But I can't do anything as the outlaw leader, using his vampire speed, rushes toward an elderly woman. She tries to raise her stake, but the vampire is far too quick. The vamp stands behind her, arm wrapped around her neck, a knife at her throat.

"Don't," Dr. Jameson orders us quietly, but with determination, and I realize each of us had taken a step forward. "This is our fight."

To my surprise the hostage woman's face is calm, serene, as though the vamp is simply holding her so they can dance. Why isn't she terrified?

"All right then, friend," the leader sneers. "We'll take one. Just one. Look at her: she'll be dead in a few weeks anyhow. We'll take her off your hands."

"You might've bitten off more than you can chew, son," George says, a glint of humor in his voice.

"Ha! I haven't done that in a hundred years," he says, the knife beginning to press into the old woman's wrinkled throat.

"That may be, but I can guarantee that you aren't gonna like the taste."

The old woman smiles, her fangs glinting. She opens wide and clamps down viciously on the vampire's arm. Releasing a high-pitched yelp, he backs away, dropping the knife and grabbing his gaping wound. The old woman immediately begins spitting out his blood.

Several townspeople move with such swiftness that the dust whirlpools around them. Only vampires move that fast.

George strikes with identical speed, and three others from the group converge onto the leader. I see the stakes, then they disappear, and I know the vampire is no more. A moment later, a dozen other townsfolk charge toward the other three, a beautifully timed ch.o.r.eography. Surrounded, the intruders scream. Then silence fills the air. When the townspeople step back, they look like petals opening to the sun, and the four vampires who rode into the devil's cavern thinking it was a treasure cove are left in a pile in the middle. Dead. Stakes through their hearts.

Victor didn't move at all but kept his hand on my arm, protecting me from this sudden outburst of violence.

"Don't worry," Dr. Jameson quickly says, approaching us with her hands up in surrender. "We're friends. Please, believe me."

"But . . . but they're vampires," I say. I look over at Jeff and Michael, who are just as still, just as shocked as I am.

"Half the town is, yes."

George asks for water for the elderly woman, and when it arrives, she quickly begins washing the vampire blood from her mouth. They must know of the Thirst and its dangers. Her actions are a preemptive step. A very good one.

"Are youa"" I begin.

"I'm human," Dr. Jameson admits. "I'm the representative for all the humans here at Crimson Sands, while George leads the vampires."

"Every house here has two families in it," George says as he wanders over. "Humans, warm in their beds at night, and vampires, asleep underneath those very same beds during the day."

"But George, this morning, we saw you . . ."

"In the sun? Well, I'm a Day Walker. I know you haven't heard of us, buta""

"Believe me, we have," I interrupt. "We've even met your Maker."

"And you're still alive? I'm impressed. Seems like we have some catching up to do, then. Let's get these raiders taken care of first."

Several men make their way over to the bodies of the dead. They carry them off behind a small barn. Not a word is exchanged, just understanding. When the sun rises, more ash will blow through Crimson Sands.

Someone else gathers the horses and leads them toward a corral. People begin to wander back to their homes as though tonight's events were familiar and boring. But Victor stays by my side. If Old Family don't like change, this sudden shift has certainly made him tense.

When finished with his task, George returns to us.

"Come," Dr. Jameson says. "You'll probably want to hear more about our little town."

"That's an understatement," Michael says.

Chapter 3.

Once inside the house, fresh coffee is poured for everyone. The four of us just stare at ours, while George and the doctor take alternating sips.

"There isn't much to tell, really," George says. "Vampires, Lessers to be specific, living together with humans. Peacefully."

"How many Day Walkers?" I ask.

"I'm the only one."

"That's why he's such a good leader," Dr. Jameson says. "He can walk between both worlds, as it were. A lot like you, Dawn."

My heart stops. Does she know? Does she know about Sin and the Montgomerys? Does she know that I'm a vampire?

"As a former delegate," she says, after a moment's pause. "You know both worlds. Right?"

"Yeah," I say a little too quickly, swallowing hard. "Yeah. I know the rules of each."

"The difference is that in those walled cities," George says, "the blood is taken under threat. I know it's always called a donation, but it's pulled out of the veins by fear, nothing else."

"And here?"

"It's also a donation," Dr. Jameson says. "But here, the people willingly give it."

"Why?" Michael asks. To him, with his hatred of all things fanged, this must sound very strange.

"Because we recognize the value of our vampire friends," she says. "They protect us at night from the Lessers who would do us harm. In return, we protect them during the day from hunters and scavengers trying to make a quick profit off some vampire fangs."

It's a simple, beautiful system. But . . .

"Blood quota?" I ask, as though a delegate check sheet were right in front of me.

"Never needed it."

"Current blood supply?"

"Overflowing," Dr. Jameson says. "We have more than we need. I have to turn people away."

I think about Denver and its ma.s.sive infrastructure, the blood banks, the initiatives, the propaganda posters, the thousands of citizens. All of that and we can't come up with enough blood. Yet here, they have plenty.

"We've never had a shortage," George says. "And we've never had an incident of a vamp taking what doesn't belong to him."

"You mean taking blood straight from the neck," I say.

"That's right. Learning to control our urges took a little time, but now, we couldn't even imagine doing it."

"That's incredible," I say.

He just shrugs. "Out here we're kinda dependent on each other and grateful for one another."

Grateful for one another. I smile at that. I'd love to see that as a poster in Denver. Grateful for each other.

"Have you ever heard of anything like this, Victor?" Jeff asks.

"No," Victor says. "Not since the war anyway. Before that we tried living openly with humans, and you know how well that worked out. A system like this isn't sustainable. Once there are too many humans, or too many vampires, the power will shift."

"I wish you had more confidence in us," Dr. Jameson says. "But does your system of blood quotas and delegates work better?"

Victor turns to George. "So, you know my half brother, Sin."

The change in topic is abrupt, but I know Victor doesn't want to get into a discussion on the difficulties he has in getting donations from the citizens in Denver.

"I'm afraid so," George says. "He turned me back when he was still a young'un. But he's a different man now. I've watched him change before my very eyes."

"Tell us everything," I say.

"I was his second in command," George says. "I was one of the first Day Walkers he ever created, and I was loyal to him for a century, always by his side. I was a fool. I thought what he gave me was a gift. Eternal life. Terrifying strength and speed. But it came at the cost of taking blood from my fellow man."

He sips his brew, and we all stay silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I watched the madness slowly grow inside of Sin. He always felt like an outcast, and in many ways I suppose he was. He tried to reconcile with other Old Family, but they were all just like your father, Victor. They saw him as a freak of nature. The anger in his heart fueled him. He fed off human blood just as much as he fed off his hatred for the Old Families, for the vampires that turned him away."

"I should have looked for him decades ago," Victor says. "If I had, maybe I could have found him, reasoned with him. Stopped him from becoming a monster."

But George just shakes his head.

"There was no reasoning with him. He was born to hate. It's in his blood. And it only intensified once he controlled Los Angeles. I helped him. I stood by as he slowly turned the city of angels into a city of Day Walkers. I thought that would be enough for him. But I was wrong.

"He sent me out on a scouting expedition, searching for humans he could *bless' as he called it, but I'd had enough. The farther I traveled, the less I wanted to go back. Then I discovered these folks and they welcomed me like I was one of their own. Before I was turned, I was a soldier protecting people. Returned to my calling here."

"But where does it end for Sin?" Jeff asks.

George doesn't look us in the eyes but instead takes another sip of his coffee, adjusts his hat that needs no adjusting.

"Complete domination of humans and vampires alike, with what he calls the Chosen leading the way," he says. "Handpicked Day Walkers, the best and most loyal, and he infects them with the Thirst."

I instantly think of Brady. That's what he became; it's what Sin turned him into. All traces of the brother I had once loved were lost within those blackened eyes.

"His goal is to have five hundred of them," George continues. "From there, he'll take them, along with every Day Walker, and march. Nothing will be able to stop him at that point."

"How can he possibly control these *Chosen'?" Victor asks. "I've fought one before. It nearly killed me, and that was only one. Sin talks of hundreds? They'll overwhelm him."

"That's what I told him." George sighs heavily. "But he didn't seem bothered. His last words to me before I left were: *Of course it's impossible, in my current form. But I have only begun.'"

I cringe as I remember Sin's teeth sinking into the neck of my ancestor, Octavian Montgomery. Sin knew what he was doing. Sin wants to be taken over bya"

"The Thirst," I say. "Sin wants to become one of the Infected."

"Why would you think that?" Victor asks.

"We saw him drain an Old Family vamp," Michael says. "He seemed to think Old Family blood held the key to making him invincible."

Victor jerks his head around to stare at me, a clear question in his eyes: Is that what happened in the cave?

I give him a small nod. I can admit to that much, but the rest of ita"

Not yet.

"Is it even possible for Old Family to become Infected?" I ask Victor.

"I don't know," he confesses. "I simply don't know."

"The real question," Jeff says, "is how long do we have? You said Sin wants five hundred of these Chosen before he moves out, right? Well, how many does he have? And how long will it take until he's ready? Months? Years?"

"Less time than that," I say. Sin told me that Brady was his perfect creation, so his plan to have an Infected army hasn't been in the works that long. But still . . . "Much less time." I measure my words carefully, watching Victor as I drop this bombsh.e.l.l: "Sin showed us his V-Process facility, the one buried beneath Los Angeles."

"Impossible!" Victor insists. "I personally destroyed them all after the war."

"Yeah, well," Michael says, disgust apparent in his tone, "you did a lousy job because Sin took us on the grand tour. It was horrible, but Dawn hasn't told you the worst part. In addition to using it as a quick way to turn humans into vampires, he's turning Day Walkers into the Infected. Five hundred of them? He'll have that in no time now."

Victor's stare grows cold. "We have to tear it apart," he says firmly. "Before we return to Denver."

"Don't you get it?" Michael asks. "All the citizens within the inner ring of Los Angeles are Day Walkers. They're protecting it. We'd never survive long enough to get to it."

Victor spins away from us, an angry flash, and I know guilt is gnawing at him. "We can't leave it standing so Sin can create more monsters."

"I agree, but we've only got enough gasoline to get us back to Denver," Jeff says reasonably. "It seems to me that our best plan is to get our b.u.t.ts back home, regroup, and figure out how we're going to stop Sin."

Victor gazes out the window. The sky is beginning to lighten. Soon it'll be daybreak. He'll have to retreat into the shadows.

Finally, he turns to face us. "You're right. Going to Los Angeles right now isn't the answer."

"I'm not comfortable heading out until the sun sets again," Jeff says. "If we get jumped by Sin or his Day Walkers, I want to make sure Victor can help us."

I can tell that Victor is anxious to get on the road, but he also recognizes the wisdom of Jeff's plan. He nods.

"You can stay in that back room," Dr. Jameson says to Victor. "It's angled so the sun can't get in."