This knowledge spun everything around in my head. I had assumed Riley was going to see her, whether to receive instructions or bring her new recruits, I didn't know. But I had never imagined stumbling across some kind of... love nest. How could Riley kiss her? I shuddered and glanced at Diego. He looked faintly horrified, too, but he shrugged. I thought back to that last night of humanity, flinching as I remembered the vivid burning. I tried to recal the moments just before that, through al the fuzziness.... First there was the creeping fear that had built as Riley pul ed up to the dark house, the feeling of safety I'd had in the bright burger joint dissolving entirely. I was holding back, edging away, and then he'd grabbed my arm with a steel grip and yanked me out of the car like I was a dol, weightless. Terror and disbelief as he'd leaped the ten yards to the door. Terror and then pain leaving no room for disbelief as he broke my arm dragging me through the door into the black house. And then the voice.

As I focused on the memory, I could hear it again. High and singsong, like a little girl's, but grouchy. A child throwing a tantrum.

I remembered what she'd said. "Why did you even bring this one? It's too smal ." Something close to that, I thought. The words might not be exactly right, but that was the meaning. I was sure Riley had sounded eager to please when he answered, afraid of disappointing. "But she's another body. Another distraction, at least."

I think I'd whimpered then, and he'd shaken me painful y, but he hadn't spoken to me again. It was like I was a dog, not a person.

"This whole night has been a waste," the child's voice had complained. "I've kil ed them al . Ugh!"

I remembered that the house had shuddered then, as if a car had col ided with the frame. I realized now that she'd probably just kicked something in frustration.

"Fine. I guess even a little one is better than nothing, if this is the best you can do. And I'm so ful now I should be able to stop."

Riley's hard fingers had disappeared then and left me alone with the voice. I'd been too panicked at that point to make a sound. I'd just closed my eyes, though I was already total y blind in the darkness. I didn't scream until something cut into my neck, burning like a blade coated in acid.

I cringed back from the memory, trying to push the next part from my mind. Instead I concentrated on that short conversation. She hadn't sounded like she was talking to her lover or even her friend. More like she was talking to an employee. One she didn't like much and might fire soon.

But the strange vampire kissing sounds continued. Someone sighed in contentment.

I frowned at Diego. This exchange didn't tel us much. How long did we need to stay?

He just held his head on the side, listening careful y. And after a few more minutes of patience, the low, romantic sounds were suddenly interrupted.

"How many?"

The voice was muted by distance, but stil distinct. And recognizable. High, almost a tril . Like a spoiled young girl.

"Twenty-two," Riley answered, sounding proud. Diego and I exchanged a sharp glance. There were twenty-two of us, at last count, anyway. They must be talking about us.

"I thought I'd lost two more to the sun, but one of my older kids is... obedient," Riley continued. There was almost an affectionate sound to his voice when he spoke of Diego as one of his kids. "He has an underground place - he hid himself with the younger one."

"Are you sure?"

There was a long pause, this time with no sounds of romance. Even from this distance, I thought I could feel some tension.

"Yeah. He's a good kid, I'm sure."

Another strained pause. I didn't understand her question. What did she mean, are you sure? Did she think he'd heard the story from someone else rather than seeing Diego for himself?

"Twenty-two is good," she mused, and the tension seemed to dissolve. "How is their behavior developing? Some of them are almost a year old. Do they stil fol ow the normal patterns?"

"Yes," Riley said. "Everything you told me to do worked flawlessly. They don't think - they just do what they've always done. I can always distract them with thirst. It keeps them under control."

I frowned at Diego. Riley didn't want us to think. Why?

"You've done so wel ," our creator cooed, and there was another kiss. "Twenty-two!"

"Is it time?" Riley asked eagerly.

Her answer came back fast, like a slap. "No! I haven't decided when."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to. It's enough for you to know that our enemies have great powers. We cannot be too careful." Her voice softened, turned sugary again. "But al twenty-two stil alive. Even with what they are capable of... what good wil it be against twenty-two?" She let out a tinkling little laugh. Diego and I had not looked away from each other throughout al this, and I could see in his eyes now that his thoughts were the same as mine. Yes, we'd been created for a purpose, as we'd guessed. We had an enemy. Or, our creator had an enemy. Did the distinction matter?

"Decisions, decisions," she muttered. "Not yet. Maybe one more handful, just to be sure."

"Adding more might actual y decrease our numbers," Riley cautioned hesitantly, as if being careful not to upset her. "It's always unstable when a new group is introduced."

"True," she agreed, and I imagined Riley sighing in relief that she was not upset.

Abruptly Diego looked away from me, staring out across the meadow. I hadn't heard any movement from the house, but maybe she had come out. My head whipped around at the same time the rest of me turned to a statue, and I saw what had startled Diego.

Four figures were crossing the open field to the house. They had entered the clearing from the west, the point farthest from where we hid. They al wore long, dark cloaks with deep hoods, so at first I thought they were people. Weird people, but just humans al the same, because none of the vampires I knew had matching Goth clothes. And none moved in a way that was so smooth and control ed and... elegant. But then I realized that none of the humans I'd ever seen could move that way, either, and what's more, they couldn't do it so quietly. The dark-cloaks skimmed across the long grass in absolute silence. So either these were vampires, or they were something else supernatural. Ghosts, maybe. But if they were vampires, they were vampires I didn't know, and that meant they might very wel be these enemies she was talking about. If so, we should get the hel out of Dodge right now, because we didn't have twenty other vampires on our side at the moment.