"Because she knows you and I are close. She asked me a lot of questions about you. What happened when you went over there to break up with her?" Melaphia eyed me suspiciously.

"Um. Nothing, nothing at all. I just broke up with her and got the charm back like you said."

"Uh-huh," Mel said, clearly not buying it but knowing I wasn 't ready to talk about the incident. Maybe I never would be. I wanted to know what Connie had asked about me, but I didn't want to have to answer any of Mel's questions.

"Jack, this is a very sensitive time for her, so you leave her alone. Now you have to get out of here and take your walking corpse with you."

I got my key ring out of my pocket and removed the key for my office. As I was handing it to Melaphia, Huey spoke up. "I'm hungry, Jack," he said, kind of pitiful-like.

I looked at Melaphia in alarm. "They don't really eat human brains, do they?" I asked. When she only rolled her eyes heavenward, I said, a little annoyed, "Seriously. It's not like I can go to the corner grocery and pick up some zombie chow, now is it?"

Melaphia sighed and stared at me like I was getting on her last nerve. "They eat meat, and they aren't picky about what kind. Go get a few packs of pork chops or something, and make sure he has all he wants."

"Yeah? And what happens if I run out?"

"Let's just say you might want to invest in a muzzle to keep him from gnawing the customers."

"Oh man!"

Melaphia put her hands on my chest and pushed gently, as if to get me on my way. "You go on now. Connie will be here any minute and I don't want you distracting her. Lock Huey in the office with some T-bones, go home, and get some sleep, and I'll come as soon as I can and see what I can do. Try not to worry."

"Thanks, Mel. I owe you one."

"You got that right."

I put my hand on top of Huey's head and pushed gently to get him seated on the stone steps. Then I lowered the wooden hatch over us. "I'll get you some breakfast soon, buddy, real soon," I told him. I turned around to face the courtyard, settled myself on my knees, and peered out through a crack in the hatch and into the gathering light. My fangs started to itch the way they did whenever I was caught outdoors near sunrise.

Directly, Connie came in through the same gate that Renee had used. She must have been fresh off the night shift, because she still wore her uniform. Melaphia took her to a structure in the middle of the garden, one that I hadn 't noticed earlier. It was a grouping of three wooden poles, lashed together at the top and spread out at the base, forming a pyramid.

I focused my batlike hearing, trying to make out what they were saying. They whispered to each other so as not to be heard by any pa.s.sersby on the sidewalk outside the fence. Connie said, "All right. I'll do what you say, but when all this is over I have some questions about Jack McShane."

"Very well," Melaphia said, and gestured to the east, toward the pink and purple fingers of sunrise reaching out from the hidden horizon.

So Connie was going to question Melaphia about me. She could try. Mel and her foremothers had kept the secrets of the undead-and voodoo secrets of their own-for generations. Not even a tough cop like Connie could make her talk.

Connie took off her hat and shook out her thick, shiny hair. She nodded her understanding of the instructions that Melaphia was giving her. Something about the Mayans worshipping some kind of sun G.o.d and that's why the ceremony had to be done at sunrise.

I hadn't had time to read the printouts Werm had come up with, not that reading them would give me much of a clue as to what was about to take place.

When Mel calmly instructed Connie to remove her clothes-all of them-my mouth watered and my loins tightened. After carefully setting her cap on the ground, Connie started unb.u.t.toning her blouse. There was a movement to my right, and I saw that Huey had turned around and was watching, too. I took hold of the edge of the paper bag and slid it around so that the eyeholes were in back. Zombie Huey had even fewer IQ points than Regular Huey. Just figuring out how to turn the bag around would occupy him for twenty minutes.

By the time I looked back in Connie's direction, she was removing her bra. The sun, although it had still not broken over the horizon, was getting warm enough to make my eyes sting and water. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s sprang from their elastic holster like they had minds of their own, and my fingers tingled with the need to touch them again. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were full and shapely, with deep rose areolas and nipples that responded to the cold January air by hardening into plump buds that begged to be licked and suckled. I angled my head to get a better look.

She untied and kicked off her shoes, peeled off her socks, and began to unfasten her belt buckle. I forgot to breathe. Off went her uniform pants, revealing a pair of white panties with lace panels on the sides and a solid panel in front covering her s.e.x-but not for long. I sighed and hugged myself when she was completely naked, feeling a need so strong it was more akin to pain than pleasure. She was the most perfectly formed woman I'd ever seen.

Melaphia instructed her to kneel beneath the zenith of the pyramid and began to sprinkle some herbs onto her body. Connie put her hands together and joined Melaphia in a chant of some kind. I felt the rhythm and began to sway, propped there on my knees on the cold stone.

The sun rose closer to the horizon and I became even more uncomfortable, but I couldn't break away. I wanted to go to her and hold her perfect body next to mine until I was consumed by fire, burned as a sacrifice to the sun G.o.d she served. Burning to ash might just be worth it. How cursed I was to be a creature of the night when Connie was a child of the sun. Even though she roamed the night as a justice bringer, she clearly belonged to the light. The rays mixed with the natural bronze of Connie 's skin and made her look like the true G.o.ddess she was.

The first few rays of the rising sun bathed the garden and everything in it with golden light. I could see her more clearly now, and it was worth the scorching pain on my face and neck. My gaze took her in all over again, starting at the top of her head, with her hair glinting blue-black, down to her delicately arched brows, wide cheekbones, cupid's bow lips, and graceful neck.

I sighed again at the sight of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and the womanly curve of her hips. There was that d.a.m.ned birthmark, the one that had burned my hand and jolted me against the wall at Connie's apartment. It seemed to soak up the rays of the morning sun and glow with its own fire. Melaphia saw it, too. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

It was then I saw the only other flaw on Connie's otherwise perfect body. A scar on her lower abdomen. I once had a girlfriend who'd had a scar like that, a smooth line I liked to run my tongue across. Strange-two women with the exact same scar. What had Wanda's scar been from? Oh, my G.o.d. She'd called it...a cesarean section. I stared at it in wonder.

Connie had a child.

Six.

William On Thursday an invitation arrived for a winter gathering on Friday evening at the Granger house. My old friend Tilly was always good for a party, although she rarely went out these days. As she neared a hundred years, age had slowed her down a bit, but it didn't prevent her from inviting company to her mansion on Orleans Square. The fact that the invitation gave little notice fit her habits as well. Tilly was determined to live in the day and not plan too far into the future.

After last evening's lessons and cautions, I was heartily tired of voodoo rules and rituals. It was time for me and my household to get back to normal life for a change.

Well, as normal as immortal blood drinkers could claim to be. I'd had Eleanor all to myself until Melaphia interfered with her lists and orders. Now I wanted to show my new protegee off to the world, to prepare her for a larger circle of community and the rapidly approaching meeting of more vampires than had gathered in one city since my arrival in the New World.

Tilly's get-together would present the perfect opportunity.

Although not in the same league as the English Ton, the so-called high-society ladies of Savannah might not approve of Eleanor.

But when she was sponsored by my money and influence, and Tilly's invitation, they could not refuse her. The whole thing would be a grand distraction from our true business. We had only a few days until the first representatives of the New World vampires arrived.

"But William, what should I wear?" Eleanor seemed unusually rattled by Tilly's surprise party.

"You looked beautiful the night of the charity ball."

"That's back when I had clothes. Almost everything I owned burned in the fire."

I'd forgotten about that. I'd been unconcerned about replacing her clothes, since I preferred her naked. "We'll buy you new ones," I offered. "Whatever you like."

"But how can I go into a store and try on clothes?"

When I didn't respond, she took my arm and pulled me into the bathroom. The absence of any reflection in the mirror made her point.

"I never realized how much I'd miss my reflection." She shook her head and turned in my arms. "We don't have time to shop on the Internet. If you must, you go. I'd better stay home."

I was determined to keep anything else from coming between us, even for a few hours. "I'll take care of it."

It really wasn't that difficult. Humans are used to eccentricities in the wealthy. Besides, my odd reputation preceded me in everything I did. So when I called Taylor and Wright, one of the most exclusive boutiques in the city, and asked for a private shopping session after hours, they were quick to agree. I 'd read that many current celebrities demanded special treatment. If someone called Puffy or Paris could be accommodated, then certainly we could. I went full out and ordered the limo brought into service, driven by Chandler, my plantation caretaker. Presentation is half the battle when impressing humans. Money is the other half.

This would be an adventure.

Eleanor was still nervous when we pulled up in front of the shop. "But what if they can tell something is wrong with us?"

I cupped her cheek with my hand. "First of all-" I held her gaze. "-there is nothing whatsoever wrong with you. You are magnificent. Second, I've taken care of the mirror problem."

"But-"

"You'll see. Now, let's shop, shall we?"

Chandler opened the limo door and we moved toward the distinguished man waiting at the front entrance.

He held the door open for us. "So, good to see you this evening, Mr. Thorne, and Miss-"

"Dubois," I said.

He introduced himself. "I'm Mr. Cornelius, the manager." As we followed him through the semi-darkened store to the designer area, he continued, "I've had several items brought out in the size Mr. Thorne mentioned. They are in the fitting room. And we've taken care of the other matter."

Eleanor gripped my hand. I had to smile.

When we arrived at the well-lit portion of the store, Eleanor stopped. It wasn't the rack of clothes or the two saleswomen that caught her attention; it was the fact that every mirror in the vicinity had been covered.

"How did you do this?" Eleanor whispered.

I leaned close to her ear. "Oh, I told them you hated mirrors, and that you were sure those fitting room mirrors made you look ten pounds heavier."

"You didn't!" She laughed.

I shrugged. "It's in their best interests to please you. Isn't that right, Mr. Cornelius?"

"Absolutely." He smiled. "Ladies?"

That was the cue for the sales staff to descend on Eleanor. The moderns of today talk of "shopping until dropping" or something to that effect. If they only knew that in the past, a new wardrobe could take hours to fit and weeks to complete-perhaps then they wouldn't complain. The past did hold certain advantages, though, one being that, with enough profit on the table, a tailor or seamstress would take up residence in a customer's house if necessary.

I found a comfortable seat and watched as my Eleanor was transformed.

Three hours later, as Chandler loaded the purchases into the limo, I shook Mr. Cornelius's hand. I doubt he even noticed the chill of my skin after availing himself of my black AmEx card. Centuries might come and go, but human business remained the same.

As I helped Eleanor into the car, one of my a.s.sociates stepped out of the shadows.

"Sorry-uh, excuse me-" Werm glanced from me to Mr. Cornelius. With the intuition of an expert in customer service, Mr.

Cornelius controlled his reaction. But he didn't look happy. I suppose he thought we were about to be attacked by a gang of street urchins.

"Don't worry. This is a...friend." I soothed Cornelius's mind. "He's...in the music business." He nodded and turned his thoughts back to counting his receipts for the evening, as though what I'd said made perfect sense.

"The music business?" Werm repeated when the store manager was out of range.

"How else am I supposed to explain your appearance? Do you own any clothes that aren't black and full of holes?"

Werm looked down at his attire. "I guess that music thing is cool." He smiled.

"Thank you. Now why are you here?"

The smile disappeared. "Oh, Melaphia called me on my cell and sent me to find you. Actually, her words were something like, Get your scrawny extrawhite b.u.t.t over to-"

I held up a hand to stop him. "And she's looking for me because...?"

"She said some of your guests have arrived. They're at someplace called the plantation."

"Get in."

When Werm made a move to slide into the car next to Eleanor, I grabbed a handful of his shirt and shoved him toward the front.

Once we were settled and the car was in motion, I gave him the opportunity to enlighten me.

"Did Melaphia say who had arrived?"

"Nope."

"Where is Jack?"

"He's, um, last time I saw him he was at the garage," he answered. His gaze drifted from me to Eleanor, who was decked out in a short, derriere-hugging skirt and some sort of silk knitted top. He turned transparent at the edges. Another swain smitten. If he'd been closer I would've shaken him until his brand-new fangs rattled.

This was getting us nowhere. "Chandler," I said to the driver. "Drop Lamar at-"

"Can't I go with you? I want to meet the new vamps in town. What if some of them are "-his gaze shifted back to Eleanor- "girls?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but as far as I'm aware there will be no immortal females in the group. And you will meet them," I said. "But not tonight. Now where do we drop you?"

He looked out the window at the pa.s.sing houses. "Club Nine, I guess. Maybe I can find that new friend of mine."

"Drop Lamar at Club Nine, then take us out to the plantation," I said.

"You're early," I remarked as I embraced Iban.

"Yes, well, I have my reasons." He turned to the human next to him. "This is Sullivan, my production a.s.sistant."

I greeted Sullivan. Human or not, if Iban trusted him I would as well. "Welcome to my home." Then I introduced Eleanor.

"I believe we met on my last visit," Iban said, bowing, then raising Eleanor's hand to kiss her knuckles. "But I see many things have changed since then. It's a pleasure to see you again." The gleam in his eyes was a little too warm for my taste. He wagged his eyebrows at me before turning to lead Eleanor to a seat in the living room.

I intercepted them. Removing Eleanor's hand from Iban's, I said, "You can take the man off the Continent but you can't take the Continental rake out of the man."

Iban laughed. "I hope I haven't offended," he said. "Ah, but you've always had an eye for beauty, my friend. I'm pleased to see you looking so well. Your new life agrees with you, yes?"

I met Eleanor's gaze as I settled her onto the couch. She smiled. "Yes," I answered. "It does. Now, sit down and tell me your news."

Chandler served drinks as Iban filled me in on those he left behind in California.

"We've put the word out and are keeping our movements to a minimum until we determine the actual threat to you. If need be, we can have upward of twenty in Savannah within hours."