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It was strange, different this time as the transfor itself around her, and the light she saw in the distance was a cold silver glow The chill that flowed froht toward her, surrounding herself with its icy burning light, pushing herself through to the core of it The light rose in shi white walls around her--

She felt a sharp pain then, in the center of her chest, and for a moment her vision went red--deep scarlet, the color of blood Everything was blood-colored, and she began to panic, fighting her way free, her eyelids flying open--

And she was there again, in the Sanctuary Roo slightly; the others looked startled, if not as thunderstruck as they had when she had transfor was terribly wrong There was a great hollow emptiness inside her--not pain, but a cavernous sense of soh her She sank down into an ar all over

"Tessa?" Je one of her hands She could see herself in theon the opposite wall--or e of Ca pale hair, unpinned, rained down over her shoulders, and her white skin swelled and spilled over the bodice of Tessa’s now too-tight dress in a way that would haverequired blood actually running in one’s veins, and she re terror, that vaet hot or cold, and did not have hearts that beat in their chests

So that was the hollowness, the strangeness that she felt Her heart was still, in her chest like a dead thing She took another sobbing breath It hurt, and she realized that while she could breathe, her new body did not want or need to

"Oh, God," she said in a soft whisper to Je I feel as if I’ve died Jely, and looked up at her with his silver eyes The expression in thee in her; he looked at her as he had before, as if she were still Tessa Gray "You’re alive," he said, in a voice so soft only she could hear it "You’re wearing a different skin, but you’re Tessa, and you’re alive Do you kno I know that?"

She shook her head

"Because you said the word ‘God’ just now to me No vampire could say that" He squeezed her hand "Your soul is still the same"

She closed her eyes and sat still for aon the pressure of his hand on hers, his war that shook her body began to fade; she opened her eyes, and gave Jem a faint, shaky smile

"Tessa," said Charlotte "Are you-- Is everything all right?"

Tessa drew her eyes away fro her with an anxious gaze Will, beside Charlotte, wore an unreadable expression

"You will have to practice a bit,yourself, if you wish to convince de Quincey that you are me," Lady Belcourt said "I would never slump in a chair like that" She tilted her head to the side "Still, overall, an i Soht of the Dark Sisters Had they trained her well? Had they done her a favor, unlocking this dormant power inside her, despite how much she had hated them and it? Or would it have been better if she had never known that she was different?

Slowly she let go, let the Ca up out of icy water Her hand tightened on Je cascade So leaped inside her chest then Like a bird that has lain stunned and ather its strength and leap froan suddenly to beat again Air filled her lungs, and she released Jeainst the skin to feel the soft rhythm beneath

She looked in the ain: Tessa Gray, not arelief

"My necklace?" Lady Belcourt said coolly, and held out her slender hand Je it to the vampire; as he lifted it, Tessa saw that there ords etched on the silver frame of the pendant: AMOR VERUS NUMQUAM MORITUR

She looked across the room at Will, she wasn’t sure why, only to find that he was looking back at her They both glanced hastily away "Lady Belcourt," Will said, "since none of us have ever been in de Quincey’s home, do you think it would be possible for you to provide a floor plan, or even a sketch of the grounds and roo better" Lady Belcourt raised her arnus Bane"

"The warlock?" Charlotte’s eyebrows rose

"Indeed," said Lady Belcourt "He knows the town house as well as I do and is often invited to de Quincey’s social events Though, like me, he has formerly eschewed the parties at which murder is committed"

"Noble of hiuide you through the house No one there will be surprised to see us together Magnus Bane is htly This was not the sort of thing ladies said in polite company, or any company But perhaps it was different for vampires? Everyone else looked as stunned as she did, except Will, who as usual looked as if he were trying not to laugh

"How nice," Charlotte said at last, after a pause

"Indeed it is," Camille said, and rose to her feet "And now, if sorows late, and I have not yet fed"

Charlotte, as regarding Tessa with concern, said, "Will, Jeo?"