Schuyler told Catherine of what the Venators had learned - that Mimi Force had been attacked by the blood spell in the glom, and that the Nephilim had targeted Deming as well. The Venators told her they had never discovered why the Regent had been attacked, but she thought it might have something to do with information they'd found in Paul Rayburn's files - notes concerning a star key that unlocked one of the Gates of Hell. She asked Catherine about it. "The files said that the star key unlocks the Gate of Promise. Have you heard of this key? Do you have it?"

"They have the translation wrong. It is called the Key of the Twins, not the Key of the Star," Catherine said. "Easy enough to get it confused. Nephilim aren't known for their deep intelligence."

"So that's why they attacked Mimi.... They thought she was the key somehow. And Deming, because she was a star-born twin. They were searching for meaning, trying to make things fit," Schuyler said. "But why would they need a key if they're already using humans to bring women through the gate?"

The gatekeeper hesitated for a moment before replying. "I suppose if you are Allegra's daughter and worthy of the secret of the seven, you will find out soon enough anyway."

"There's more that my mother didn't tell me?"

Catherine put her teacup down so it rattled the saucer.

"The Gate of Promise is a bifurcated path. It leads to two different locations. This one, in Giza, guards the underworld. The other is hidden from me. I do not know where it is or where it leads. But I do know one thing: whoever holds the Key of the Twins is the true keeper of the Gate of Promise."

Chapter Forty-one

Secrets of the Underworld

Thoroughlyravished,Mimithoughtshewouldneverfeelso tired or spent or satiated. Every muscle in her body ached. She was bruised with kisses and lovemarks, but there was a pleasure in knowing they had enjoyed each other utterly; that they had more than made up for all their time apart in discovering new and secret delights. She had to find her breath; she was panting. They could do this all day and night, and she had a feeling that, at least in the near future, this was exactly what they would do. Love was like a drug, a physical addiction. She wanted Kingsley near her at all times, wanted to feel his skin next to hers, to know he was real.

"Water?" Kingsley asked, hauling himself to a sitting position. He looked down at her and squeezed her shoulder affectionately.

"Please."

He wrapped himself in a sheet and whistled as he made his way to the kitchen. Mimi changed into a silk robe, feeling a bit cold in the room now that he was gone.

Kingsley returned with two crystal glasses filled with water and handed her one. He jumped back into bed.

"You know, the first moment I got here, I tried to get out.

I got all the way to the gate. But I couldn't walk through," he told her. "Croatan blood will do that."

She snuggled next to him, and he gently stroked her hair as he told her his story. "I tried everything. I bargained with Helda. That's why I took this post. I thought if I could prove myself useful, I could win some favors. But the years passed - you know time is different down here - and nothing happened. I pretty much gave up. Then I saw you. I thought I was dreaming at first."

"Typical." She smiled. "You never believe what's right in front of you."

"I'm used to disappointment," he said, draining his glass and putting it on the side table.

"Do you even want to come back with me?" Mimi asked, fearing his answer and thinking of the flower blooming in the wasteland. "What about all the stuff you're doing down here - and the way you feel up there... with the voices. The Corruption will be part of you again."

"I know," he said. "I thought about it."

"Really, when?" she teased. "When did you have the time?"

"Right now," he said. "And it's okay. I can deal with the Corruption. I've dealt with it my entire life."

"Are you sure?"

"I have never been more certain." He kissed her bare shoulder. "I want to go home. I want to be with you. The underworld can survive without me."

She nuzzled his cheek, the happiness returning again.

"So we just walk out of here, that's it?" Kingsley asked.

"That's the plan," she said, pinching his nose. He was truly so handsome. She sighed. Her own handsome devil.

"Seems too easy," he mulled. "Helda really said I could leave? She's not going to stop us?"

"Hey, I've got some pull around here," she said. As the Angel of Death, Mimi reminded him that the darkness was part of her birthright.

"I can see that." He smiled again. "All right, then. If you're sure this is going to work - "

"Shush!" Mimi said, pouting. "Let's not be negative. Get dressed and let's go. We've got a train to Limbo to catch."

Oliver did not seem surprised to see them together at breakfast. He tactfully did not mention anything when they appeared at the table, glowing with satisfaction and bubbling with energy. "So we just take some train? That's it?" he asked.

Kingsley frowned. "It's a little more complicated than that, but we'll figure it out when we get there. I don't know what the demon told you," he said to Mimi. Then he looked at the trolls who were standing at attention around the room, their hands at their backs. "Leave us," he ordered.

He regarded Mimi and Oliver seriously. "There's something you guys need to know. I've been meaning to tell you, but I wanted to wait until I was sure."

"What is it?"

"There's been... unusual activity down in the ninth."

"Lucifer?" Mimi asked.

Oliver forced his bread down his throat. The thought of the Dark Prince was still frightening. He had seen what happened at the bonding, when the Croatan had revealed themselves and captured Schuyler, pulling her into the glom.

Kingsley nodded. "It's got to be... I think he's trying to break out again."

"Fine. We'll just kick him back here when he does." Mimi shrugged and ripped her croissant in half, as if imagining it was their enemy.

Kingsley shook his head. "No. I've heard that Lucifer has grander ambitions."

"Like what?" Oliver wanted to know.

The Duke of Hell frowned. "I've heard rumors that they've created new weapons that can be used against the pine - even more powerful than the White Fire of Heaven - and that he is gathering his demons for battle."

"So if it's war he wants, he'll have it. This is it, then. Apocalypse. We'll ready the horses," Mimi said.

"No. Lucifer has no more interest in the mid-world,"

Kingsley said, looking around nervously, as if spies were all around.

"No? Why not?" asked Oliver. "Humans have ruined it too much?" He smiled at his joke.

Kingsley did not find it amusing and did not respond to the crack. "I fear it's something much more precious." He paused to let it sink in. "The Dark Prince is preparing to conquer Paradise."

"But how?" Mimi asked. She tossed her half-eaten croissant back on her plate, having lost her appetite at the news.

"That's impossible. Paradise is closed to the Fallen. If the angels cannot be redeemed, how can the demons and the Corrupted even get close to Eden? There's no way. They won't be able to find it. No one can."

"I don't know. They don't trust me enough to tell me their plans," Kingsley said, frustrated. "But they are confident of victory."

Chapter Forty-two

A Phone Call

When Allegra returned home to Riverside Drive, Ben was waiting for her. He was sitting on the stoop and he had his hands folded in his lap. "I know where you were last night," he said. "I know you went to him...."

"It's not like that...."

"It's all right. Please. It's killing me. I don't even know what to make of it. I don't want to know what to make of it,"

Ben said. "But it's sick, whatever is between you guys. It's not... right."

"Ben, please."

"But hear me out - " Ben coughed into his handkerchief.

Allegra saw that the cloth was red with blood. He'd started coughing last week and was supposed to go to a doctor, but had been too busy to take care of it. Allegra would have to remind him. It was beginning to worry her so much that she didn't even want to think about it.

She led him inside the town house, and they sat together in Cordelia's formal living room.

"Allegra," Ben said. It hurt her to hear her full name from his lips. He'd never called her that before. "I will love you no matter what. I don't care that you were with Charles last night.

I don't. I just want you," he said.

Allegra swallowed her tears. She couldn't do it, she thought. She couldn't. She'd been so sure when she'd left Charles that she would renew her bond with him again, that she had chosen the right path, but now, seeing Ben, her resolve wavered. She couldn't leave Ben. She loved him too much. Just then, the upstairs phone rang. It was the Conclave line, that only the Venators and Wardens used.

"Ben, I'm so sorry. I have to take this. I think it's important."

Ben waved his hand. "Go ahead," he said, coughing again.

She ran upstairs and picked up the receiver. "Yes?"

"Martin here. Sorry to bother you, but I thought you might find this interesting," Kingsley said. "I wanted to tell you before I left for my next assignment and forgot about it."

"This isn't a good time," she said. "Can it wait?"

"When is?" The Venator sighed. "Sorry - I promise this won't take long, what I have to say."

"Get on with it, then."

He cleared his throat. "So I looked into that thing you told me about - the diseased Red Bloods?"

"And?"

"I couldn't find anything on it, not in any of the official files."

Allegra bit her fingernails. "No?"

"Forsyth laughed. He said he'd never heard of such a thing. Said I was letting the voices in my head drive me crazy,"

Kingsley said, not sounding terribly insulted. Over the centuries, Allegra knew, he must have gotten used to the barbs and comments from the Blue Bloods. "I didn't tell him I heard it from you. I didn't want you to get in trouble."

"He's lying. There was a body in that van. I saw it."

"Yes," Kingsley said. "I found the ambulance records, the one for the clinic that the Conduits use. Here's the thing: the records show there was a dead body in that van, but I checked San Francisco; there aren't any familiars who have been reported missing or recently deceased."

Allegra could not believe what she was hearing. Charles had told her to her face that it was a human familiar in the body bag. She had seen it herself - she tried to remember - the body had certainly looked human. "So what, then?"

"I don't know. I can't get any answers. But I asked around a little more and... I don't know what to make of it, but apparently there've been a few vampires missing." Kingsley exhaled.

"Missing?" No. It couldn't be. Allegra thought of her fear that had led her to check the body. The fear that those who hunted the vampires were loose in the world again; an enemy they had eradicated centuries ago. It couldn't be happening again. She thought of Roanoke and the missing colony. And there'd been others over the years - one or two here and there - vampires who'd gone off-Coven, maybe, or did not report to the Wardens. It was nothing, Charles had assured her.

There was nothing to fear. She'd had her doubts - she'd had so many doubts over the years, she realized, but she'd done nothing about them. All those doubts about what had truly happened in Florence; the secret Charles had been keeping from her.

"Yes. A few of the new Committee members who'd just been inducted can't be accounted for."

"What did the Elders say?"

"They won't speak to me," Kingsley said. "Anyway, I don't know what to make of it. I'm sure it's nothing. maybe a couple of kids playing hooky. But I thought I should tell you. You'll tell Charles, right? I mean, he should know that someone's not telling the truth."

"Yes. Yes I will." Allegra said. They said good-bye and hung up.

She returned downstairs, almost surprised to find Ben sitting on the living room couch. "I'm so sorry, but I have to go to Charles right now."

"I understand," Ben said bravely. Allegra wanted to comfort him, but she had no time to explain.