"What is it?" Maman's voice was a whispered plea.

Julia opened her eyes, stretching beneath the light spring quilt on her bed.

"You know what," her father commented. "Stay here. Paul and Jack will go with me."

That simply, Julia was wide awake. Jack was going somewhere with Father. They would take her along if she was fast enough. Father would take her with them. Father never denied her anything.

She slid from her bed and pulled her shoes on over her bare feet. She strode down the hall and out the back door, turning the knob with both of her tiny hands, then bolted across the lawn to the garage. She stumbled, her nightgown catching on her shoes; Julia lifted it and ran on. Father would demand she dress before they left, but if she took the time to dress first, they might be gone before she reached them.

Julia stopped in the doorway to the garage, looking around in confusion. Her father and brothers weren't there. She couldn't have missed them. All four cars were still inside.

She turned back to the house, confused. Where could they have gone this late at night?

"Juu—lia."

She turned to the sound of the whisper, her brow furrowing at a dark outline disappearing into the tree line. Julia smiled. Jack was playing with her as he often did after her nap. Was it a game of tag, then?

She rushed into the trees, following the faint rustlings and movements from tree to tree until the tree house rose high above her. "Jack?" she called, looking up the slats nailed to the tree trunk.

There was no answer.

Julia looked around; Jack was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't ghost from her while she wore her amulet. She touched the disc to assure herself it was still there. No, he wasn't ghosting, so he had to be teasing her. She scowled. Father didn't allow the boys to tease her.

"Jack," she demanded. "Show yourself, or I'll tell Father." Julia planted her fists on her hips.

Still, her brother didn't show himself.

"Father will hear—" She stopped, taking a step back in surprise.

A man stepped from the trees, but it wasn't Jack. "There you are, Julia," he greeted her in a heavy accent she couldn't place. "I've been looking for you."

She shied from his offered hand.

The man chuckled. "Come now. Don't you recognize me?"

Julia shook her head shyly. This man looked like a Warrior, save his clothing, but it was no Warrior she knew. Who else would come here? Strangers didn't come to their estates.

As if he read her thoughts, the man knelt down a few feet from her. "You needn't be frightened. Could anyone harm you on Landwirt soil?"

She laughed at that, pressing her chubby fingers to her mouth. It was true. No one would dare harm her here—not while her father was Lord Farmer.

He smiled wider.

"Do you know Father?" she asked.

The man settled on the grass. "We have met each other many times." He leaned closer to her. "I would ask your help, Julia," he whispered in a conspiratorial tone.

"You need my help?" No one ever asked for Julia's help. When she offered, people patted her head and sent her to play. "What kind of help?"

"I have lost my amulet." His eyes were pained, much as Alan's had been when he'd broken Maman's favorite vase with his wooden practice blade.

Julia smiled. "I can get you one. Father has a whole drawer—"

"No!" He put up a calming hand as she startled. "Your Maman might see you. How would you explain your actions?"

She bit her lip, working at the problem and at a loss for an answer to it.

"I would be in even more trouble then," he confided.

"Then how can I help?" she asked in confusion.

"If you give me your amulet..."

Julia fingered the metal disc over her chest uncertainly. "Father says—"

"Never to take it off?"

She nodded.

"Your Maman has told me you've lost yours before."

Julia winced. She had lost it twice. Once, the chain broke while she was swimming. The other time, she lost it while she and Jack played in the woods.

"Did anything bad happen to you, Julia?"

"No," she admitted.

"Do you think anything bad could happen here?"

"No." That was said with more conviction. What could happen? Maman called this their sanctuary, and Jack said that meant it was their safe place.

"Was your father angry with you for losing your amulet?" He smiled a knowing smile at that.

Julia giggled. He knew Father well. Father was never angry with her.

"Will you help me, Julia?" His eyes were serious, hopeful.

She fingered the amulet. She'd never lied to Father. If she told him she lost the amulet—

"Julia," he whispered.

She looked at the doll in his hand with a gasp of surprise. "Babette."

"Yes. It is very like your Maman's Babette, but this one has dark curls like you do and not golden like your Maman's."

Julia nodded, touching the doll's beautiful pink dress.

"Trade with me," he offered. "I will give you this Babette for your amulet."

She nodded again, incapable of begging for the beautiful doll. It was even prettier than Maman's Babette. Julia had longed to play with Maman's doll for as long as she could remember. The man set the toy in her outstretched hands, and she hugged it to her chest.

"Julia," Maman called. "Julia, where are you?"

"Quickly, Julia," he urged her. "I must be well away before your Maman arrives."

She pulled off the amulet and handed it to him. It slipped through his fingers and fell to the grass. Julia laughed, looking to him, intent on commenting on his clumsiness.

She went still, caught in the red glow of his eyes. Fangs sprouted in his mouth, and claws took the place of the fingernails on his hands.

Julia turned and ran, dropping the doll at the base of the tree and scrambling up the slats toward the tree house. Strictly speaking, she wasn't allowed up there without Jack or Paul, but there were worse things in life than a broken arm.

"Julia," Maman called again, annoyance in her tone.

A hand fisted in the back of her nightgown and yanked Julia from her perch. She screamed as she fell, kicking as fingers bit into her upper arms.

"Julia!" Maman was closer now, her voice panicked.

Julia screamed again at a sharp pain in her shoulder. Her body went leaden and her mind disconnected from the world around her. Memories danced in her mind: playing with Jack, riding on Father's shoulders, cuddling in Maman's arms when she was ill.

"No!" Maman screamed.

A shockwave coursed through her body, forcing her back. Maman fisted the front of Julia's nightgown and dragged her forward again. Julia whimpered as her shoulder exploded in pain. Then Maman's arms were around her, soothing her.

She forced her eyes open, trying to understand the warm liquid plastering her nightgown to her back and cooling in the night breeze. Julia shivered, the night suddenly colder than moments earlier.

Another shockwave forced her hard against Maman's chest. Julia closed her eyes again as her shoulder throbbed, even breathing painful of a sudden.

"Release her," the man's voice growled.

"Never. Leave us," Maman ordered. "My amulet will protect us both as long as it touches her. Leave us or face my husband."

The growling was louder, a fierce animal sound that made Julia shiver again.

"Hold to me, Julia," Maman whispered. "You must not let go. Never let go."

Julia fisted handfuls of Maman's blouse, her hands trembling wildly. Why was it so cold?

"I said release her!"

"Never let go," Maman repeated softly.

Then they were falling to the ground. Julia sobbed at a strange heavy thumping sound. It came again and again. She wrapped her legs around Maman's waist.

"Julia," the man whispered. "Come to me."

She shook her head, holding to Maman.

You must not let go. Never let go.

"Juuu-lia." His voice was calming, soothing. "Come to me, Julia."

"Never let—" she gasped, her mind muddled.

"Julia." His voice was sweet and pure.

She sighed, her muscles warm and relaxed. She was supposed to touch him, wasn't she? Julia relaxed one fist, trying desperately to focus on reaching out to him.

A roar split the night, making her head ache.

Never let go!

She fisted Maman's blouse, shaking her head. Julia gagged at a horrible smell, burying her face in Maman's chest.

"Julia," Jack choked. Was the smell too much for him, as well? His hands pulled at her.

"No!" she screamed, tightening her fists. "Maman said—"

"Julia, let go," he ordered.

Jack forced her hands open, dragging Julia from Maman's chest. She fought him, pleading for Maman to hold her. She grasped at Maman's skirt as her oldest brother pulled her away. He placed his body between them, and Julia beat at his chest.

His hand traced her neck. He cursed, dropping an amulet over her head. Then Julia was moving, wrapped in Jack's arms, sobbing into his chest and calling out for Maman.

"Jack!" Paul shouted. "Is she all right?"

"Call Damien. She needs a doctor." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll take her."

There was an uneasy moment of silence.

"Now, Paul," he thundered.

Julia grasped at his shirt, trying to ask what he meant. Who needed a doctor? Why? Was Maman hurt?

A scream of rage seemed to shake the stars. Julia met Jack's gaze, then everything went dark.

****

"A few more minutes," Jack promised, though he was certain Julia couldn't hear him. He touched her face, wincing at how cold her skin felt. He tucked his jacket around her, muttering a prayer that she would survive. If she didn't, their father was as good as lost, and Jack would be Lord.

I am too young to be Lord. I don't want it. Not now. Not this way. Certainly not because of the loss of his sister.

Damien met him at Julia's door. "Is it true?" he asked urgently.

Jack didn't answer immediately. He lifted his sister out of the car and headed for the cramped office in Damien's home with the doctor at his heels.

"Is it true?" he asked again.

"Is what true?" Jack snapped. "That my mother is dead and my father is in the throes of printing madness? That my sister is seriously injured? Yes to each of them, Damien."

The doctor nodded, motioning him to a high table. Damien pulled back the jacket, wincing at the little girl bathed in her own blood and that of her mother. Julia was pale, even her lips nearly colorless. Her breaths came in shallow gasps of air.

Damien cut her nightgown away from the wound, turning on Jack with a stricken look. "My God! What did this? I mean, how could—"

"The beast fed, and the wound tore away. We will not lose her, Damien."

He listened to her heart, grimacing. "Jack, I—"

"If we lose Julia, we lose my father," Jack growled. I will not allow it.

"I cannot treat this effectively. It's too late."

"It can't be."

"The hospital is too far."

"What can't you do here?"

"She's lost too much blood, Jack. This is a small clinic, and I'm not equipped to—"

Jack stripped off his shirt.

Damien shook his head in horror. "Warriors transfuse their own," he squeaked. "You're not—"

"Human," he finished acidly. "She is my sister. We will match well enough." Jack pulled a chair over and offered his arm.

The doctor hesitated. "What will this do to her?"

"I don't care, as long as it saves her life."

Damien stared at him, his mouth working as if he intended to argue. "Your blood—"

"I gave you an order, Damien." The doctor was bound to obey. Jack prayed he'd obey. Julia didn't have time for more arguments.

Damien nodded and set to work. He repaired the damage while the transfusion ran.

Jack stroked Julia's hair, murmuring his assurances that she would live to run and swim with him again. He caught Damien's hand, as the doctor reached for the needle in his arm. "Not until she's strong enough. My body will replace what I've lost. You know that."

Damien ran a shaking hand through his hair. "The damage is done," he agreed.

By the time the needles were removed, Jack shook in exhaustion. "Will she survive?" His words were slurred, and his vision jumped and blurred.

"Blood rejection happens quickly," he replied. "We'll know within the hour."

"Jee willing, there will be no reaction."