"Still with me, sweetling?"

"Barely. It was a close thing there when you turned the frosting on me."

Theo, lying on his back, a sated and very smug look on his face, waggled his eyebrows and hummed a happy little song about frosting-covered nether parts. "You certainly did seem to enjoy it."

"That, my adorable fanged one, is the understatement of the year. Are you sure you're full? You seemed to spend more time in action, to be euphemistic, rather than dining."

"I am full. I am well-pleasured. I am physically exhausted," Theo said, waving a languid hand. His eyes were closed, his face relaxed as he lay next to me on the bed, delightfully naked. I trailed a finger down one of his biceps, making him smile a drowsy smile.

"You take a nap then, handsome. You certainly worked hard enough."

"I did indeed, although it was a labor of love. And, I will admit, you helped a little." He yawned.

"A little, huh?" I pinched his nipple. He pretended to snore.

The many pleasant after-tingles that were zinging around my body were one more reminder of the powerful emotions our lovemaking created. I gently traced the planes of his face, my finger stroking the length of his long, arched eyebrows, down to his high cheekbones and aristocratic nose. His lips curled slightly as I brushed them with the tips of my fingers, leaving me to marvel again at how something so mundane as a mouth could give so much pleasure.

"Sleepy," he said, his voice thick with sleep and satisfaction.

"You go ahead and take a nap." I glanced at the clock and sighed as I got off the bed. "I'd best go wash off the frosting and other...er...residue before we have to show up at the hearing."

"A shower?" Theo's eyes snapped open. "Where you're naked and wet and soapy?"

"That's generally how a shower works," I said, pausing at the bathroom door to bat my eyelashes at him. To my surprise (and no little amazement), he showed signs of arousal. I stared at his penis, watching as it stirred, thickening before my eyes. "You can't possibly be serious. You can do that again so soon?"

"Given the proper encouragement and inspiration, yes." Theo slid off the bed and started toward me, a familiar glint in his eye. "I must admit to having a fantasy or two about taking you in the shower, your flesh satin-smooth, slick with soap and warm water."

The images that filled my head left me stunned for a second, for a fraction of a second, really, and then I was running for the shower, intent on fulfilling the erotic images that danced before my mind.

The shower wasn't very large, one of those stall types with just enough room for the two of us to squeeze into it. But I was soaped up and ready for Theo by the time he joined me, fully aroused and filled with a hunger that seemed to echo inside me.

"You're sticky," I said in between kisses, my hands busy rubbing soap on his chest.

"It's the frosting you smeared all over me," he growled, nipping my earlobe. His hands were busy as well, smoothing a soapy washcloth over my back and lower, to my backside, before sliding around my thighs and heading straight for my personal paradise. "I'm not as sticky as you are, though. You're a dirty, dirty girl."

"Oh, yes," I gasped as his fingers danced a soapy dance that had me squirming against him. "I'm very, very dirty."

"It behooves me to clean you up, then," he mumbled against my shoulder.

"Especially since it was you who made me so dirty. Oh, sweet mother, do that again!"

He did. His fingers sank into me, curling ever so slightly until the friction pushed me to the very edge of an orgasm. I teetered there, not wanting to fall alone.

My hands slid lower, lovingly cupping his testicles with one hand while slicking soap down the length of his penis.

His eyes crossed. A sharp, pointy canine nicked my shoulder. He lapped up the blood as my hands moved up and down, quickly finding a rhythm that had his breathing ragged, his hips jerking in time to the movement of my hands. I opened my mind to him, allowing him to feel what his skillful fingers were doing to me at the same time he shared his rising ecstasy. It was a startling feeling, experiencing not only my own passion, but his as well, and it pushed us both higher until we hung with tantalizing agony at the edge of completion.

Theo's fingers stilled inside me, my flesh quivering around them. My hands stopped moving, his penis pulsing with his rapid heartbeat. Our eyes met.

I love you, I told him, pouring my love into him, chasing away the darkness that dwelled where his soul had lived.

You are everything to me, he answered with an honesty so intense it humbled me. I could not exist without you.

An exaggeration, but a sweet one...all rational thought left my mind at that moment. His teeth pierced the skin at the back of my neck, his fingers coming to life inside me. My hands tightened around his penis, and the world supernovaed around us, exploding into a million tiny, brilliant pieces.

It took a long, long time for us to come down from our shared high, but when I did, it was to find myself slumped against him, his hands holding me upright since my legs had failed me. We were both wet, no longer soapy, and as I looked into his somewhat glazed eyes, I made a vow to myself that I would move the earth itself in order to spend the rest of my life with him.

"The penalty for murder in the Court of Divine Blood is eternal, and irrevocable. Only intervention by the sovereign can change it, and that has never happened."

"A death sentence?" I asked, my knuckles white. I relaxed my hands, trying to take in everything Terrin was saying to us. I didn't ask how Theo had found him. I was just grateful that someone was willing to talk to us.

Slowly, sweetling. I will not allow harm to come to you.

I don't think even you can stop the people here if they wanted to hurt me. Can you?

Theo didn't answer me, but his sadness was all too evident.

"Not a death sentence." Terrin paused for a minute, looking from me to Theo. "That is, not in so many words. Your existence would not be destroyed, but you would be...incarcerated."

"Incarcerated here? In the Court?"

I suppose there are worse things in the world than being held prisoner in heaven.

Don't count on it.

Terrin shook his head.

"The Akasha," Theo said. For some reason, I shivered.

What's the Akasha?

It's another name for limbo. It's where banished demons go, a kind of holding cell of misery and eternal nightmare. You do not wish to visit it.

"Yes." Terrin's gaze moved to me. It was frankly assessing, as if he was weighing whether or not I was worthy of his time. Oddly enough, I wasn't offended by this. The days when I would feel outraged over the idea that someone might not consider me an equal seemed like long years ago. I sat, humbly waiting to see what information Terrin was willing to share, well aware that Theo and I were in a particularly precarious position.

Terrin seemed to make up his mind, nodding to himself. "When I conducted your second trial, I questioned your fitness as a virtue. You seemed to possess none of the knowledge, none of the skills needed to achieve success in the Court. And yet, despite the fact that you are charged with the murder of one whom you succeeded, my instincts tell me that you are telling the truth. I have seldom had cause to doubt my instincts, and I am loathe to do so now just because the evidence is to the contrary. The tale you told is unlikely, but not, I believe, impossible."

He believes us! That's a step in the right direction. I'm glad you picked him over the other seneschals.

I had little choice. He was the only one on the list of Court officials whom I recognized. I simply assumed that he must be privy to the situation regarding Hope.

"Can you help us?" I asked, trying my damnedest to look earnest and trustworthy.

"Not in any official way, no. But I can give you the information you seek." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and steepling his fingers. "You are aware that the virtue named Hope has been missing and is presumed dead, given the note she left behind."

Theo inclined his head.

"Suicide?" I asked.

"No. Her note claimed she was the victim of a plan whereby her Gift would be stripped and given to a mortal - to you, Portia Harding."

Why does everyone but you address me by my full name? I asked Theo, momentarily sidetracked by something that had bothered me.

Names have power.

"One note is hardly evidence - " I started to say.

Terrin lifted his hand. "The note continues with a somewhat impassioned claim that several murder attempts have been made against her already, and that she feels the two acts are related."

"That's absolutely groundless!" I said, outraged. "I did not murder her. I have never plotted to take her power from her. I didn't even know who or what she was when I inadvertently summoned her!"

"So you have said." Terrin looked grim.

My heart sank at the circumstantial evidence that was being used to manufacture apparent guilt on my part. It was transparent and ridiculous, but I could see how people who didn't know me might imagine it could be true.

"It is only because no evidence of Hope's body has been discovered that you have been allowed to continue as you are, under supervision only rather than incarceration."

I've been supervised? By who?

I have no idea, but it wouldn't surprise me.

"This is absolutely asinine. It doesn't make any sense! Why would I want to kill a woman I'd never met?"

Terrin's gaze dropped. "The speculation is that, at some point, Hope returned to reclaim her Gift from you, and you killed her after a heated exchange." He raised his hands to forestall the objection that was on the tip of my tongue. "I am not the one you need to convince of your innocence, Portia Harding. I am simply telling you what is being said around the Court."

A dim rumbling sound warned of things to come.

Portia, control your Gift.

It wasn't easy, but I bit back several hasty and borderline rude comments about the mental makeup of the Court, making a concentrated effort to dissipate the anger which had been transformed into thunder. "Does any of that speculation run to why I would do something so heinous?"

Terrin's gaze dropped to his fingers. "I have heard that you are bonded by blood to Theo North. It is not difficult to imagine that someone with such a tie would intend to grant him a pardon as soon as membership to the Court was approved."

I shot a quick look to Theo. He sat impassive, looking mildly bored, as if nothing the seneschal said had anything to do with us. "Everyone thinks this? Everyone thinks that I tricked Hope into giving me her powers, then I murdered her, and all to get Theo his pardon?"

"Rather starkly put, but yes, that is the explanation being given for your actions."

"I see." My knuckles were still white with strain. I made another conscious effort to relax my hands as I stood up, my head held high. "Thank you for your time and cooperation, Terrin. I hope that associating with me in this manner will not cause any problems for you."

He stood slowly, a smile warming his eyes. "I do not fear repercussion, if that is what you are concerned about."

"Good. Thank you again."

"It has been my pleasure," he said, bowing over my hand. "I have no doubt that we will meet again...hopefully, under less exacting circumstances."

"Why didn't Terrin worry about meeting with us?" I asked Theo a minute later, when we had emerged from the dark warren of offices that were housed in the grand apartments. The sun was hidden behind several dark-looking clouds. I shivered, but the cold seemed to come from within rather than from the dark skies.

"I'm not sure," he answered, looking thoughtful as he adjusted his hat, pulling up the collar to his coat to shield the flesh on his neck. "I suspect there is more to him than appears on the surface."

"You can say that about everyone here," I pointed out, leaning into him when his arm slid around my waist. "What now?"

Theo sneaked a quick glance at the sky. "It's almost Nones. Now we gird our loins."

I didn't like the concern I felt in him, deep and dark and destructive. "I'm an old loin girder from way back," I lied, giving him a bright smile that I hoped hid the truth that I was worried to death about the hearing.

You needn't be worried, Portia. I told you that I would not allow anything to harm you. I have a few tricks up my sleeves yet.

What sort of tricks? I asked as we headed to the area containing the Petitioner's Park.

You'll find out in due time.

The sight of seemingly everyone in the city streaming into the narrow alley that led into the park was enough to choke any further questioning I intended to pursue.

Courage, sweetling. I am here with you.

For which I'm grateful to the depths of my being, I told him as we elbowed our way through the throng to the center of the park, where a ring of druidic stones had been arranged in a style reminiscent of Stonehenge. Stone benches dotted the inner perimeter of the ring. Four of the benches were filled with various people. The fifth was empty. In front of it stood an officious-looking man, who frowned when he spotted us.

"Portia Harding, stand forward," the man said.

I stepped clear of the crowd, into the circle of stones, Theo next to me in the shadow cast by one of the tall stones. I wanted badly to take his hand, but wasn't comfortable with such a show of affection in front of so many hostile strangers.

"Know ye all that this hearing commences in the sovereign year one thousand fifteen in the eightieth age."

Ten-fifteen? You're older than that!

The Court calendar differs from the mortal one. It is divided into ages, each of which contains roughly fifty-six thousand millennia.

I did a swift mental calculation, pleased that the years worked out to be the approximate age of the Earth.

"Behold ye now, her most gracious of majesties, the mare Suria."

A smiling, petite blonde in a gauzy green and gold sundress emerged from the crowd, laughing at a quip someone called out. She bestowed her smile on Theo and me, taking a seat on the empty bench.

"Behold ye now, her most gracious of majesties, the mare Disin."

The mare we'd met with earlier marched out, her expression grim. She didn't look at me, simply strode over and took her seat next to the first mare.

"Behold ye now, her most gracious of majesties, the mare Irina."

The last mare took me by surprise. I was expecting another woman of younger years, but the bent-over, frail woman who hobbled from the masses was clearly in the latter years of her life...if that was possible with an immortal. She, too, settled on the bench, her milky blue eyes searching me curiously.

"This hearing does not concern your champion," Disin said, frowning at Theo.

"With respect, your grace, Portia is my Beloved." Theo stepped forward slightly, careful not to go beyond the edges of the shadow. "I cannot allow her to stand trial alone."

Around us, the crowd gasped, little whispers hissing in the air as people digested the information that Theo and I were bound by blood.

Was that the wisest thing to say? I asked, forcing myself to relax as the clouds overhead grew darker. The three mare consulted one another. It seems to me that just gave more fuel to the fire.

Theo's laugh was mirthless. Those three women are the pinnacle of power in the Court of Divine Blood. The only one who has more is the sovereign itself. There is little that escapes their attention. The fact that I am now a Dark One may not have been common knowledge, but I assure you they were aware of it the moment we stepped into the Court.

The mare ended their consultation.

"You may remain," Disin said, giving Theo a regal nod. "But you will not speak to the charges in Portia Harding's place. It is for her alone to do so."

He bowed, murmuring his thanks.

"You are charged with the destruction of the virtue Hope," the first mare said, her face somber. "How plead you, Portia Harding?"

"Not guilty." There were other words that wanted to burst out, such as a declaration that I do not kill people, not for any reason, and certainly not for anything so frivolous as the ability to control weather, but I pushed them down. I doubted if such an outburst would do good.

The silence that followed my statement hung heavily for about five seconds, then the whispers behind us began fast and furious.

The sky grew darker despite my attempts to keep my emotions in check.

Disin narrowed her eyes. "Do you refute the fact that you intend to grant exculpation to the nephilim named Theondre North, the same man to whom you are bound as a Beloved?"

Strangers be damned. I took Theo's hand, sucking in a deep breath as I tried to calm my nerves. "I do not deny that I have discussed the subject with Theo. I do deny the implication that I murdered Hope in order to bring such a thing about."

"Do you deny that just one night past, you sought the company of a demon lord?"

"We didn't seek him - "

"Do you deny that you had an audience with the demon lord, the premiere prince of Abaddon, the lord Bael?"

Several people gasped behind me. Theo's fingers tightened around mine. He wanted badly to say something but was bound to silence by the mare's order, an order that evidently covered not giving me advice as to what I should say in answer to the ridiculous charges being bandied about. "The circumstances of our visit to Bael are not of our doing. We were summoned there by Bael."

More gasping and a couple of outright cries of horror. I kept my eyes fixed on the three women in front of me, drawing strength from the touch of Theo's hand.

Disin leaned forward, her eyes as cold and hard as steel. "Do you deny that you have said to the nephilim Theondre North, on several occasions since taking on the mantle of virtue, that you would do anything to restore unto him that which he does not possess?"

"His soul," I said, waving my free hand in an expressive manner. Overhead, thunder rumbled ominously. "I was talking about his soul, which was ripped from him by Bael, all because he protected me from the demon who was part of the third trial. A trial, I might add, that is sanctioned by this Court!"

Theo's fingers tightened around mine. I glanced at him, nodding abruptly at the warning visible in his eyes.

"I beg your pardon if my comments seem rude," I said, aware of the hostile looks I was getting from the people surrounding us. The mare's faces were for the most part impassive, but it was evident they had come to this hearing with their minds made up. "But I dislike being asked to justify my actions when I have done nothing wrong. I did not ask to become a virtue - Hope made me one without my knowing anything about it. I did not murder her, nor do I know who did, or why. I did not seek audience with a demon lord; it was forced upon me. It's true I have sworn to restore Theo's soul to him, but that is a matter between him and me, and I fail to see how it has importance to anyone else here."

"You dare speak thusly to the mare?" The officious little man who had introduced the mare leaped up from one of the benches, his face red with anger.

Theo's fingers tightened until his grip was almost painful.

"I mean no disrespect, but I will not tolerate a kangaroo court - "

"Silence!" Disin bellowed, her voice echoing off the trees. "We will confer."

"But I haven't been allowed a chance to defend myself properly," I started to say, but was cut off when Disin barked at me.

"I said silence!"

Theo's thumb rubbed on the top of my hand, an iota of comfort in a sea of distress. The three women leaned together.

They're going to throw us in that Akasha place, I said to Theo. His fingers twitched in response. Around us, the hum of conversation was conducted in hushed whispers, but vehement nonetheless. I know you can't answer me, but they can't stop me from talking to you. I'm sorry if I made things worse, but you have to see that I couldn't just stand here while they twisted everything around.

He may have been bound to silence, but his emotions were mine to read, and I took some small comfort in the pride that tinged his concern.

"Portia Harding, your insolence does you no credit, nor will it be tolerated," Disin said as the mare presented a solid front.

Thunder rumbled even louder, the sky so dark it looked like twilight even though it was the middle of the day. I took another deep breath, and calmed my wildly beating heart, hoping it was enough to keep a storm from lashing out against the people who were trying us.

"Against my better judgment" - Disin glanced for a moment at the white-haired mare - "I have been persuaded that the evidence against you is not sufficient to banish you to the Akasha. However, until the matter of the virtue's murder has been explained to our satisfaction, we cannot allow you the freedom to harm others."

I bit my lip to keep from shouting that I hadn't harmed anyone, and had no intentions of doing so.

"It has been suggested that you undergo the fifth trial now in order to determine the purity of your being. If you pass, you will be allowed to leave the Court until such time as a tribunal determines the truth of the virtue's death." Disin clapped her hands, and a small boy emerged from the crowd. The boy bowed to the three mare, then turned and bowed to me. He couldn't have been more than eight or nine, but the look in his dark eyes was one of ageless wisdom. Whatever he was, he certainly wasn't an innocent child. "Proctor, begin the trial."

The boy looked at me for a moment before gesturing Theo away. "You cannot aid her in this test, champion. You must move out of her reach."

Theo's voice was warm and reassuring in my head. I will not leave your side if you do not wish for me to do so.

It's OK. I tried to put a lot more confidence into my words than I felt. I doubt if they will do anything too heinous in front of all these witnesses.

Theo moved away reluctantly, stepping back to stand with the onlookers. I bit my lip nervously, rubbing my hands together as I wondered just what this trial was going to consist of. "Er...forgive me for asking, but how on earth do you determine the purity of someone's being?"

"It's simple," the boy said, smiling a gap-toothed smile that did little to lighten my heart. He spread his hands wide, then brought them together so quickly that his movement was unseen. "You die."

The blast from his hands hit me with the force of a runaway bulldozer. I fell backward, the sound of my own terrified shriek mingled with Theo's hoarse roar ringing in my ears as I left everything I knew behind.