Aidan held onto his faith as week after week passed. He continued to guard Lucy, meeting with her vampires, going to the club, and going out in search of new contacts. He was a bit surprised to find out how much effort went into researching a book like that. Lucy told him that she expected to spend at least a couple of years before she had enough material to begin writing the final draft. “Another few months will see me finished with my work here in Utah,” she told Aidan. “Do you plan on coming with me when I head for San Francisco?”

“I don’t know,” Aidan replied. “I’ll have to see what happens between now and then.” They were again at The Sanctuary, sitting on the couch as usual. It was a Thursday, so there wasn’t much of a crowd. Owen was there, and a few other regulars, but Aidan and Lucy had the couch to themselves. “Who knows, by then I could be back home.”

“We can hope,” said Lucy with a smile.

“Hope springs eternal,” responded Aidan, grinning toothily. He was still homesick, but he was holding on to his faith. He’d never been particularly religious. Faith in God didn’t come easily to him. But faith in his wife was the center of his own personal belief system, such as it was. She had been the one constant in his life, always there for him since the day they’d first met.

“Looks like its time to head for home,” said Lucy. The bass beat from the dance floor had ended, replaced with a corny 80s song. It was the club’s way of gently reminding the patrons that the night was over and it was time to leave. Aidan and Lucy collected their things, she reclaiming her coat, he his daggers. Suitably equipped to venture out onto the darkened city streets, they made their way along the six blocks or so to the Trax station. They had gone perhaps half way when Aidan heard a voice from behind him. A child’s voice. An impossibly familiar voice. “Daddy!”

He turned around to see a familiar red-headed girl running out of the shadows beyond the streetlamp where he stood. “Spark?” he said, almost not believing it. She flung herself at him and he wrapped his arms around her, tears welling up in his eyes. Then he heard other voices, the sound of other feet running. He looked up and saw the two red-headed boys, shorter and taller, sprinting after their sister. “Dart, Flare!” he said, gathering them both into his arms. And toddling after than was little raven-haired Shadowfire. “Shade!” He let go of the others and knelt down to hug the little girl. And then he looked up to see one last person approaching him. With a smile on her face Flame Song stepped out of the darkness. Aidan stood and stared at her for a moment and then they both ran at each other, coming together in a tight embrace. “Oh Flame, I’ve missed you so much!” Aidan said. Tears were streaming down his face as he held his wife close and wrapped his wings around her.

“Why are you here?” he asked when he finally let go of her.

“Jordanis couldn't just pull you back from the other side, he had to send somebody through to bring you back. And the children all missed you so much, we all wanted to come. We could tell the demon wasn't anywhere near here.”

“But the demon told me that I wouldn't be able to pass through a portal, that he'd put some sort of spell on the torc.”

“Jordanis didn't mention any such spell. I suppose it's possible, but it's equally likely that the demon was lying.”

“Lying or not, you're here now.” Aidan took her hands, squeezing them tightly, wanting to just cling to her forever. “Even if I can't go home, I'm not alone anymore.”

“How sweet,” interrupted an unfortunately familiar voice. “Reunited with your long-lost family, I presume? Very convenient for me, I must say.” Aidan spun around to face Janus, who had stepped out from the shadows with a gun in hand.

Aidan felt terror shock through him as Janus aimed the gun at Shadowfire. He tried to move to step between the gunman and he daughter, but Janus snapped “Stop. If you take another step, I shoot.” Aidan froze, his mind spinning as he tried to figure out what to do.

“What do you want?” he asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

“I want what you have. You survived being shot. It would be too much of a coincidence for our little vampire scholar here,” he gestured to Lucy with his free hand, “to be running around with some other sort of invulnerable being. You're a vampire. And you can turn me into one too, can't you?”

Aidan felt a tiny glimmer of hope. If Janus wanted to be a vampire, he would have to let Aidan near him, and he might get a chance to take the gun from him without it going off. “Yes, I can,” said Aidan.

“Very good!” Janus's hand was steady, the gun never wavering from Shadowfire, who stood stock still next to her siblings. All four of them were wide-eyed, and obviously afraid, but not panicked. Littlespark put her hand on Shadowfire's shoulder, and gave Aidan a look of determination. Aidan realized that she was ready to push Shadowfire out of the way, if Aidan could just get close enough to try for Janus's gun. And Flame... he could see her out of the corner of his eye, and when he realized what she was doing, he carefully avoided looking in her direction. From where Janus stood she was partially behind him, and she was shifting. But not shifting shape, she was doing something he'd never seen before, changing the color of her skin and hair from pale cream and vivid orange to more muted, dark colors. She was standing on the very edge of the pool of light the streetlight threw, and hopefully Janus wouldn't notice her gradually fading from view.

“What do you need to do to change me?” asked Janus.

“I have to take your blood,” Aidan replied, “and then you must take mine.”

“You have to take mine first?” Janus sounded suspicious.

“Yes. It doesn't work if the blood you get isn't your own blood type,” Aidan replied. Which he knew wasn't strictly true, but it was close enough, and it might give him the chance he needed.

“I'm not foolish enough to let you that near me,” said Janus. “So it seems I shall have to fall back to my alternative plan. You and your lovely family are going to come with me to somewhere private, where my people can keep an eye on everyone. I had hoped to keep the others of my coven out of this, but it seems they will have to be involved. Fortunately we won't have to go far. So, you are going to walk down the street with me.” He gestured once again, his free hand pointing south, away from the downtown area. The gun remained steadily pointed at Shadowfire.

“All right,” said Aidan. “Come on kids, we're going to just walk down the street.”

They started moving, with Littlespark still holding her sister's shoulder, both still several yards from Aidan. Flame had vanished entirely into the shadows, and Aidan breathed a tiny sigh of relief that Janus didn't seem to have noticed. But it seemed his relief was premature.

“Wait. The woman, where did she go?” Janus glanced around, seeing the children, Aidan, and Lucy. And as soon as his head was turned, there was a roar, and Aidan shouted “Down!” at the children. Everything seemed to happen all at once. Littlespark yanked Shadowfire aside as Flame Song came leaping out of the darkness. The gun went off as her paws, claws unsheathed, hit Janus, and he shrieked as her claws sliced into him and the two of them crashed to the ground. Then her fangs closed over his neck and the shriek was cut off. A moment later Flame rose, muzzle dripping red, while Janus lay still, a huddled pool of black in the streetlight. Aidan dashed to Shadowfire. “Are you all right?”

She clung to him tightly, but she said “I'm okay daddy.”

“I'm okay too,” said Littlespark.

“Oh thank the gods,” Aidan breathed, and hugged them both.

“Wow,” said Firedart. “Is that guy dead?”

Flame licked the blood from her muzzle, then shimmered into human form. “Yes. And that's what he deserved, and worse, for threatening my children.”

Lucy was staring at Flame Song, her mouth open in shock. “You okay?” Aidan asked her.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” She wrenched her gaze away from Flame and glanced at the still form on the sidewalk. “We should get out of here before somebody else comes along, they'd probably call the cops.”

“Indeed.” Aidan looked from Lucy to Flame. “In fact... it looks like I'll be going home now. We don't have to do anything special, we can just go?”

“Yes. I have a charm to signal Jordanis, so we can leave right now if you want.”

Aidan turned back to Lucy. “Will you be all right if I go?”

She smiled. “Well, I don't have to worry about crazy vampire cultists anymore, it seems, and I still have my mace and my self defense training. And it's only a few more blocks to the station. I'll be fine. You've told me how much you miss your home and family, don't let me hold you back from going with them.” She stepped forward and hugged Aidan. “I need to get going to catch my train.” He hugged her back and smiled.

“Goodbye,” said Aidan. “Good luck with your book. Don't go to any more vampire meetings alone.”

Lucy laughed. “I won't. Goodbye.” She waved, then turned and trotted down the street.

Aidan looked after her for a moment. Then he turned back to Flame and smiled. “Let's go home.”