Chapter 33

Mia stared up at her former Master, wishing that he would stop looking at her with that arrogant and triumphant smile and just get on with it. That she had failed and would pay for that failure with the death of both herself and her love was punishment enough without being subjected to his gloating. She heard Alicia's soft footfalls come to a stop in the vicinity of her hips and closed her eyes, trying to steel herself against what she knew was coming next.

She heard a sharp impact and a soft exclamation of surprise. Opening her eyes, she saw that Arthur had lowered his chin to his chest, his face twisted with confusion, shock and pain. Following his gaze, she saw the rough, gray point of one of the splintered pieces of wooden debris that littered the basement protruding from his chest.

He spun about and caught Alicia before she could finish her limp descent to the floor. Clutching her lifeless body tightly to him, he whispered, "Why, Alicia? Why?" over and over again. His words resonated with such deep sorrow that, had he been anyone else, Mia would have wept in sympathy.

But he was Arthur. Now freed of the foot that had held her to the floor, Mia rolled to her feet and stood behind him. He was so lost in his grief that he took no notice of her movements. Her uninjured arm moved swiftly forward, and she took a firm hold on the shard of wood that still stuck out from his back. Withdrawing it slightly, she changed its angle and drove it home once more, this time piercing the heart that Alicia had missed. Still holding the fledgling in his cold embrace, the Master crumpled to the floor.

Mia kicked him over onto his back to make certain that he was truly dead, but she had no time to savor her hollow victory. The profusion of candles that Arthur had used to light this place had been scattered; first by his battle with the soldiers and the FBI agent and then by his fight with her. Most had guttered and gone out, but some had come to rest among the piles of dry and moldering wood from the collapsed portions of the house. Fires had sprung up in several parts of the basement and were spreading rapidly.

Mia ran to Tom's side. Even with her supernaturally acute hearing, she had to press her ear to his chest to make out the faint beating of his heart.

Although he was unconscious, she still whispered sadly, "I'm sorry, Tom, but this is really going to hurt."

Supporting his weight as much as possible, Mia took hold of the head of one of the spikes and pulled. With a groan of tortured wood, it came free in her hand. She did the same with its twin and lowered Tom to the floor. Hastily she licked around the massive wounds in his wrists. With the fire spreading, there was no time for a full healing, but hopefully this quick effort would slow the rate at which his life, already so diminished, seeped from his veins.

Lifting him gently over her shoulder, she ran out of the basement. Once clear of the fire, she laid Tom on the ground and leaned over him. She was astonished to see that his eyes were open. He looked up at her with preternatural calm.

"I love you, Mia," he whispered before his eyes closed and his face went slack. She could just barely make out the sound of his heart faltering in his chest. There was no time for hesitation; no time to ask for consent. If he rejected what he was about to receive, she would gladly stay outside with him until the sun's warm rays caressed their bodies. Biting deeply into her own tongue, Mia bent to give him the Gift with a kiss.

When the deed was done and his heart had beat for the last time, she sat up and closed his sightless eyes with gentle fingers. She had no idea if the Gift would take: his death had been caused by mundane injuries rather than the draining bite of a vampire. Cold tears rolled down her cheeks as she softly lifted his head onto her lap and settled down to wait.

In the distance, she heard the heavy thump of a helicopter's rotors beating the still night air. It was getting closer. She could stay in that place no longer. Placing Tom's body over her shoulder, she put her back toward the sound and ran. As the landscape blurred past, she pulled his cell phone from her pocket and made several brief calls.

When she reached the bank of the Allegheny river, she stopped in sudden confusion. Quick glances up and down the river revealed that there were no nearby bridges, although the collapsed ruins of a piling bespoke of where one had once stood. She could not turn back or travel along the bank in either direction without the helicopter catching sight of her. She snorted in self disgust at the sudden realization that Tom no longer had to breathe any more than she did.

Well after the helicopter had passed by, Mia emerged on the opposite side of the river. Splashing to shore, she hurried off to make the rendevous she had arranged with Mark and Dana.