wants to fuck a vampire, and he keeps hoping he'l get lucky."

She stood and stretched. "If he gets grabby, I can backhand him from here to Hel. I'l be back in a few with the cavalry." She excused herself and headed out the back door.

I finished my meal and carried the dishes to the sink. As I rinsed them off, there was a knock on the front door. Morio went to answer it and returned with Trenyth--the elfin assistant to Queen Asteria--in tow. Drenched from the downpour between Grandmother Coyote's portal and our house, Trenyth barely smiled, and I knew something was up.

"Something's wrong. Is Father okay?" I motioned for him to take a seat.

Trenyth glanced around the table. "Everyone's here. Good. Wait--where's your sister? Menol y?"

"She'l be back in a few minutes. Is it Father?" Camil e leaned forward in the chair, her pale face even whiter.

The emissary sighed. "He's not hurt, so calm yourself with regards to that. But yes, the message is . . . from him." He looked sad, and I wondered what the hel was up. Trenyth had been on the periphery of our lives since we first wiped the floor with Bad-Ass Luke and Shadow Wing's first Degath Squad.

We'd developed a friendly though professional rapport with the ancient elf. He was Queen Asteria's right hand, and I had the feeling she'd be lost without him.

We settled him in with a cup of tea and dessert--cookies--which he politely munched on, though I had the feeling they weren't to his liking at al .

"How's Her Majesty doing?" I asked to make conversation.

"Queen Asteria is in good health. She's . . ." he paused, then let out a long sigh, as if he'd been about to say something.

"What is it?" I pushed. Camil e sat up, eyeing him cautiously. She glanced over at me and gave a slight shake of the head.

"Nothing. Nothing--just not al plans are going as hoped. But leave it be. I can say no more on the subject." He took a sip of his tea and stared into the steaming cup, once again quiet.

Ten minutes passed, and the back door opened, Menol y leading Wilbur into the room. The guy looked like a front man for ZZ Top, with a streaming beard, long ratty hair pul ed back in a ponytail, and shades on even though the light was long gone. He was big and burly, dressed like a mountain man, but there was a tingle about him that signaled magic. Magic and an overdose of testosterone.

"Now that you're home, I'd like to talk to the three of you alone, please. Then I'l be off. This wil just take a few minutes." Trenyth motioned to Smoky and the rest, including Iris. "Please, give us some privacy." The elf's presence was commanding enough that everyone automatical y vacated the kitchen.

We waited. Obviously, this was big, or he would have talked to us in front of the others. Final y, after an uncomfortable pause, he pinched the bridge of his nose and winced.

"I hate this." He looked up at us, a stricken expression crossing his face. "I've come to know and respect you girls over the past year. I like the three of you. Please know that. I real y do. And that makes this even harder."

Uh-oh. Any announcement starting out with I hate this couldn't be good. "What's up?" I said quietly.

He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then pul ed a parchment scrol out of his pocket and showed us the seal. Queen Tanaquar. Shit. But why was the elfin ambassador delivering one of the Fae Queen's official documents?

Breaking the seal, he unrol ed it and cleared his throat.

"I, Trenyth Vesalya, ambassador for the Queen of Elqaneve--Her Highness Asteria--have been dutiful y entrusted by the Crown to deliver an official notice from Queen Tanaquar, friend and al y of the Elfin Throne."

We remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Her Majesty, Queen Tanaquar, sends a royal decree to Camil e Sepharial te Maria, also known as Camil e D'Artigo, daughter of Ambassador Sephreh ob Tanu. She shal hold fast to the terms of this decree."

He paused.

I sat up straight. This was targeted directly at Camil e, not at al of us, but that didn't make me feel any better. In fact, it made me feel worse. We handled things better as a team. We were unbreakable together, or at least pretty damned intimidating.

Camil e, pale and looking terribly vulnerable, forced herself to lean forward. "Please, continue. Just . . . get it over with. Whatever it is."

Trenyth did something I'd never seen him do before. He reached out and took her hand in his, then lifted it to his lips and softly pressed a kiss against her skin. "Very wel , my lady."

As she slowly withdrew her hand, he unrol ed the scrol again.

"Camil e te Maria, be it known that if you go forward with your intentions to pledge yourself to the Court of Aeval, the Queen of Darkness, you shal be ostracized from Y'Elestrial, considered pariah unless you recant your change in al egiance. You are to continue in your position of OIA agent inasmuch as the task at hand relates to the spirit seals only.

"Unless this ban is lifted, you may never again set foot within the city limits of Y'Elestrial, nor within the home of Sephreh ob Tanu. You wil report to Delilah and Menol y D'Artigo, and they wil report to the OIA headquarters. You wil fol ow al orders precisely. You may not contact any member of the Court and Crown on your own, including Sephreh ob Tanu. Nor wil the Court and Crown contact you except through an emissary. As a punishment for turning your back on your al egiance, you no longer exist in the Court's eyes."

He put down the parchment and looked at Camil e. "And I've one other message, my dear. Again . . . I am so, so sorry. Your father asked me to give you this." He handed her an envelope.

Shaking, she took it. After a moment, she ripped it open and pul ed out the single sheet of paper and scanned it.

"Oh!" With a little cry, she dropped it, her hand flying to press against her lips. She was trying not to cry, trying to be strong, but the tears slowly spil ed over.

I picked up the paper and read aloud:

"Camil e. I'm sorry to have to do this, but duty has always come first with me, and I thought you fol owed in my foot-steps. Apparently I was wrong. If you align yourself with Aeval, you are no longer my daughter. I wil disown you. Choose wisely. Your future within the family depends on your actions. You have already proven your lack of loyalty to the Court and Crown by even contemplating such a move. Stay wel . I wil always love you, but I cannot be your father if you persist in this."

Crumpling the page, I knelt by her side, and she threw herself into my arms, sobbing, as I patted her back.

"Motherfucking peons!" Menol y pounded the table. "I knew better than to trust his conciliatory tone. So you're good enough to find the spirit seals but not good enough to set foot in town? Fuck the bitch and her Court. Tanaquar's likely little better than Lethesanar, and that was to be expected. But after al Camil e has done for this family, for Father, to see him treat her like this. I disown him!"

Trenyth stared at us for a moment, then stood and slowly disengaged Camil e from my arms. He turned her to face him, holding her firmly by the shoulders, chucking her chin when she tried to evade his gaze.

"Look at me, Camil e. Look me in the eye. I reassure you that Queen Asteria makes no such judgment. You are wel -respected in Elqaneve, and you are always welcome in our city. You are welcome in the Queen's chambers. And . . . you are welcome in my home."

"Thank you." She spoke so quietly I could barely hear her.

In a rush, he continued, "I feel like you girls have become my foster daughters. I've never had children, never been married. I'm truly wed to my duty to serve the Crown. But I've watched the three of you bravely face what would cow greater men. I've watched you push through fear and worry to complete your duties as best as you can. I honor that. So I'm offering you my guest rooms, if you ever need a place to stay in Otherworld. And my hospitality and gratitude for what you are doing to save both of these worlds."

And in that moment, the wisdom in his eyes fel away to show compassion, concern, and love. I truly believed he meant everything he said.

Apparently, so did Menol y. "You're al right, Trenyth." She kicked the cupboard, but I could tel her heart wasn't in it. She didn't leave a gaping hole in the wood. "We should al just quit. Tel them to fuck themselves. I knew Father wouldn't fol ow through with his supposedly new tolerant attitude. And if he lied about tolerating Tril ian, then he's lying when he says he accepts me now. If he disowns one of us, he disowns al of us."

Camil e dashed aside the tears. She was stil shaking, and I knew her heart was broken, but she forced herself to straighten her shoulders. "Wil you take a message to Ambassador Sephreh ob Tanu for me, and to the Queen of Y'Elestrial?"

Trenyth nodded. "Of course. Do you wish to write it down?"

Trenyth nodded. "Of course. Do you wish to write it down?"

"No, you can just tel them to their faces. I trust your memory. Tel Queen Tanaquar I wil fulfil my duties as asked. I wil report to my sisters. And tel Her Majesty she needn't bother to pay me if I'm such a disappointment. I'l fight against the demons for free if I have to; I care that much about this war."

"And to your father?"

I held my breath, waiting. Menol y's gaze was glued on her.

"Tel him . . . tel the ambassador that I'm sorry he's lost a daughter. Tel him that Camil e D'Artigo said: The cal ing of the Moon Mother is stronger than the power of his approval. And that . . ." her voice broke, but she caught herself. "And that . . . that my duty is to my Goddess, first and foremost. I wish him a long and happy life. Apparently, I shal not be there to share it with him."

And then she turned and walked down the hal toward the bathroom.

Menol y and I looked at each other.

After a pause, I said, "I guess that's it. Tel Father that Menol y and I are pissed as hel and he'd better not contact us in anything but an official capacity for a while. I'd tel him myself through the Whispering Mirror, but I'm too angry and I'd probably shift if I tried to confront him."

"I, myself, have nothing to say to him," Menol y added. "Other than this: I don't need him. I don't want him in my life. But Trenyth, we aren't mad at you. You just got stuck with a crappy job tonight."

He ducked his head, his cheeks burning. "I wish I hadn't been the one assigned. I was dreading this. And yet, better me than some officious ass."

Gathering his robes, he added, "I'd better return now. Please, take care of her. I can't imagine what she must be feeling."

"We wil ." I saw him out the back door and watched as he crossed the yard. Oh yeah, this was shaping up to be a lovely autumn, al right.

As Menol y went to help Camil e, I cal ed everybody back in the kitchen and gestured for them to keep quiet. "I'l tel you about it later, but right now, I think we need to just let sleeping dogs lie." And give my sister a chance to lick her wounds, I thought but didn't say.

Menol y and Camil e returned. It was obvious that Camil e had been crying, but Menol y shot a look around the room that warned, Back off, and nobody took a chance on crossing her. Smoky glowered, Tril ian and Morio looked worried, but she gave them a smal shake of the head, and they kept quiet.

Roz quickly jumped to get everybody's attention off of her. "Yo, Wilbur," he said. "You want anything to eat?"

Wilbur cleared his throat as he plunked down into a chair. "Coffee if you got it, black, strong. And something sweet would not be amiss," he added, staring at Menol y.

She let out an audible hiss. "Hands to yourself, big boy. I told you that on the way here."

"Damn wench smacked me a good one," he said, rubbing his jaw and laughing. "Al right, al right, I'l back off. Looks like you've got cookies there--I wouldn't be averse to a couple of those."

I handed him the plate, thinking that if he had his way, al three of us girls would be his personal cookie jar. But none of us were interested. Wilbur was too coarse for our tastes. He bit into the cookie as Roz poured him a cup of tea.