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happy to," he said.
Amber began her search for the Calling spell that day. She contacted the witches in the Coven of Light
and told them what Adrian had decided, asking once again for their assistance.
"We need Immortals to stop an Immortal," she wrote on the loop. "This has moved beyond avenging
Susan's death into something much bigger. We need to find the spell, and we need to find it quickly. We
have ten days until Beltane. Will you help?"
The response was an enthusiastic yes. The witches on-line promised to pass the word to others in the
Coven who couldn't access the loop on a regular basis. Then they signed off to start the search.
The Coven looked in libraries, bookshops, manuscript collections, and records of their coven and
others. They interviewed elder witches, utilizing the technology of the Internet, and poked around dusty,
forgotten shelves in shop corners. A few traveled to the place where the Immortals had last been
called-the fateful day Tain had disappeared-to see if knowledge of the spell lingered there, but they found
nothing.
Amber contacted covens in Seattle and searched every book on witchcraft, published and unpublished,
she could get her hands on. One never knew how knowledge could get passed around, to whom and
where. Seven hundred years was a long time.
They searched around the clock, Amber barely looking up from her computer. Adrian didn't like her
leaving the protection of the house, so she spent most of the time on the phone and the Internet, or going
through books Valerian got for her.
Beyond her frantic researching, she sensed the danger outside, the growing darkness in the city,
Adrian's grim expression every time he came home. Tain and the demon had begun their quest to drain
life magic from the world, and vampires and demons were no longer shy about attacking and killing
people they'd lived side by side with for years. Adrian and Valerian had seen no sign of Tain, but the
demon knew where they were, and it was only a matter of time before he decided to mount another
attack.
So they researched and watched the clock, and Valerian and Adrian went out armed and came home
blood-streaked and tired. Detective Simon called often to check on them. He sounded strained and
stretched as well. The paranormal unit was working double shifts trying to keep the city safe, and failing
miserably. The vampires were too well organized, the demons happy to break free of restriction.
Septimus, who might have been able to help keep them in line, had his hands full in Los Angeles.
When a witch in Amber's local coven was murdered-stalked to her house and slaughtered just outside
her door-Amber invited the rest of the coven to stay at her house. They arrived, white-faced and
frightened or stern and angry.
"The Goddess will take her retribution," one of them said.
"Or Adrian will," Amber promised.
The dozen local witches over ran the big house. It drove Valerian crazy, but they helped with research
onthe spell and keeping in touch with the others in the Coven of Light.
But as much as they searched, Beltane drew near without their coming close to finding the spell. The
problem was, one member of the Coven pointed out, the Calling spell had probably been pssed along
inoral tradition back when most witches were illiterate, plus it had been dangerous to write out spells in
case the witchfinders came across them. Adrian had told her that the last Calling had occurred seven
hundred years ago, and it was possible that any information about it had later been destroyed by the
Inquisition in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Then again, another member pointed out, the Inquisition had kept copious records on everything.
Covenmembers in Europe were sent to comb archives to see whether the Inquisition had "questioned" a
witch who'd known of the Calling spell.
Adrian, when he wasn't out defending the city against demons and vampires, helped in the research and
also attempted to locate his brothers on his own in case the spell proved too elusive. But he made no
move to leave Seattle. He more or less moved in with Amber without ever stating that he was doing so,
sending for things from his house in Los Angeles and settling in without making a production of it.
He also melded his magic with that of the witches staying in the house, to cast even more protection
over Amber's abode than he had over his own. The demon would definitely return, he explained, and
they needed this place to be a fortress.
Valerian stayed in Amber's house as well, when he wasn't visiting Sabina and her werewolf family or
helping Adrian. He complained about the house being over-run with women and never having any time in
the bathroom, but he stayed and sat on the porch most nights, guarding the house. When Amber thanked
him for it, he stared at her and made a smart-ass remark about staying outside only to get away from
female chatter. Amber smiled at him and left it at that.
As April drew to a close, the Coven of light still had no leads. Adrian also hadn't succeeded in finding
any sign of his brothers, who were proving more elusive than the spell.
"You should have pagers," Amber told him one morning as she drowsed in bed with him in the growing
daylight.
They always shared a bed when Adrian wasn't out fighting, but though he made love to her with
thoroughness and sometimes in a frenzy, Amber sensed she was losing him.
She had the feeling that once the other Immortals appeared, he would leave her. Not in a cruel and
thoughtless way, but to keep her safe while he fought the battle with Tain that needed to be fought.
Perhaps a clean break would be best, she'd tell herself. I get on with my life, he goes back to being an
Immortal warrior ready to save the world. He'll move on through the centuries, and I'll live out my life as
a normal person. She'd stop and decide that was the most sensible course of action.
Then pain twisted her heart. But I'll miss him.
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