But he couldn't feel his own limbs, much less move. His muscles would not obey his commands.

Pearl, my Dad's waking up! Hurry up and come back in here!

So were they at Pearl's house? Made sense. The hospital was gone to h.e.l.l, after all.

Jackson tried to speak a word of rea.s.surance, to tell his son that he heard him, but his lips would not move. His tongue was like a block of wood.

I didn't die earlier, but I'm dying now The thought slipped inside his mind with the terrible ease of a splinter sinking into soft flesh. It lodged in his brain and would not go away. It was true. He was dying.

He was not angry at G.o.d for allowing this to happen. He felt only ... regret. He'd wasted so much time working, du tifully serving the public, and had failed to serve his own family. The bond that he had experienced with Jahlil earlier that night had come far too late to appease his guilt.

He heard more voices hovering around him. Female voices, a man who sounded like David, and his son. But he could not see them, or touch them. He floated in a gray haze.

Wake him up again! Jahlil cried. I saw him blink. Do something to wake him up!

Tense, anxious voices followed Jahlil's outburst.

I gotta talk to my boy, Jackson thought. He felt that he was drifting away, as though he lay on a rubber raft bobbing gently across a sea. He struggled to resist the pull. He wasn't ready to pa.s.s away, not yet. He had to force open his lips to speak his final words to his child. But it was so hard that his lips might have been sewn together with wire.

But at last he parted his lips, drew in a breath, and formed words.

Sitting on the bed, Jahlil cradled his father in his arms. He would not accept that his dad might be dying. Dad couldn't die. He was too young, he had years and years of living ahead of him, he had to be around to see Jahlil graduate from high school, go to college, start a career, get married, have kids of his own, and be a granddad to Jahlil's children. This was not the way it was supposed to be. This could not be happening. This was not real. He had already lost Mom. He could not lose Dad.

But Dad had blinked, only once, and when his eyes slid closed, again, they did not open. His chest rose and fell with agonizing slowness.

Jahlil, with one arm cradled around his father's shoulders, reached down and squeezed his father's hand. His skin was dry, and frighteningly cool.

"I'm not letting you die, Dad. No way. I'm gonna pull you through"

Pearl, David, and Nia huddled around the bed. They were talking, probably trying to calm him, but their words were a meaningless babble to him. He could not focus on what they were saying. He could only hold his father and concentrate on willing him to live, as if his own desire to save his dad could thwart G.o.d's plan to take him away.

"I ain't letting you die, Daddy." He pressed his ear against his father's chest, near his heart. It was beating so slow, too slow. He had to make Dad's heart beat faster, or else he would lose him forever.

"I ... love ... you" Whispered words, spoken so softly Jahlil could barely hear them.

Jahlil raised his head and stared at his father. Dad's eyes were closed, but his lips formed a melancholy smile.

"No, Dad. No"

Dad's hand squeezed Jahlil's fingers. Then his grip slackened.

"No!" Jahlil pressed his ear against his father's chest.

Dad's heart had stopped beating.

"No!"

Hot tears blinded Jahlil. Comforting hands rested on his shoulders, people trying to take him away from his father. He didn't want them to take him away, he wanted to wrap his dad in his arms and will his heart back to life. But he was too weak to struggle, and so sick that he thought he was going to throw up. He allowed them to peel his arms from around his dad. Someone carried him, and put him in a chair. Then someone embraced him; a woman, Pearl, judging from the scent of her. She hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Your daddy loved you, Jahlil, always remember that, sweetheart. He loved you and he'll always be with you. Always."

Jahlil squeezed her close, and wept.

Our worst nightmares are coming true, David thought. Jackson, gone. Could it get any worse?

He felt as though someone had slugged him. He staggered to a chair. Across the room, Jahlil desperately clutched Pearl in his arms, as though being torn away from her would sweep him away into oblivion. He felt sorry for the boy. He had lost both of his parents, and he was only a teenager. It was so terribly unfair.

I'm responsible for him from now on, he thought. Ipromised Jackson that I would be there for his son. I've got to keep my word.

Nia came into the room with a fresh towel. She gently wiped Jahlil's face.

Jahlil is in good hands, David a.s.sured himself. Between myself and Nia, we 71 take care of him and make sure he has everything he needs.

On the bed, Jackson lay still. He was a good, courageous, honest man. There weren't enough men like him in the world. Now, he was gone. His p.r.o.ne body had a strange emptiness to it, like a soulless wax figure. The essence of the spirit that was Van Jackson had vacated its earthly vehicle for another, better place.

Despair gripped David. He was convinced that they were engaged in a fool's game. They couldn't win. Franklin was dead. Jackson was dead, too. There were dozens of vampires on the prowl, and perhaps hundreds more to come in the next day. Why continue this pointless fight? Why not find a way out of town and put it behind them for good?

You can't quit, a nagging voice told him. William Hunter didn't quit. Neither can you. Besides, do you think running will solve anything? Diallo and Kyle want you, most of all. Wherever you go, they'll find you.

He wished he could silence the voice of his conscience, but it spoke the truth. They could not run away. There was no escape. The only course of action was to do their duty.

He sighed, heavily. The burden of responsibility weighed upon his shoulders like a heavy barbell. Standing up was like rising out of a three hundred-pound squat.

A noise suddenly reached him that sent a shiver of fear through his bones.

Dogs, outside. Barking.

The vampires had found them.

Chapter 23.

t the barking of the hounds, David looked at Nia. He nodI Ided slightly, the only indication necessary to communicate to her that they were no longer safe.

Tension clenched his gut.

"They've found us," Nia said. She looked at Pearl. "How?"

"Diallo," Pearl said. She slipped out of Jahlil's arms. Jahlil, blinking slowly, appeared to realize what was happening, for his gaze sharpened. "Remember when I explained the risks of slipping into Diallo's mind? How it could form a dangerous psychic doorway? That is what happened. Just as I secretly entered his thoughts, so he was able to do the same with me. I'm only surprised that he has taken so long to arrive."

"He and his son have probably been out there painting the town red," David said. "Pardon the pun. They've gotten bored and are ready for us ""

"f.u.c.k this." Jahlil angrily wiped his eyes and shot to his feet. "I'm gonna kill all those motherf.u.c.kers. Everyone stay out of my way." He stormed across the room to where their bags and firearms lay on the floor.

David stepped in front of Jahlil.

"Hold on, Jahlil. I'm not letting you go out there like Rambo. We can't do it that way."

Jahlil's glare could have melted gla.s.s. "Get out of my way, man. I'm for real."

He tried to shove David aside, but David held his ground.

"I know you're angry," David said. "You're furious about what they did to your dad. I understand. But I promised Jackson that I'd look out for you, and I mean to stand by my word. There's no way I'm letting you run out there. That would be suicide."

"I don't need you to look out for me, all right? Will you get the h.e.l.l out of my way?" His nostrils flaring, he attempted to push David out of his path.

David grabbed the boy's arms, held them tight.

Jahlil trembled. David was about three inches taller than the kid and outweighed him by maybe twenty pounds, but Jahlil was so charged with anger that David was not sure he could hold him back. The skin of his arms was hot to the touch.

"You've got to chill out," David said. "This isn't the time to lose your cool, understand? You're a tough kid, but you aren't crazy. You know you don't stand a chance in h.e.l.l against those monsters"

"All right." Jahlil's eyes were red and fatigued. He shrugged off David's hands. David let him go.

"So you're the big boss man," Jahlil said. "What do you want us to do? Stay in here and wait to be slaughtered?"

David checked outside the rain-smeared window. He could not see the bloodsuckers yet, but the dogs' barks steadily grew louder.

Jahlil, Nia, and Pearl watched him anxiously.

"We have to go on the run," David said. "The vampires own the night, and there are too many of them for us to handle. We have to lie low until daybreak. Then, we can catch them in their lair, wherever that is."

"How do we get away?" Nia said. "It sounds like they're coming from the direction of the road. We can't go that way."

"There's a dirt trail at the back of my property," Pearl said. "It begins near the tool shed. The path leads through the woods, then cuts through a marsh and eventually ends at a road in town. But there is no light to guide you, and the swamp is full of water moccasins. My brother was bitten by one as a child and nearly died."

"s.h.i.t," Jahlil said. "I ain't messing with no snakes, man. Forget it."

"We'll take my truck," David said. "We'll stay on the trail and won't have to set foot in the water."

Nia looked out the window. "Then if that's the plan, we better get moving. They're getting closer, guys"

David grabbed his duffel bag. Jahlil and Nia hurriedly picked up their belongings, as well.

Pearl solemnly drew the blanket across Jackson's body.

"I am staying here," she said. Her eyes were tranquil. "I will watch over Chief Jackson"

"Good idea," Jahlil said. He swallowed. "I don't want to ... leave my dad here, alone, you know?"

"Are you sure, Pearl?" David said. "The bloodsuckers are after us, and me, especially, but what if they break in here? It's not safe for you to stay behind."

"Nowhere is safe for me so long as Diallo is alive," she said. "I have violated the sanct.i.ty of his thoughts, an unforgivable trespa.s.s to him. If I were to come along with you, it would only fuel his determination to destroy us all. I am staying here"

Her tone indicated that the subject was closed to discussion. David bit his lip, debating whether to continue to attempt to persuade her to leave with them.

"You must hurry," Pearl said.

The barking outdoors grew louder.

On shaky legs, King trudged to the doorway. He whined, eyes searching David's face for rea.s.surance.

"Okay, boy, we're leaving," David said. Nia and Jahlil had gathered their things; Jahlil was making an obvious effort to avoid looking at his father's corpse. The kid's eyes were watery.

David felt a strong, almost paternal urge to spirit Jahlil away from this, and to take him somewhere where he could smile again. But it was going to be an arduous journey to reach such a place. First, they had to escape Pearl's house.

Pearl accompanied them to the door. She quickly kissed each of them on the cheek.

"Thank you for everything," David said, "again"

"Keep them safe, David Hunter," she said. "They're your family now."

He nodded, then turned to face the darkness beyond.

The gravel driveway that led from Pearl's house to the main road was as dark as a subterranean tunnel. But David heard the dogs. They bayed and barked ceaselessly. It sounded as though dozens of the h.e.l.lhounds were prowling closer.

The vampires would be with them.

Jahlil, Nia, and King had climbed inside the Pathfinder. David opened the rear cargo door, to stash their bags in the storage area.

His hands shook so badly that he dropped one of the bags. He cursed under his breath, grabbed the canvas strap, and flung the parcel into the cargo bay.

Hunter.

The voice, deep and sonorous, came to him like a whisper of air against his ears.

David turned to face the long, lightless driveway.

Diallo strode out of the darkness.

Although David had seen only an artistic rendering of Diallo in the Bible ill.u.s.trations, one look confirmed that he was witnessing the master vampire, in the flesh. He was Goliath-size, standing a head above Kyle, who kept pace with him on his right. Clothed in black garments, Diallo walked as if he owned the night, head raised high and proud, arms swinging casually, each long stride fluid and commanding. He was accompanied by perhaps a dozen lesser vampires, and vampiric hounds. They marched in a formation that spanned the entire road.

A change seemed to buzz through the atmosphere, as though the night itself were comprised of two puzzle pieces that had finally been fitted together with a click-a click that echoed in the depths of David's soul. He was gripped by a certainty that he was meant to be here, fated to meet this centuries-old adversary of his ancestor on this Mississippi ground. Another piece of Destiny had slid into the proper groove.

A dizzying mixture of terror and awe coursed through him.

"Come on, David!"

"Hurry up, man!"

David shook his head, disoriented.

Jahlil and Nia screamed at him to get in the truck.

At last, I have found you, Hunter. The resonant voice came to him again. Even from a considerable distance, Diallo's eyes held David in place, like iron stakes.