He thanked me, took my number, and hung up.

Looking around one last time, I let out a long breath and then softly locked the door and drove back to the bar. It was done. I’d kil ed a friend. I’d also kil ed a monster primed to take on the world. As far as nights go, this one ranked right up there on the suckometer.

I entered the bar through the back. I was covered with dust and blood and stil had a few wounds from the fight with Sassy that were healing up. They’d vanish soon, unlike the scars Dredge had left on me before I died.

Heading for my office, I intended to wash up and then change before heading out to see how Derrick was doing. What with the early rising thanks to the sun setting earlier, even though I’d been through the haunting, talked to Wade, and staked Sassy, it was stil only a few minutes past eleven and the bar wouldn’t close until two A.M. But as I opened the back door, I heard a commotion out front. The gates wouldn’t help when we were open.

With a groan—couldn’t I have one moment without incident tonight?—I pushed along the hal and entered the main bar. Derrick was standing there with the shotgun out, pointed at a group of about five leather-clad bikers. Chrysandra had the telephone in hand, eyeing Viper, one of the bikers who had been a customer off and on over the past year. He was pointing a Natchez bowie knife at her heart, barely touching her chest. The blade itself was over eleven inches long and it gleamed, sharp and ready to pierce.

“I see we have a standoff,” I said, coming up beside Derrick. No doubt they had a few stakes in their packs, just waiting for the likes of me. “Whatcha doing, Viper? Why are you threatening my waitress?”

His gaze flickered toward me. “Menol y . . . It’s you we want. Come along quietly and everyone else earns a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Oh joy, just what I needed. A Buffy-wannabe in a biker suit.

“Can’t we have a civil conversation? I haven’t done a damned thing to bother you. You’ve sat at my counter, drinking booze and talking to me, and yet tonight you come into my bar and threaten me, my staff, and my patrons? What’s wrong with this picture, dude?”

He gave me a once-over, and I saw exactly what he thought of vampires. At least now. Good ol’

boys were transparent as hel , whether they wore overal s or leather and chains. Viper and his buddies had no doubt heard the news and decided to help the cops by kil ing every vampire in the area.

“How many of us are you planning on dusting? How many do you think you can possibly get through before we get to you? You can get away with murdering us, but when we hurt you, at least self-defense wil play into our trial. You have no excuse. Here I am, running a legitimate business that’s bringing in money for the city, and you boys just can’t wait to spoil things.”

I leaped up to land on the bar. Staring them down, I gave Chrysandra a faint shake of the head.

Stand still, don’t try anything. I hoped she caught my meaning. “What happened? You just hear the news that there’s a vampire serial kil er out there—a male, I might add—and decide that every vamp has to pay?”

He shuffled his feet, and color began to rise in his cheeks.

“You’re a regular reader of the Seattle Tattler, too. Am I right? You hooked up with Andy Gambit and Taggart Jones?”

Mr. Bowie Knife blinked. “Those freaks? No. They don’t like us, either.”

“I see. So you haven’t run away and joined the Earthborn Brethren? Or Freedom’s Angels? Or one of the numerous other hate groups?” If they weren’t part of the movement against the Fae, I might be able to reason him off his high horse. I turned on my glamour. Hel , I’d use every trick in the book to protect Chrysandra and my bar.

Viper blinked again. “Um . . . no. What’s that got to do with anything?”

I let out a long breath, for effect, and a loud one. “How many times do the cops come by and harass your group? How often do you guys get thrown in jail just for hanging around the wrong side of town? After al , aren’t all bikers troublemakers and lawbreakers?”

He stared at me for a moment and I saw the knife waver. I was making an inroad. I crossed my arms and stared him down, wil ing him to lower the knife. As he slowly acceded—he was easy enough to take on once I’d gotten his attention—I leaped lightly off the bar and walked toward him, holding out my hand.

“Put the knife in my hand, slowly, hilt first.”

“Viper, what are you doing, man?” One of his buddies started forward, but I gave him a look and motioned toward Derrick with my head. “Move and he blows you out of the water, dude. And Humpty won’t even be able to find al of the pieces, let alone put himself together again.”

He froze, and Viper slowly handed over the knife. I examined it. Nice blade. “Now the sheath.”

He obeyed, and I strapped it to my belt, then slid the bowie knife in and snapped it shut. “Good boy.”

Chrysandra lithely stepped out of the way, and I put my finger on Viper’s chest. “Snap out of it.

Now.”

As he blinked and saw me standing there, wearing his knife, with Derrick aiming for his chest, Viper sucked in a deep breath. “Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right.” I smacked him across the face. Hard. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, dude? You want to help out in the investigation, you don’t do it that way, you idiot.”

Frowning now, he cocked his head. “Are you looking for the kil er?”

“Hel yes! He’s giving a bad name to al vamps. Just look: I put a gate on my bar and I never had to think about it before. And you come in here, bent on kil ing me? You think we don’t want him caught for al the trouble he’s causing? You’re al jacked up the wrong way, bro.”

Viper blushed again and stared at his feet, looking for al the world like a giant teddy bear. “I’m sorry, Menol y. I didn’t think . . .”

“No. You didn’t. You reacted instead, and that’s usual y a bad idea. In this case, you were lucky.

Do you real y think that I couldn’t stop you from hurting my waitress? And if you’d tried, I would have ripped your throat out. You got it? You don’t bother me or mine. You leave the vampire hunting to me, and you make sure word gets through to your eager-beaver brethren before some idiot gets himself fanged to death. Because I’m more patient than most vampires. Got it?”

He nodded, thoroughly shamed. “I’m sorry . . .”

“Apologize to my waitress, and to Derrick. Poor man’s finger’s had to keep the trigger from sending a nice little blast into your gut for so long I bet he has a cramp. Then get the hel out of my bar and go do something useful. Make sure the Toys for Tots motorcycle ride goes smoothly, or something helpful like that.”

As Viper hastened to obey, and his fol owers took note and fol owed his example, I strode toward the back and grabbed a spare set of clothes. I’d take a shower upstairs. I found Erin cleaning one of the guest rooms. She did a quick drop to the knee, then back up again.

“Just getting the dust. Tavah said that there has been some interest in booking the rooms. She told me word’s getting around.”

“Erin.” I wasn’t sure how to break the news but knew I’d better before she heard it from somebody else. “Let’s sit down for a moment. I’ve got something to tel you, and it’s not pleasant.”

She dropped the cloth on the desk and promptly sat on the bed. I smiled at her obedience, but decided I’d work on severing the cords as soon as possible. It was time to wean her. I wanted her to be able to think on her own in case anything happened to me.

I sat beside her and took one of her hands. Vampires weren’t a touchy-feely group, but I thought this news would go down better sugar-coated. Erin might not have been in love with Sassy, but she liked her.

“I went to see Sassy . . .” I let the words drift.

Erin blinked and shifted in her seat. “Do I have to go back?”

“No. No, you don’t. In fact, you can’t. Janet died while I was there.”

She dropped her head and a tear trickled down one cheek. I squeezed her hand. “Janet was always nice to me. She stood as a buffer when Sassy got too eager. Janet held Sassy back from her predator nature until a few months ago. But when her brain tumor started catching up with her, she couldn’t muster enough strength to help Sassy keep herself in check. Janet took to her bed over a month ago, and I knew it wasn’t going to be long.”

“At least I managed to keep her from turning Janet. I was with her at the end, and she went peaceful y. But Sassy was feeding on her. Did you know that?”

“No,” Erin said, and I heard the ring of truth in her voice. She couldn’t lie to me, not at this point in her development. “I didn’t know, or I would have cal ed you sooner.” She paused, then looked up at me. “You kil ed Sassy, didn’t you?”

I bit my lip, then gave her a short nod. “I had no choice, Erin. I promised her, some months back, that I wouldn’t let her become a monster. And that’s what was happening. When you let your predator take over from the reasoning side of yourself, you forever lose control. There’s no coming back. Some vampires live for thousands of years without losing control,” I said, thinking of Roman.

“Some don’t.” Dredge had total y given in to his predator and embraced the fury and terror he spread.

“Did you . . . was it by stake?” Her voice was very smal now, and she looked afraid. I nodded.

“Did it hurt?”

“I can tel you this: After she died, her spirit came back and thanked me. She’s with her little girl now, and they’ve gone to their ancestors.”

We sat there for a while, hand in hand, thinking about Sassy. After a while, Erin stood up and kissed my hand, then went back to work. I wished her a good night and headed downstairs. It was time to go home. Derrick and Chrysandra could take care of the bar for the last hour or so.

I needed to see my sisters, to hold Maggie, to push the memory of kil ing someone who’d once been a friend out of my mind. For the first time in a long while, I mourned not being able to sit out under the light of day, to bask in the healing rays of the sun. The moon gave pale comfort, and the new moon—none at al .

CHAPTER 11

When I got home, Chase was there, Nerissa was there, and it seemed that everybody else was up and active. I kissed Nerissa, then glanced around.

“What’s going on?”

“Quite a bit, apparently.” Chase leaned back in his chair. He was staring at Delilah, a soft smile on his face as he watched Shade softly stroke her arm. “You guys go first. My news is important, but not immediate.”

Smoky gave me a grim look. “I wish I could stay to help, but I received word this evening from my mother. She has an emergency on her hands and needs my help. I’m the oldest son, so I must attend her.”

Camil e clutched his hand. The two of them were on constant watch for any sign of Smoky’s father, Hyto, who had it in for them. The thought that the emergency involved the lecher of a white dragon crossed my mind, and I knew they must be thinking the same thing.

Hyto had been excommunicated from the Dragon realms and banished from the upper reaches of the Northlands for breathing flame on sacred grounds and for going up against the Wing-Liege.

He’d blamed everything on Camil e and Smoky’s marriage and had vowed to get revenge.

“Did she tel you what’s wrong?”

“No, but I must attend her and make certain she’s al right. I’l return as soon as I can, and send word to you if I can, once I find out what’s wrong.” He paused, then added, “I’m taking Rozurial with me. He knows the Northlands, and I can use the company.”

Camil e let out a little huff and glared at him. “I offered to go.”

“Of course you did, wife.” His eyes luminous, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “And I refused. I wil not drag you into danger. Here, I have no choice but to al ow you to engage monsters. But I won’t wil ingly put you in danger because of my family. I love you too much.”

Tril ian arched his eyebrows. “Fox-Boy and I wil take care of her.” Then, his voice belying his carefree look, he added, “Go, but return as soon as you can. We don’t want Camil e to pine too much. And you’re . . . useful around here.” He nodded to Morio, who let out what sounded like a growl of agreement.

“Then we’l be off, and return as soon as we can.” Smoky stood and Camil e jumped up, throwing her arms around him and kissing him deeply before standing back, her face aflame.

“Come back to me. I mean it.” She raised one hand and Smoky pressed his palm against it, and then he and Rozurial faded out of sight into the Ionyc Sea.

Camil e let out a long sigh and took her seat again, Tril ian and Morio flanking her. Iris entered the room, carrying a tea tray, and Tril ian quickly leaped up to take it from her and slide it onto the coffee table. He pressed a cup of hot tea into Camil e’s hands as Morio snaked one arm around her waist and gave her a gentle squeeze.

I decided the best way to distract her was to press on with business as usual. I turned to Nerissa. “Love, what brings you here?”

Nerissa let out a long sigh. “I was fired today.”

“What?” We al stared at her. I leaned forward and took her hands, stroking them lightly. “Are you joking?”

“No. Andy Gambit’s story about me in the Seattle Tattler stirred up sentiment against me at work. Today my supervisor cal ed me into his office. He said my performance hasn’t been up to par and then fired me. I’d take them to court, but I recognize a frame-up when I see it.” Nerissa was a government worker for the Department of Social and Health Services.