As she stood snarling, the fog in her eyes cleared and her fangs retracted into her gums.

I wrapped my arms around myself and trembled. The part of my brain that had wanted nothing more than to do whatever Luna commanded threw cold water on itself and woke up.

I stared wide-eyed at the creature in front of me.

She'd known about the necklace, but the bloodlust appar-ently didn't waste time on frivolous details.

I didn't think there was any way I could ever truly un-derstand the craving for blood.To have blood obsession to the point of being enthralled by the need. But I'd just gotten a psychic encyclopaedia full of information that horrified and sickened me.

Mental postcards of all the bodies she'd drained, all the destruction she'd caused slammed into my brain.

She might not have wanted to kill me, but she would've. Even if it meant Devereux would destroy her.

My bodyshook, a delayed reaction to my second near-death experience of the night.

Luna backed away and reclaimed the chair at the kitchen table, still watching me, her fists clenched. She clearly strug-gled to regain control. Her eyes were dull with dark smudges underneath, her skin pasty white.

She cleared her throat then spoke, her voice husky. "You're lucky Devereux gave you that necklace. If you hadn't been wearing it, I'd have bled you. I would've tried to only take enough to sustain me until I could find another source, but I probably wouldn't have been able to restrain myself. Hunger after being wounded is the worst.

"'There's nothing in the human experience that comes close to being as powerful as the need for blood.

Not even a heroin addict's craving for a fix." She sighed and licked her lips. "I have to go and feed. Until I do, I'm a danger to you. Not that I care, but Devereux does."

"Necklace or no.Even now I can't think of anything but the taste of your blood and the pulse pounding in your neck. I'll go and find one of my regular sources.One of my vam-pire addicts. It won't take long.

Then I'll come back."

It was probably stupid to question a hungry vampire, but I couldn't help myself. "Do you mean you're going to go kill someone?"

She shook her head. "No. I'll find one of the humans who regularly donate blood and sex. Getting both my needs met at the same time seems to take the edge off." She cocked her head and stared at me with cold eyes, her voice deep and serious."Don't make the mistake of thinking that vampires are just eccentric humans.That we simply have a nasty little habit or two. We're not human. We take blood from willing and unwilling victims. Killing is what we do. We enjoy it.All of us. You might be surprised to know what pleasure it brings me to fantasize about draining you dry." She rose, sauntered over and gazed at me through her thick eyelashes, a cold grin on her face.

"In fact, you could say you and I have a date the moment Devereux dumps you."

I started to ask another question, but she flicked her fin-gers dismissively and said, "That's enough. If I don't leave now, you'll be sorry."

She blinked out and I slid to the floor, my back against the washing machine. Exhaustion swamped me.

I woke up in sunlight, lying on top of the covers on my bed, Devereux's voice an echo in my mind.

"My love.Luna told me what happened last night. I am sorry I was not there to protect you. Something very strange is happening. I was tricked into journeying into a difficult reality and was intercepted once I arrived there. The power necessary for someone to deceive me is beyond any I've seen before. We must be vigilant. I will come to you as soon as I rise. Oh, yes. Here is the address of your new office:984 Lincoln Ave., #505 . The building manager is expecting you.Until tonight."

A phantom vampire lover, a religious fanatic killer, and a beauty queen predator.Just another day in Oz.

My first glimpse of the emergency room decor in my living room was depressing. For one brief moment I hoped it was a bad dream and I'd find my living space just as normally-cluttered and blood free as usual.

But no.

I spent a few minutes on the phone, interviewing clean-ing services, being very up-front about thebloodstains, and settled on the one that specialized in taking "the jobs that nobody else wants."

The woman started to tell me about the last crime scene they'd been hired to restore, and how no one would ever have known that an entire family had been brutally murdered there, and I cut her off, saying I was sure they could handle my situation.Too much information.

They agreed to come later that day.

I also tracked down a handyman who'd done some home repairwork for me in the past, and said I needed a new front door.

Luckily, he was also available.

I showered, dressed and decided to focus on finding an-other office. I wanted to make a change regardless of what my current building manager chose to do.

Unfortunately, I discovered immediately that my infamy had spread, and, suddenly, none of the vacancies in the paper were still available after the rental agent heard my name.

I couldn't really blame them because what property man-ager in her or his right mind would want to rent to someone who'd had her office recently trashed by a murderer?

Then I remembered Devereux's mental memo.

What had he said about an office?

I closed my eyes and allowed the address he'd imprinted in my memory to resurface. Grabbing my purseand keys, I headed out my broken door, wondering briefly if my guard-ian vampires had really spent the night out in my yard and if it had been Luna who'd carried me upstairs.

Cold chills ran through my body as I imagined myself sleeping and vulnerable as Luna crouched over me, maybe thinking about which vein she'd puncture first.

I drove to the address Devereux had given me, which turned out to be only a block away from The Crypt.

I pulled to the curb. The building was spectacular.

Delightfully old, it had been lovingly restored,remodeled and was the crown jewel of theneighborhood .

A parking garage, built to blend in with the architecture of the antique building next door, sported a sign that said, "ParkingFor The Crypt and LadyAmara Only."

The building is named after LadyAmara ?Devereux's mother?

Come to think of it, Midnight had mentioned that De-vereux lived in a loft near the club. It looked like he owned the whole building.

Damn. I'd been so caught up in trying not to believe Devereux was a vampire, that I hadn't given any thought to the fact he was also a rich vampire.

Deciding not to move my car to the parking garage, I plunked quarters into the meter in front of the lobby en-trance and walked through the wood-framed, stained-glass double doors.

Breathtaking.

Gold etched marble floors stretched out for hundreds of square feet, and just past the bank of elevators stood a large reception desk. Plush leather couches and chairs were scat-tered throughout the room, Devereux's artwork filled the walls, and relaxing music flowed from invisible speakers.

Still gawking at the beautiful lobby, I walked to the re-ception desk and asked for the building manager.

The young woman seated behind the desk smiled brightly and asked my name. Upon hearing it, she rose and held out her hand.

I shook it.

I'm Victoria Essex, building manager, receptionist, trouble shooter, and all-round wunderkind. I've been expect-ing you." She sailed her arm through the air in the direction of the elevators. "Right this way."

The elevator was a mirrored affair. Lovely to look at, but it could be annoying to have nothing to rest your eyes on but yourself during your ride in the box.

Unless, of course, there were other people in there with you, and then you had total license to indulge your people-watching desires to your heart's content.

I'd just given myself permission to study my young com-panion in the mirror, when the ding sounded, the door opened, and we stepped into a lushly carpeted hallway. The ice blue of the floor matched thecolors in the elegant, Euro-pean style wallpaper. I could easily have imagined myself in a luxury, old world hotel.

Pausing in front of a hand-carved portal,Victoria slid a key card into a slot near the handle, the red light changed to green, and the door clicked open. There had to be some kind of mistake. This place was big enough and extraordinary enough to be Martha Stewart'sDenver corporate office. We wandered through a space that would make a great waiting room,then entered a large, multi-room suite.

Victoriasmiled. "Isn't it incredible? Mr. Devereux de-signed the renovation of the building himself and chose the interiors for every suite."

"So, Mr. Devereux owns this building?"

She nodded. "Yes. This one and many others, including the gothic wonderland down the street. Have you ever been to The Crypt?"

''Yes.It's really something. Does he live in this building?"

She cocked her head and raised her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry. Mr. Devereux gave me the impression that you two were close friends. I just assumed you were aware of his per-sonal details. But, then again, he did tell me to answer all your questions. Yes. He keeps the penthouse as his residence."

The charming smile returned to her face. She opened a set of double doors that led to a lovely, full bath.

"On the other side of the suite is a smaller bath, which would be perfect for your clients to use. Would you care to see it?"

He must have filled her in about my line of work. I nod-ded and she guided me across the expanse.

"'What kinds of other businesses have their offices here in the building?" I asked.

"All the businesses here belong to Mr. Devereux and his associates. They run several international corporations. Yours will be the only outside business in the building. Well, what do you think? Would you like to move in?"

I chuckled. "You bet.In a heartbeat. But affording the rent is another issue."

She nodded and smiled. "Mr. Devereux told me you'd say that. He said to tell you he'll discuss the details of the rental agreement with you personally, and I should assure you that you can easily afford the space."I'm going to leave you here for a few minutes by yourself so you can get a feel for the place." She took a couple of steps toward the door, spread her arms wide and spun in a circle, pointing to the empty space as she twirled. "Start imagining where your furniture will go. Enjoy the view of the moun-tains from your windows.

"Oh, and by the way, he also asked me to tell you that you can have the suite unfurnished or furnished.

He has a huge warehouse full of couches, chairs, desks, tables, lamps, any-thing you might desire.

Wonderful pieces. He said to let him know what you require and it will be delivered immediately."

She stopped spinning, walked through the suite and closed the door behind her.

I laughed out loud at her joyful free-spiritedness and threw my arms out as she'd done,then let them return to my sides. If I'd ever managed to learn how to turn cartwheels in elementary school, I'd be tempted to turn one now.

I strolled through the spacious rooms.

Of course, it was out of the question. There was no way in hell that I could afford this place. The bathroom fixtures alone cost more than I paid for my townhouse.

Wouldn't it be great if I could afford it? I hadn't even started figuring out how I was going to acquire new furniture to replace the broken stuff in my office. My insurance would probably reimburse me, but that could take months.

But, if I moved into Devereux's building and let him give me a rent break, I'd be obligated to him. I was sure that's what he wanted. Where was the line between taking advantage of a good deal, and losing my autonomy? What happened if I de-cided I didn't want a vampire boyfriend? What if Luna was right and he dumps me? I'd have to move again.

Thinking about all that made my head hurt.

I glanced down at my feet, which had sunk deep into the rich pile of the carpet, and wondered if a rug this thick had to be vacuumed or mowed? The view out the windows drew me like a magnet. From this row of windows I had a panoramic view ofCol-orado 's Front Range, the mountains that skirted the metro area all the way from south ofColorado Springs up to theWyoming border.

Wind clouds hovered along the tops of the peaks, signalling that theDenver area might be in for some of our famous one-hundred-miles-per-hour, window rattling,roof lifting air blasts. But, if this building had been here as long as I suspected it had, it wasn't likely to get blown away anytime soon.

Giving in to temporary insanity, I'd just dropped down onto the floor and was flailing my arms and legs and giggling, making a snow angel in the carpet, whenVictoria re-entered and clapped her hands.

"I knew you'd love it!"

Outrageously embarrassed, I was halfway up, when I glanced over to find her on the floor with me, following my example. We laughed at ourselves and each other, spent a couple of minutes being five-years-old again and finally got off the floor. We smiled at each other. After all, our inner children had bonded. She handed me the key card and a business card with her information on it.

"Mr. Devereux said for me to give you the key card so you could spend as much time in the suite as you wish before you decide one way or the other."

She started toward the exit thenturned, a wide smile on her friendly face.

"I think he really likes you. I look forward to having you here. If you need anything just call me, any day, any time.

"Blessed be." She waved and left.

Blessed be? That was aWiccan greeting and parting. Of course Devereux had a witch as his office manager.Did she know everything about Devereux? He must have told her something to justify the fact that he was never here during the daylight hours. He did tend to surround himself with people who were devoted to him. Maybe he secretly slept in a coffin in the basement?

I wandered around the suite for a few more minutes, stared out the window,then forced myself to head back out to the hallway. I'd apparently decided to take him up on his offer. Pro-viding, of course, the true cost wasn't higher than I was willing to pay.

Halloween.

The big news story in town was the yearly bash, which turned out to be called The Vampires' Ball. How could I have lived here so long and never heard of it? The event was the topicdujour on the radio.

According to the legend, twenty years ago, in the foothills west ofDenver , an eccentric billionaire built a monstrously huge hotel that was designed to resemble the rich guy'sfavor-ite Scottish castle.

He'd even had a portion of the Celtic original disman-tled and shipped here for his masterpiece, in the hopes that a ghost or two might tag along for the ride. There are lots of stories about those ghosts, which might have contributed to the failure of the hotel as a successful en-terprise. Or maybe the hotel went belly up because the billion-aire lost interest in it and didn't continue all the maintenance and upkeep required for a castle in the foothills of theRocky Mountains . Whatever the reason, the castle languished.

Until ten years ago, when it was purchased by yet an-other eccentric billionaire and transformed from a hotel to an event site.

Specifically, the site for The Vampires' Ball.

Gee. I wonder if I know any eccentric billionaires who might be at-tracted to a ghost-filled castle as the location for a celebration dedicated tovampires?Hmmm. Let me think.

It wasn't enough that Devereux was a vampire who could move through thought, a wizard who travels to other dimen-sions, and a gorgeous hunk of god-like masculinity. Now I had to deal with the fact that he's rich and owns half the world. I didn't know whether to laugh or scream. But, whether or not Devereux was involved, the gala sounded like it would draw every vampire, vampire wannabe, and fan of the paranormal on this side of theMississippi . It occurred to me that the ball would be a great place for the police to use me to capture Brother Luther.Or whoever the hell he is.

But why would I want to do that? I wasn't the brave type. If I couldn't use my therapy skills to solve a situation, I was pretty much out of my league. Now that I'd actually seen him up close and personal, and witnessed his madness first-hand, why would I want to put myself in danger again?

Because until he was caught and put away, I was a pris-oner.He could show up any time and destroy as many offices as I could move into. In fact, that reminded me I needed to talk to Devereux about whether or not he really wanted me in there if his beautiful building could be wrecked by Vampire Satan at any time.

But still, weighing all the pros and cons, I thought it was worth a phone call to Lieutenant Bullock.