Silence filled the room.
"That is a good point," Christian said thoughtfully, his gaze on Mattias.
The latter's face suddenly broke into a grin. "Then you are my wife."
"Don't get too excited—that's only a supposition," I said, suddenly worried that Mattias might demand marital rights. "I don't know for sure which marriage is real."
"It is a reasonable point, nonetheless," Alec said, glancing at Kristoff.
"And one which means that the reaper here could still pose a danger if Kristoff's marriage won't stand," Sebastian added, nodding at me.
I sent him a quick glare. "Even if it's true, it doesn't mean I'm any such thing. I am not going to hurt anyone."
The silence that followed that statement was filled with disbelief.
I turned to Alec as the most reasonable of the men present. "Before Anniki died, she begged me to make things right. 'Let justice roll down like waters,' she said, and I have done my best to do just that. I will find her murderer, and see that he or she receives justice for that act. But I will not persecute the innocent. I didn't want the job, but now I have it, and assuming that I am given the power to back it up, by god, I'm going to do the best I can with it. I have ghosts I'm responsible for," I said, waving my hand around the room.
My little gang had been oddly absent, but I saw now that they had just been hiding. They stepped forward now, all of them, out of the walls, from behind the furniture, and from the doorways. All of them solidified for a moment, until the room was filled with them.
Mattias's eyes bugged out of his head as he took them all in.
Ulfur strode forward until he stood in the center of the room, addressing Christian. "We will not let harm come to Zorya Pia, Dark One."
The other ghosts nodded their heads. Tears pricked in my eyes, a warm gratitude swelling in my chest.
"I see." Unexpectedly, Christian smiled. "You have quite a formidable group of champions, Pia."
"I do indeed. And it's because of them, and others like them who I might be able to help, that I will remain true to my oath to Anniki. I will be the ever-flowing stream of righteousness, but it will be my righteousness. I will not be a Zorya who destroys people without due cause."
"You won't have a choice," Mattias said smugly. He blanched somewhat when he saw that everyone in the room focused on him. The ghosts had gone back to a translucent state and were grouped together at one end of the room.
"What do you mean?" I asked Mattias.
He jerked his shoulders. "What I said. You will not have a choice about using your powers. You think you will, but you won't. You are my wife, so once the ritual is conducted, you will not be able to keep from using your powers."
I stared at him in horror. "That can't be right."
"It is. Zoryas must cleanse. It is their reason for being." Mattias looked away, but a satisfied smile lurked on his lips.
I looked aghast at the others in the room. "I will not be used like that. If that's truly the case, then I will just refuse to undergo the ritual. I'll simply remain as I am, a quasi-Zorya, someone who can't do anyone any harm."
"We're not going to Ostri?" Hallur asked.
"I'm sorry." I turned to them. "I said I'd find someone else to take you if I had to, and that still stands. I promise. Barring that, there must be someone who can show me where the entrance is."
"The entrance to Ostri is a time, not a place," Mattias said, apparently engrossed in examining his fingers. "The opening to it is triggered by the Zorya during the ceremony of light. That is the only time you can lead spirits to it."
"Well, crap," I said, as conflicted as hell. I wanted desperately to get the ghosts to their final reward, but not at the cost of being an unwilling weapon of vengeance. "I'm so sorry. If that's the case, I can't risk it. It will have to be another Zorya who takes you to Ostri."
The ghosts murmured amongst themselves. Ulfur looked sad for a moment as he watched them. "We understand," he said. "We know you would take us if you could."
"You'll still get there," I reassured them. "Don't give up hope."
He said nothing, but their acceptance of the inevitable made my conscience sting. Was this what Anniki wanted from me? I knew she'd want the ghosts sent on their way, but the cost was simply too high.
"You do not understand," Mattias said abruptly, picking at his fingernails. "Your desire to protect the Dark Ones does not matter. The ceremony will be conducted whether or not you are present, and you will receive the powers of the Zorya. That is a fact."
"But if I'm not there—"
He looked up quickly. "It matters not. You are the Zorya. Once the ceremony is completed, you will receive the light and become a tool of righteousness and vengeance."
The eyes of all the vampires in the room moved to me. My stomach turned over in helpless fear.
"You will destroy the Dark Ones whether or not you wish to. You simply will not be able to keep from doing so," Mattias ended, his delivery matter-of-fact.
"Not unless she is destroyed first," Sebastian said, his gaze hooded.
"No. She will not be destroyed," Alec said, taking up a protective stance in front of me. Kristoff made an arrested gesture, as if he was going to protest. I'd like to think he did have enough feeling toward me that he didn't want me killed by his buddies, but I had to admit, as things stood, the vamps had a strong case for wanting me out of the picture.
"There has to be a way around the ritual," I said. "Is there?"
Mattias shook his head. "No."
"Then we will simply not allow the ceremony to take place," Alec said. "Pia is right—if she is kept in the state she is now, she poses no threat to anyone."
"But if a ceremony is held on her behalf—" Sebastian started to protest.
I was beginning to not like him.
"If we capture the Zenith, we could use him to ensure the ceremony was not conducted," Alec cut him off. "His life would be the price of Pia's safety."
"That might work," Kristoff said suddenly. He avoided meeting my glance, however. "It would mean that we have to find him before he reaches the others."
Christian raised an eyebrow at Mattias. "Where is the ritual to be held?"
Mattias glared at him and refused to answer.
"I think it's going to be at a ruins about ten miles from town," I said slowly, wondering if Alec's plan would work. I didn't want to die, but I also hated to fail Anniki. There had to be a way to accept the power and yet not use it against the vampires. "In some forest that's supposed to be haunted."
"We will search for other reapers," Christian told the others. "And most importantly, the Zenith. If he is arriving for this ritual, he will come here first."
"I'll go search for the trail of the reaper who got away," Rowan said, starting for the back door.
"I'll search around the ruins, in case any of them are already there," Andreas said as he left.
"Sebastian and I will take the town." Christian put his hat back on. He gave me another piercing look. "Alec, you will stay with the Zorya and the prisoners."
"I don't need a babysitter," I protested.
"I will help Rowan with the one who escaped," Kristoff said, not meeting my gaze as he left.
"Do not fret, my love," Alec said, gently pushing me toward the kitchen. "I am here for your protection, not to serve as your jailer. Help me find something to restrain that woman."