I could always smack him later.

Lucky for me, the vampires laundered my clothes and gave them to Ralph. After a quick shower, I got dressed and brushed out my hair, then I French-braided it. I went to the kitchen, feeling once again out of place. This was the home he'd made with Therese and their sons. I didn't feel like I belonged.

"Where are your boys?"

"They're staying with my in-laws in California. It's safer for them there. And no, they don't know about my condition."

"Are things really that dangerous here?"

"You were here for five minutes and got attacked by two wolves, a Tainted vampire, and a zombie. Then two dragons fell out of the sky."

"Ah. Good point."

After that, Ralph and I didn't have much to say to each other. While he made pancakes, I wandered his house. It was a small two- bedroom bungalow that Ralph kept tidy. With his sons here, I bet it wasn't nearly as easy to keep clean. I imagined clothing and toys and books strewn from the front yard to their bedroom. I found the idea enchanting, and for a strange moment I yearned to know what it was like, chasing after two giggling three-year-olds.

I stood in the doorway of the twins' room, and marveled. The walls were sky blue, and the border around the top featured brightly colored trains. Two toddler-sized beds in the shape of cabooses were neatly made up; each small pillow had a brown teddy bear.

Those fuzzy fellows waited for the return of their tiny playmates. I wondered how long it would be before they came back, and how long it would be before they could live here safely with their father. Maybe never. Even though I was upset with Ralph, I couldn't help but feel sad for him.

I flicked off the light and returned to the kitchen, where Ralph was putting the finishing touches on breakfast.

I was so nervous about the meeting that I didn't really have an appet.i.te. I ate the pancakes because Ralph had gone to the trouble of making them. It seemed a thousand years ago that I was sneaking into Broken Heart to find proof of the paranormal.

"Do you know what happened to my cell phone?" I asked.

"Confiscated," he said.

"Do you have one?"

"You can't call anyone. Not yet."

I really wanted to call my parents. I wanted to hear Mom's voice. It might've been childish to want my mommy, but I wasn't going to deny I'd be relieved to see her and Dad again. I wanted to protect them, especially if they'd gotten clear of the town. I was worried. If they'd given up trying to find me, then PRIS would descend on Broken Heart.

I had so many questions about what was going on, what had happened to me. But all I could think about were those two empty beds and those two lonely teddy bears.

"When will you see your boys again?" I asked as we cleaned up the breakfast dishes. The window above the kitchen sink showed that it was pitch-black outside. I must've slept all day. Keeping a vampire's hours already; I might as well get used to it.

"Visits are difficult to manage," he said. "I told you my in-laws don't know I'm a vampire. They think I work for the Consortium as a project manager, and that I've been sent out of the country on a special a.s.signment."

My heart broke for him. "So, you don't get to see them at all?"

"Every Sunday," he said. "My computer has a webcam, and my in-laws have the same setup. We do see each other. It's not the same as having them within arm's reach, but it'll have to do."

"Why stay here?" I asked. "You could take the boys and start over somewhere else. Get out of this place. I mean, it's crazy here.

Look at what happened last night." I blinked at my own statement. "What did happen last night?"

"Broken Heart has had some problems," said Ralph. "One of them is named Lia, and she showed up last night on her dragon. That thing blew the h.e.l.l out of the mansion and destroyed Stan's lab."

"You mean the blue dragon? The one that killed his sister?"

"Unfortunately, no. We don't know who he is."

"And this Lia person?"

"She's an Ancient."

I stared at him blankly. He nodded. "Right. The short version is that there are seven Ancient vampires, the original ones who created all the vampires we have now. Every Family has a different power."

"Like you with the fire thing."

He nodded. "Anyway, Lia's an Ancient. And she's not happy about Patsy's leadership."

"Patsy led a coup?"

Ralph laughed. "h.e.l.l, no. She got sucked in because of a prophecy. Basically, it said the Ancients' way of doing things would end, and Patsy would be the new vampire queen, and oh yeah, lead the lycanthropes, too. Not that the werewolves are exactly paying her tribute."

"She said something about that before," I said, trying to figure out where to put all the pieces of the Broken Heart puzzle. d.a.m.n. I was never very good at putting together puzzles.

"So, anyway, a few months ago, Lia conspired with two other Ancients. She was the one staging a coup. It failed."

I was beginning to see why Ralph had sent his sons out of the state. How the h.e.l.l could all this paranormal drama unfold without anyone in the real world noticing? Broken Heart was a small town, and it was plunked in the middle of nowhere. No one would come here on purpose. Lots of paranormal rumors were flying around, which is why my parents and I had decided to check it out.

I wondered what Broken Heart's citizens had done-and were still willing to do-to protect their secrets.

"I'm sorry about Stan," said Ralph, mistaking the reason for my silence. I probably should've been more worried about Stan's actions. I suppose it didn't matter all that much since he was . . . dead. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I really didn't want to think about him or what happened.

But apparently Ralph did.

"We didn't know he'd taken you to do other tests. That's why we couldn't find you at first."

"How did you find me?"

"Melvin. He found Patsy and gave the search party directions."

"I guess I owe him one." I felt strange about that. I wondered if the ghost was here now. Feeling foolish, I said, "Uh . . . thanks, Melvin."

Ralph chuckled. "I don't think the spirits are with us."

"Shut up. I'll have you know he likes me."

"He's not the only one," he said softly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He looked down at the sink and an awkward silence fell between us.

"What about Patrick?" I asked. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," said Ralph. "But I don't believe his illness has anything to do with you."

I appreciated his confidence, but as it turned out, he was wrong.

Apparently the meeting would convene at the queen's mansion, which looked beat up, but by no means in danger of falling apart.

The attack had obviously been directed at the middle of the large house. The brick walls were blackened, but solid. The roof had been tarped and broken windows had been covered with plywood.

The front door no longer existed, but the two big wolves, both outlined in red, standing guard at the entrance were better security anyway. They both growled at me as we pa.s.sed. I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue. Ralph kept a firm grip on my hand. I pretended he wanted the romantic connection even though he probably just wanted to keep me from running away. What he didn't know is that I'd already figured out running away was a bad idea. Not just because I would be hunted by scary paranormal creatures, but because, so far, running away from my problems had only made 'em worse.

After getting a "sniff and nod" from the guards, we entered the house. The smell of burned wood and melted plastic a.s.sailed me. I saw Ralph's nose twitch and realized the scent was probably a hundred times worse for him.

The large staircase was broken and burned. The lower part was completely gone. A hole at least twenty feet across had been blown out, and far below was Stanley's destroyed lab. I didn't get a chance to really look because Ralph hustled me down a wide hallway and into a formal dining room. The long table could easily seat forty people, and almost half the chairs were full. Patsy was seated at the head and Gabriel to her right. And to her left . . .

"Stan!" I stared at him, unable to believe my own eyes. He didn't look like he'd been crushed by a fallen ceiling. He didn't have a cut on him, and he wasn't wearing his gla.s.ses, either. I hurried forward, ignoring all the people at the table. I didn't know them, and probably wouldn't like them anyway.

"It is you!" I hugged him. "You're alive!"

"Well, not quite," he said. "I'm a vampire."

"And he's married," said the redheaded woman, who stood up next to him and wrapped her possessive arm around his. Stan looked so happy he was about to burst.

His wife gave me a perfectly manicured hand, but her gaze wasn't all that friendly. "I'm Linda Michaels."

"Libby Monroe." I looked at Stan. Now that he was walking around again, I could go back to being p.i.s.sed-off at him. "Why'd you experiment on me?"

The silence was sudden, and I could feel everyone's gazes on us.

Stan had the grace to look ashamed. "I needed samples."

"You had to strap me down to a table to get blood?"

"I did the blood tests. Your liver function test was off the charts. I had to be sure."

"And you couldn't ask me?" It was awkward, the three of us standing and chatting while fifteen or so other people stared at us. I was well aware that the queen was indulging me, and that I could easily end up back in a cell, or worse.

"I wasn't sure you would cooperate," he said. "Maybe it was the coward's way, Libby, but I did what I thought was best. I had hoped to get the necessary samples before you woke up."

What in the h.e.l.l had Stanley found in my blood work that made him drug me and perform procedures without my permission?

Anxiety rippled, and I started to worry. Was I sick? Did I have some kind of heinous new disease capable of killing vampires? Was it as I secretly feared-the dragon had irrevocably changed me?

"You didn't have the right," I said as fear gnawed away at my caution. "None of you had the right to experiment on me! To toss me in jail! How dare you just . . . just confiscate my life!"

Tears spilled, and I didn't care. Let them see my weakness. To them, I was a mere human, worth nothing. How easy it was for these creatures to hold me hostage, to unravel all that I had worked for because it suited their purposes. I felt anger coil, the familiar heat spread through me. They thought what I had done in the living room was bad? Hah!

"Why, Stanley?" I yelled, feeling the power grow inside me. I shaped my fury, held on to it, waited to unleash it. "What's so wrong with me?"

"Libby," said Stanley, his voice rife with concern. "You're not human."

Chapter 12

His words cooled my anger as quickly as water thrown onto a fire. The fury dissipated, replaced quickly with hurt. I put my hands on my hips.

"What do you mean? I was human two days ago."

"Before the dragon kissed you."

"Why don't you go sit down by Ralph?" asked Patsy. "And we'll start the meeting."

By which she meant witch trial, I was sure. I walked to the chair that Ralph pulled out for me and sat. He didn't look at me, but his hand found mine under the table. I appreciated the comfort. I wasn't really mad at him anymore; because of him I had some freedom. He'd invited me into his house, into his life, and I hadn't exactly been grateful.

"We're all here now, so let's start with Stanley's enthusiastic if unauthorized research results," said Patsy. I appreciated the censure in her voice. At least she hadn't agreed with Stan's experimentation on my unconscious self.

"Since my lab is destroyed," said Stan, "I don't have the data. However, based on the initial blood work, which I hoped to confirm with other testing, it appears Libby is not human. Rather, she is not all human."

I shook my head. Getting turned into a blood-sucker, or maybe it was just getting KOed by the ceiling, had scrambled Stan's brains. How could I not be all human?

"What is she?" asked Lorcan. "Something like the loup de sang? A hybrid?"

"Yes, a hybrid," said Stan. He cleared his throat, looking nervous. "Again, I need further testing to gain proof, but I believe she's . .

. part dragon."

Reactions were varied. Some laughed, others consulted those nearest to them, and still others peered at me as if I would sprout scales and breathe fire.

"What about Ralph?" asked one man with thick, black hair and jade green eyes. His German accent was p.r.o.nounced. Oh, yes.

The mean man who'd come to the jail the day before. On either side of him were men who were his dopplegangers. Triplets. Oh, great. Like one wasn't scary enough.

"I ran blood tests on Ralph and they both have the same . . . quirks."

"And yet, he didn't strap you to a table and poke you with sharp instruments," I said in a low voice.

"Would it make you feel better if he had?"