"Tomorrow night, then. Leave us now, all of you. We have much to discuss."

Victor, Faith, and Richard bow. Because they do, I bow as well. Then we turn and walk from the room.

No one says anything as we drive back to the hotel. When Victor parks the car, we all climb out, so silent, so somber, like the city. The rain has stopped, but a heaviness weights the air.

I look at the decrepit hotel. I can't face going in there right now. "Can we walk for a while?"

"We need to talk," Victor says.

"We can do that while we walk." I start out, not waiting for them, but I'm aware they're following. Victor quickly falls into step beside me, his nearness protecting me from any vampires who think I might be "unclaimed property."

We walk along in silence. I want him to take my hand, but I know he's upset with me. Vampires are out on the streets, but they give us a wide berth. A few are Old Family, descendants of those we just left. But most are Lessers. They bow as we stride past them.

"I can't believe that you agreed to a test without even knowing what it is," Victor finally says.

"I didn't really have a choice."

"One vote on the Council isn't going to make any difference."

"Eight to seven, it will make all the difference in the world."

"We could've reasoned with them, laid out our case in more detail and convinced one of them to change their vote."

I turn sharply and he stops in his tracks. I stare up at him. "Old Family are stubborn. They would've debated for a decade before finally noticing that their heads were in a guillotine. Sin could be weeks, maybe just days from marching. There's no more time for talk."

He puts his hands on my shoulders, squeezing me lightly. It feels nice.

"I know. But they'll never see you as equal as long as you're not a full vampire."

"Before we went to the Council, you said it doesn't matter what's in my blood, but it does. You saw the Council's reaction. Can you imagine when the citizens of Denver find out? Whenever they see me, they will only see the fangs I don't even have. They will only see the enemy."

He moves his hands down until they're wrapped around my own. "I don't see the enemy in you."

"But can you see how screwed up everything is? Vampires don't want me because of my human blood. Humans won't want me because of my vampire blood."

"You don't have to tell humans about your heritage."

"But if I don't, am I admitting to being ashamed of the vampire in me?" I break free of his hold and start trudging forward again. "In any case, I'll figure out what to tell the humans when we return to Denver. Right now, my issue is the vampires. Any idea what sort of test they'll give me? Don't suppose I'd be lucky enough to discover that they're talking about a multiple-choice quiz to test my knowledge of vampires."

I'm trying to make light of it because I don't want Victor to know how worried I am that I made a big mistake in accepting their challenge.

"I doubt it," Victor says, his tone serious and concerned. I could probably tell him a real joke right now and he wouldn't laugh. "A seat on the Council isn't often vacated. Tests are never required to fill one that is. I have no idea how the Council will test you."

He has no imagination, but I do. I imagine it'll be difficult and dangerous.

"Maybe it'll just be an inquisition," I muse.

"They tortured people during the Inquisition." He slips his hand into mine. "Tell them you changed your mind, you don't want a seat on the Council."

I look up at him. "We need my vote to get the Old Families to rally against Sin."

"We don't need them. We can fight this by ourselves."

"But at what cost?"

We both grow silent, and I try to distract myself from my worries by taking mental snapshots of the city so I can describe everything to Tegan. She'll be so disappointed to learn that there's no beauty here. A few gaslights are glowing, and I'm not sure why. Vampires don't need them. Maybe humans wander the streets at night as well, although I haven't seen any.

"When are you going to stop being angry about Xavier?" I hear Faith say from several feet behind us.

"I told you, Faith, I'm not angry."

"You give a good imitation."

Richard doesn't respond, and I can sense Faith's frustration building. Finally, she hisses low, "All right. What did you want me to say when he asked me to stay?"

"*I can't because it's not where Richard will be.' I wanted to be the reason you wouldn't stay with him. Not Victor."

"You are! Don't you understand? I'm scared, all right? I don't like that I think about you all the time. I don't like that during the past ninety-eight years I compare every guy I meet to you."

"You do?" I hear the genuine surprise in his voice.

"Does that make you happy?"

"Yes, it does."

I hear a fist pounding into flesh and can't stop myself from glancing back. Richard is holding Faith's wrist. I have a feeling she punched his shoulder.

"I hate you," she says.

He cradles her face. "Do you really?"

She shakes her head. "But you'll stop wanting to be with me eventually."

"Stop wanting to be with you? I love you, Faith."

"Vampires can't love."

"If vampires can't love, then they can't hate. If you can hate me, you can love me."

"You'll break my heart."

"Why would I do that? In ninety-eight years, I've never met anyone who intrigues me like you do. You're stubborn, spoiled, and you try so hard not to be loved."

"Dawn says love is worth the pain, but I think it could kill me."

"It won't. Trust me." Then he lowers his head and kisses her. Leaning into him, she winds her arms around his shoulders. With her heels, she's almost as tall as he is.

As they begin entwining themselves around each other, I look away. "Maybe you should tell them to go back to the hotel."

Victor grins. "I think they'll figure it out. You probably won't be sharing a room with Faith this morning."

"That's okay. She snores."

His grin broadens. "Did you want to go back to the hotel?"

"No, let's walk a little more." We never have any time just for us, and while New Vampiria isn't romantic, it is quiet. A light mist begins to fall.

"Before the war, there was a beautiful field just over there," Victor says. "It was so green and lush. I wish you could have seen it."

Where he's pointing, I see dilapidated buildings. "We lost so much in the war."

"Things that can never be replaced," he says. "I don't even know if they can be rebuilt."

"They have to be. We must have a world that's better than this depressing place."

"There's that optimism I admire." He stops and faces me. "If the field were still there, I'd take you on a picnic. I'da""

A scream rends the quiet. I jerk around, trying to determine where it came from. Faith and Richard are nowhere to be seen. I guess they did return to the hotel.

Then the terrified scream comes again.

"There!" I yell, and dash toward the mouth of an alley. As my legs churn, I yank out my stake from my holster. Although it's dark in the alley, just enough light is filtering in that I can make out the silhouette of a girl pressed against the wall, fighting off a guy.

"Hey, a.s.shole!" I shout.

With one arm across her shoulders, he keeps her pinned in place while he slowly turns his head to glare at me. He's emaciated, too thin. His cheeks are hollow. Dark half-moons rest beneath his eyes. Hissing, he reveals his fangs. "I'm hungry. You'll do for dessert."

"Help me," the girl pleads.

I glance quickly back. Victor's not here. What happened to him? c.r.a.p! Terror slices through me. Was this some sort of trap?

"Please!" the girl cries out, bringing my attention back to her.

I need to find Victor, but I can't leave the girl to this monster. I start running, gathering my energy and strengtha"

I take a flying leap and kick him hard, knocking him back, freeing her. "Run!"

She doesn't have to be told twice. I hear her rapid footsteps as she escapes, leaving me to face the vampire. He quickly comes to his feet.

"I guess you just became the main course."

He comes for me. I duck, shove him back. Hunger has made him weak, but also determined. We start circling each other.

He lunges. I swipe my stake across his chest. He leaps back to avoid it. Snarls.

"When was the last time you had blood?" I ask.

"What do you care?"

He rushes forwarda"

I leap to the side, then swing out a leg, knocking him off his feet. He lands hard, and I jump on top of him, pinning him, squeezing my knees against his arms, holding him down. I place the tip of my stake on his chest, above his beating heart. He roars.

Then surrenders. I feel him going lax. It could be a trick, but I think of the starving humans I saw in Los Angeles. I think about Crimson Sands. I think about the world I want to live in instead of the one that I do.

"You can have some of my blood," I say, shoving up the sleeve on my jacket.

"Dawn, no," Victor says.

I look back to see him standing there. I wonder where he was, but that's a question to be answered later.

"I don't have enough vampire in me to infect him with the Thirst. I have enough human blood in me to sate his hunger until he can find a legitimate blood source." I glare at my defeated vampire. "He'll kill you if you take too much."

"I wasn't expecting your generosity." With a sudden powerful move, he shoves me off and is standing over me.

From out of the shadows emerge cloaked figures. I leap to my feet, my stake at the ready. I was right. It is a trap. I start easing back toward Victor.

"We've seen enough," a voice I recognize from earlier in the night says. Lilith pushes back her hood.

I feel Victor at my back, his hand resting on my waist. "This was your test," he whispers softly.

I jerk my attention up to him. "You knew about this?"

"No. When you rushed toward the alley, I found myself surrounded by the Council's guards. Then I knew."

I glare at Lilith. "You said the test would be tomorrow."

"And you would have been expecting it. I believe you humans call something like this a pop quiz."

"What a stupid test! What if I'd killed him?"

Lilith smiles. "Hardly likely. Warwick is our best warrior."

Looking at him now, I can see that it was his loose clothing and makeup that made him appear emaciated. He's standing tall and confident. Yeah, my killing him probably wasn't going to happen.

"The girl?" I ask.

"One of my divas," Lilith tells me. "She was never in jeopardy."

"So it was all fake."

"All except your reaction."

"Well, did I pa.s.s?"

"We were testing your loyalty to vampires. The correct answer was to let the starving vampire have the girl. Your solution was unantic.i.p.ated."

"She failed," Asher announces. "Her loyalty first was to the human. It will always be to the humans."