His double held in his sudden questions, though he was quite curious. Did that “mine, not hers” remark mean what he thought it did? Dismissing the thought for the moment, he picked up his twin, staggering slightly. The weight shouldn’t have been heavy, considering his vampiric strength, but though he hadn’t been without sustenance as long as his twin, it had still been a long time. The last day he’d begun to suspect he was blacking out for short periods as well. In his eagerness to get out of the cell however, he hadn’t forgotten the third prisoner.

“Celia,” he said. “Are you awake?”

“Yes,” came her soft-voiced response. She got to her feet. Flame Song started. She hadn’t even noticed the girl.

“Who…?” She didn’t finish the question, but she didn’t need to.

“My name’s Celia. The other you put me in here.”

Flame nodded. “I can guess the reason why.” She looked at the mirror Aidan with a touch more respect in her eyes. “Things have changed since the last time I saw you, haven’t they?”

He just nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”

The little group left the castle, the laconic Aldro leading the way with Aidan and his double following and Flame and Celia bringing up the rear. It didn’t take them long to get out of the castle and into the night.

“Where to now?” asked Flame, not sure who to direct the question to.

“Somewhere where your husband and I can get some food,” said Aidan. “He’s in bad shape, and I’m not doing so well myself. But I don’t know where. My usual feeding habits are no longer an option for me these days.”

“There’s a farm not half a mile from here,” said Celia.

“What good will that do?” asked Aidan.

“Well, farms usually have cows and horses, don’t they? Won’t cow blood do almost as well as human?”

“Celia, I could kiss you! I didn’t even think of that.”

“Neither did I,” said Flame, “and I should have. Guess I’m just too tired to think straight.”

The journey to the nearest farm wasn’t a long one but to the mirror Aidan it felt like forever. Carrying his double and feeling weaker than he’d ever felt he kept staggering. Flame offered to help him, but he only told her to stay back. He was hyperaware of the heartbeats and blood scent of the three breathing people that accompanied him. Only his newfound resolve to turn over a new leaf kept him going.

He needed to occupy his mind, distract it from the hunger. He thought of a rather important question all of the sudden. “Flame Song, did you have to kill my wife?”

“No. She was still alive when I left her, though no doubt she’ll have one huge headache when she wakes up.”

“What happened?”

“Aldro hit her on the head, actually. She was about ready to tear me to shreds, but he thumped her before she could.”

“Ah. You know you probably should have killed her while you had the chance.”

“I know. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not in cold blood like that. And I was more concerned about my husband anyhow. Are you sorry that she’s alive?”

“Somewhat mixed, I’d say. Things might be easier without her, but… I don’t know. I can’t think of one reason why I’d want her to live, but I do anyhow.”

“Maybe she can change. If you can change as much as you have in just a week or so, why not?”

“Somehow I can’t see her ever changing, but I guess you’re right. If I can change, who knows what else is possible?” He fell silent again, walking immersed in his own thoughts.

At last they reached a silent farm. Aidan walked openly into the farmyard and approached the barn. “Shouldn’t we be sneaking?” asked Flame. “What if the farmer wakes up and comes out after us?”

Aidan gave a little laugh. “We’re less than a mile from my castle. I may have turned over a new leaf this past week, but I doubt the people here have heard. They won’t set foot outside after dark for anything less than a matter of life or death.”

“Oh.”

He didn’t waste any more time on conversation, but pushed open the barn door and went inside. It was dark inside, but her could hear and smell several animals, probably horses, moving around. His eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom and he picked out a big draft horse standing in a stall along one wall of the barn. He slipped open the stall door and put his twin down on the straw inside. His double came partly awake, no doubt aware of the rush of blood beneath the horse’s skin. The mirror Aidan took hold of the horse’s bridle and stoked its cheek to keep it calm. His twin had gotten to his knees and grabbed onto the horse’s leg. The animal gave a start at the unexpected contact, then calmed under the mirror Aidan’s soothing touch. It didn’t even twitch when the other vampire’s fangs cut through the skin over the big vein on its leg.

The mirror Aidan left his twin feeding. The horse wouldn’t be going anywhere now, and he needed to get his own nourishment. A second stall next to the first housed a somewhat smaller animal. Aidan stroked it to calm it, wishing he had some sugar or a carrot to make friends with. Then he knelt next to it, his fingers tracing the veins that ran just under the skin. He chose his spot and bit through the tough skin to reach the rushing blood beneath. The sensation as it flowed into his mouth was wonderful. Hot life ran into him, filling him up and flooding him with energy. He drank more deeply than he ever had, reveling in the feast after the famine. At last he was full and he pulled back. A little trickle of blood oozed down the horse’s skin, but otherwise it seemed fine. It was a large animal; the amount of blood he’d taken wouldn’t be enough to cause it any difficulty.

He emerged from the stall, latching the door again behind him. He found his double just closing the other door. They looked at each other for a long moment, then his twin said, “Thanks.”

The mirror Aidan shrugged. “Don’t mention it.”

They left the barn together. Flame Song was grooming the blood out of her fur; cleaning out the shallow wounds her double had left with her rough tongue. She looked from one aerian to the other, then somehow picked out the right one and went to her husband’s side. She shimmered into human form and hugged him. “Are you all right?”

“I am now. Thanks for bailing me out again.”

She shrugged. “What else could I do?” Then she looked at the other Aidan. “Thank you,” she said simply.

He shook his head. “Don’t thank me. This doesn’t even begin to make up for what I’ve done. After what I did to you, you don’t owe me any thanks.” Then he added, curious, “How did you know which one of us was the right one?”

Flame Song grinned. “My Aidan would be the one without his shirt on. He has a positive talent for losing them somehow. And,” she added, “maybe I don’t owe you any thanks, but thank you anyway. Now, what next? I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m ready to head back to the monastery and have Saint Drago send us home.”

“I’ll second that motion,” said Aidan.

Celia chimed in saying, “I think I should go too. I don’t really have anywhere else to go. It wouldn’t be safe for me to go back to my family. Do you think Saint Drago would take me?”

Flame nodded and smiled. “Yes, I think so. He’s a good man.”

“I will go too,” said Aldro, startling everyone. The minotaur had been so silent that everybody had forgotten he was there.

“What about you?” asked Flame, directing her question to her husband’s twin.

“I… I have some thinking to do, and some decisions to make. Maybe I will go to Saint Drago’s, but not just yet.”

“Where will you go then?”

“There’s plenty of places to hole up around here. Speaking of which, I should return this. You don’t know all the spots where you can get out of the sun, so you’re going to need it.” He took the sun-protection amulet off of his neck and handed it to his double with more than a touch of regret. He would miss the sun. “I’m afraid I can’t return your daggers. I… left them behind at the monastery.”

Aidan put the medallion’s chain around his neck. The blood red stone looked black in the moonlight as it rested on his bare chest. “I have others back home,” he said with a shrug.

“If you head west before turning north you can avoid most of the farmlands,” said the mirror Aidan. “You probably don’t want to try and explain to some terrified farmer that you’re not the people you look like.”

“Thanks,” said Aidan.

“No, I’m the one who needs to thank you. I think there may be hope for me after all, and if it hadn’t been for you two I’d never have known what I was missing.” With a last wave he turned and spread his wings. He launched himself into the clear night air and flew off without looking back.

Following his advice the little group headed west, making their way through the dense forest that surrounded the more settled lands. They traveled slowly. Flame Song was still weak, and Celia wasn’t in good shape for traveling either. Silent Aldro didn’t complain of fatigue and Aidan was almost completely recovered from his ordeal, his system having made good use of the fresh blood he’d drunk, but there was little reason to hurry. They made camp while it was still dark, deciding to travel by day for the sake of Aldro and Celia, neither of whom had good night vision. They took turns standing sentry, aware that the mirror Flame Song was still out there somewhere and might well be bent on revenge, but the night passed without incident.