"So..." Stephanie leaned forward. "Are we talking about the end of the world here, or..." "In a manner of speaking," said Lady. "If the Partition is destroyed, the other realms will reconnect. The Veil will come down, and spirits will be able to manifest more easily. The loss of life will be massive, but the larger problem will be the return of the gods. As it is now, deities have limited ability to influence the world. If they could walk among us directly..." She stared at the car window for a few seconds. "It's likely we'd be enslaved again." "I don't think my god's interested in slaves," Gina pointed out. "Not all gods are evil," Lady agreed. She frowned. "That might actually be worse. A war of gods could easily wipe out all life." "So... bad then." I stated the obvious. "It's the worst case scenario." Lady grimaced, shaking her head. "I don't know what the enemy has planned, but they have already taken Avalon. There aren't many other reasons they would need to hunt me down." We were quiet for a moment, digesting what she'd told us so far. Gina broke the silence. "So, if you're so important," she frowned at the Lady of the Lake, "why were you so willing to give yourself up?" Lady said nothing. I looked over. I noticed the muscles in her arms. I saw how straight she sat, even with a broken collarbone. The proud bearing of a leader, and the cold silence of someone refusing to answer a question. "She wasn't," I realized. "She was playing us." Lady regarded me with a cool gaze. "It was necessary," she confirmed. "It was manipulative," I disagreed, "and uncalled for. We were already going to help you." "You left me to die on the bridge," she told me. "If I had," I countered, "you wouldn't be here right now." "I am here," Lady' corrected, "because Mike chose to intervene. You only lent aid when your friend was in danger, and only because you saw an advantage." Her eyes glittered. "You are a recreant." I frowned. "I don't know what that means." "You put your own life first," she explained. "You are a coward." Several nasty replies and a few justifications ran through my head. I wanted to snap at her, maybe hurt her feelings if I could find a way. In the end I just glared. She was a bitch. She wasn't wrong. "Mike is the sort of fool destined to live gloriously and die young," Lady turned to regard the girls. "The rest of you are not warriors. I needed you, and I encouraged you the only way I could." She went back to staring out the window. Her voice was... tired. "I would do far worse if I had to. There is too much at stake." I let her stew for a second, then growled, "just tell us the rest of the story." "Very well," Lady took a breath and centered herself. "Two weeks ago, I was sent a warning from one of the other realms. It was just one word. 'Flee.' Less than a minute after I received it, the castle wards were breached." "Breached by who?" I asked. "I don't know." Lady shook her head. "I could hear my guards dying in the courtyard. I took some few men and fled the keep through one of the hidden passages. We made our way across the island, but we were attacked before we reached the pier." She shuddered. "I'd never seen such a creature. It tore my men apart, eating as it went. Baldric yelled at me to run, said they would keep it at bay." She looked down. "They died to buy me the time to escape." "I took a boat and rowed out into the lake. Avalon is a nexus point, not really part of the mortal world. A priestess can call the mists, and reach any large body of water. I went to a place called Seeley Lake, to find one of the few allies I had in this realm. His name was Jasper." "Jasper took me in, and we attempted to contact our other allies. We could not reach anyone that could have helped us. I even performed a ritual, a sending to draw champions to our cause." She gave a rueful harrumph. "Foolishness. I should have known better than to reveal myself in such a way." "Did it work?" Stephanie asked. "You're sending?" "I don't know," Lady admitted. "I don't have the power here that I wield in Avalon." A hint of a smile touched her lips. "But I have been finding succor in unexpected places." Stephanie smiled at her. A full smile flickered into place for a moment before the Lady turned grim. "The attack came two days later." "The vampires?" Gina asked. "No," she shook her head. "Mortals with guns. I was able to cast a spell, to put them to sleep, but not before they killed Jasper. I knew more would come, so I took Jasper's sword and fled. The Shadows attacked me that night, and when next I woke I was in your company."