Nicholas nodded. Today was Friday. Dina might not live until Tuesday. "Who knew about this?"

She shook her head. "Me. My doctor."

"Your parents? Lorelei?"

"I didn't tell Lorelei. My mom died ten years ago from cancer. I never knew my dad. My boyfriend only stuck around for the first round of surgery. He couldn't take anymore after that."

Nicholas nodded. He didn't know what to say. The sun approached, and Dina yawned.

"Go lie down if you're tired," he said. "I don't mind."

"In a minute." She leaned her head back on the couch.

"Thanks for listening."

He touched her hair, lifting a short blonde strand away from her forehead. "No problem."

Weariness encroached on him, as well. Only a few hours until sunrise. He needed to go back to Vivian's, or see if Dina's bedroom was suntight. "Dina-"

The doorbell rang. She pushed wearily from the couch to answer it.

It was Vivian. "I need to talk to Nicholas."

Frowning, he came to the door. "I thought you were going to call if you needed me."

She grabbed his elbow, dragged him into the hallway. "This is bigger than I expected. You need to come with me now."

"It's three hours 'til daylight."

"I know. But we need to go Below. The Senior's dead."

Nicholas gaped. "What?"

"The Senior is dead. Julian killed him. Now Julian's the Senior."

He could barely get his head around this. The Senior had put out a Call for Julian, and now the Senior was dead at Julian's hands. "Is he cleaning house?"

"We don't know yet. It doesn't look that way so far. But he wants us all Below." 83 "And we're just supposed to go so he can kill us all?"

She studied his face, her mouth tight. "You don't know Julian, do you?"

"No, not really."

"He hasn't killed a human in centuries, much less another vampire. If he brought down the Senior, there was a reason."

"If the Senior had a Call out for him, I'm guessing there was a reason for that, too."

"The last Senior spared nearly everyone who pledged loyalty within the first twenty-four hours of his ascension. Are you coming or not?"

"All right, I'm coming. But Dina's coming, too."

"She'll slow us down."

"If she stays here, she'll die. She won't know to keep the curtains closed."

"Then she'll die today instead of later."

He met Vivian's gaze, realizing defiance could get him killed.

"She's coming with us."

The tips of her fangs showed against her lower lip, then subsided. "Fine. Get her. We need to go now."

He nodded and ducked back into Dina's apartment. The trick, he realized, would be convincing Dina she had to go.

"I don't understand," she protested when he told her. "I'd rather stay here and rest."

"It might not be safe here."

She eyed him with obvious skepticism. "Why would my own apartment not be safe?"

"The man who attacked you at the party. He might come back." The words came out before he could consider them.

When she found out what had really happened- "Dina, there are things you don't know. Please come with me. I don't want anything to happen to you."

As he said it, he realized he meant it, far more deeply than he'd ever dreamed he could. The thought of her inevitable death made him hurt in a way he'd never experienced before. It was almost as if his soul ached. If vampires had souls.

Her skepticism faded, replaced by an expression he couldn't read. "I don't know if I can trust you, Nicky." 84 He felt his mouth twist as he smiled. "You can't. Now come on."

She gave him an odd, narrow look. But she followed him.

Nicholas had made a few trips to the Underground with Vivian, helping her run errands for the Senior. The former leader of the Underground had trusted her with his mortal servants, as well as with a half-dozen of the vampire community's legitimate business pursuits, like a highly successful Goth club in Alphabet City and a profitable on-line venture specializing in vampire memorabilia. It seemed no matter what the era, there were always mortals who hungered for things vampiric. Nicholas had been one of them, before Vivian had taken him Over. He'd worn black capes and fangs on stage when he'd played s.h.i.thole nightclubs in Jersey. Then his life had changed, and he'd found Vivian.

She led them through a narrow corridor into the wide, crystalline chamber where the Senior's office had been. Dina clung to Nicholas' hand, staring wide-eyed at the glittering walls.

She looked scared.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

She abandoned her fear a moment to give him a sour glare.

"I would be if somebody told me what the h.e.l.l is going on."

"There's been a hostile takeover," Vivian answered. "My boss was overthrown. We're here to meet the new guy."

Dina sensed the hesitation in Vivian's tone. "Are you afraid he might fire you?"

"I'm more afraid he might kill me."

Dina blinked. "What are you? Drug lords or something?"

"Or something," said Nicholas, his voice quiet. He smiled and squeezed Dina's hand rea.s.suringly, but she didn't find herself rea.s.sured.

Across the wide room, a door opened. A man came through it, took a few steps toward them, then stopped to light a cigarette.

The small flame flared, strangely bright in the wide room, and a thread of smoke curled. He inhaled deeply, exhaled smoke, and waited.

Dina studied him as they approached. He didn't seem 85 particularly threatening. Six feet tall with black hair that curled a bit against his collar. His face, particularly his eyes, had a vaguely Asian cast. He wore a cream-colored Aran sweater, fashionably faded jeans, and Reeboks. Scary.

But Nick's hand tightened on hers as they approached.

Their small party stopped a few feet away, close enough to smell the smoke from his cigarette. It didn't smell like tobacco.

It was spicy, strange. He flicked ashes to the floor and gave them an apologetic look.

"Sorry about the smoke," he said in a voice that sounded strangely like water. "I don't need them any more, but two hundred years of an oral fixation is hard to break." He drew another drag, then turned back to the door. "Come with me, please."

They followed, Dina more confused than ever. But when they stepped into the office, all her questions vanished at the sight of a familiar face.

"Lorelei!" Dina ran to her, grabbing her friend in an over enthusiastic embrace, nearly knocking her down. "I was so worried about you!"

"Dina?" Lorelei's voice sounded weak. Enthusiasm fading into concern, Dina stepped back. Her friend's face had gone gray, her dark blue eyes suddenly huge in her round face. "My G.o.d, Dina."

"Lorelei, what's wrong?"

"I saw you-" She broke off, her gaze moving over Dina's shoulder to Nicholas. She grabbed Dina's hand, jerking her closer.

"You need to come with me now."

Dina glanced back at Nicholas. "Nicky-"

But he looked strangely bleak. "Just go. You would have found out sooner or later."

Nicholas watched the women leave, feeling suddenly sick.

He'd wanted to tell Dina the truth himself, not have Lorelei relate the gruesome scene that had transpired on Halloween night. Julian laughed a little, but not without sympathy. "It'll be hard to put a good spin on that."

Nicholas looked up at the new Senior, swallowing his anger.

"You don't understand." 86 "No, I don't. But I was there, and I saw you kill her. I also saw you nearly kill Lorelei. As the new Senior, I could have you sent into the sun right now, just for the h.e.l.l of it. Feeding is one thing, but that was obscene." The sympathy had faded from his voice, replaced by thin harshness. Something had changed. His face was different, his voice, the color of his skin- "What are you?" said Nicholas. Next to him, Vivian stiffened.

Julian smiled and drew a drag from his cigarette. "I'm the new Senior. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine."

"Forget the girls," Vivian broke in. "What's going to happen to us?"

"You and Nicholas, I a.s.sume, will fall asleep in a couple of hours."

The silence hung a moment, just long enough for Nicholas to wonder if he or Vivian would ever awaken from that sleep.

"And you won't?" Vivian's voice harshly broke the silence.

"No."

If he was trying to intimidate them, he was succeeding.

Nicholas had thought of Julian as a weak sellout, hiding from the rest of his kind, refusing, by all accounts, to take any human blood. But now....

Now he oozed power. More than the previous Senior had, and the previous Senior had been centuries older. Something had happened between Halloween and today. Something more than a changeover of power.

Vivian moved a little closer to Nicholas. The action surprised him. She'd never come to him for comfort, no matter how subtle.

"What do you want from us?"

Julian snubbed out his cigarette and smiled. "From you, Vivian, I want a full report on all the businesses you handle.

Not just the numbers-I can get that from William. I want to hear about business plans, policies, projections for the future.

As for you, Nicholas-" His gaze turned, and Nicholas actually felt his stomach quivering as it touched him. "I want to know what happened with Dina. You need to tell me everything." 87

FIVE.

"Lorelei, you have completely and totally gone off the deep end."

Lorelei just shook her head, looking sad, angry, and frustratingly sane. Surely, Dina thought-hoped-her friend had lost her mind. If there were any truth to this story...

"You don't remember anything, then?" She sounded tired.

"No. I remember meeting Nick at the party, then I remember waking up in bed, and Nick came to help me."

"He didn't hurt you?"

"No. Why would he hurt me?"

"Because he killed you, Dina. I watched him do it, and then he tried to kill me."

It didn't sound any more convincing than the last time she'd said it. Dina just stared at her. Lorelei looked tired, but Dina was tired. Exhausted. She'd have to lie down in a few minutes, or fall down right here on the floor.

"How could he have killed me? I'm alive, right now, talking to you."

Lorelei's hand whipped toward her, and Dina flinched as her friend grasped her throat, pressing against the bruises. She'd almost forgotten about them, but they hurt now as Lorelei dug in her fingers.