"Why Nathanial, it has been a long time,” the man said, smiling, but the smile didn't reach his brown eyes.

He was stocky, with a military buzz cut. Young, maybe nineteen. Was he one of Nathanial's students?

"I suppose it has,” Nathanial said, his voice indifferent, verging on bored. I glanced at him—the empty but calm mask was back. Bad sign. A very bad sign.

The woman shot a look over Bobby, dismissed him with her eyes, and then glanced at Gil. She dismissed her just as quickly. Then her dark, piercing gaze turned on me again. She stepped closer. If the column hadn't been behind me, I would have backed up. It must have shown in my face because she let out a throaty laugh.

"You have such lovely new companion.” Her accent was heavy and rough. Russian? German?

Nathanial stepped between us. “Yes, I do."

I glanced at Bobby. He had stopped shivering, adrenaline having warmed him, but he looked like he wasn't sure if we were in danger or not. I was equally confused. My body wanted to fall into a defensive stance, but I forced myself to look relaxed. The tension in the air held a hint of carefully restrained violence, but everyone was still talking.

"We were heading out on the town,” the man said. He smiled, but his tone wasn't friendly. “You two should join us."

Well, I had an easy answer. No way. Who were these people?

"That sounds ... entertaining.” Nathanial said, and my jaw dropped.

"Then we should head out right away,” the woman said.

"Yes, I insist. It would be like a double date.” The man shot a look at Bobby and Gil. “Your friends won't mind, right? Six is a gang, not an outing."

Bobby's jaw clenched and Gil said, “We are—"

Nathanial held up a hand. “We would be delighted to join you. It so happens my friends have other plans.” He turned toward Bobby and Gil. “We will meet you at Mary's later."

"We're running out of time,” Gil said.

I nodded in agreement.

"We had plans. I'm rather fond of them.” I shrugged at the couple, trying to appear nonchalant. “Maybe some other night?"

"Kita.” Nathanial used my name like a warning. Irritating, but it meant he had some reason to go along with this. He leaned against me and his words were barely a hiss in my ear. “Please do not be stubborn right now. This is important."

Nothing could be more important than our date with death later tonight. Unless, of course, it was a date with death right now. I looked over the pair. The woman, while tall, was a skinny little wisp of nothing. The man was wider, but neither looked like they would have been a problem. Unless ... I looked over them again and they regarded me with calm, insincere smiles.

"No. You must not refuse,” the woman said when she saw me studying her. “Our Nathanial is Hermit. This is very rare treat."

Crap. Mama Neda had called him Hermit too.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll get the blood racing.” I showed some teeth, then turned to Bobby. “See you at Mary's then?"

Gil jerked at her sleeves. “But ... oh.” Her hand flew to her mouth, and she studied our ‘new friends’ more closely. Could she be any more obvious?

Unfortunately, Bobby still didn't get it. “Kita?” Concern plastered his face. Or maybe he did get it. Years ago I would have said you could always take him at face value. I'd changed my mind about that, but sometimes it was still painfully true.

"I'll be fine. We won't be gone too long, will we?” I turned to Nathanial.

The look he gave me wasn't encouraging. He turned to Bobby. “If we do not meet you at Mary's by morning, we will not be coming."

The concern etched deeper into Bobby's face, and his eyes narrowed to slits. He was about to make a bad situation worse.

"Please, just meet us there?” I asked.

He looked away. “Fine, but don't take too long."

"Great!” The man added a fake chuckle to compliment the phony smile. “You know, I don't think this train is ever going to come. Why don't we four take a cab?"

Chapter 18

Besides Nathanial, Mama Neda was the only vampire I'd met, and she'd been insane. Unfortunately, my new ‘friends’ seemed sharp. They dropped the false-friendly demeanor as soon as we hit the street. They also made no move to hail a cab—not that I was complaining. We walked in tense silence. Our guides—or guards, I wasn't sure which—kept their eyes on Nathanial, tracking his every move. He appeared unconcerned, as if he were out on a casual stroll instead of being led who-knew-where by people I assumed were the vampire equivalent to hunters. I saw Nathanial's apathetic act for what it was—cover—while his mind worked at finding a way through whatever mess we were in. He'd warned me that I needed to see the vampire council. Maybe I should have spared a little time for what was obviously going to be more than a social call.

"Any chance the council will help us find the rogue?” I asked, walking closer to Nathanial. I was taking for granted I'd survive the meeting, but I couldn't consider the alternative.

He glanced down at me then back into the distance. “Unlikely. Their idea of help would be to lock you somewhere they assumed the judge could not find you. We would do best not to mention it."

I cringed. According to Gil, when my time limit ran out, the judge would be able to find me by his mark. He had that whole appearing-out-of-nowhere thing going on, and I did not want to be locked away someplace I couldn't get out. That just wasn't an option.

We left the retail section of town and trudged into the tenements again. Were we near Sharon's apartment? I wasn't familiar enough with Haven to know, but the complexes looked just as decrepit. As we passed a small side street, something caught my attention. I ground to a halt, breathing deeply. That increasingly familiar animal-but-different scent tainted the air. Nathanial turned, the edges of his eyes pinched. I crept closer to the opening of the street.

"I caught the city-shifter's scent,” I whispered. Finally, something useful. Now, had the rogue been coming or going? I filled my lungs, hoping I had enough nose to sift through the scents of people who had passed this way.

The woman cleared her throat. “There is problem?"

"Yes. So sorry, but we will have to visit with you guys some other time.” I tossed a tight smile over my shoulder and tried to roll the scent through my senses. Damn it. I was already losing it. The falling snow wasn't helping my weaker olfactory.

Nathanial's hand landed on my shoulder. His fingers convulsed, his grip painful. “We will come back to it,” he whispered.

"But—"

He didn't let me finish, but turned toward the couple. They were closer now, and not even pretending to smile.

"Could we take a faster route?” Nathanial asked. “We are in a bit of a hurry."

The woman arched a plucked eyebrow. “Anxious to learn fate, Hermit? Fine by me."

She marched us down the sidewalk. I dragged my feet, buying time to decipher as much of the scent as I could before any more snow fell. Time didn't help. The scent had faded, or my weak nose had lost it.

The couple stopped in a dark patch between two buildings. “We see you there. Do not try to slip away.” She grabbed the man's shoulder and vanished.

Nathanial wrapped his arms around me without a word, and I clung to him as we took to the air. The flight was quick, over almost as soon as it started. We landed in front of a large brick building trimmed with black lights.

"A nightclub?” We were being politely threatened by vampires because they wanted us to visit a nightclub?

"This club is known as Death's Angel. It is easily justified in being open all night. What, did you expect the vampires to gather at a gas station?"

I blinked at him, and he gave me a tight smile. Okay, so I'd never thought about it. But a vampire nightclub?

We circled the side of the building. The couple waited near the front entrance, the man tapping his wrist impatiently.

"You took your time,” he said, and then led us to the door. The bouncer let us in without blinking.

Electronic music pulsed through the club. A woman carrying a tray of Bloody Marys sashayed past us wearing black-feathered wings, a couple of strategically placed leather straps, and little else. Leather was definitely in abundance among the patrons, as were corsets, wings and a lot of silver. Fog machines poured grey vapor over a dance floor that took up a full half of the room. A polished bar dominated one corner. The other corner was set off from the dance floor by a partial wall that insulated the overstuffed leather couches. Every area smelled of smoke, alcohol, sweat, and bodies. The club was packed. All around me hearts beat in discordant rhythms. The rush of pulsing blood roared in my ears. The smell of it, trapped under thin layers of skin, called to me.

I was starving.

My fangs extended and I threw a hand over my mouth. Nathanial turned me around and pulled me against him so his shoulder hid my face.

"I told you to feed,” he whispered as he stroked my hair. To anyone who didn't know, it probably looked like we were hugging, or that I was crying.

I pressed myself against his chest and let his warmth envelope me. I breathed deeply, drinking down his spicy, masculine scent. Despite the fact I could feel his heartbeat through his coat, it didn't incite my hunger—my instincts didn't register him as prey. But even with my face buried against him, I couldn't block out the scents of the humans around us, and they were definitely what my new nature considered choice food.

"Get me out of here,” I whispered into the collar of his shirt.

"Another problem?” the man asked, standing far too close to my back for comfort.

No problem at all, I might accidentally eat somebody, but really, not a problem. I suppressed a shiver and stopped breathing. Now that I knew I could, it wasn't hard to do. It helped a little not to be able to smell the people. I could still feel them around me. They pulsed with life. Slowly my fangs retreated, and I turned back around. Keeping my eyes to the ground, I shook my head.