She turned back to look at Vlad as he bid her good day, feeling absurdly grateful to him simply for existing.

“Thank you,” she said. Vlad’s smile was affectionate.

“For what it’s worth, Ariane, I’m sorry. Damien has many fine qualities, none of which he will admit to… but that you could see them says a great deal for you. I have to think he’ll come to his senses, but this will be hard for him.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. I really don’t. But I couldn’t stay. It may not matter, after tomorrow…”

“Nonsense. I’ve spoken to Mormo and even had a quick word with Arsinöe, though you can never be certain which side she’ll come down on. She could decide to defend Sariel just to be contrary. But I don’t think so.”

Ariane sighed, shaking her head. “I’m just worried that he’s too strong. That trying to break his hold on the Grigori is only going to lead to something worse, something even you can’t handle.”

He shook his head and offered her a tired smile. “Ariane, whatever he may be able to do, Sariel is still just a vampire. He can’t stand against the rest of us. Believe that. Now, get some sleep. We’ll talk when you awaken,” he said, and shut the door.

Ariane felt lethargy stealing through her as the sun rose outside, making her limbs feel leaden. She just made it to the bed, sprawling across it and unfolding her wings so that they covered her like a blanket. And she sank gratefully into deep, numb, dreamless sleep.

She woke early, just as the sun sank below the edge of the horizon.

At the very least, the sleep had refreshed her, though it had done nothing to ease her mind. And the nerves, though late, had arrived in full force. Tonight she was going to expose the ancients of her bloodline for what they had done. If she succeeded in her part, she would change the course of her dynasty. Or… what had been her dynasty. She was just a lowblood now.

But then, the lowbloods of the world had been the ones to bring about the greatest changes lately.

Ariane rose, showered, and dressed in a tank top and a pair of skinny white jeans. Then she went to the phone on the nightstand, pressed the number for an outside line, and called Elena. She hadn’t been able to talk to her friend about all that had happened. But she owed Elena a call before she walked into whatever was going to happen tonight.

“Hey, Ari. I was about to get in trouble and call the mighty Dracul to give him an earful. Where have you been?”

“I’m in Chicago. Well, back in Chicago. I should have called before this, but it’s been kind of… interesting. I wanted you to know I was all right.”

Elena’s relief was palpable, and she didn’t seem at all angry, though Ariane felt plenty of guilt for her silence since Sam’s discovery. Damien wasn’t the only one who needed to get better at tending his relationships.

She took a few minutes to explain what had happened, keeping it brief, glossing over the Grigori’s demon problem… and keeping any mention of Damien out of it. When she was finished, Elena was quiet for a moment.

“I need wings,” she finally said with a soft laugh. “You’ve gotten some pretty good mileage these last couple of weeks.”

“I only flew here on my own,” Ariane said. “A plane works just as well most of the time.”

“Yeah, it sort of lacks the coolness of being able to manifest an enormous pair of wings of your own, though,” Elena replied. Then her tone turned serious. “So, Sariel is going down. Wow. Are you going to be all right? I mean, know you’re surrounded by the leading badasses of the vampire world tonight, but still… this doesn’t sound all that safe to me.”

“It isn’t, but I think it’ll be okay,” Ariane said, and then blew out a breath. “Hopefully.”

“I wish you’d called yesterday. I would have ditched work and gotten myself up there somehow. You shouldn’t be doing this without backup you know you can trust. Speaking of, is that Shade still hanging around?”

Ariane didn’t know what to say. Finally, she settled on the simplest thing.

“No.”

A sigh. “Damn it. I didn’t want to be right about that. You two seemed like you might actually have a good thing going. Do I need to find him and kick his ass or something? I will, you know.”

Ariane laughed, and it helped ease the ache in her chest, just a little. “No. I’ll tell you all about it… after this. With wine. I’ll come visit.”

“You’ve got it. Stay awhile. I left the apartment empty, just in case.”

“Maybe I will.” These things were hard to think about… but she would have to. She still had a life to figure out. That hadn’t changed. And at least she had a friend in Charlotte, though she would also have plenty of memories there that involved Damien. She would see.

And it was time to wrap this up. Her role in this was to be very simple, but she still needed to speak to Vlad and Lily before everyone arrived.

“Look, I have to go. I’ll give you a call after this is all over.”

Elena groaned. “You realize I’m going to worry until that phone call. Like, insane amounts of worry. Don’t leave me hanging, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“Be safe, Ari. And don’t worry about the Shade. He seemed pretty attached. Maybe you two will work it out.”

Ariane lifted her hand to rub at her mark, a permanent reminder of the cat who had broken her heart. “I don’t know,” was all she said. And then, in case she didn’t manage to see her friend again, she added, “Love you.”

Elena’s voice went to mush. “Oh. Damn it, Ari. I love you too. Now go be amazing with that sword of yours so I don’t have to avenge you or anything. I have to go hurt some people at work now.” There was the distinct sound of a sniffle before Elena hung up the phone.

It wasn’t the same as it would have been if Damien had said it, but she was glad that someone found her love worthy of returning.

Ariane hung up the phone, feeling a little better. Drained, hollow… but talking to a friend had helped. And it was time to do what she’d come here for.

The foyer was alive with activity. Dracul courtiers and staff hurried back and forth, chattering excitedly. Ariane saw people cleaning, fresh flowers being put out, furniture being moved.

Ludo, the tall gypsy who Vlad seemed to keep as a jack-of-all-trades, spotted her and headed up the stairs to say hello. “Heard you were back,” he said with a grin. “Flying solo this time?”

“You could say that,” she said. “Are people here already?”

“Not yet. Just getting ready. Whenever we host the Council, it’s always kind of a production. Especially this time.” He looked at her closely. “You ready?”

“As ready as I’m going to be,” Ariane said.

Ludo nodded, his teeth flashing white against his dusky skin when he gifted her with a brief smile. “Don’t worry. Vlad always knows what he’s doing, and there will be a lot of power on our side. Come on. I’ll show you to where he is.”

He brought her downstairs, past the library, to a cozy little sitting room she hadn’t spent any time in when she’d been here before. The walls and furniture were done in dark colors and rich fabrics. Oil paintings of people she didn’t recognize, all wearing odd clothing and posing with hounds or the trappings of ancient academia, hung on the walls. None of them looked nearly as friendly as the three faces that turned toward Ariane as she entered.

“There you are,” Vlad said warmly.

He looked confident and just a little dangerous. She tried to take comfort in that.

“Come in and meet Lily and Ty, otherwise known as the ruler of the Lilim and her consort.”

The man and woman rose, and Ariane walked forward to meet them, slightly self-conscious. This seemed to be what she did now: sleep with assassins and make nice with vampire nobility.

The man, tall, dark, and rangy with beautiful silver eyes, shook her hand first. When he spoke, his voice was a rich and musical brogue.

“Ariane, it’s nice to finally meet you. I can already tell you’re nicer than your blood brother, Sammael. Though even he admitted you were.”

She smiled. “Nice to meet you too. I’m not sure if you’re nicer than Jaden, though. He says not.”

Ty laughed. “He’s right.”

Then the woman took her hand, and Ariane could feel the power she carried sizzle up her arm. Lily’s smile, though, was anything but intimidating. She was a stunning woman, with big, glittering blue eyes and a wavy fall of auburn hair that was pulled away from her face.

“Hi. I’m Lily. And this has to be said—you’re gorgeous.”

Ariane’s brows winged up, but she laughed, flattered. “Um, thank you. Everyone seemed to think I would look more like, well… a man.”

“Fortunately for all of us, that’s not the—Oh.”

Lily stopped short when Ariane, flustered by the attention, had brushed her hair back over her shoulder. Lily’s eyes dropped immediately to her mark. And then Ariane remembered. Tank top. Wings. Cat. She flushed and pulled her hair back over her shoulder to cover it. It didn’t matter. Lily had seen it, and so had Ty. Neither, however, seemed inclined to mention it.

“Anyway,” Lily said, her smile overly bright, “I’m glad to meet you.” The smile faded and turned serious quickly. “It’s lucky you were with Vlad when everything happened. Do you know if Sammael made it to the desert?”

“I’m not sure,” Ariane replied. “But he’s incredibly strong, and fully healed. I can’t imagine he didn’t.”

Vlad motioned for everyone to sit, and she moved to the couch where he was. Ariane knew these problems were the ones she ought to be focusing on. It was a relief, not to have to think about her foolish heart.

“I think everything is in place. Once Mormo performs the ritual, we should all have a better idea of what we’re dealing with. I understand that Sammael was reluctant to be more specific about the exact location of this… thing… before he spoke to the other ancients, but I’m hopeful that the divination will tell us what we need to know regardless.”