Dance of the Gods by Nora Roberts

witch or sorcerer,” Hoyt said.
    â€œNo.” Moira bit her lip. “I think not. If what I’ve read is the truth. The vampire can gain power by drinking blood of power, but it becomes diluted. And if this person of power is turned, he would lose most, if not all, of his magic. It’s the price for the immortality. The demon he becomes loses the gift, or retains only the dregs of it.”
    â€œSo it’s more likely she has witches or whatever on her payroll, so to speak.” Blair considered it as she ate. “Someone who’d already turned to the dark side, we’ll say. Or someone she has in thrall. A half-vamp. A potent one.”
    â€œI don’t know if that has to be.” Unlike the others, Larkin had already cleared his plate and was going for more. “I’ve been listening to all of this.”
    â€œHow can your ears work when your mouth is so busy?” Blair wondered.
    He only smiled as he scooped up more fish, more rice. “It’s good food,” he said to Glenna. “If I don’t eat it, how would you know I appreciated it?”
    â€œI’d like to know where you put all that appreciation. But you were saying,” Blair added, gesturing.
    â€œThese things happened in sleep, so it would seem to me the spell doesn’t work on the conscious mind. Wouldn’t it take more power to…” He fell back on Blair’s term. “To whammy someone when they were awake and aware?”
    â€œIt would.” Hoyt nodded. “Of course, it would.”
    â€œAnd not just sleeping, not this day. Moira was all but ill with exhaustion from what she was part of today. Blair was worn through as well. I don’t know what it was like when it happened to you Glenna, but—”
    â€œI was beat—worn out, upset. It was one of the reasons I didn’t think to take any precautions before I fell into bed.”
    â€œThere you have it then, I’m thinking. Not just sleep, but sleep when the body is weak and the mind at its most vulnerable. So it seems to me that whatever, whoever, she might be using isn’t as strong as what we have right here at this table.”
    â€œYou have been listening.” Blair considered him. “Dragon-boy here makes a good point. She hit us when our defenses were down, and she came damn close to getting lucky. What do we do about it?”
    â€œHoyt and I will work on protection. I’ve been using the most basic shield to this point.” Glenna looked at Hoyt. “We’ll pump it up.”
    â€œBe good if we could do something for the house, too,” Blair pointed out. “Some sort of general woo-woo so they can’t get inside, even with an invite.”
    â€œYou can’t block an invitation.” Cian sat back with his wine. “You can withdraw it, with the right spell, but it can’t be blocked.”
    â€œOkay, maybe not. Maybe something that extends the perimeters, creates a safe area around the house itself.”
    â€œWe’ve tried.” Hoyt laid his hand over Glenna’s. “We haven’t been able to find the way.”
    â€œSomething to work on. It would be another layer. The more layers they have to get through the better. Think vamp-free zone.”
    â€œPerhaps I should move into a nice B and B,” Cian suggested, and had Blair frowning at him until she understood.
    â€œOh. Oh, right. Sorry. Forgot. Can’t have a vamp-free zone with a vamp in residence.”
    â€œWe haven’t been able to find a way to exclude him from it,” Glenna explained. “We have a few ideas. Morelike concepts than actual ideas,” she admitted. “And Hoyt’s been working for some time on conjuring a kind of shield for you, Cian, so that you could go outside during the day. In the sun.”
    â€œOthers have tried and failed on that. It can’t be done.”
    â€œPeople used to believe the world was flat,” Blair