When Serena returns home, the strange Larna Lock is in her yard. She has to check for a moment that she is not dreaming, and then shivers with fear. It cannot just be a coincidence, her premonitions, Byron's disappearance & her meetings with this stranger. "You!" she says to him boldly, though she quakes inside, "Who are you? What have you done with Byron?"

"I?" he asks with a short bow, "I have done nothing with Byron. And I have already told you who I am, I am your bridegroom." Bridegroom? she thinks, what nonsense..."I don't wish to hear any more about being your bride, Larna Lock," she says, "If you can't tell me what happened to Byron, then I want you to leave."

"I can tell you what happened to Byron," Larna says, "He left you for another. He was never good enough for you, he cannot offer what I offer. Now you are free....There is nothing to stop you." He speaks in riddles, but he seems to know what happened to Byron.

Larna talks to her like a lover, but he clearly has only his own mysterious aganda in mind. He won't tell her the whole truth about where Byron is unless it suits his purpose. She has to make him want to speak frankly to her, and she can only think of one means to that end: she uses the 'friendship' spell on him. Like all spells, it carries potential dangers. She has no idea what lind of creature this Larna Lock really is & binding him to her in friendship could bring her all kinds of unwanted consequences. But having him on her side, with her interests at heart, means he'll tell her what happened to Byron.

His reaction is completely unexpected, falling on his knees & throwing himself at her. "Stand up," she says, "I want you to tell me what happened to Byron."

"He's with Her now. She said she didn't need me any more because I can't do for her what a man like he can. She cut me loose & took him for herself. You'll never get him back now, so take me instead," he says, not standing up like she asked, but staying on his knees, looking up at her, pleading. The friendship spell is of course a double edged sword, for she feels a kind sympathy for him now. "Tell me who you are, Larna Lock, and who is She, that you say has 'taken' Byron? Where is he now?" Larna sighs heavily, "We were gods once. Maybe we still are, I'm not sure how it works. It was a long time ago: we have no worshippers & no home now. We don't even remember our names, it has been so long since anyone has spoken them. She & I were a pair, we were worshipped together. But she doesn't want me any more...she says the mortal Byron can get her worshippers. She won't speak to me now, she hasn't spoken to me since she came up with this idea. I don't know where she's taken him, I don't care. I just can't be alone, I need a consort." She starts to protest that she doesn't want a consort...

When he's suddenly standing behind her. He turns her around and wraps himself around her. There is a part of Serena screaming that this has to stop, that she doesn't want him, but it's being drowned out by a sudden swell of pure desire. "I still have powers, Serena. I could share these powers with you," he murmurs as he kisses her. A love god, she thinks, it explains how he's affected her. She summons everything she has inside her to strengthen her will & she pushes him away. "I don't want you or your powers, I want Byron back," she says firmly. "I'll be back tomorrow," he answers as he disappears into the air. Serena shudders.

NEXT