"Lauren is here now," Mark told her.

"Right. I can stay here, and you two can go have a nice meal in the Quarter," Lauren said.

Mark had never suggested such a thing, but surely he wouldn't want Heidi roaming around on her own. Not if everything he'd said was true.

Not if winged creatures could suddenly turn into vampires and attack just a few feet away from Bourbon Street.

"Um...sure," Mark said, offering Heidi his most engaging smile. "I'll take you out for a bit."

"I just feel that I should stay here," Heidi said stubbornly.

Actually, Lauren wished she could go out with Heidi herself, maybe get an idea of what was going on with her.

But would it be safe? Even forewarned and forearmed, with her cross and the somewhat smaller water pistol she'd stashed in her purse, could she really defeat what she could barely believed existed?

"Maybe I should take Heidi out for a bit and you should stay here," Lauren suggested.

Mark stared at her, just short of scowling.

Okay, bad idea.

He looked at Heidi. His voice was firm, his eyes meeting hers. "Heidi, let me take you to dinner."

"Okay."

To Lauren's amazement, Heidi rose as if she'd never disagreed. As if she thought it was the most natural thing in the world.

Mark set his hands on Lauren's shoulders. "You stay here. And be careful."

"This is a hospital. There's a cop in the hall," she reminded him.

"Be careful," he repeated.

"Of course."

What the h.e.l.l could possibly happen to her in a hospital room?

"We won't be long. Come on, Heidi," Mark said.

Lauren nodded, picking up a magazine and dragging her chair nearer to Deanna's bed. As soon as the other two left, she touched her friend's forehead. Her skin seemed to be a normal temperature. She looked good, her breathing sounded even, and when Lauren rested two fingers on her pulse, it was beating regularly.

And still she slept like a princess awaiting her true love's kiss, Lauren thought whimsically. She rose for a minute and adjusted the television set. She flicked around between channels, aggravated as she came to one program after another that she didn't want to see, even shows she usually found entertaining.

Finally, she decided on the Cartoon Network. Spongebob Squarepants fit the bill for the moment.

She was half listening to the TV and flipping through the pages of one of Heidi's magazines when a nurse came in to check on Deanna. Lauren tensed, suspicious. Great. Was she going to start suspecting everybody now?

The nurse added a new bag to Deanna's IV and a.s.sured Lauren that her friend was doing very well and with luck would come to soon. All the signs were right, and her red-cell count was rising nicely.

Lauren thanked her and tried to settle back and get comfortable once the nurse was gone.. She flipped a page, bored, worried.

What had she done?

Aggressive was actually an understatement when it came to describing her behavior earlier that night. But she couldn't be sorry.

She had forgotten time and place and all the horrors that had so suddenly entered her life. He had made her feel erotic, sensual, beautiful. As if she had known him forever, as if the world was perfectly right and normal. As if....

As if they hadn't just battled the undead in an alley, as if one of her best friends wasn't lying there in a coma. He seemed to be everything right in the world, the perfect man, a man with whom she could easily fall in love....

"Lauren."

She nearly jumped from her chair, then looked over at the bed.

At first it didn't appear as if Deanna had moved. But then she stretched, as if in discomfort. Her hands fluttered, moved to her throat.

Her eyes remained closed, but her lips moved. She was murmuring something. Lauren went over to her, leaning in close.

"Deanna, I'm here. What is it."

"The fortune-teller."

Lauren's breath caught. "Deanna, I'm here. It's all right," she managed at last. "What about the fortune-teller?"

"The fortune-teller," Deanna repeated.

Lauren took a seat on the bed, holding her friend's hands, squeezing them with what she hoped felt like rea.s.surance.

"It's all right. She isn't anywhere near us," Lauren said.

"Danger," Deanna mouthed.

Great.

Lauren looked around. The door to the hall was ajar. She could hear footsteps in the hall, along with volices. She heard the cop directing someone to another room.

There was no danger anywhere near.

"It's all right," she soothed. "Deanna, I'm here. It's all right. We're safe." Suddenly Deanna's eyes opened wide, and she stared at Lauren. She even attempted a weak smile.

"Deanna?" Lauren said, feeling greatly relieved but still slightly chilled. And wary.

She squeezed her friend's hands again.

Deanna looked like...Deanna. Lauren was stunned to feel tears stinging her eyes, she was so relieved.

"How are you? How do you feel?" she whispered.

Deanna tried to smile Again, but the attempt failed. "Afraid," she said softly.

"Because of the fortune-teller?" Lauren asked.

Deanna frowned, as if she had no idea what Lauren was talking about.

"You don't need to be afraid. I'm here," Lauren told her.

Deanna looked away for a moment. "No. You don't understand. He comes to me. He comes for me," she said.

"No one is coming for you. You're in the hospital. I'm here. The police have even put a guard in the hallway. You're safe."

Deanna shook her head. "No," she murmured. "He comes in the darkness, in my dreams."

"I'm here, and I won't let anyone near you.. I promise." Lauren paused, weighing her words carefully. "Honestly, I understand.

He's evil and tries to slip into your mind, and you're afraid that...that he'll get through to you somehow."

Deanna stared at her. "You can't protect me," she whispered.

"I can," Lauren promised. "Deanna, there are...others who know about his kind of evil. It's going to be okay, honestly. I can protect you." Her heart skipped a beat. Could she?

Yes. She could be strong, very strong. She knew she could. Even if she was afraid. Even if she knew a truth that couldn't be....

"Deanna, you said something about the fortune-teller." She hesitated, then asked, "Is she evil?"

Deanna only looked fretful and didn't seem to hear her.

Lauren felt a flash of anger at that d.a.m.n fortune-teller. Everything seemed to have started with her. She had to find the woman.

"Deanna, listen to me. Everything is going to be all right."

Deanna suddenly started and cried out. "No!"

There was sheer terror in her voice.

Lauren looked down at her friend, who was looking fixedly toward the window.

Lauren followed her gaze.

A dark shadow, ebony against gray, seemed to hover outside in the night.

And from it, twin orbs of fire seemed to glow.

Like a pair of eyes.... Straight from h.e.l.l.

10.

M ark tried to rea.s.sure himself that Lauren would be all right alone in the hospital with Deanna.

It was amazing. She not only seemed to believe him, she seemed to trust him.

Of course, she didn't know the full truth. And that weighed heavily on him. But for now, the point was that he had to find Stephan's lair-and destroy Stephan. Taking Heidi-who was acting like a total airhead right now-out to dinner was not his idea of getting anywhere. But he hadn't wanted the two women out alone. Not at night.

He decided to take Heidi to the club where Big Jim Dixon played. Sean Canady had a.s.sured him that Big Jim was not only savvy but knew exactly how to defend himself and others.

Canady had also a.s.sured him that every man watching over Deanna in the hospital was aware of the existence of creatures beyond most people's awareness. Mark knew had to have some faith in others, though his fury and determination were so great that he was still convinced he was the one who would find and destroy Stephan Delanskiy.

But he needed to help to defend the innocents who might otherwise be slain while he sought his prey. Stephan was powerful. He had survived many attempts to destroy him. He could hypnotize and mesmerize. And he healed quickly. Whatever wounds were inflicted upon him, it seemed he needed only minutes or at most hours to regain his full strength.

Mark nodded to Big Jim when he and Heidi entered the jazz joint. Big Jim nodded in return. It was a good feeling.

"I'm not really hungry," Heidi said, setting down her menu a few minutes later.

"You need to eat something."

"I need to be with Deanna," she countered.

She didn't seem at all like the same person who had been so sweetly flirtatious earlier, while still extolling the virtues of her fiance.

"Look, Lauren is with Deanna. We'll get back soon enough. Lauren will be worried about you if you don't get some food into you and take a few deep breaths," Mark told her.

"Fine. I'll have a hamburger," she said. And when the waitress appeared a few seconds later, she followed through and ordered one. "I like my meat rare," she said. "Almost raw. Do you understand? Bleeding. Mooing."

Mark frowned. She was being demanding and rude, once again totally unlike the woman he had met earlier He ordered a hamburger for himself, also rare, and politely thanked their waitress after she took his order. Then he leaned back in his chair, staring at Heidi.

"Quit looking at me," she said irritably.

"He got to you, didn't he?" Mark inquired in a low tone.

She flushed, shaking her head. She seemed confused. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He leaned toward her. "Yes, you do. Think about it. Think hard. Somehow, he got in. Was it Stephan himself, or someone else?"

Color suffused her cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Was he tall and dark-darker than me? And did he just appear to you? Did you leave the hospital? Or do those windows open?

Did you invite him into the hospital room?"

"No!" Heidi protested, and shook her head, but tears were glistening in her eyes. "There was no one there. You're crazy."

He reached across the table, moving like lightning, cradling her head with his hand and twisting her chin up so he could get a look at her neck before she could stop him.

It was just as he had feared.

The puncture marks were there. Tiny, almost indiscernible. She hadn't been drained; she had merely been tainted.