You call yourself the Cat-"

Rashel clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Listen to me," she hissed. Her heart was pounding. All the girls around her were staring and she expected to hear the cellar door open at any moment. "

Nyala, listen. I know you don't like me or trust me-but you've got to stop y elling that. We may only have one chance to get out of here."

Nyala's chest was heaving. Her eyes, the color of dark plums, stared into Ras hel's.

"I am a vampire hunter," Rashel whispered, willing Nyala to believe it. "I ma de a mistake letting that vampire go that night ... I admit it. But I've been trying ever since to put things right. I got captured on purpose so I could find out what was going on here-and now I'm going to try to get all these gir ls free." She spoke slowly and distinctly, hoping Nyala could sense the truth of her words. "But, Nyala, if the Night People find out I'm a vampire hunter -much less the Cat-they are going to take me out and kill me right this minut e. And then I don't think the rest of you have a chance."

She stopped to breathe. "I know it's hard to trust me. But please, please try . Do you think you can do that?"

A long pause. Nyala's eyes searched hers. Then, at last, Nyala nodded.

Rashel took her hand off Nyala's mouth. She sat back on the bed and they sta red at each other.

"Thank you," Rashel said. "I'm going to need your help." Then she shook h er head. "But how did you get here? How did you find the club?"

"I didn't find any club. I went back to that street with the warehouses on Wednesday. I thought maybe the vampire might come back. And then-some body grabbed me from behind."

"Oh, Nyala." Wednesday night, Rashel thought. The night Daphne saw Ivan ca rry in a new girl and put her on a cot. That girl was Nyala. Rashel put a hand to her head. "Nyala-I almost saved you. I was there the next night-wh en Daphne fell out of the truck. Do you remember that? If I had only known . . .".

Nyala wasn't listening. "Then there was this whisper in my mind, telling me to sleep. And I couldn't move-I couldn't move my arms or my legs. But I wa sn't asleep. And then he carried me into a warehouse and he bit me." Her vo ice was detached, almost pleasant. But her eyes froze Rashel in place.

"He bit me in the neck and I knew I was going to die, just like my sister. I c ould feel the blood coming out. I wanted to scream but I couldn't move. I coul dn't do anything." She smiled oddly at Rashel. "I'll tell you a secret. It's s till there, the bite. You can't see it, but it's still there." She turned her head to show a smooth unblemished neck.

"Oh, G.o.d, Nyala." Rashel had felt awkward trying to make gestures of comf ort with Daphne, but now she didn't think. She just grabbed Nyala and hugged her hard.

"Listen to me," she said fiercely. "I know how you feel. I mean-no, I don't know, because it hasn't happened to me. But I'm sorry. And I know how you felt when you lost your sister." She leaned back and looked at Nyala, almos t shaking her. "But we have to keep fighting. That's what's important right now. We can't let them win. Right?"

"Yes . . ." Nyala looked slowly around her bed, then up at Rashel. "Yes, tha t's right." Her eyes seemed to sharpen and focus.

"I'm making a plan to get out of here. And you have to stay calm and help m e."

"Yes." Nyala sounded more definite this time. Then she smiled almost seren ely and whispered, "And we'll get our revenge."

"Yeah." Rashel pressed her hand. "Somehow, we will. I promise you."

She walked back to her cot feeling eyes on her, although n.o.body asked any questions. Her own eyes were stinging.

What had happened to Nyala was her fault. The girl had already been on the edge, and because of Rashel, she'd gotten herself caught and attacked by a vampire. And now . . .

Now Rashel was worried about Nyala's sanity, even if they did manage to get off the island.

She's right about one thing, though, Rashel thought. Revenge. It's the only w ay to wipe out the things that have been done to these girls.

The fire in her chest was back-as if there were coals where her throat and h eart ought to be. She let it harden her and burn away any stray thoughts of mercy for Quinn. Strange how she kept having thoughts of him, long after she 'd made the resolution to kill him.

"Is she okay?" Daphne said worriedly. "I remember her from the warehouse.

"I know." Rashel took the lockpick and sat on Daphne's cot. She began to wo rk at Daphne's shackles. "I don't know if she's okay. The vampires haven't been living in harmony with her." She glanced bitterly at Fayth, who just l ooked back gravely and steadily.

"n.o.body thinks all the Night People are good," Fayth said. "Or all the huma ns. We don't approve of violence. We want to stop it all."

"Well, sometimes it takes violence to stop violence," Rashel said shortly. Fa yth didn't answer.

"But why was she calling you a cat?" Daphne asked.

Rashel could feel Fayth's gaze on her. "The Cat. It's the name of a vampire h unter, one who's killed a lot of vampires."

Daphne's dark blue eyes widened slightly. "Is it you?"

Rashel sprung a lock. Somehow, with these two girls staring at her, she didn'

t feel quite so brash as she had a moment ago. She didn't feel terribly proud of being the Cat.

Without looking up, she said, "Yes." Then she glanced behind her at Fayth.

Fayth said nothing.

"There's going to be more killing before this is all done," Rashel said. "A nd I can't think of anybody who deserves it more than the vampires who brou ght us here. So you let me take care of that, and we won't argue about it.

All right?" She sprung the other lock on Daphne's shackles. Daphne immediat ely stretched her legs luxuriously, then swung them to the floor. Fayth jus t nodded slowly.

"All right, then. Listen. The first thing we've got to do is get these girl s organized." Rashel moved to work on Fayth's chains. "You're both good tal kers. I want the two of you to go around and talk to them individually. I w ant to know who's going to be able to help us and who's still under mind co ntrol. I want to know who's going to be a problem. And I especially want to know who has any experience with boats."

"Boats?" Fayth said.

"No place on this island is safe. We have to get off. There are four boats in the harbor right now- if we can just find somebody to handle them." She looked from Daphne to Fayth. "I want you to bring me back at least two sens ible girls who have some chance of not sinking a powerboat. Got it?"

Daphne and Fayth glanced at each other. They nodded. "Right, boss," Daphn e murmured, and they started off.

Rashel sat, weighing a chain in her hand and thinking. There was no need to tell Daphne-yet-that she didn't plan to ship out with the boats.

Half an hour later Daphne and Fayth stood before her beaming. At least Dap hne was beaming; Fayth was wearing that grave smile that was starting to d rive Rashel crazy.

"Allow me to introduce Annelise," Daphne said, leading Rashel to a cot. "O riginally a native of Denmark. She's done the race circuit in Antigua-what ever that means. Anyway, she says she can handle a boat."

The girl in the cot was one of the oldest there, eighteen or nineteen. She w as blond, long-legged, and built like a Valkyrie. Rashel liked her at once.

"And this is Keiko over here," Fayth said in her simple way. "She's young, b ut she says she grew up around boats."

This one Rashel wasn't so sure about. She was tiny, with hair like black silk and a rosette mouth. She looked like a collector's doll. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Keiko said softly. "But I was born on Nantucket. My parents have a Ciera Sunbridge. I think I can do what you're asking-it's just the naviga tion that worries me."

"There isn't anybody else," Daphne stage-whispered in Rashel's ear. "So my a dvice is we trust the kid."

"I think the navigation will be straight west," Rashel said. She smiled rea ssuringly at Keiko. "Anyway, even the open ocean will be safer than here."

She gestured to Daphne and Fayth to come back to their corner.

"Okay. Good job. You're right about trusting the kid; I don't think we have a ny other choice. We definitely need two boats for all these girls. What else did you find out?"

"Well, the ones that are still under mind control are the ones that came wi th us," Daphne said. "Juanita and Missy. And the one that might cause troub le is your buddy Nyala. She's not completely hinged, if you know what I mea n."

Rashel nodded. "The mind control may be a problem-how long did it take to wear off the others, Fayth?"

"A day or so after they came in. But that's not the only problem, Rashel. An nelise and Keiko think they can handle the boats-but not tonight. Not until tomorrow."

"We can't wait until tomorrow," Rashel said impatiently. "That's cutting it w ay too fine."

"I don't think we have a choice. Rashel, all these girls are tranquilized. Dru gged."

Rashel blinked. "How-?" She shut her eyes. "Oh."

"The food," Fayth said, as Rashel nodded in resignation. "I realized right of f that there was something in it. I think most of the girls know-and they'd r ather be tranquilized than think about what's happening to them."

Rashel rubbed her forehead wearily. No wonder the girls hadn't asked her any questions. No wonder they weren't all screaming their heads off. They were doped to the gills.

"From now on we've got to keep them from eating," she said. "They need cle ar heads if we're going to escape." She looked at Fayth. "Okay. We wait. B ut that's going to make everything more dangerous. How often do they bring food in here?"

"Twice a day. Late morning and around eight at night. And then they take u s to the bathroom two by two."

"Who does it?"

"Rudi. Sometimes he has another werewolf with him."

Daphne bit her lip anxiously. "Are we equipped for werewolves?"

Rashel smiled. Holding her knife, she pulled the decorative k.n.o.b at the end of the sheath. It came off, revealing a metal blade. She reversed the k.n.o.b a nd stuck it in the end of the sheath, so the blade stuck out like a bayonet.

The hard wooden sheath itself was now a weapon.

"The blade is silver-coated steel," she said in satisfaction. "We are equippe d for werewolves."

"You see?" Daphne said to Fayth. "This girl thinks of everything."

Rashel put the knife away. "All right. Let's talk to everybody again. I want to explain my plan. When we do this tomorrow night, it's going to take coop eration and precision."

And, she thought, a lot of luck.

"Chow time!"

Rudi walked between the rows of cots, tossing packages from a plastic bag to either side of him. He looked, Rashel thought, exactly like a trainer throw ing herring to seals.

She scanned the aisle behind him. No other werewolf at the door. Good.

It had been a long night and a longer day. The girls were dizzy from lack o f food, keyed up, and getting more tense with each untranquilized hour. A c ouple of them couldn't seem to shake their first impression of Rashel-which had come from Nya-la's yelling.

"Eat up, girlies. Got to keep up your strength." A slightly warm foil packag e hit Rashel's lap, another hit the mattress. Same thing as brunch-hot dogs of the kind you get at a convenience store. Smeared with mustard and drugs.

The girls had been surviving on the grapefruit juice he'd poured for them.

As Rudi turned to throw a package to Juanita, Rashel rose smoothly from he r cot. In one motion she leaped and came down right on target.

"Don't make a sound," she said in Rudi's ear. "And don't even think about c hanging."

She had his arm twisted behind his back and the silver knife to his throat.

Rudi didn't seem to know how he'd gotten there. There were hot dogs all over the floor."Now," Rashel said. "Let's talk about jujitsu. This is what you call a proper h old. Resistance to it will cause serious pain and quite possibly a fractured joint. Are you getting thi s, Rudi?" Rudi wiggled a little and Rashel exerted pressure upward on his kn uckles. Rudi yelped and danced on his toes.

"Hush! What I want to know is, where is the other werewolf?"

"Guarding the dock."

"Who else is on the dock?"

"I-n.o.body."

"Is there anybody on the stairs or in the kitchen? Don't lie to me, Rudi, or I'

ll get annoyed."

"No. They're all in the gathering room."

Rashel nodded at Daphne. Daphne jumped out of her bed.

"Remember-quick and quiet everybody," she said, like a cheerleader who'd b een promoted to drill sergeant.

Rashel felt Rudi boggle as every girl in the room kicked off her covers and s tood up free.

"What the-what the-"

"Now, Rudi." Keeping his elbow trapped against her, Rashel exerted pressure again, moving him easily in the direction she wanted. "You go first. You'r e going to unlock the top door for us."

"Annelise and Keiko in front," Daphne said. "Missy right here. Let's go."

"I can't unlock it. I can't. They'll kill me," Rudi muttered, as Rashel moved h im up the stairs.

"Rudi, look at these young women." Rashel swung him around so he had a go od view of the prisoners behind him. They stood in one tense, dear-eyed, lightly breathing ma.s.s. "Rudi, if you don't unlock that door, I am going to tie you up and leave you alone with them . . . and this silver knif e. I promise, whatever the vampires do to you won't be worse."

Rudi stared at the girls, who stared back at him. All ages, all sizes, united.

"I'll unlock the door."