ent slack.

yeah, marlene said in a quick mental whisper.seriously.your kid has a serious burden to carry in the future . . . i'll tell you about the prophecy in a bit. but the ancients didn't want berkfield to know, on account that he has a grandchild on the way and he could have started to think negative thoughts about his daughter's baby being sacrificed for yours -when it's not like that.

oh, man, mar . . . this could get really twisted . . . really set the team back years in healing and cohesive strength. can't be no dissention at this point, mar. one team, one mind, we've gotta stand strong to face what's out there.

precisely . . . if not handled right we could revert to old, unproductive behaviors that will indeed be the end of us if we do. but now that the cat is halfway out of the bag, who knows what the queens will say about telling everybody else? but truth be told, this secret is wearing me out. marlene let out another hard exhalation and glanced at berkfield. "how you doing, buddy?" marlene asked, trying to cover for the sigh.

"working on the man," berkfield said, sweating and panting through a surge. "but i sure wish he wouldn't get so busted up then come to me."

marlene returned her gaze to carlos.he found out when he scanned damali to help her . . . his hands felt another pulse, felt another energy as he touched her pelvic area to try to stop whatever internal bleeding she might have had. there was nothing i could do. but the queens didn't want anyone prematurely told because the information could have been siphoned and used by the darkside . . . and the others who are carrying on the team might also panic, thinking their child would be an expendable decoy . marlene shook her head.in these end of days, our side will not be using babies as cannon fodder, carlos, believe that .

"that's good to know," carlos said, releasing a weary breath and finally relaxing for the first time since they'd left san diego.but it's still a lot on everybody's head . . . i mean, aren't most guardian teams made up of seven warriors around a neteru?

yeah, marlene said again, this time giving carlos a quizzical glance before she looked at damali.

do the math, carlos mentally replied with his eyes closed.if 'nita, krissy, and heather make three, plus we got 'nez's little girl, making four . . . it's only a matter of time before we're looking at val and jasmine .

"oh, my god," marlene accidentally whispered aloud. "you are so right."

marlene's statement made guardians look from her to carlos then toward damali as though observing a fast-paced pickup basketball game in the park.

but that's only six, damali mentally shouted,butting into the conversation she'd been listening to so far without comment.

don't count tara out, carlos said flatly, turning his head to look at damali squarely.she might be in her forties, but what dat mean? stranger things have happened. yonnie and me are alive, so's tara, for that matter. if the great divine wants something to go a certain way, you know that's the way it's gonna go .

"oh, my god . . ." damali murmured, her hand going to her mouth.

"yeah," carlos said, vindicated as he felt his body beginning to heal. "so gimme a break for going after dracula solo.that's why i was out there like a madman. end of story."

lilith never looked up from the black mist in the center of the council table as nuit and lucrezia helped a badly beaten vlad to his throne. nuit caught elizabeth by her waist as she stumbled forward, trying to make it to a goblet of blood. thick bruises covered elizabeth's torso from the hard white-light charge that carlos had hurled at her. had it not been for nuit's shield, her heart would have exploded out of her back onto the highway.

lucrezia hurriedly filled a goblet and then rushed over to bring it to vlad's lips. nuit materialized one in his fist and lifted elizabeth's head so she could feed.

both councilmen regarded each other warily-weakness in the dark empire was a direct threat to one's existence.

"he is not so easy to kill, after all . . .oui,mon ami? "

vlad snarled at nuit, but didn't answer as he regarded elizabeth's bruised upper body.

"you were fortunate," nuit chided indananu . "but we respected your decision to war under the incentive of passion. but i have lost more than a limb to the man . . . therefore, next time, let us be more strategic in our approach. we should combine forces."

vlad's gaze narrowed. "so be it," he replied in gravellydananu .

"where is sebastian?" lucreziaasked, her gaze on lilith's back.

"he had a proposal for my husband," lilith said without looking up from the mist.

silence strangled the members of council for long minutes,then lilith lifted her intense gaze from the black mist and smiled. she surveyed vlad's ragged condition and chuckled. "oh, yeah . . . sebastian was right this time. the male neteru flipped out and kicked your ass."

"i will avenge this dishonor!" vlad slammed his goblet down on the arm of his throne and struggled to stand.

"no, you won't," lilith said coolly."at least not right away."

"i will have my vengeance. as soon as i have regenerated i will seek them out and exterminate them all! why will you refuse my request for the dispatch of immediately replenished resources?"

lilith wagged her finger at him, making a little tsking sound with her tongue. "because it's bigger thanyou being pissed off and your ego being bruised. simply said, the female neteru is pregnant."