A little after two a.m. the doorbell rang and I jerked up in bed, shoved the paperwork I'd fallen asleep reading to the floor, and yanked on clothes, seeing flashing lights in the front yard. At least three official cars and no one trying to hide who they were, which could mean a lot of things, none of them good. So much for my question about when I'd receive a visit from the local law. Downstairs, I threw my hair over my shoulder, deactivated the security system, and opened the front door to see a very unhappy member of county law enforcement. "Sheriff Turpin," I said, stopping myself from saying more when she glared at me from my bare feet to the top of my head.

Sylvia Turpin, whose family had a generations-long tradition of law enforcement in Adams County, took her job very seriously, and despite the fact that Leo had contributed a hefty sum to her election campaign, she didn't like me. I sorta understood her feelings, because the last time I was in her town, I kept her people and the city cops awfully busy at various crime scenes. "Yellowrock. I should have known." She didn't ask to come inside, but pushed past me, which I thought was against the law unless she had a warrant or probable cause. But, then, in her mind, I was likely probable cause. "Where's Gordon?"

"I'm here, Sylvia."

I looked down the hallway and saw Esmee's son, his robe floating behind him, his slippers making small shussing sounds on the wood and carpets. His hair was mussed and he had sheet creases on his left cheek. The one on his face. He was wearing jammies, so I didn't know about sheet creases on any other cheeks.

"I thought I'd be notified if she came back to town."

"I wasn't notified myself until this evening." He paused and blinked, as if still waking up. "This past evening, now. She didn't go through the agency. She called Mother directly." He slanted his eyes at me. Like he was blaming me.

"Don't look at me. I didn't call anyone. I have"-I chuffed at what I was about to say-"people for that."

Eli stepped in through the front door. He wasn't carrying his toys, but he'd been on watch. I needed to get him some backup or he'd never sleep. "Everything okay here, Miz Yellowrock?"

"Eli, meet the sheriff. Not sure you had the chance last time we were in town."

He glanced down at the pet.i.te, pretty, redheaded woman, and his eyes widened slightly. A more-than-half smile drew his lips up on both sides and exposed his teeth, an expression I was sure I'd never seen. It transformed his face. "Ma'am."

Honest to G.o.d, the lady sheriff blushed. She squared her shoulders as if she could feel the heat on her face. "I remember you. You work for Yellowrock."

"With," I said. "My company has expanded, Sheriff Turpin. He works with me."

"Partners of a sort," Eli clarified, his eyes holding to the sheriff's with near-predatory intensity. "Though we're still working out the kinks. And I only saw you from a distance when we were here before, ma'am." He stepped closer, his black camo muted in the dull light. "At the time I wasn't worthy of being introduced, being the hired help." He smiled down at her, his face developing a look I could only call weird. Or stupid. Or maybe insipid. Yeah. That was a good word for it.

Turpin's breath caught and heart faltered before catching a harder, faster rhythm, the kind of thing I can hear when Beast is paying close attention. She raised a hand and pushed her hair back behind an ear, the gesture out of place and puzzling. "I see. I hope you manage to keep her from causing too much trouble in my county this time."

"It's a hard job, ma'am, but someone has to do it. You have any suggestions on how I can . . . do it better?"

And then the pheromones. .h.i.t it. Mating pheromones. They liked each other. A lot. That hair thing had been all girly and coy. And Eli was making goo-goo eyes back at her. Beast panted with amus.e.m.e.nt in the back of my mind, and I rolled my eyes. "Good grief," I muttered. Louder, I said, "Leo Pellissier sanctioned my presence in the county, ma'am. I should have had his primo or the Natchez MOC's primo, Clark, send a notice of my arrival. I apologize for any inconvenience I've caused."

She glanced at me, and I noted her eyes were an amazing shade of blue, brilliant against her fair skin and dark red hair, and her pupils were dilated with desire as much as with the dim light. "Have him send me notification. I understand there were some problems tonight Under the Hill. I guess you didn't think to inform local law enforcement," the sheriff said, more a statement of irritation than a question.

"Oops," I said. "Um. My bad. Sorry."

"I also got a call from Homeland Security about problems across the state line, and word that an agent is on the way. I am not happy, folks."

My heart did a fast three-beat trip before it fell. Homeland Security meant PsyLED. Which could mean Rick. Or not.

"I'll need to start the necessary paperwork for PsyLED, so who wants to give me a report about the DBs in my county?"

As part of the new ruling affecting vamp hunters-unless the courts tossed it out on appeal-paperwork was required wherever there was a hunt for rogues or Naturaleza. Because it was an expense most money-strapped states could ill afford, few places had inst.i.tuted it yet, but it seemed that Mississippi and Turpin had. It made my job harder, but, then, government always made things harder.

"I'll drive into town and give a report later on today, ma'am," Eli said.

"And I'll inform the PsyLED agent we've checked in, belatedly," I said, "and get the local MOC to send you notification. Thank you, ma'am."

Grudgingly, Sylvia said to the pajamaed man who had been listening as we jockeyed for position, "While I hate to say anything nice about a bounty hunter in my county, we've received reports that Yellowrock saved your mother and two other citizens from a vampire attack. We might both want to think about that, Gordon."

To me she said, "I'd appreciate it if you warned my people when you go hunting. We have a small number of good ol' boys who think killing vampires is a nifty way to make some extra cash, and not all of them understand the difference between sane and legal vamps and the new, crazy kind. Add in a little illegal substance before they start shooting, and it's been a problem. I have four locals in lockup now with charges pending for attacking Hieronymus' people instead of the crazy ones he's licensed for bounty. Hopefully that's all of the dumb-a.s.ses, but you never know, so that warning, and open lines of communication, are paramount."

"Yes, ma'am. Hunting vamps for bounties is dangerous," I agreed. I mean, what else could I say? And the bounty was mine. I'd won the contract, so the good ol' boys needed to take a backseat. I couldn't figure out a way to say that so I kept my mouth shut. Go me.

"We've just inst.i.tuted a mandatory curfew to keep the citizens safe, from sundown to dawn, but I'll add you to the list of exceptions, along with law enforcement, fire, and hospital employees. We have enough problems in this county with missing-persons reports without adding in outsiders and hunting parties."

"How many missing people?" Eli asked.

"If I count the homeless and transients, which I do, I'm looking at a little less than one-hundred twenty missing people. Missing humans."

I had been hoping the numbers were skewed, but Turpin was right in line with Clark. Not good. Somewhere there was an unofficial graveyard full of dead people, and maybe some devoveo and revenants who might rise. More not good. Worse, somewhere else there were likely kidnapped, penned, and tortured humans who were being drained.

"We'll call you with everything we learn, ma'am," Eli said.

Turning to him, Turpin said, "Pleasure to meet you," and handed Eli her card before she stepped down toward her car. Eli tucked it into his pocket with that odd look still on his face. The closest I could come to describing it was wonderment. c.r.a.p. Eli and the sheriff. And he liked her in a very carnal way, if the smells wafting from his pores were an indication. That could possibly help things, but I was betting that it would only complicate matters. We all stood staring out the front door until the three sheriff's deputy cars pulled away.

Gordon and Eli both turned to me, Gordon getting in the first words. "I apologize. I a.s.sumed you had made an end run around me and the system I set up to protect my mother. And, had you not been here tonight, Mother would have likely gone out with the brainless duo anyway and might have . . ." He stopped as the realization hit him.

"No might. She would have died," I stated. "You're welcome. And if someone sends an anonymous report to the sheriff, that duo could end up in jail on multiple charges for drug possession. I hate to send them to the county lockup, but that might protect your mother."

"And keep them from blowing up half the county," Eli added.

"I'll call Sylvia tomorrow," Gordon said. "Thank you again. But please take this in the spirit I intend it. When this job is finished, you aren't welcome back here."

"Got it," I said. Gordon shushed into the dark. I looked at Eli, who was again holding Turpin's card like he'd won the lottery. "She's pretty," I said.

He gave me the usual quirky half smile instead of the bigger one he'd given her. "Yeah. And she likes guns. She was carrying three, an H and K nine mil under one arm, a small semi in her spine holster, and something on her ankle, under her pants."

"A match made in heaven," I said.

"Or on the shooting range. Hope she likes coffee."

"She does. Black." At his questioning look, I gave a hand shrug and said, "I smelled it on her. She's been mainlining the c.r.a.ppy stuff they keep in cop shops for hours." Eli grinned happily, real emotion on his dark-skinned face. The last time I'd seen that much mobility on his features, I'd just kicked his b.u.t.t in the dojo. "I'll hire some backup to keep watch so you can get some sleep."

"No need. I'm good," he said. But I was sure he only half heard me. He was thinking about Sylvia again, in a most erotic way. I shook my head and went back upstairs to my bed. I had about two hours before I had to get dressed for my next meeting with Big H, and I wasn't feeling all fresh and daisyfied. I needed to be at my best when I made my next call to Leo and also when I set up the med clinic to treat the sick vamps.

I texted Clark about the legal paperwork and to ask about the unnamed she our Cajun fanghead had mentioned, stripped off my pants, and was climbing into bed when a knock sounded. I was marginally presentable and I covered my bare legs. "Come in."

The Kid opened the door, the hallway dark behind him, his face and white T-shirt lit with the bluish light from the laptop he was cradling. He was wearing flannel SpongeBob SquarePants pajama bottoms, and I held in my grin. "I found something I think you need to see," he said. He walked into my room uninvited, flipped on the switch at the door, which turned on the bedside light, and handed me the laptop. An Internet file was open. "If you tell my brother, I'll be in trouble, but I drilled into Camilla Hopkins' publisher's Web site and found this on her editor's PC."

"Drilled?" I asked. He shrugged. "Hacked is soooo yesterday," I said. He shrugged again, not making eye contact, and pointed to the laptop.

It was a book proposal created by Misha, and it was very different from the one I'd seen in her hotel room. Under the section t.i.tle about research on vamp blood was a new listing of research papers, all papers written by human researchers on vampire blood for medical research.

I skimmed down until the word jumped out at me. Leukemia.

The Kid said, "Several docs are proposing that vamp blood might cure leukemia," he said.

Recently, I'd met a Cajun preacher man who claimed that vamp blood had cured his cancer, though it had taken a long time and a lot of blood, a debt he was still paying off years later. I thought of Charly, her body thin and her hair already falling out. I wasn't sure, but I thought hair didn't fall out until later rounds of chemo. The stuff Charly was on was pure poison, and it had only a slight chance of curing her. But maybe mixed with vamp blood . . .

Because of her research, Misha had known vamps could maybe offer a cure. Misha was a single mother with a daughter who meant everything to her. Misha was desperate.

"I have a feeling that Misha's not just planning to interview vamps for her book," the Kid said, sounding worried. "She's also trying to find a vamp who will give Charly blood."

Which, if I'd had half a brain, I would have realized from the moment I saw the child. I am such a dweeb about humans. Asking a vamp for blood was offensive, and humans who were so importunate or stupid as to ask had been known to vanish without a trace. Mish hadn't replied to my voice mail or text about her dead contact, Ryder. I frowned and checked my cell. Nothing.

"Another thing," the Kid said, sounding uneasy. "It might be nothing." I gave a little finger curl to continue. "Misha has a concealed-carry permit for the state. And I found a receipt on her bank card for a load of silver shot. So maybe if the vamp she was going to interview wasn't willing-"

"She might be planning to shoot him, kidnap him-or her-and force him to feed Charly," I said. "c.r.a.p." I scrubbed my hand across my head, mussing my braid. "I'll go see her after dawn. Talk her back down from this stupid plan."

"That might be a good idea. a.s.suming we're reading it right. But maybe we're not. Bright side and all that." The Kid picked up his laptop and backtracked through the room, turning off the lamp. "Get some sleep," he murmured, and closed my door. Like that was gonna happen.

CHAPTER 8.

Makes It Easier to Stomp 'Em to Death But I did, somehow, get two hours of catnap before my phone alarm sounded just after four a.m. I dressed in jeans and weaponed up, the movements so automatic I seldom even thought about the process anymore, and slung the medical kit with Leo's vamp-plague cure across my shoulders. I met Eli in the hallway, catching a whiff of aftershave and man.

"You think our captive is alive again?" he asked as we quietly descended to the main floor. "And sane?"

"We should check," I said, yawning.

"He'll be hungry."

I chuckled. "Kinda counting on that."

"Anyone ever tell you that you have a cruel streak?"

My step faltered, a slight hitch that I caught, hopefully before Eli noticed it.

"Not that I think that's a bad thing," he added. "Too many people are fu- freaking bleeding hearts without the guts to survive when the sh- uh, malodorous refuse hits the fan."

Cruel? Me? Beast purred, happy, while I felt . . . what? Not much of anything. Not even guilt, which was odder than I wanted to admit. I lifted a shoulder and turned through the house to the kitchen, where I opened the fridge and lifted out a raw, chilled steak. Watery blood was pooled in the corner of the zip-lock plastic, and so I grabbed a roll of paper towels and some hand sanitizer on the way out back. Cruel. I didn't have time to deal with the accusation, and filed it away in my hind brain for later consideration. Hopefully, I had a starved Naturaleza vamp to interrogate. I could deal with the truth later. I said, "Thank you for not cursing in front of me."

"I can kill in front of you, but not curse?" He sounded amused.

I shrugged again. "We all have boundaries."

Eli pulled his shotgun around front, from where it rested like a sling on his back, opened the door to the garage, turned on the light, and stepped through, the motion gallant, the big man willing to take the hit for the little lady. Gallant but kinda stupid. I could heal from most anything with my skinwalker metabolism. Eli was human. He couldn't. Still, I appreciated the gesture.

Inside, the vamp shielded his eyes with an arm and moved through the small s.p.a.ce where he was trapped, his body flowing weirdly, like one of those vamps in the woods. And the vision of what he looked like was suddenly there, blinking on my eyelids. He moved like one of those feathery centipedes, all long legs and bizarre body mechanics and aggression. He hissed. It was a primal sound, and Beast rose in my mind and stared out through my eyes.

I gave her control and dropped the plastic baggie to the floor. Squatting in front of the vamp's silver cage, I chuffed softly and pulled my vamp-killer. I twirled it in my hand so the silvered blade caught the light. I smelled the peculiar scent of silver-poisoned vamp, his blood on the spikes of the cage. It was sickly and slightly burned, like the studio scent of a metalworker, pickling solution and fire and heated silver, topped off by the old blood like a rancid top note on a really bad perfume. Ugly, but fascinating to Beast. She growled low in my throat, a sound no human can make.

I smiled when the vamp's eyes widened. He was Caucasian with the pale, pinkish skin of the Irish, dark hair and green eyes, handsome, as most vamps are. He was also vamped out, sclera bloodred, pupils so dilated his eyes were black, and I could smell the hunger on him. Dangerous. I widened my smile, showing blunt, human teeth and a predator's confidence.

"You should know," I said, conversationally, "that the Master of the City, Hieronymus, has put a bounty on your head. I make around forty thousand dollars if I take it to him. Separated from your body, of course." The vamp snarled. It was really effective with the fangs and all, but Beast's fangs were longer. I didn't flinch; I smiled wider, twirling the vamp-killer. The blade was fourteen inches long, the flat plated with polished sterling silver, the steel edge so sharp it could cut flesh before the human eye could even see it.

"I am hungry," he said, his fangs making it hard to understand. His ability to speak meant that he had at least one lung functioning in the hollow of his chest.

"Tough. But we can make a deal. Dinner for answers. I have questions."

He hissed at me. I shrugged. And opened the raw steak. His eyes darted to the baggie and stuck there like a fly on flypaper. "Give," he demanded, thrusting his open hand at me. "Feed me."

"Nope."

His eyes flashed back to mine, compelling. "I'm hungry, little nonhuman." It was a Southern accent, a well-bred one, with a hint of old in it.

"Don't care, little fanghead. If you want to drink anything, or even suck on the juices of this steak, you have to tell me what I want to know."

"Animal blood and meat will not nourish me."

"It's better than nothing, fanghead."

His eyes went back to the steak and his fangs clicked shut on the little hinges in his mouth. "And what is it you wish to know?"

"For starters, your name."

"Francis Adrundel, at your service."

Yep. Only one of the old ones would say at your service. And poor Francis was on the bounty list, good for nothing but a good beheading. He'd been eating humans, a Naturaleza, transported in by the now-true-dead vamp who had started this whole mess, Lucas Vazquez de Allyon. But at least I had Francis talking, which, as everyone in the interrogation business knows, is a necessary first step to getting your subject to tell you anything. "Age?"

"I was born in the seventh month, on the twelfth day, in the year 1820."

He was older than I expected, by nearly a hundred years. Interesting. "How did you get here to Natchez? Did de Allyon fly you in?"

He closed his eyes and took a slow breath through his nose, scenting, smelling the blood in the bag. And maybe my blood. I'd forgotten that my scalp had taken a scratch or two. And Eli, who had shaved very recently and likely drawn blood to the surface of his skin even if he hadn't nicked himself. It was like a vamp buffet in the garage. "Answer the question," I said.

"Yes. Flight," he said, with his eyes still closed. "And the lovely place in town. And all the slaves and servants I could drink. I liked being sworn to Lucas. I like being Naturaleza here, in this town, where the humans are such easy prey." His eyes popped open and he vamped out, fastfastfast. Eyes bled wide, sclera went pale pink, and fangs dropped down on their hinges again, with a snick of sound. "The Naturaleza here have much power, all the power that Lucas ever dreamed of having, and more. Here we are finally free. Feed me," he commanded, his compulsion wrapping around me like a silken veil.

Beast pressed claws into my brain and flopped down in the forefront of my mind, her thick tail tip twitching slightly. She gave me the control I needed to withstand the coercion in his eyes. "Nope."

Francis rushed the bars, vamp fast, appearing inches from me, growling, but without the pop of sound that most vamps make crossing a larger distance. I didn't drop away, but it was a near thing. I felt Eli tense. "Feed me, woman," Francis demanded.

"Tell me who's in charge of the Naturaleza now that de Allyon is true-dead. Tell me where the monsters sleep. And tell me where the humans they're feeding from are being kept. Be a good boy, and you might earn yourself a pint of human blood." I let a smile start, showing my blunt human teeth.

"Give me a human to drink and I will tell you what I know," he bargained.

I tossed the steak on top of the cage and the vamp followed its transfer with his entire body, a near backflip of motion that ended with two fingers pinching a corner of the baggie and letting the watery blood drain into his cupped palm. He slurped it while his other palm caught more. He made a face like it was nasty, and Beast agreed. Nasty water-blood of old dead cow, cold and tasteless. Vampire will hunt us and kill us for this.

"Maybe," I said aloud, not caring that no one knew what I was talking about. "Talk."

"I know nothing about humans except the ones I owned, and they are drained husks."