"She's fine. She's dreaming."

"That's unusual, isn't it?"

"Unusual but not unheard of. I was afraid someone might be tracking her, but the links don't seem that strong."

Not for the first time, Jarod wondered how Lucien could come to such conclusions-exactly what abilities he had that made it possible for him to evaluate a sleeping vampire's dreams. Or read a human hematologist's mind, for that matter.

Lucien was looking through him again, his attention apparently focused on the opposite wall. "We're going tonight," he said. His focus returned to Jarod. "I wanted to give it a couple of nights, to scope things out, but this is just too dangerous. I don't want them tracking Lilith, and I don't want Lilith bleeding you to death. We need you. So we go tonight."

Jarod nodded and finished off the gallon of milk. "Can I get out of here for a while before sundown? I need more food."

Late in the afternoon, fortified by a large meal acquired in the village, he slipped silently into the safe house. Lucien was downstairs on the couch, flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. He didn't seem to be aware of Jarod's presence. Somehow, though, Jarod knew that if he'd been one of Ialdaboth's crew, or anyone else who posed a danger to the occupants of the small house, Lucien would have been up in a flash, killing people.

Unsure whether noise could disturb Lucien's meditation or trance or whatever it was, Jarod tiptoed past him and slipped up the stairs to Lilith's bedroom.

She lay stretched out on her back, exactly as he'd left her at sunrise. He touched her face. The texture and temperature of her skin felt normal. Something trembled in the room, though- one of those odd sensations he occasionally picked up in the presence of vampires.

It reminded him strangely of the dreams he'd had earlier in the day.

He sat in a chair next to her bed, absently rubbing his wrist. It had ached dully off and on throughout the day. The thought of her teeth piercing him there again left him with an odd mixture of arousal and revulsion. The wound hurt enough that he didn't want to think about its being opened again, but his body anticipated the intimacy of the process.

Whatever you do, don't let them bleed you, his great-grandfa- ther had told him a few years before he'd died, passing the mantle of vampire doctor to his great-grandson. You never want to get that close to them.

Too late. Even before Lilith's arrival, Jared admitted, he'd found he was becoming more attached to the new inhabitants of the Underground than he'd ever been before Julian had arrived. He and the Senior had gotten along well enough, but the Senior had been merely a vampire, plodding along, holding his small enclave together and trying in various ways to live a mostly moral life. The whole system had been imperfect, and to Jarod it had seemed stagnant, as if it were a clock wound centuries before, now slowly running down.

But Julian had wound the clock spring tight, bringing fresh possibilities and hope to the New York enclave. To every vampire on earth, in fact, if they were willing to accept what Julian had to offer. The possibility of returning to mortality or of entering a different, non-de- structive form of immortality. Even of bringing others that same gift. It was all there, Jarod thought, or at least the seeds of it, in his laboratory.

There was no guessing what the next few years of experimentation might uncover.

Great-grandpa Greene could never have imagined what his great- grandson would fall into by carrying on the family legacy. Jarod's mouth twisted in a wry smile. He'd certainly had no inkling when he took over. He still wasn't sure he had a clear picture of what the next several months were likely to bring.

On the bed, Lilith stirred. Jarod straightened in the chair, watching her face. If she woke needing him, he wanted to be ready. He only hoped Lucien was paying enough attention, in case she needed too much blood and he needed Lucien's help controlling her.

She moved restlessly for a few minutes, her eyes moving under her lids as if she were in dream sleep. In the back of her throat, her voice made small sounds of distress. Then, abruptly, she opened her eyes and stared at him.

Her expression remained blank for several minutes. Disconcerted, Jarod nevertheless stayed still within her blinkless stare. Finally she moved her head, barely, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was obviously awake and aware.

"What are you doing here?" she said, sitting up.

He held out a bottle of plasma drink. "Breakfast?"

She smiled wanly and took the bottle. "I hate this stuff."

"Everybody says that."

"You could at least make it blood-flavored." She screwed off the lid and sipped at it, making a delicate face.

"I tried that. It seemed to trigger hunger in the vampires who tried it, so instead of satisfying them, it sent them out onto the streets in a rampage."

She took a deeper drink. "That could be a problem."

"Yes."

Silence fell as she finished the bottle, drinking slowly at first, then chugging the last half. When it was empty, she set it on the nightstand and reached toward him, wiggling her fingers. "More."

He handed her another bottle, which she chugged, then a third.

When that one was gone she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It tastes better after the first one."

Nodding, he took the empty bottle from her and set it next to the others. "How do you feel?"

"All right."

"You don't feel . . . him?"

"Not so much at the moment." She pushed a hand through her hair, straightening the long, platinum tresses. "I had bad dreams, though."

"I know."

She gave him a puzzled frown, then nodded. "Lucien."

"Yes, but I think I might have overheard some of them, too. While I was asleep."

"That's bizarre."

"Yes, it is."

"Do you think the blood bonded us?"

He shrugged. "Probably." He rose from the chair and sat next to her on the bed, touching her face, turning it so he could look into her eyes. Her pupils looked a little too wide, but maybe that was his imagination.

"Lucien wants to go to the cave tonight. Do you feel up to it?"

"I don't know. The closer we get-" She broke off and looked away. A shadow of pain passed over her face.

He clenched his teeth against a stab of pain through his wrist.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"We'll figure out something." He stood, holding a hand out to her.

"Come on. Let's go see what Lucien's up to."

She smiled and took his hand, sliding off the bed. "He's probably in some kind of a telepathic trance, arranging transportation."

"It wouldn't surprise me."

Lucien was arranging transportation, but apparently the telepathic trance option was out for the evening, because he was talking on a cell phone.

"A helicopter would be best. Yes, not too far from Bacau. As soon as possible." He caught sight of Jarod and Lilith and waved them forward.

Jarod heard footsteps on the stairs behind him-William and Sasha had joined them.

"Perfect," said Lucien. "We'll be there in an hour." Five The helicopter touched down on a mostly level spot on a mountainside in the Carpathians, not far from the city of Bacau. By the time it settled its landing skids against the rock, Lilith's head felt as if it were going to explode. Fighting the pain, she let Jarod help her out of the helicopter, then concentrated on her surroundings, trying to orient herself.

"We're in the right vicinity, correct?" Lucien asked her. He tossed a couple of blankets over his shoulder. They'd brought them on the assumption Aanu would be infirm or need help.

She nodded. "It should be down the mountain and just a bit to the south."

"That's about what I was guessing." He gestured to Sasha, who spoke to the helicopter pilot in Romanian. The man nodded. Lucien pulled a handful of bills out of his pocket and gave them to the pilot.

"That should keep him here until daybreak," he muttered to the others.

"Let's go."

They proceeded single file down the mountain, Lucien and Lilith trading the lead position. He seemed to know where they were going as well as she did, making her wonder why she'd had to come at all.

But, after about forty-five minutes, Lucien stopped.

"I've lost it. You take over."

Lilith drew a long breath. "Let's rest a minute." She put her hands on her knees and lowered her head, drawing in the cold air. It made her whole body hurt.

"Are you all right?" Jarod, of course. He bent next to her, trying to see her face.

"Not really."

"What is it?"

"Headache."

He seemed on the verge of speaking, but stopped. Smiling wryly, she said, "Yeah, blood would probably help, but I'm not quite that desperate yet."

"We're awfully close to them here," Lucien put in. "I don't think we should wait until you're that desperate."

Lilith looked up, into Jarod's eyes as he crouched next to her. Past the glint of his glasses' lenses, she saw calm. He held up an arm-not the one she'd bitten yesterday. "Take it if you need it."

How could he be so accepting? It angered her. He didn't understand what she had been-what she still was. She didn't deserve his trust, or his blood.

But if she wanted to avoid causing all their deaths, she would have to accept the blood. While the others waited, she took his wrist and drank.

She had more control over it this time, and was able to stop after less than a minute. Withdrawing her teeth, she licked the wounds gently to seal them. She couldn't look at Jarod as she did it, or at anyone else, for that matter. The touch of her tongue against his skin made her prickle with desire, and suddenly she felt as though she were having sex with him in front of an audience. She gave him one last, utilitarian lick and let him go without looking at him.

The wash of his blood into her system had cooled her headache almost immediately. She wished she knew how close Ialdaboth and the others actually were. Certainly there would be guards by the cave.

Would they be able to sense her approach?

She exchanged a look with Lucien. The big demon just nodded.

Wondering how much of her thought process he'd overheard, she took the lead, winding her way along the path, down the mountain, toward the cave she knew lay below. Two hours later, they lay together, all four of them, on the ledge above the cave. A lone vampire stood guard, a young-looking man with dark hair, a high forehead and broody eyebrows. He didn't look very focused on his task. Undoubtedly, Ialdaboth's convocation didn't expect to see intruders.

"This is it," said Lucien.

"Yes," said Lilith, then realized he wasn't asking her. There was a strange light in his eyes, joyous but fierce.

"It all started here-where I was born."

"You remember that?" she asked.

"Hell, I can't remember yesterday." He shifted, leaning farther out over the ledge. "But I remember these mountains. And I have a mental picture of what I think must have been the birthing caves. We're going to have to go in the front way. I can shift through the walls once I'm inside, but I don't want to risk it from up here. There's too much rock under us."

Lilith nodded. She'd seen Ialdaboth shift directly into the cave from about this point on the hill, but he'd known exactly where he was going. "Good choice," she said.

"I'm glad you approve." She winced at the sarcasm in his tone, but he smiled to soften it. "Lilith, you and William head back up to the chopper. Sasha, you distract the guard while Jarod and I go in."

Lilith gaped. "What? You're kicking me out?"

Her hiss came out a bit too loud, and below them the guard suddenly stilled. All four observers froze-until he relaxed again.

When Lucien spoke again, his voice was barely audible. "I can't risk your getting any closer. We can take it from here. You go back. No more chances."

She looked at William, who shrugged apologetically.

"Fine," she finally said.

William turned, retracing their path up the mountain. Lilith reluctantly followed.

"You ready?" Lucien said.

Jarod drew a deep, steadying breath. "Ready as I'll ever be."

At Lucien's signal, Sasha crept down the incline to their left until she disappeared into the darkness. A few minutes later she reappeared, slipping up behind the guard.

Jarod couldn't hear what she said, but he doubted it mattered.

She had pulled down the neckline of her already barely-there top, exposing her shoulders and the tops of her ample breasts. The guard, being male, found this quite intriguing.

"Not exactly what I had in mind," Lucien muttered.

Jarod stifled a laugh. From his vantage point above them, he could see even more of Sasha than he suspected the guard could, standing in front of her.

She draped an arm over the guard's shoulders, practically putting her breast into his face. She gave him a sultry smile, then cracked him over the head with a rock.

"Absolutely not what I had in mind," said Lucien. "Let's go."

He put an arm around Jarod, and a moment later they were both standing in front of the cave opening.