Stephanie’s mouth felt dry; cottonmouth. Her back hurt, too. Had she fallen asleep on the floor? She tried to open her eyes, but the effort didn’t seem worth it for the moment.

As she became more cognizant, she realized that she had a horrible headache. She tried to reach for her head using her right hand, but for some reason her arm wasn’t answering her brain’s call for movement.

Sounds were now making themselves evident around her. A soft breeze was rustling leaves not very far away. Something sounded like flames being fanned.

Adding to her growing sense of confusion were the smells of damp earth and the occasional wafting of smoke past her nostrils.

She tried again to open her eyes. This time she managed to force her eyelids to comply. What she saw made no sense. She was in outer space!

It’s beautiful! I’ve always wanted to be in the stars.

Her reverie was interrupted by a voice. She recognized it, but she couldn’t remember from where.

“Aileen, my sweet.”

Oh! It’s Brendan Cadeyrn. I like him.

Don’t I?

“Focus, my love. I can’t allow you to miss this.” Brendan took Stephanie’s right hand and patted it.

“Mmm. It’s warm,” she managed just above a whisper. “Why are we in outer space?”

“Focus, Stephanie.”

But my name’s Aileen.

She blinked and rolled her head toward the voice.

Brendan was kneeling next to her. But he seemed strangely elevated. She rolled her head further and saw his knees. They were at eye level, but on the ground. That’s when the realization struck.

I’m in the basin. I’m on MacKay Hill!

The knowledge startled her. How had she gotten here?

Stephanie looked around some more. All of the torches were lit, encompassing her. The whole of the Home Coven was in its ceremonial white tunics and stood around Brendan.

Stephanie panicked for a moment. Then another realization struck her and put her back at ease.

Cailleach. I’m here to channel Cailleach.

She tried again to move her arms, but she was still unable to do so. It felt like…

Stephanie looked down at her right arm extended alongside her white-clothed body. Her wrist was tied to a wood stake in the ground. She scrunched her brow in confusion, then looked back up at Brendan.

“What’s going…?” She looked down her right side again. Her white clothing wasn’t a tunic. She lifted her head and looked down the full length of her body. She was wearing the sacrifice dress!

“Brendan, what—?”

“Shhh.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “I told you that you were important, that you were even crucial to what we were going to accomplish as a culture and a religion. Remember?” He reached his left hand to her brow and smoothed her forehead with his thumb. “How long have you doubted your purpose? Hmm?”

“Brendan, this can’t… This can’t be right! I’m Picti! We’ve got to bring the girl. The MacAlpin girl. The one that Uilliam and Grainne are fetching.” She made sure to use their Pictish names.

“You, my princess, are that girl.”

“I’m Picti!” she screamed.

“Now, now. Don’t be distressed. I’ve treated you well, haven’t I? All these years, haven’t I treated you like the Scottish royalty that you are?” He thought for a moment. “Okay, well, until recently when you began to think too highly of yourself.” He smirked at her. “That’s a little ironic. Isn’t it?”

Her eyes narrowed with anger. “I … am … Picti!” she growled.

“You, my dear, are MacAlpin.”

She began to panic again. She knew how the MacAlpin girl was to die. She had to convince him that he was making a mistake.

“Brendan, listen to me…”

“Hmm?” Brendan lifted his eyebrows in mock interest.

“Think this through! You’re making a mistake! It’s the other girl, the one that we’ve been researching. The girl we located in that suburb of Cincinnati. Blue… Blue…”

“Ah, yes. Blue Ash.”

“Yes! In Blue Ash! Tabitha! Tabitha MacAlpin!”

Brendan pulled his lips in tight and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Steph. I’m afraid that whole search was nothing but a ruse.” He shifted his weight and his countenance changed. He was no longer amused.

“You see, when I left Scotland to move to America, I already knew about your family; your mom’s side of the family, that is.”

“My mom? What does she—?”

Brendan cut her off. “She, Stephanie O’Leary,” he continued in a snide tone, “had one of the target names. Her maiden name was Dunkeld. It seemed back then, and trust me, I’ve confirmed it since, that her father came from an unbroken lineage of Dunkelds…” He moved his head back and forth, reconsidering a thought. “… as far as I’ve been able to prove, anyway. And, trust me, Steph, I am an outstanding researcher. I’m sorry, but you’re it. That’s just the way it is; the way it was always meant to be.”

Brendan looked up, seeming to peer into the darkness that lay beyond the mound, then returned to his thoughts. “The Dunkelds have a storied history as royalty. You should actually be very proud,” he said with a nod of his head. “Anyway, the Dunkeld dynasty came from another prestigious, albeit evil, family bloodline called the MacAlpins. Princess Beatrix MacAlpin, to be precise. And in case you’re interested, she was the Heiress of Scone about a hundred-and-forty years after her bad-guy relative, Kenneth, destroyed so many of my relatives.”

He stood up, towering above her. Brushing the dirt from his bare knees, he said, “And that is why you, Stephanie, are in a hole in the ground.”

As if struck by an afterthought, he crouched down before her again. “I do appreciate all of the, you know, favors over the years. You’ve been quite pleasurable.”

He laughed, got up, and walked off the mound.

Trophy! Whore!

It had been true all along.

Her breathing became rapid as another wave of panic rose within. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She lifted her head, and began to plead with the others before her.

“Charlotte? Taran? Please, help me. Cut me loose.”

While Charlotte seemed to have a certain amount of pity in her eyes, Taran just laughed. Stephanie used to appreciate his strong, joyful laugh.

Brendan called back as he walked toward the farmhouse. “Ladies! Gentlemen! This way, please. Final prep!”

And just like that, Stephanie was alone.

1:09 A.M.

FORMER MILLSVILLE POLICE sergeant, Brent Lawton, and Corporal Tracy Larkin crept up the gravel and grass driveway that approached the Baird farmhouse. Their purpose, for now, was to be on-scene and out of sight. Brent wished, now, that Millsville’s police uniforms had incorporated dark, rather than white, shirts.

The trees that lined the right side of the driveway seemed to end about a hundred feet in front of the farmhouse. To the left side of the drive was a thick wooded area that extended as far back as they were able to see in the darkness. Brent took out his Droid cell phone and turned back toward the road, using his body to block the light from its screen. He opened up the Maps application that they had used to get there and saw the final destination still pinpointed on the screen. He clicked the ‘Layers’ button and then ‘Satellite.’ The screen changed from a road map to that of a daylight satellite view of their location.

Zooming in, he was able to get a pretty good idea of the layout of the property. He could see the shape of the house, the garage behind it, and a large clearing to the right.

Brent nudged Tracy who turned around and looked at the phone. Brent whispered, “Chances are, this field is where they will hold the ceremony.” Tracy nodded and turned back to the house.

They were only about thirty feet from the road and still a good football-field-distance away from the house. The trees to their right were simply too thick to see through, so they really had no idea at all where anyone was at the moment.

“Brent!” said Tracy in a strained whisper. “Move!”

Tracy scampered into the trees, followed by Brent. They pushed in as far, and as quickly, as they could manage in order to hide their white uniform shirts from the vehicle that had approached and was now turning into the drive.

On their stomachs, Brent again had to force himself to contain a fractured-rib-generated groan. They watched as a dark-blue police cruiser rolled by. Another vehicle followed; a late-model, silver Chevy Camaro.

“Plate,” whispered Brent.

Tracy lifted himself and moved out close to the drive. After a moment he came back.

Tracy pulled a note pad out of his pocket. “Light.”

Brent lit up his Droid screen which provided enough light to write down the plate number and vehicle description.

“That was Connor,” said Larkin.

Brent only nodded.

They waited a couple of minutes before extracting themselves from the trees in the event there had been another vehicle straggling behind the first two.

Back in their crouching positions, Brent said, “You’re on Eldredge’s frequency, right?”

Tracy looked to make sure, then nodded.

“Let him know we’re in position and that Connor just arrived. Find out about state and county.”

Larkin whispered into the mic on his left shoulder. “Eldredge. 20.” He placed his fingers on the volume control; wanting it only loud enough to make out what was said.

Fortunately, the majority of Ten Codes that the two departments used were the same. All of the codes that were going to be needed tonight had been discussed on the way out of Millsville.

“Copy you, Larkin. 20 is leaving Pittston P.D. Conferring with upper management to be.”

“60 on state and county?”

“Confirmation. They are rolling.”

“77 on them and you?”

“State and county, ten minutes plus. Management and I, seven to nine.”

“Contact again. Tell them to run hot and silent. No lights.

“10-4.”

“4 and out.” He looked at Brent. “Did you get that?”

Brent nodded. “Come on. We need to get closer.”

BRENDAN WALKED UP to Uilliam and Grainne as they exited their vehicles in front of the house. He was encouraged by the smiles on their faces.

“Everything went perfectly,” said Uilliam. “It was just a very unfortunate accident in the middle of nowhere.”

“Excellent!” exclaimed Brendan.

“City resources will be out of our way and focused on the other side of town for a while. Does Cowan know about the … umm … unfortunate loss of life, yet?”

“He does. He’s inside grieving his dear sister now.”

“Will he be trouble?”

Brendan shook his head. “Not at all. He understands that it needed to be done. Regardless, tonight’s ceremony will have cemented his dedication had there been any wavering. I’m also pretty sure that he’d hate to have something so tragic occur in his own path… so to speak. How’s Sòlas?”

“He’s pretty bruised and raw, but he otherwise came out of it intact. He deserves a big pat on the back when we see him in the morning.” Connor looked over at the mound in the distance. “I see she’s awake and aware.”

Brendan looked over, as well. Stephanie was straining to keep her neck elevated in order to see what was going on.

He shouted over to her. “We’ll be there soon, MacAlpin! Be patient!”

Both of the men, as well as Grainne, laughed.

“What do we need to do?” asked Uilliam.

“Change into your tunics. We’ve been waiting on you two.”

TARA WAS DESPERATE for news.

She sat in front of her laptop once again. Jenna was just inches away, sitting to her left. They made sure that they could both be seen at the same time as they talked with Karen.

“Karen, I just can’t sit here wondering. You’ve got to understand that.”

“That’s not the point, and you know it. You are not equipped to be in proximity to what’s going on out there.”

“Maybe not. But I can’t think of a reason why I can’t be there immediately after everything goes down. I’ve got to find out about Stephanie!”

Karen stared at her through the screen for a few moments. Finally, she said, “Tara, get going. It’s not like you’re seeking my permission anyway. Right now, though, make a wise decision concerning your daughter.”

“Aunt Karen, I’m going with my mom. That is the wise decision. I need to know about Dad.” She looked into her mom’s eyes, pleading.

“Tara…” Karen didn’t say anything else. The way she said her name was pregnant with meaning and emphasis.

Tara looked at her daughter. “Put your shoes on and grab some bottled water. I’m going to need it.”

Jenna removed herself from the table immediately.

“Tara!” exclaimed Karen. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Karen, I love you. And I appreciate you beyond anything you can possibly understand. But she and I have got to do this. Together.” Tara continued. “Jenna has been in this with us from the beginning. She’s earned her place beside me while I do this.”

Karen sighed. “I guess this is goodnight, then. At least on here. I’m going to keep my ringer on, so please call me once everything is settled. Okay?”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t think of keeping you out of the loop. As soon as I know anything I will call you. I love you, Karen.”

“I love you, too, Tara.”

A shout from the living room. “Love you, Aunt Karen!”