"They would enslave those of us who choose to live in peace and freedom, beyond the notice of humans," Olivia said.

"Or worse," I added. "If their numbers are great enough they could just as easily slaughter us all if we continue to be uncooperative."

"So these council members, they're the ones you also call the old sires?" Will asked. When I nodded, he said, "So it's because of them you started shipping to America those vampires who wanted to get as far away from the dark lords as they could."

"Yes. Late in the eighteenth century, I first went to the New World to make my fortune. There was to be an uprising among our kind against the old lords who had begun to enslave us. Many, like Alger, chose to stay and fight. But I 'd had enough killing. For centuries, under Reedrek's thumb I was forced to slaughter humans indiscriminately and vampires in my own bloodline for retribution against every slight, real or imagined, to my sire."

"But the bloodbath never happened on the scale you and others were worried about, did it?" Olivia said. "Alger said so."

"That's right," I said. "But according to my contacts, their goals remained the same. Their minions made raids on vampire covens and colonies here and there, killing some outright, enslaving others." "What happened to the all-out war they were planning, then? What have they been doing all this time?" Will wanted to know.

"No one knows for sure, at least n.o.body who's willing to tell. The prevailing theory-proposed by Alger, in fact-is that the Council thought that together, their power would be greater than each of them acting alone. But it didn't work out that way. They are still dangerous-don't mistake me," I said. "But there is a certain amount of infighting, and they were never able to summon an overwhelming force in numbers or power."

Olivia and Bree looked at each other. "William," Olivia began. "You've seen my journal, so you know about my ongoing project-the one where I doc.u.ment the lives of female blood drinkers, going back thousands of years."

I nodded. It was when Deylaud read Olivia's book that I had learned of Diana's existence as a blood drinker.

"We collect historical data through a network of contacts we've forged since Alger began the project before he made me," she continued. "We've only recently begun to put this information in a computer database."

I started to speak, but Olivia cut me off with a wave of her hand. She said, "Don't worry about it falling into the wrong hands.

We've encrypted all the data and taken every security precaution imaginable, believe me. You 're also aware of the wealth of research material that Alger collected on his own through the centuries."

I nodded again. My friend Algernon, in addition to being an unbridled libertine, was also, somewhat paradoxically, a scholar of the first order. He made copious notes throughout his long existence about myriad topics, mostly the history of blood drinkers and their origins.

"Just in the last couple of weeks we've started to enter all Alger's information in the database, so we'll be able to a.n.a.lyze it statistically and in other ways."

"What do you mean 'a.n.a.lyze the data'?" Will asked.

"We can make comparisons, draw inferences, construct models, make predictions...," Andrew explained.

"Whoa, mate, what are you on about?" Will asked again. "How is all that supposed to help us?"

Intrigued, I said, "I can think of many applications. We can figure out which vampires through the ages have known one another, which ones would have been at the same place at the same time, determine what alliances may have been formed-"

"Exactly," Olivia said.

"Did Alger gather much information on the dark lords?" Will wanted to know.

"Yes," Olivia said. "Just a few days ago we found a cache of doc.u.ments all about the Council."

I said, "I'm sure that Alger told me all he knew about the dark lords by the time of his death," I said. "We were very close. He wouldn't have held anything back from me."

"Of course not, William," Olivia said. Her eyes glistened as she spoke of her beloved sire. "Did you ever wonder why Alger agreed to come to Savannah when he did? After you had begged him to join you for more than two hundred years?"

"Yes," I said. "He hinted that he felt we were entering into a heightened time of danger from the old lords. As soon as he was settled in America, we were going to bring all of you over on the next crossing."

"That's true," Olivia agreed. "But it was more than that. He had just acquired the papers of another scholar blood drinker. It included research that goes back until almost-if you can believe it-the beginnings of blood drinkers on this earth. Some of this material is so ancient it's on papyrus and stone tablets, William!" She positively glowed with excitement now. "What languages are they in?" I asked.

"Aramaic, Greek, ancient Celtic tongues, all types of languages. It will take some time to have it all translated. Particularly since we have to pa.r.s.e it out in so many lots."

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"If we have to employ human interpreters, we cannot give too much material to any one-"

"To make sure no human is able to learn too much about us, " I finished for her. "You seem to have this well thought out. I applaud you."

"Thank you, but most of the credit for caring for the material should go to Alger. He had his vampires through the years make duplicates of all the material as a backup in case it was torched or stolen by our enemies. When we found the stone tablets and the other really ancient stuff after Alger died, there was a notation that the material had already been copied. Alger even made rubbings of the stone tablets. He was taking the copies to you when he was murdered aboard the Alabaster. It was to be a surprise. He knew your love of ancient artifacts. He hadn't even taken the time to have any of it translated before he left. He thought you could help him with that."

I leaned forward in my chair. "No such papers were found on the Alabaster with Alger's remains. Reedrek said he'd stowed away on the Alabaster to murder Alger out of spite and stop my smuggling operation, but it may have been more than that.

Perhaps Reedrek knew that Alger had important information about the Council that he didn't want to come to light."

"I expect what's left of those copies is at the bottom of the Atlantic by now," Olivia said.

"Why have you only now told me this?" I demanded.

"There was no time. You sent me back here to organize the Bonaventures so soon after you put Reedrek away, and then you a.s.signed me to brief and dispatch spies to search out Hugo's vampires and determine if Diana was alive."

"Which you lied to me about," I said.

"Out of necessity," Olivia replied impatiently. "And then there was this crisis with Renee. You have so much on your mind, so much to deal with, I only wanted to wait until we had something of substance to share with you."

Olivia's gaze searched mine for something akin to the excitement she was feeling. "William, forgive me, but I thought you'd be more...enthusiastic about this discovery."

How could I tell her that I was beyond caring about vampire history and politics? She no doubt still expected me to transport her little coven to Savannah as soon as I got Renee back. I no longer gave a d.a.m.n about her and her merry band of blood drinkers. I cared only about saving Renee. I barely cared about Will. I still needed Olivia's help, however, and this new revelation might mean she could provide even more aid than I'd dared to hope.

"I a.s.sure you, I don't lack enthusiasm. I'm just going through all the possibilities in my mind," I said. "Have you been able to decipher anything that will help us with the problem at hand right now?"

"I hadn't thought so until I heard Will's story just now about how Ulrich is trying to impress the Council with a-a sacrifice."

Olivia glanced down at the floor. She couldn't bring herself to say Renee's name in such a gruesome context.

"But now?" I asked.

"We were comparing some of Alger's recent notes to some that he made around the time you first went to the New World.

We think that he was trying to get to the bottom of the Council 's resurgence-the feeling everyone's getting in their blood that some big event is on its way." "The reason Alger decided to go to America when he did," Will said.

"Yes. Exactly." Olivia paused and took a breath as if what she had to say next would be difficult to explain. "When Alger himself began to get this-this feeling of..."

"Doom?" Will supplied.

Olivia snapped her attention to him. "Yes. Impending doom. That's exactly how Alger described it."

I appraised my son. He was much more intuitive than I had originally thought. Of course, he was five centuries old, much older than Olivia, and could therefore, like me, sense things younger blood drinkers could not. I too had sensed the approaching evil, as Donovan had mentioned the other night. At the time I had put it down to Reedrek's being in my life again after so many years, but now I was beginning to understand it was something greater than that.

"So are you saying there were similarities between the feelings vampires had two hundred years ago and the things that so many of us sense now?" I asked.

"Yes," Olivia said.

"So," Will wanted to know, "was there anything in those moldy old papers that shed any light on what the old demons are up to this time and what, if anything, makes them think they'll be any more successful than they were before?"

"According to one of Alger's more recent contacts," Olivia said, "the Council was learning to use their combined power to harness elemental forces."

"Earth, air, water, and fire," I muttered.

"And spirit," Olivia added.

Ah, Olivia, ever the pagan. "How do they know they'll be able to wield this power?" I asked.

"Do you remember when the last rogue country claimed to have tested those nuclear bombs underground?" Olivia asked.

"Claimed?" I said.

"Those were earthquakes, not nukes. According to this source of Alger's, the Council caused them."

The vampires in the room just looked at one another. Finally, Will said, "An earthquake? Doesn't that seem like a bit of overkill, luv, just to get a few vampires in line? And what would a blood sacrifice have to do with manufacturing earthquakes?

What can the old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds be about?"

"We don't know," Olivia admitted. "You're right, though, none of it appears to make much sense. Do you have any theories, William?...William?"

I barely heard her. The gravity of Renee's situation hit me hard. How did her sacrifice fit in with the plans of the old sires? And how in the name of heaven was I ever going to save her?

Jack "So you need to talk to both of them? The one who's in heaven and the one who's in h.e.l.l?"

"That's right."

"Do you mind telling me who these people are?" "I'd rather not."

"How do you expect me to help you find them if you won't tell me who they are?"

"I have this...this feeling that once I get there they'll find me. Don't ask me how I know. I just do."

"Don't ask, huh?" I said. "It seems to me that this telling-the-truth business should go both ways. How come I have to spill all my secrets and you get to keep yours?" Now, I thought this was a reasonable question, but I'm a man. And every now and then I get reminded that what seems right and reasonable to a man seems like flat-out crazy talk to a woman. Connie looked at me like I'd just escaped an asylum.

She started to say something sharp, I could tell. But she must have remembered she was trying to get a favor out of me, so she bit back whatever it was. Finally, she said, "I don't want to go into that. I just need you to do this for me. I can't tell you how important it is."

"Can't or won't?"

"Jack, don't make me talk about why I have to do this. I can't handle it. Just trust me."

"Like you trust me?"

She thrust out her chin and her eyes blazed. I felt like a fool then, opening up the way I did when it was clear that she didn 't think enough of me to do the same. During the few tense moments of silence that followed, I begged her silently to say something, anything, to signal me that she would let me into her mind and her heart. But she said nothing, and the silence hurt more than any insult she might hurl my way.

Finally, I took a deep breath and said what Mel told me to say. "It's too dangerous. Melaphia forbids it."

"Dammit, Jack, are you going to let her tell you what to do?"

"Don't even start," I said. "You can't drive a wedge between me and Mel. She's just about the only family I have."

"That's more family than I have," Connie said, her eyes glistening. She got up and went to the door. Holding it open, she said, "Go home, Jack. And tell Seth that I will be at the fight."

I went to the door and walked out before I could say anything I'd regret. But I hadn't taken two steps when she spoke again. I turned back as she said, "Tell Seth this, too-tell him that whatever happens, I'll never consider him to be a monster."

What about me? I wanted to yell as she closed the door in my face. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to sober up.

When I entered the house, I heard screaming. I swore as I took the steps to the upstairs bedrooms two at a time. I burst into the room Melaphia had been using since Renee was taken and saw Reyha and Deylaud-in human form-leaning across from either side of the bed, trying to comfort her.

"What is it? What's the matter?" I demanded.

"They've got her!" screamed Melaphia. Her eyes were like those of a wild thing, and her arms flailed as if she were trying to beat back an invisible demon.

She shrieked again, and the twins, even though they were in human form, turned their faces to the ceiling and howled like the devil himself was after them. It was eerie enough to raise a fellow's gooseflesh and short hairs at the same time. Even a bada.s.s vampire's. I turned on the light and joined Deylaud on his side of the bed. I put one knee down on the comforter and scooted next to Mel.

"It's all right," I said. "William has gone to get Renee, remember? She's going to be fine." I said it to calm myself as much as to calm her. The sound of Melaphia's and the twins' wails had really rattled me.

"No!" Melaphia yelled. "It's never going to be all right. Not ever again!"

"Why? What do you mean?"

"I saw her." Melaphia stopped waving her arms and grasped my shirtfront, bringing my face close to hers. "She's not what she was."

"You had a nightmare, that's all," I insisted. I put one arm around her and gave her shoulders what I hoped was a rea.s.suring squeeze.

"Not a nightmare. I saw her. I saw it."

Behind me I heard Deylaud lean against the wall and slump to the floor. I glanced around. "See to your brother," I said to Reyha, who scampered around the bed to her twin's side. It had obviously taken all his strength to change into two-footed form and make his way upstairs to come to Mel's side. He was as pale and wan as a ghost and he was panting, but his eyes were clear and frightened.

I turned my attention back to Melaphia. "What?" I asked. "What did you see?"

"She's one of you!" Melaphia turned loose my shirt and pushed me away. "She's a blood drinker! She is undead!" The look of horror and revulsion on her face made me back off from her. h.e.l.l, it nearly made me physically ill. And it hit me then as it never had before. This was what she thought of me. Why had I never known that the human I loved like a daughter thought of me as a monster?

I stood up and looked down into the faces of Reyha and Deylaud, as they whimpered on the floor behind me. They clung to each other as they stared up at me, their faces full of horror. They were as devoted to Renee as any dog has ever been to any child. It was not too strong to say they worshipped her. The look in their eyes broke what was left of my heart. I knelt beside them and tried to rea.s.sure them. "A bad dream," I said. "That's all it was."

Reyha nodded and reluctantly let go of her brother long enough for me to pick him up and put him in bed beside Melaphia.

With no strength left, he was dead-weight, but at least he'd made it back into human form again. That was a positive sign. I pointed to the other side of the antique four-poster and Reyha knew what I wanted her to do. She scampered back around and got in bed on Melaphia's other side.

"Give me the doll," Melaphia said, and pointed to something on the pedestal table by the bed. It was the little doll she'd been making with beads. I handed it to her and she clutched it tightly. "Maman Lalee, help my child!" she said. "I would rather see her dead than a vampire. Please, sweet mother, kill her by your own hand before the demons take her to be one of them."

I didn't know what to say. I started to tell her that Renee as a vampire was better than no Renee at all. But the words sounded insane, even to me. Of course she would be better off dead, as I would have been had I really known the path I was choosing when William asked me on that battlefield if I wanted to live forever.

I wanted to tell her again that everything would be all right, and mean it, but I didn 't know if it would. "I'll be back," I said. I went into the next bedroom down the hall, the one where Renee slept whenever she was staying at the "big house," as she called it. I unplugged the Alice in Wonderland night-light, which hadn't been lit since the night Renee was stolen. I took it back into the room where Mel and the twins huddled together under the down comforter, plugged it in, and turned it on. Then I turned off the overhead light and they relaxed a little.