Giovanni smiled, coldly. Fending off those fools outside had taken some of his magical energy, but the loss was nowhere near being critical. Still, finishing what had yet to be done as soon as possible would be best. Once Sarah had been drained and Raymond reborn, those outside this chamber would have himself and Raymond to deal with, and then they would truly know the depth of their foolishness in coming here.

He looked over at Sarah, who stood just where he had instructed her to, then at the cloth wrapped dagger he still held. It was nearly time. He stepped over to her, carefully avoiding the symbols on the floor as always, then held it out to her, hilt first, still making sure not to directly touch the blade himself.

Sarah looked down at it, eyes wide, then up at Giovanni.

"It is not for me to do what must be done, Sarah, that task falls to you."

She glanced from Giovanni to the blade, then over to the crystal globe.

"Sarah, for me." Raymond's voice came, gently coaxing. "I just need a little and then I can come back. Please, you promised."

Sarah stood, uncertain. There was--there was--something about this that still felt weird, the chill in the air maybe? But *Raymond* had asked. What else could she do? After everything Raymond had done for her--and he was all she had now. She nodded and took the blade.

Raymond would have smiled, if he could have. "I knew you'd come through for me, Sarah." was all he said.

It was going to happen. It was! After all the planning, he was about to be reborn at last! If Raymond had had a human face, it'd have been smiling in pure smugness right now.

"All you need do, Sarah, is cut your wrist. Not yet, but when I tell you. Then touch the wound to the globe, and then let the drops fall into the dust before you. That will create a link that Raymond will use to transfer himself."

Sarah couldn't entirely shake the fear that twinged deep within her, but did her best to ignore it for Raymond's sake. If this was truly the only way, and Giovanni had assured her it was, then she'd do it. For Raymond.

Giovanni nodded and resumed his chanting.

* * *

"C'mon, time's runnin short." Capri urged, and the two started off down the hall.

Capri had picked up on where Giovanni was holding Sarah, but getting there would be a pain in the neck, demons all over the place, magic wards, and general chaos among the others.

Kenyon cursed and fought his way through demons, using the dagger, and Capri continued blasting them out of existance but taking care not to give herself away.

As they turned down a hall, a group of demons came up from behind, and caused Kenyon to fall down by way of a push and sticking a foot out just in front of Kenyon as he lurched forward, trying to regain his balance.

"Blast it all!" Capri growled quietly but dangerously as she turned and was about to help Kenyon free himself from the demons who were now beginning to toss him about like a large ball. Some of the demons oozed slippery goo that caused Capri to fall down as well but she braced herself, stood up and scowled at the demons responsible, and they too, turned into nothing. Kenyon, in the mean time, had managed to keep hold of his dagger, and he was jabbing it wildly at every demon that was in reach. As they all crumpled, melted, faded and dissipated, Kenyon righted himself, looking just as dangerously angry as Capri.

"Y'alright?" she asked quietly as the oozy slime also evaporated into nothing and the hallway was no longer slippery underfoot.

"Yeah," Kenyon responded irritably, these demons had taken up far too much valuable time.

"They're down that way," Capri motioned, "But it's gonna be sticky gettin' through them bloody wards."

"The asshole sure isn't taking any chances," Kenyon sneered.

"No 'e ain't," Capri's voice matched her looks, that of a hunter just yearning to kill something.

"There's got to be a way in," Kenyon said as Capri stood, thinking.

"Well, we could break 'em er magic our way through and fix 'em again and hope 'e wouldn't notice, but there's always a risk of gettin detected that way." Capri replied.

"Damn." Kenyon rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"But, there's another way ta stay unnoticed and get through them wards. the trouble is, it takes longer." she finished.

Kenyon could see Capri fighting the urge to just smash through the wards. More demons came and were quickly disspelled by Kenyon as Capri stood seemingly transfixed as she carefully worked at the wards.

In a few moments, the wards which had been there before, were replaced by something that mimicked the original wards if checked by Giovanni. Yet, this was something that blocked out the demons rather than the rescuers. The enemy would think he was able to get away with the diabolical plan since the wards never gave so much as a twinge as Capri carefully and methodically rendered them useless while replacing them with something that would give the rescuers the advantage instead of the enemy.

After what seemed like ages, Kenyon announced, "That looks like the last of them."

"hey?" Capri shot a puzzled glance at him.

"The demons. I think that's the last of them now."

"Oh, right. Thank God." And Capri went back to her concentration. A few more moments and the magic about the place was changed so that it would help rather than hurt those who were coming for Sarah.

* * *

Raymond's spirit floated inside the globe, the pink smoke swirling and roiling with the intensity of his eagerness. If he had had hands at this moment, he'd have been rubbing them together. The anticipation was so strong he could almost taste it. Despite the interference of all those fools--Karen, Gabriel, the rest--Sarah was his, just as she had been from the night he had made her vampire. Now, the moment was almost upon him, when he would at last be free of his crystal prison, this bodiless existence that had been interrupted only by brief intervals of sharing another's body. He would be free to be again as he had once been. To touch, to feel with his own hands, to taste with his own lips. It was ecstasy to even contemplate it.

He allowed himself a silent chuckle. He could feel Giovanni's magic pulling at him, but it wasn't complete yet. It wouldn't be until the first drops of Sarah's vitae had formed the mystic path his spirit must take to enter that which will become his new flesh. Once that body had formed somewhat, he would take the rest of Sarah's vitae and fully remake himself. As she crumbled to dust, he would become flesh once more. Then he would feast on them all. That, he promised himself. Harrington first, then Tallant, and Karen. And all the rest who'd dared to try and prevent his rebirth. Especially the one called Rhys.

* * *

The cold eyes of the demon flared evilly at the young man on the other end of the sword and then the sword tip was removed and the demon scurried on fat little legs towards the front of the house.

"Tell them Rhys has come!" he called after the thing. "And my real name is Brendan DeBruyne!"

The demon only spared a moment's hesitation for this information before continuing on its way.

Brendan smiled. It would be so easy to follow him.

There were others who had different ideas.

As the hunter took one step forward a wall suddenly materialized in front of him.

"I don't have time," he said as he took the sword and slashed through the evil glamour -- only to find another one.

_Keep moving!_ the strange voice from the cellar said in Brendan's mind as the hunter felt a momentary twinge of disgust.

As Brendan harkened to this strange auditory hallucination, a small, pierced demon scrambled past the magical wards guarding the front room and stopped just inside the door.

"Hunter!" it hissed.

Giovanni stopped in mid-chant, turning angrily towards the hideous little thing.

"Vampire hunter!"

Sarah turned from the globe with Travers' spirit, wide-eyed.

"Rhys!" the creature continued.

The pink smoke in the globe swirled angrily.

"Brendan DeBruyune!" the creature hissed one last time before collapsing and melting into the floor boards.

Sarah drew her breath in in shock. Giovanni turned to her.

"But ... but ... he's only a baby!" she whispered.

"You brought him here!" Giovanni screamed, his goal of immortality seeming to flee in front of him.

"He's a baby!" Sarah tried again.

"It doesn't matter," Raymond whispered on the air. "He means to stop us."

"He wouldn't hurt me ..." Sarah's voice trailed off as she turned back to the globe.

"It isn't you," Raymond's voice continued. "It's me! He means to hurt me! They all want to hurt me!"

Sarah lifted her head, a determined look on her face.

"Hurry," she told Giovanni and turned to look back at the globe.

She didn't notice the evil, contented smile that crossed the necromancer's face.

* * *

He was half-tempted to voice his frustration out loud as he sliced through yet another demonical barrier flung in his way.

"I. Wasn't. Going. To." the hunter hissed between closed teeth as tired arms swung the sword up, down and through the barrier. He took two steps forward only to have another barrier spring up in front of him. The sword he held sagged in his grip. "Tired," he whispered.

_Not in ..._ the voice began and then the words grew faint as the barrier in front of Brendan shimmered and then shattered into a million little pieces that faded into the floor and walls.

"Brendan!" he heard a voice call in a loud whisper.

Brendan looked up to find himself - at long last - in the front entry hall of the ancient farmhouse. And facing Kenyon and a smiling Capri. He lifted himself from where he sagged against the wall and moved to take the hand the agent extended. Brendan took note of the drawn gun.

"You might need to use that on me," he said with a tired smile and turned his head.

Kenyon noticed the change that came over the hunter.

"What is it?" he wanted to know, keeping his finger on the trigger.

Brendan cocked his head to one side, closed his eyes and inhaled. "Close," he said in that hollow tone, "so close. Short. The time is growing short. Already we may be too late."

"Not bloody likely in this lifetime," Capri said as she set her jaw.

Brendan turned around, eyes flaming gold again. "Where is everyone else? We need them. Together we are stronger then the evil. Without them, we shall fail and perish here."

Kenyon stopped Capri in mid-run. "Hey, hold it," he said slowly and quietly, he could hear the distant chanting of Giovanni in a room up ahead. "Brendan is correct; we need to do this together." Kenyon thought a moment. "Listen, I have an idea. You and I need to go back and get Gabe, Karen, David and the other vampire, Rene?" He stopped and rolled his eyes. Why had David come in the first place? The agent couldn't remember. "Then we need to find Dejah and Andrew. We surround the room Giovanni is using so that he can't escape."

"What about you?" Capri asked Brendan.

Brendan turned his attention to the young woman. "Go. We need the others. I'll stay here and make sure that Giovanni and Travers don't get out of here." His face grew grim. "Or finish what they have started."

"Right," Kenyon responded. "Can you do this alone?"

_Not alone ..._ that strange voice whispered.

Kenyon and Capri exchanged startled glances.

"I'll do what needs to be done," Brendan said. "Now go!"

"Good luck," Capri said as she laid a hand on the hunter's arm, moving with Kenyon towards the back of the house.

"Where?" Kenyon asked the magic worker with him after having been down what seemed like an eternity of small hallways.

Capri pointed towards a closed door, "There."

Kenyon stopped just outside the door, held up one finger, two fingers. Capri nodded. Three fingers and then the two burst into the room. Rene looked up first. He relaxed when he recognised the new arrivals. "How are you all doing?" Kenyon asked as he slowly let go of the trigger and breathed a sigh of relief.

"As well as can be expected." Lady Karen replied ruefully.

Capri closed her eyes in a silent "thank you" that her friend was alive and seemingly well.

Gabriel struggled over to where Kenyon stood. "Where is my partner? Where is Brendan?"

"Holding down the fort," Kenyon reassured Gabriel.

"Brendan?" Karen echoed softly turning wide eyes to the man who held her.

Rene planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Later, my love. Later."

"I have an idea..." Kenyon started and the others listened carefully. He finished with, "All we need to do is find Andrew and Dejah."

"Found." came a too-damn-perky-for-her-own-good female voice. Kenyon turned and saw his partner standing in the doorway, Andrew behind her.

"What did you hear?" Kenyon asked.

"Just about all of it, Blondie." Dejah shrugged, "S'as good as we've got so far."

"Then lets do it." Capri said through gritted teeth and the small band of rescuers made their way around the room containing the spirit of Travers, Giovanni and Sarah.

* * *

Brendan could sense the change in the air from behind the closed doors; he had not lived all those years with a demi-god as a substitute grandmother to not be sensitive towards such power. He leaned out carefully from his vantage point in the crux of two walls to look down the hallway.

Damn! No sign of his companions.

In spite of the sure and certain knowledge that he could not do this alone, he could not let Sarah succumb to this fate. All his life he had carefully chosen his battles; yet this one had been chosen for him. And he had promised. To not keep such a promise would be to ruin the one thing that he could always count on -- his good name.

The hunter stepped lightly from the shadows and moved towards the door. He inched it open and peered carefully into the room. All the light seemed to be concentrated around the wards that Giovanni had set in the middle of the room.

~Good,~ Brendan thought as he sidled into the room. ~I can finally use the shadows to my advantage.~

_The windows ..._ that strange voice urged and Brendan followed it moving towards the darkest part of the room between the two windows.

Directly opposite the globe containing the remains of the One who had brought all of this to fruition.

"The proper moment is almost upon us--I will tell you when." Giovanni said coldly and resumed his chanting and tracing of mystic symbols.

Sarah nodded, although she did notice something from the corner of her eye. Something ... someone ... who looked vaguely familiar. Could it be true? Could there be a grown-up Rhys ... Brendan ... out there? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. Nothing but what she knew she must do to protect the innocent victim in all of this. She shook her head and turned back towards the globe containing Raymond's spirit.

"I'm ready." she said firmly, forcing herself to ignore the growing chill, the nagging feeling of something not right, that persisted. ::It's just because of all the magic around, Sarah,:: she told herself firmly. Don't let it get to you.::

_Wait!_ that strange voice commanded Brendan as the hunter straightened from his leaning posture against the wall. _Not vulnerable yet ..._

Brendan leaned back.

Just then two figures burst into the room.

"SARAH--move away from there--right NOW!" Andrew shouted the moment he and Dejah managed to weave their way past the wards around the outside of the room.

"Harrington!" Giovanni growled. And who was that with him...a Mage of some sort, by her aura of power...but no matter. Even she couldn't stop what was about to happen now. Things had gone too far.

Sarah flinched, but did not turn around, as she recognized Andrew's voice. "Why? So you can finish off Raymond and then me too?" she flung back.

"Don't waste your words on him, Sarah. Just get me back and then I'll be strong enough to protect both of us." Raymond urged. "He won't ever hurt me or you again."

Sarah nodded. She'd trusted him this far. Shhe had to hang on to the belief that everything would work out and they'd be together again for as long as they wanted to be.

* * *

Gabriel had tried to keep up to thruste humans and other vampires, but his crooked legs meant that he was moving much more slowly. When Kenyon noticed that he was falling behind yet again, he moved back and put one of Gabriel's arms around his shoulder and half-carried him through the long corridors. Through the contact of flesh to flesh, Gabriel could tell that Kenyon was worried, looking for demons and spirits to rise up from the floor and attack them, but nothing seemed to happen. Gabriel was just as happy that they seemed to be meeting no opposition.

They came to the door on one side of the room. By the plan, the others were in place at the door more or less opposite to them. Kenyon unhooked Gabriel's arm from his neck and drew his gun. Gabriel limped behind him to see a large room hung with black hangings embroidered with various mystic symbols. Some of them he recognized from the past, when humans had tried to harness the spirits, and those he knew were powerless. But others.... they glowed with an unholy light to those who had eyes to see. Not quite in the center of the room, Sarah stood in a pentacle, the globe with Raymond's spirit inside and a silver box both near to her. She was shaking, and he could feel her confusion and her heartache as she watched the others come into the room.

Giovanni ignored these pathetic intruders and turned to Sarah, raising his hand to begin the final symbol. But at that moment Kenyon, gun drawn, appeared in one entrance, and at another David, Karen, Gabriel and Rene. There was what might have been another figure slipping through the shadows behind Kenyon but no one looking that way could be certain...which was just the way this new arrival wanted it.

David started to lunge forward as he saw Sarah there, but Rene and Gabriel held him back. "He'll only kill you and still take Sarah," Gabriel whispered. "This isn't the way..." He was concealing the weakness that running through the corridors had induced in him by sheer willpower and hatred for the necromancer.

Giovanni was standing close to Sarah, making sure she would carry it out. His expression was smug as Capri had expected. ~Yer gonna get it, puss bag, soon as I take care o' them bloody things.!~

First to go were the incense and candles. Capri knew there was going to be one heck of a brawl and it wouldn't do to have these candles about where they could be knocked over or catch someone on fire. The question was how to do it without having the smell of candles going out, give it away. Concentrating for a moment, Capri focused all her attention on the candles, causing the flames to simply dwindle away as if they were being starved for oxygen, and eventually the suffication spell took its toll, and the candles all went out one by one. The incense was next. It simply disappeared. Capri had plans for the incense burners and candle holders, they looked as if they could be worth a bundle. They were transported out of the room and into a room down the hall, where Capri planned to collect all the loot to take with her once the battle was all over.

Sarah almost dropped the knife when she saw David appear...and with Gabriel...and Karen...Oh, god, they were *all* here. She'd been right, they were all in this together, all confederate to destroy what was left of Raymond and let Andrew finish her off. Only how had they gotten David into this?? He couldn't want her dead too--or maybe he did since she was a vampire and not the sister he'd lost so long ago? That had to be it. Nothing else made sense.

Giovanni continued to ignore the new arrivals, he knew he and Raymond would be able to destroy them all when the rite was completed. They were no threat now, and would shortly be no threat to anyone ever again. His hand moving as if in slow motion, Giovanni traced the final symbol in the air over Sarah's head, intoning yet another spate of strange words as he did, then uttered one more word, this one in English. "Now!!"

At that moment Sarah steeled herself and pressed the knife blade to her wrist, wincing as it pierced her skin...a thin red line appeared, the first drops of blood began to seep forth.

"No!" Several anguished voices echoed through the room.

As Capri was finished with the candles, she looked in Sarah's direction in time to see her stab herself, and no one had dared, or could have come to prevent it for some reason. _Dammit Sarah, I warned ya 'bout 'im!_ Capri yelled through the link at Sarah, but she was too far gone to listen.

Sarah turned to the globe and pressed the bleeding cut against the side of it. The pinkish smoke inside glowed even brighter at this, shifting from pink to a deep red, and the spot of blood on the crystal surface began pulsing with that same red glow.

Then Sarah turned and raised her cut wrist over the box of dust in front of her. More droplets of blood fell. As they struck the dust, a beam of reddish light leapt from the globe into the dust, which began to writhe and pulse, shifting in color from pale gray to a mottled red.

Sarah stared, not daring to move lest it somehow hurt Raymond, though the sight of the undulating writhing bloody dust was unsettling to say the least, repulsive was more the word. She fought the urge to scream. The feeling of wrongness was even stronger, but she couldn't let herself give in to that now, Raymond needed her to hold on.

Gabriel had watched in horror as Sarah had willingly cut herself and moved to give her blood to Travers. He could not speak, but his mind worked furiously to reach hers through the link. Something blocked him, partially Sarah, partially Travers and Giovanni's magic.

Brendan was supposed to get Raymond, and there was more than one person in line who wanted a go at Giovanni, Capri herself among them. But first things first. She had to put a stop to the bad magic.

Giovanni waved his hand in the air in an ancient movement. He took a single step back as the floor in front of him began to move as if it were breathing. From the ancient boards arose another set of demons that surrounded Sarah and the thing that would be Raymond.

~Oh fer cryin' out loud!~ Capri was getting more than a little fed up with all the stalls and smokescreens Giovanni was trying to put up between him and his would be attackers. ~Well, them symbols got to go!~ And carefully, Capri first took all the power out of the evil hangings on the walls and sent the already useless ones to the storage room where she would decide later if they should all be destroyed or sold. The ones that held the power and evil glow were simply melted away and destroyed.

The mass began to surge upwards from the box that held it, to take shape. First, it was an amorphous blob--then as more blood touched it, it continued to change, to shift form, gradually becoming more humanoid in appearance. Now it had recognizable arms and legs, though the outer surface was still a mottled gray streaked with pulsing red and now white. With a start Sarah recognized organs and muscles shaping themselves out of the dust.

The figure moved towards her, shifting all the while...now it had a defined face, eyes, nose, mouth...an arm reached out, seized her bleeding wrist and pulled it to his mouth. "More...I need more..." croaked a raspy voice that only somewhat sounded like Raymond's.

"Ray..." Sarah whispered, she was starting to feel a bit weak, dizzy. How much did he need? Shouldn't he be complete by now?

He pressed the wrist to his mouth, sucked harder. Sarah started to feel a coldness in her limbs.

"Ray...please...it's too much... I can't..." her legs were starting to feel like rubber.

His only answer was to tear himself away from her wrist, then sweep her into an embrace.

"I...must...*live*..." he croaked, moments before opening his now almost human mouth...and revealing elongated canines now fully formed.

Sarah would have fainted if she could have, seeing Ray smile in a way she never had before. That sense of wrongness, of cold, became nigh overwhelming, but as weak as she was, she couldn't struggle much.

She murmured, "P-please... no..." Her mind went back fifty years, to the last time she'd seen Ray, touched him -- his Kiss had filled her with rapture and with the excitement of knowing she would soon be immortal. But now all she could feel was fear. His arms felt more like steel bands than the gentle touch she remembered.

"I gave you unlife," he croaked. "And now you must give it back."

Her mouth dropped open at these words... What was Ray saying? She couldn't have heard correctly.

"Your life for mine. That is what you were made for."

This way back to part 5

This way to part 7