I sing through mountains, and cry through lakes
I am the first thing corpses see when they awake
I live vastly eternal, sweet as death
I must confess that I am the Kiss of Death
Promises I shall make, stories I've heard
Lies I do not tell, I won't go back on my word
Peace is a frenzy, war infinite care
Millennia have known me, men learned to beware
I am Fate unending, conscience thought dire
I am suffocating poison, drought to cause the fire
Mysteries don't become me, suspense is a trivial game
And no, no my dear friend--
I am absolutely without shame

Jim heard the trio of familiar voices as soon as they entered the building. He cocked his head and Blair immediately cast his attention on the Sentinel.

"What's up, Jim?"

"They're here."

"Bram, you can act like such a mental case sometimes," Alecia was informing her shorter, yet broader friend. "These men don't need to hear your problems on top of their own. Go tell it to the talk shows."

"Sure, I can see it now. I'm sitting up there in front of Geraldo's audience. 'It's so tragic!'" Bram blubbered in fake tears. " 'Vampires took over our town, killed God knows how many people, zombified four of them, including my ex. To top it all off, one of the people I am psychically bonded to had to kill her to save my life--and did I mention they were best friends?--then the head vampire tries to cross over my best friend in something called il Rito Oscuro, and everything is hunky-dory now'!"

"I want to hit him," Alecia growled. "Let me hit him, Aje."

"Bram," Jim heard Adrian addressing his friend as they got onto the elevator, "would you do us all a major favor and shut up? You're being a dork."

"Ooooh, tough crowd. Man, you guys are so--ow! Do you have to hit so friggin' hard? What was that for anyway?"

"To shut you up for once," Alecia answered sweetly.

Jim could hear fabric rubbing against skin, and decided Bram must be nursing his tender spot. He chuckled a little and Blair gave him a curious look. They got out of the elevator and Jim had the door open as soon as Adrian knocked.

"Hi," Jim greeted them, taking in Bram babying his right bicep and Alecia's smug smile. "Um, glad to see you made it on time."

"Aje and Leesh believe in being punctual," Bram informed him, as they entered the loft. He shrugged, keeping his left hand around the same spot on his right arm. "One of those bad habits I could never get them to kick."

Jim nodded towards the appendage receiving special treatment. "Are you okay?" As if he had been oblivious to the display that had occurred less than a minute ago.

Bram looked down at the hand attached to his arm and hastily removed it. "Oh yeah. I just hit it on, um, a--you know . . ." His mouth worked as he searched for a word and his answer came out in a suspiration, "door."

Both Jim and Blair caught the knowing glances between Alecia and Adrian, but Blair didn't have the slightest idea what it was all about. Bram didn't leave him speculating for long. He sauntered over to the couch Blair was still seated on and casually plopped himself down.

"So, what's on the agenda? Vampire hunting, staking? How 'bout an exorcism? Oh, I got it! Why not all three?"

Adrian rolled his eyes, Alecia mirroring the action, unbeknownst to him.

"I'm glad to see your disposition's improved from earlier," Jim said, keeping a forced smile on his face. This kid was much worse than Sandburg. He surmised it had something to do with the eight years age difference. After all, those eight years made a considerable difference between himself and his roommate.

"Yeah," Bram readily agreed. "As soon as we left, Leesh chewed me out and Adrian threatened to send me packing back home by way of airline luggage. Never mind that the car we're using is mine." He shot his two friends a smoldering glare.

"He's not always like this," Alecia declared.

"Yeah," he mused. "Sometimes I'm worse." He started to kick his feet up on the coffee table and stopped mid swing when confronted by the daggers Jim was throwing at him. Cautiously: "Mi case es su casa.?"

"Mi casa no es su casa," Jim blandly replied. Blair covered his mouth with a hand, attempting to keep a straight face.

"Yeah," the hyper young man breathed, not realizing Jim could hear him clear as a bell. "And no habla Espaņol either I bet." His emerald green eyes settled on his best friend, feeling the need to hastily switch subjects. "So, Aje. What's up?"

Adrian unconsciously brushed back several wisps of long, dark hair behind his ear. The detective noted that this was a natural thinking habit for him. He'd done the same thing while regaling them with the tale of Artell. "We need to make a decision. We can do either one of two things. Stay here and discuss things or go out and see if we can find the vampires before they strike again."

"It may be best if we just go," Blair suggested. "We can always exchange info while searching the city."

Jim nodded. "I agree."

Blair continued. "I think we should split up, though."

Jim shook his head. "I disagree."

"Look, it'd be best if we split into two teams. More ground will be covered. And I think you and I should be in separate groups, as well, because we know the city. They don't."

The idea appealed little to Jim, but he knew Blair had a point. He and Blair did know the city best, and in two teams they had a better chance of discovering something. "Okay," he relented. "So who goes with who?"

"Well, I think it'd be best for Adrian and I to be together. Besides, we have some things I want to discuss with him. You, Bram, and Alecia could comprise the second team. Is that okay with everyone?"

Adrian and Alecia nodded, but Bram and Jim were too busy giving each other dirty looks.

"Super Cop's gonna tear me apart!" Bram protested. "Look at him! Look! He's giving me the Evil Eye!"

"You won't have to worry about the sore arm," Jim said in a deceptively serene tone. "I'll rip it off for you."

Bram's eyes enlarged and he scooted closer to Blair. "He's bluffing right?" His head jerked around to seek reassurance from the curly-haired man sitting beside him. "Please tell me he's bluffing."

Blair grinned evilly, enjoying this far too much to just let it drop. "I'd love to tell you he's bluffing, but you see I can't do that. Not in good conscience."

Bram looked back to the hulking cop. "Oh God . . ." He groaned. "You gotta be kidding me."

Jim approached the young man who cowered on the couch, all but sitting on Blair's lap. Jim flashed him a predatory grin. "Come on, Junior. Let's get a move on."

The cop took a hold of the muscular kid's bruised arm and easily dragged him off the couch. Bram threw his friends a beseeching plea as he was casually pulled out of the room by the determined detective.

"Hmmm," Alecia leaned her body over so she could look out the open door. "I guess that's my cue to take off. I do hope Bram behaves himself."

"Don't worry." Blair laughed. "Jim'll keep him in line. Probably scare a few years off his life while he's at it."

"Good," Alecia responded, amused. "It'd probably do him some good." She pecked a kiss on Adrian's cheek. "Be careful, Aje. Anything could happen out there."

Adrian nodded. "You take care of them, okay?"

"I'll do my best." She smiled cheekily and strode out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"She's something else," Blair remarked. "You're a lucky guy."

Adrian chuckled a little. "Yeah, I am. She's great. Really, they're both great. Those two mean everything to me."

Blair stood up and stretched. "I think I can understand how you feel." He frowned. "That sort of thing can really cost you a lot."

Adrian's near-black irises flashed with concern, as he received the first clear view of Blair's neck. "Does the cost have anything to do with the bruises on your neck?"

Blair's hand instinctively shot to the mentioned area. The handsome Italian's eyes narrowed as he saw more clearly the damage done.

"My God, Blair. What happened?"

The anthropologist sighed and shook his head. "That's part of what I have to tell you. Come on, I'll tell you in my car."

Dim street lamps cast shadows along the worn out roads. Neither of the longhaired men knew what they were looking for, how they'd find it, or what they'd do if they did. Blair had stopped paying attention to the Volvo's surroundings. His vision only saw the ill-maintained road before him, turning through different directions in Cascade's slums. More thought was given to the words he spoke then his supposed purpose of the moment.

"We discovered something today that could severely affect everything. Just before you and the others showed up at that park Jim had a . . . reaction." He expected a query from his somewhat quiet companion, but was only met with inquisitive silence. "He attacked me, tried to choke me. I couldn't breathe and I could've sworn that he was going to kill me. The Captain showed up in time to pull him away from me."

Blair shifted his hands on the steering wheel, checked his rear view, flipped the turn signal, and turned down a road to his right.

"I realized that it was only certain bodies that caused this reaction, and determined it to be the odor causing him to flip out. Later on, after you guys left, we went down to the station and Jim decided to look at the victims' bodies again." His breath hitched in remembrance and Adrian broke his silence.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It was just so surreal. I still can't get over it. Two of the bodies had been switched. Jim lost it again. I was able to get away, thankfully. After Jim calmed down, we came back to the loft and I put Jim in a trance. We found out what the cause was."

Once again, Adrian didn't push. He allowed Blair to collect himself before continuing.

"Several years back he slept with a vampire. Of course, he didn't know what she was at the time. I think she hypnotized him."

Adrian's eyebrows shot up in shock, although the reaction was lost to the dark. This most certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting. "I didn't know whether it was possible or not," he murmured in awe.

"Neither did I," Blair conceded. "But they slept together and she did something to his mind. She placed a spell on him, I think, which is causing his negative reactions."

"Yeah, probably," Adrian concurred. "The older ones have the ability."

"I thought I could stop his fits, but after learning he's been under a spell this whole time, I'm not quite so sure. This is way beyond anything I've ever dealt with before. There's just so much I don't understand," the grad student admitted helplessly.

Adrian heard Blair's frustration and could sympathize wholly. "The curse can do that to you. It can make you doubt yourself and your judgement. I've been at this game for three years now and I still don't understand all the rules. Actually, it seems like every time I start to, someone goes revising them on me."

"Sucks," Blair commiserated.

"And like Bram always says, 'we don't even get a paycheck for this.' "

Blair flipped the left blinker and turned down the road after checking to make sure traffic was clear. Despite the fact it wasn't very late at all, he hadn't seen very many cars. He had a feeling it had a lot to do with the murders that had occurred in this area. "I know what you mean. Totally."

"Yeah?" Adrian hesitated. "Blair . . . can I ask you a fairly personal question?"

Blair had a very peculiar sensation of knowing what was going to be asked of him. "Shoot."

The question was noticeably hard for the college student, as he stumbled around the words. "What's--I was just wondering, um, what is it, you know, about you and Jim that this vampire would be after you guys? I guess that it's the same one that slept with your partner."

Now that that was over he could relax a little. The tension radiating from his soft-spoken companion indicated that his calm was not widespread. At least answering the question wouldn't be so difficult.

"It's kind of a long story. And really, it's not my place to make the decision to tell. I could tell you a little about myself, but Jim has his own story and it's all his to tell."

Adrian nodded, seeming to accept this, if sounding a little dejected for it. "Oh, okay."

He fell back into silence and Blair felt sorry for him in that respect. It didn't take a psychology major--and he did have his minor at least--to figure out that Adrian was deeply introverted and it hindered him in many aspects.

"It's all right, man," Blair replied encouragingly, hoping to put his new friend at ease. "If you want, I can always talk to Jim about it. He looks intimidating, but he's really just a big softy once you get to know him. He may satiate that curiosity of yours."

"That'd be great!" Adrian enthused.

"I thought you might think so."

They drove on for another minute, in which time Blair had turned down another two streets, seemingly at random. Finally, as he drove on, one of the questions that had been so persistently ragging him surfaced.

"Aje," he began, surprising himself by the use of the nickname. "The vampire had told Jim that she was planning on going after both Jim and myself. She sounded like she wanted to cross us both over. But Jim really looked like he was trying to kill me. Wouldn't that have been going against her orders?"

"Mmm. That's a good one. Well . . . I never saw what happened, but it could be assumed that he wasn't actually trying to kill you. Perhaps subdue you. Once he rendered you unconscious there wouldn't be much you could do to defend yourself from her."

"That makes sense. I guess now that I think about it she was trying to separate us anyway. She told Jim that I would become his enemy and she his ally. When introduced to the odor it all came back to him and everything surfaced. First it was the anger. Every time he smelled the scent he became progressively violent. The very first occurrence was the lawyer's body. Jim just snapped at me then. The second, he snapped at me, then tried choking me. The third, it was like he wasn't even human." He shuddered. "I don't even want to think what would happen if he encountered it again. All I would be able to say is that it wouldn't be very good for me. If I just knew how to stop it." Blair cursed to himself.

"I may be able to help you with that."

"Could you?" Blair looked at him quickly, hope fully evident in his entire mien.

"I can at least try," Adrian offered. "I'm not perfect at this sort of thing. I've only had to break three spells since I discovered my abilities. And that was all at the same time, during the Artell incident. You may be significant in breaking him of it though."

"Me? Why?"

"The bond between you and Jim is important. It needs to be established if it hasn't yet. Has it ever?"

Blair gestured vaguely with his shoulders. "Not that I know."

Adrian nodded curtly. "It needs to be done. Soon. Especially in a time like this."

"Okay. I'll talk to him about it after our little vampire hunt. Which brings me to another thing I don't get--why hasn't she come after us personally yet? She said she couldn't control me, or something like that, but I'm sure there are other ways."

"Oh, there are," Adrian mused. "She hasn't come to you yet because she doesn't know where you are. Vampires may be immortal, but they're not omniscient. The trail of dead bodies is to lure you out into the open."

Blair frantically searched the obscured, desolate sidewalks and alleyways. "So we're putting ourselves at risk by going out like this."

"Kind of. But right now I don't think it's too bad."

"Why can she control Jim and not me?" Blair asked, swiftly shifting his focus. His mind was running full blast now.

"Your mind's like mine. You have psychic abilities, although I venture to say that yours are of fledgling capabilities. It doesn't seem to me that you've ever used them. Indeed, you sounded surprised earlier when I told you about it."

"I was," Blair professed. "But when you said it, I knew that it wasn't as far out as I would've previously considered it to be."

"Well, these powers are not all fun and glory. A price comes with it. She will be able to visit you telepathically, as I did last night. The strange thing is, the ability that allows her to do this also protects you from her hypnotic spells. You're immune to her, er, I guess you could call it deception. There is a natural defense mechanism in your mind that acts as a wall. Unfortunately it has nothing to do with the telepathy."

"That is wild," Blair stated, feeling completely boggled. "And confusing."

"You can say that again," Adrian remarked dryly.

The prospects reeled dizzily in his head. His mind spun with the overload of information. He didn't understand. He was a Shaman, but what Adrian was proposing was more than he'd ever wanted to hear, or know, or believe. He wanted no part of the damned; he just wanted him and Jim to be left alone.

Damn the Damned, he thought angrily. And the Volvo turned down yet another road, seeking a destination neither driver nor passenger were sure of.

Jim, Alecia, and Bram stuck to Cascade's suburbs. Traffic was fairly heavy and the streets were better lit than Cascade's more impoverished section. Bram had cut his chatter down by half and had made sure that Alecia had ended up in the middle of the seat.

The detective had to admit that these kids fascinated him. Especially Bram Lyte. The fit the kid had thrown earlier had knocked both him and Sandburg for a loop, but now this weird kid--hailing from Ohio and looking like he came right off Malibu beach--was acting as if nothing out of the norm had occurred. He wanted to know what this kid's deal was and the detective in Jim was going to see to it that he got his information.

"How much do you guys actually know about this sort of thing?" he inquired.

"Not really much," Alecia admitted. "Adrian's like a storehouse of knowledge. We're simply his vampiro guirriere."

"What does that mean?"

"It's Italian for 'vampire warriors.' Stacia, Adrian's vampiric ancestor, was born in the Appenines of Italy. She taught us this stuff. Well, she actually taught Adrian most of it. All we can do is combat by his side. I guess he's our leader in a way."

"He is," Bram affirmed.

Bram never ceased to amaze him. He was such a sarcastic young man, one who seemed to see little to respect; but when it came to his two companions he was all reverence.

"Adrian usually doesn't say a lot, he could really fool you. But he's the strongest, sharpest person I know. Both physically and mentally. He kept me alive when all I wanted to do was shrivel up and die."

Jim could hear the struggle that had been eating at Bram for years now. The tone told him that Bram wanted to share his past, but was keeping it back out of habit. Alecia had lapsed into a quiet reservation of her own. So Ellison decided to press. Sandburg had done the same for him in the past and the emotional outletting had helped him immensely through his most trying times.

Alecia and Adrian already knew, Jim ruminated, so it did little good for Bram to release his frustration to them; but a person willing to be compassionate and understanding would probably suffice nicely to clear his conscience.

"What happened between you and your girlfriend?" He decided to jump right in, and with more gentleness then he would've ever given himself credit for.

"Ahh." Bram hissed through his teeth.

Jim's sharp peripheral vision allowed him to see Alecia place a comforting hand on the broad shoulder to her right. For a moment, he doubted Bram would be able to tell him and he absently wondered if he'd crossed some invisible boundary.

"You know," Bram stated, right out of the blue, "it's really tough."

"What's that, son?"

"I really cared about her. Loved her even. We were sixteen at the time. Had been going out for a while." He licked his lips nervously, contemplating his next words and how the gruff detective might react. "We were both virgins. Difference was, I didn't want to stay that way, she did. She thought we were still too young. So, to placate her, I told her that was all right with me.

"It wasn't." He sighed softly, feeling a lump harden in his throat. Well, he'd wanted this, so here it went.

"I drank a lot then. Yeah, I know it's illegal, but I was so screwed up back then I wouldn't listen to anyone. Not even Adrian. It's a wonder our friendship made it out of that period alive. My older brother would go down and buy beer for me sometimes. I ended up taking her out to the woods, she liked it out there, you know privacy and all. So, I proceeded to get her drunk off her ass. Try to make her lose her inhibitions so we might actually, you know . . . do it. Everything was going according to plan when that little bit of conscience I'd stuffed away started to rear its head. 'It's rape, Bram. You do this and she'll hate you for the rest of your life.' So I stopped." He laughed bitterly. "That's where Detective Jerrod Grant enters the picture."

"Is he the one who arrested you twice?" Jim asked, remembering Bram's remark from earlier.

"Yeah. Arrested me and Lu for underage drinking. Sentencing wasn't too bad. Spent a little time in juvy, did some community service, and I don't think Lu really cared so much about that. She admitted that she drank the beer willingly. She just hadn't intended on getting drunk. Of course not, I had seen to that. She asked me about it, I told her the truth. I felt like such a prick. She never forgave me and I really couldn't blame her." He leaned forward a little so he could see the detective better. "And would you like to hear some poetic justice?"

Jim's eyes fell on him and Bram could see this by the illumination of bright street lamps. "Sure, kid."

"I'm still a virgin." He stopped and leaned back against the seat again. "Things got even more complicated after that."

Despite himself, Jim was completely enthralled in this young man's account; and Jim realized that it was an account that all three shared in their own versions. "How's that?"

Alecia shook her head, knowing exactly what Bram was talking about. Bram snickered. "She ended up falling for Adrian."

Alecia added, "Which in turn made it difficult on me."

"Was he your boyfriend at the time?"

"Not at first. And it was never a 'will you go out with me?' sort of deal. It just happened when all the other crap in the town went down and we realized just who we were, or should I say just what we were."

"Needless to say," Bram finished, "she had a lot of resentment directed at the two of us."

Jim grimaced internally. Tough break. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah? I'm sorry we had to go through it."

Alecia grunted. "Right. It's just one of those 'life's a bitch, then you die' facts of life."

"It's not always like that," Jim tried to assure them.

"Maybe not," the young woman yielded. "There are good points to everything I guess. I still have my health, a future career, and my friends. But there is always going to be that little reality weighing in over my head that I murdered someone when I was only seventeen years old and she was my best friend. I loved her. Lu wasn't perfect, but who is? I can't get over that, Detective Ellison."

"And I can't get over what I did to her," Bram expressed solemnly. "We lead abnormal lives. I wonder if the Ghostbusters had it this bad when they were our age?"

The unexpectedly light comment caught Jim off guard and apparently Alecia too, because she barked out laughter. In the midst of her fit she managed to utter, "Bram, you are--such a--freak!"

He grinned. "Made you feel better, didn't I?"

Her laughter subsided and she had to admit that it had. "I knew there was a reason we keep you around."

The static crackling of Jim's radio interrupted any retort Bram might have come up with. The dispatcher rattled out an address, reporting a homicide in the suburban vicinity, and that all available backup was requested to come to the scene.

Jim's jaw clenched. "I think we have a winner."

"Oh, hey. I never thought of that vampire hunting method before." Bram tilted his head back, holding his hands out, palms facing up. "Pure genius! A radio!"

"I believe in being resourceful," Jim informed him tersely.

Hearing the warning menace, Bram quickly fell to submission. "Resourcefulness is a good thing. We could all learn a valuable lesson from you, detective."

"Yeah?" Jim flipped the flashing lights on and sped the truck up. "You know, I've been meaning to ask, what was the other reason Grant arrested you?"

The left corner of Bram's lip curled upwards. "Murder."

Jim's brow furrowed. "Are you kidding me?"

"I really don't think I'd joke around about something like that."

"He's telling the truth," Alecia affirmed. "Auturo framed him and another friend of ours. We managed to persuade Grant to let Bram go. We had to introduce him to Stacia first, but he let Bram free."

The Ford whipped around a corner. "How did the case end?"

"Grant told us that the FBI was pulling the investigation. If I didn't know better, I'd say that those people knew."

Jim couldn't help but wonder, did the Feds on this case know anything about the Artell incident?

They entered a very family oriented housing development. Jim double-checked the street sign thinking this had to be a mistake. Who knew how many people must live here. How many kids . . .

A tight fist of dread seized his stomach and twisted. Just the thought of something like this happening where children could be subjected to these horrors was enough to make him sick. And the fact that their lives could be put in any danger, he didn't even want to dwell on. From what he had witnessed thus far, however, the vampires seemed to have little interest, if any at all, in children.

Up ahead, red and blue lights flashed brilliantly with a dizzying strobe effect. Many, many red and blue lights. Jim hadn't been the only one to respond to the report and most definitely wasn't the first on the scene. He idly wondered what he would find this time. There was a small part of him praising the absence of his Guide. If he were to encounter the catalyst, at least he wouldn't be able to hurt Blair.

The '69 pickup slowed as it neared the scene. Its three occupants beheld the orderly chaos with an impartial perspective. It was nothing Jim wasn't used to and it dawned on him that his two young, civilian companions were not naive to these frenzied atrocities. They had already proven to him in just the last fifteen minutes that they were not innocents.

Due to the number of vehicles parked in the area, he had to park a significant distance away. All three slid out of the truck, Alecia on Bram's side, and approached the murder scene together. He knew that the kids would be frowned upon, but he really didn't care. They knew more about this vampire thing then he could ever hope to comprehend, so they were staying with him.

With each step Jim could feel a strange exterior vibration growing in strength. Stronger and stronger. Each step closer. And as he neared, something immediately became evident to him: something about this crime scene was very off. Something not quite right . . . they drew closer and he focused his sight, let it zoom past the walking, talking, moving obstacles to the hulking, metallic object he had previously been unable to discern. His eyes grew as he saw it for what it truly was. Not even really paying attention to what he was doing, he tapped Alecia's arm, still staring, wriggled a couple fingers to hurry them on, and lengthened his stride.

Two of his fellow officers sat, sallow and shriveled, in the police car. The sight chilled him to the core, although he refused to give any physical indication of this. Seeing the paste-colored, prune-like corpses of men he had known, worked with, associated with, oh hell, laughed with, severely hit home with him. The appearance unsettled him in a way he found to be most disconcerting. He didn't like the feeling, it made him feel powerless.

He whipped out his credentials and flashed them around. "Detective James Ellison with the Cascade PD. These two are with me on a special assignment. What do we have here?"

One of the FBI officers that had been paying attention answered, "I'm Special Agent Sebring. Double homicide here. The victims were Officers Tom Swinson and Doug Gorlan. Both died of excessive blood loss. Only visible wounds being two tiny puncture marks over the carotid artery."

"Are you working on the serial killings?" Jim questioned.

Sebring nodded, fussing with the gloves on his hands as he did so. "Yes, I am. Several of us just arrived today. We were informed that the killer is extremely clever and had proved to be quite evasive."

"Killers," Jim corrected.

The Fed raised his eyebrows. "I take it you're assigned to this case as well?"

"I'm in charge of this case, working under Captain Simon Banks of the Major Crimes division. A couple other detectives I noticed searching for clues are also working on this investigation."

"You know that the FBI can pull jurisdiction on the Cascade PD, don't you?" Sebring inquired casually.

"Oh, I know," Jim replied, keeping his malice at bay. "But that would be the stupidest move the FBI could possibly make under these circumstances."

Sebring took that off-hand comment as a challenge. "And if your people start stepping on our toes?"

This time, Jim did nothing to hold back his malice. "If my people step on your peoples' toes, it's because you're making all the wrong moves. You better start learning how to dance."

The agent bristled, but Jim didn't even wait around for a comeback. He motioned his companions to follow him and they headed for the already surrounded murder site. All four doors were open and the bodies had not been moved in any manner so the evidence would not be contaminated, and a better scenario could be drawn up from the body positions.

"Damn," Bram swore nervously. "They've been here. Oh shit! They know you're a cop, man."

"Calm down!" Alecia barked softly. "You can't be losing it on us now. We need you to stay together for us. Besides, you can't possibly know that they've figured out Detective Ellison's a cop just from these two bodies."

Jim had to admit that he felt about as nervous as Bram sounded. "There's still a third out there." He was about to make a comment about the jasmine, but decided it would be better to keep that little bit of information to himself.

"Should we go and find them?" Bram asked, searching the territory with darting eyes.

Alecia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She turned to Jim. "What do you think? Should we stay here or go find them? If you're worried about vampires, Adrian is trained in vampirismo combat. He can take care of your friend if need be. I'm sure he's found the third though. He has that extra sense we lack when it comes to vampire hunting."

"I'm sure they can handle it on their own. We should see what we can pick up here." He didn't bother with the real reason he wasn't about to go find Adrian and Blair. If he was anywhere near the third body he knew he'd lose control. Neither one of these carried the scent, which meant Blair and Adrian were going to find it more than likely. He didn't want to take the risk of being around Blair when they came upon it.

Alecia nodded and patted Bram's arm soothingly. "Does your arm still hurt?"

"I think it's still bruised," he answered with a pout.

She snorted softly. "You're not getting any sympathy here."

Bram sighed. "Why does that not surprise me?"

The flickering motel sign struggled valiantly to win a losing battle. It, the scattered dull street lamps, and the glowing full moon gave light to the decaying establishment.

"A roach motel," Adrian muttered, taking in the setting. "Is this where the vampires are?"

Blair shrugged, puzzled. "I'm not even sure how we ended up here. I wasn't driving with any specific place in mind."

"It's part of the curse," Adrian answered simply. Ambivalence marred his intonation. "Should we go in or call the others? Either way could cause problems."

A vision of a crazed Jim Ellison flared in the corners of Blair's mind. "Let's check it out ourselves. You're like a natural vampire detector, right?"

"Yeah." Adrian still sounded unsure.

"If you sense anything just give the word and we're outta here. How's that?"

"Okay, I guess."

This decided, they got out of the Volvo and stepped onto the sidewalk running in front of the motel rooms, only twenty feet from the office. Blair looked up and down the stretch of identical rooms, totally lost. "What do we do now? We don't even know where to begin looking."

Adrian held up an index finger. "I can usually sense the trail of a vampire. If one has been here, I'll know."

He stood stock-still, drinking in the dilapidated environment, absorbing every molecule. Blair watched in a fascinated quiet. Adrian's eyes closed as an electrical charge shot through him. His eyes gradually opened as did his awareness. He began walking down the thinning concrete path, farther from the motel office and Volvo. Blair followed behind, brimming with questions.

The sidewalk ended at the corner of the building and it was here, in front of the last door, that Adrian came to a halt. He pressed his palm to the door, as if detecting heat. Once again his eyes closed in concentration. Abruptly, he yanked his hand back and his head jerked as if the door had, in fact, seared him. As he stumbled backwards, Blair came up behind to offer support to the flailing young man, grasping his arms lightly.

"Are you okay?"

Adrian nodded, for a moment robbed of speech.

"Is there a vampire in there?"

Adrian answered with a negative shake.

"But there was?"

An affirmative nod.

"There's something else in there, isn't there? A victim."

The college student tried to speak, but could only draw in a trembling breath. Blair took that as a yes. He reached out to open the door, keeping one arm around Adrian's back, but the doorknob wouldn't turn.

"It's locked." Adrian remained mute in his one-armed embrace. "Aje, come on. You have to snap out of it. Please."

Overwhelmed silence was his only response.

"We have to get in there. It's the only way we're going to catch these monsters."

Adrian blinked. His voice came out in a rasp. "Stretta Mortale."

Blair shook his head. "I don't know Italian."

"Death Grip. It attacks at the most inappropriate times. Stretta Mortale is what I told you about earlier. Reliving the death of a vampire's victim."

Blair gestured with a hand at the door. "You saw this person's death?"

"No. I felt death. Like a personification."

"Doesn't sound good," Blair admitted. About this point he was asking himself if he really wanted to see what awaited them in that run-down room. The sights of earlier victims were still imprinted clearly before his inner vision and a large part of himself had no interest in being subjected to such atrocities again. His arm slid from around the taller man's back. "What now?"

In a moment of indecision, Adrian stood staring at the door, perhaps willing some sort of response from the inanimate object. His smooth voice cut through Blair's rapidly growing doubts. "Stand back."

The grad student did as bade and received quite a shock. Adrian lashed out with his leg, foot landing right next to the knob with preternatural strength. The door cracked in its frame and swung open. Blair's jaw dropped.

"Damned sanguisuga isn't going to hold me back," was all Adrian had to say to his open-mouthed companion. He entered, disappearing into the shadows; Blair held back to inspect the door frame.

Geez, even if the rest of the motel looked like it was about ready to collapse around their ears, the lock actually looked sturdy. He had a sudden respect for his strange new friend. Apparently psychic gifts weren't the only thing Adrian had received through the vampiric blood. He stepped into the room and was almost knocked over by the overwhelming stench. A hand flew to his mouth, trying to hold back nausea, nearly failing. A poor light was suddenly flipped on and its meager illumination was cast throughout the tiny, vermin-infested room. To his left, Blair saw Adrian standing beside the mistreated lamp, gaze locked onto the bed beside it. Did he really want to see? And though he knew that he could just as easily turn around and walk out of this room, there was that funny little part of himself that obviously liked to inflict self-torture, because he looked. And he fell to his knees, jolted by the sprawled mutilation on the bed.

"No . . ." It came as nothing more than a harsh whisper, begging, pleading, unbelieving. "No."

Adrian's focus switched back to Blair and he immediately rushed to the young man when he noticed he had fallen to the floor. "Blair! Who is it?" he demanded, more frightened by this reaction than what was only five feet from them.

"A person I knew well." His eyes were impossibly large as he choked on the words. No, this couldn't be happening. Nononononono. "Her name's Cassie Wells."

"Blair, come on. No use staying in here any longer." Adrian grabbed Blair's arms and dragged the smaller man to his feet. The lack of response he was met with, trying to coax Blair out of the little room scared him. Once out in the cool Cascade air he turned the other man around. Blair's eyes were completely void, staring off into nothingness.

Oh great. He's in shock. How'm I supposed to drag him out of this?

He didn't even want to think on the implications of what Blair's recognition of the victim meant. Things were steadily coming to a head and pondering the inevitable would only serve to get them all killed.

It took some time but he was able to prop Blair up against the wall, ignoring the weak flood of light pouring from the doorway beside them. Gently, Adrian slapped Blair's cheek.

"This is no time to go checking out on me, friend. Come on, Blair," Adrian begged, slapping the cheek again, harder this time.

Blair blinked rapidly. He took in Adrian's edgy state and almost turned to check out the source of light along the side of his vision, but a firm hand on the side of his head stopped him. "I'm okay," he said, in attempt to placate his companion's anxiousness.

Adrian sighed with relief. "Good, you were spacing out on me for a while there. Wasn't sure I'd be able to draw you back onto this plane of existence. We have to use your phone."

"Right." Blair nodded, feeling like he was not really there, just sort of floating. "Come on."

Cassie, Cassie, Cassie . . . Blair squinched his eyes shut, walking but not feeling his feet move. Why'd it have to be Cassie?

"Blair," a voice called out, drawing him out of his inner turmoil. "Are you going to be okay? You don't look so great."

"I'll be fine," he heard himself answer.  I'll be fine. When this demon is finally dead. When all these people stop dying. I'll be fine then.

Blair grabbed his cellular out of the car and punched in Jim's own cell phone number. It only took one ring before it was answered.

"Ellison."

"Jim," Blair said, rubbing his forehead with his free hand, pushing up the strands of hair that had fallen there, "we have some really bad news."

"You found the third body I take it?"

Blair's lips pressed firmly together before he opened them to speak. "Yeah. We did."

His partner automatically detected his uneasiness, asking gingerly, "Who was it, Chief?"

Sandburg sucked in a painful breath. "Cassie."

Silence greeted his statement.

"Jim?"

"Um, oh yeah. Sorry, Blair. I'm just kind of shocked."

"Yeah. Tell me about it. I didn't expect to see her body . . . like that."

"You saw her body." Blair thought he could hear Ellison swear. "Where are you now?"

"We're at a motel. Um, the sign says 'StarLite'. We haven't called anyone else yet."

"Okay." Blair imagined Jim's peremptory nod. "You do that right away. I don't want you two staying there alone for any longer than need be. It's not safe. I don't care what kind of powers Adrian might have."

"How do we explain how we found the body?"

"Don't. Just get out of there. I'll be right over to the scene."

"You can't!" Blair protested. Adrian inclined his head at the sudden outburst. "The jasmine!"

"I only reacted like that around you, Chief. That scent wasn't the catalyst. You were."

Blair swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat. "I'll have Adrian call it in and we'll leave immediately."

"Good. Go to the loft and wait for us there. I'll try not to stay out too long."

"Okay. The room the body is in is open. You can't miss it."

"All right. Thanks, Buddy."

"Bye, Jim."

"Bye."

Blair cut the connection on the cellular, but didn't move. Adrian cocked his head.

"What's wrong, Blair?" The phone was held up for him to take and he obliged without question.

"Call the cops. Report the murder, but keep it anonymous. Jim's gonna be here ASAP. He wants us to leave as soon as the call's made."

"Because of that scent, right?"

Blair nodded, scrutinizing the pavement. "Yeah. He had a good point. If I'm not around he probably won't come unwired."

"But you don't know that for sure," Adrian pointed out.

"No, we don't. But that's the chance he has to take. I think he's right. I don't think there will be any danger if I'm not around."

There was something else there that Blair wasn't saying and Adrian was quick to pick up on it. "It bothers you, doesn't it?"

Blair's gaze rose to meet Adrian's. "What bothers me?"

"You're a handicap to him in this situation. It bothers you."

The gaze fell away. "We're partners. I'm not used to it, no. I'm usually by his side."

Adrian shook his head. "I wish I knew."

The eyes turned up and Blair's head slowly followed. "Knew what?"

"About you two. It's a mystery to me. And I know it shouldn't concern me, but there is just something so unique about you guys and I wish I knew what it was. I know what's so different about you. You have abilities similar to my own, but what about Jim? Where does he fit in?"

A miniscule smile attempted to curve Blair's lips. "He's actually the important part of the puzzle. I wouldn't be who I am without him."

Adrian regarded the older man in silence for several seconds then swept several long strands behind his ear. "You complement each other." He sighed. "Okay. No more postponing." He punched in 911 and proceeded to give out the information, hanging up as soon as he was finished. "I guess this is the part where we get out of here."

He handed the cell phone back to Blair and walked around the Volvo to the passenger side. Blair still stood, phone clutched in his hand. Adrian leaned against the still closed door.

"Are you going to be okay? I understand how it is, seeing someone you care for like that. You really should let it out."

Blair shook his head. "I think I'm still in shock."

A second or two more passed, then after a huff of breath he slid into the car, Adrian quick to the mirror the action. The Volvo pulled out of the dimly lit parking lot. One of the street lamps flickered rapidly, then finally just gave up and died.

An oversized rat slunk along the crumbling sidewalk, discovered the conveniently opened door, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. The diseased rodent slithered on in to scavenge for food. The abominable stench of a decaying corpse sang to it and it finally crawled on top of the bed by way of the bedspread and sheets.

Jim had made sure that he and his two companions were the first ones at the motel. He had notified Simon on the way and the captain wasn't long in showing up after him. They had just gotten out of Jim's pickup when Simon's car pulled up beside the truck.

As he waited for his superior to get out of the car, Jim focused on the room at the end of the long stretch. He could tell that the door had been broken from its hinges and a weak flood of light poured through the open doorway. The truck and car were parked in the middle of the parking lot, despite the empty spaces in front of the room. From where he stood, Sentinel vision showed him that the room was extremely cheap and fairly neglected, but he couldn't see anything outright suspicious . . . so he focused his sense of smell.

Blood. Very faint. He was sure they'd find Cassie's shriveled corpse in that little room. Another scent tickled at the tip of his nose, but he dialed it down before it could actually register. He knew what it was. He just didn't want to have to smell it.

At the heavy fall of footsteps he turned to find Simon approaching them, all the while looking inquisitively at Alecia and Bram.

"They're friends," he said by way of explanation. "They have an idea as to what's going on."

Simon cocked an eyebrow. "And what is going on?"

"I'll have to explain later," Jim answered apologetically. "I want to first see what Blair and Adrian found."

"Adrian?"

"He's the third," Jim replied. "I'll explain later."

Simon glanced at the weakly lit room. "And you said this is Cassie?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not looking forward to this one. I gotta tell you."

Jim shook his head. "Neither am I, sir. But it's our job."

Simon frowned. "Just one of the many perks. You're not expecting these kids to go in there with us, are you?"

Bram started fidgeting. Alecia answered. "We can stay here and wait. We have no problem with that. Cassie was a friend?"

Jim smiled wanly. "I guess she was. Blair had a thing for her. I don't think she was too interested in him though." He exhaled and kept his timbre low and solemn. "We need to check it out, Captain. No use putting it off."

Simon gave a minute shake of the head and a grunt to accompany it. "Let's go."

The two men walked towards the room as if making a final walk on Death Row. Alecia and Bram watched thoughtfully, leaning against the side of the Ford. Neither one was disappointed that they were to wait behind. They had seen plenty of death in their young lives. This would've only been one more on top of so many. But no matter how much either saw the body of a person who had been violently murdered, they were never happy to find another victim.

What Ellison and Banks found was actually worse than what they'd been expecting. As opposed to finding the horribly mangled body of a friend, they found the horribly mangled body of a friend in the company of hungry rats and swarming flies. Simon's hand immediately flew to cover his mouth and nose. The smell was abhorrently noxious. Jim cranked his sense of smell all the way down. The corpse was barely even recognizable after the rats had taken their share from it, and flies crawled along the disfigured face, creeping through any orifice they happened upon; a few of the insects were still buzzing about, unhappy with the accommodations as they were.

Underneath his breath and the hand fixed firmly in place, Simon cursed. Jim blinked rapidly, knowing what came next and honestly loathing it. The animals didn't seem to care that two humans had just walked into their newfound territory and were, in fact, happily oblivious. The pest problem would have to be taken care of first. And that really was something neither man was looking forward to.

Simon frowned. "I need a cigar."

Jim echoed the sentiment. "I need some very hard liquor. How are we going to do this, Captain?"

"Very carefully," Banks answered, deadpan.

The detective snorted softly in amusement. "That would be one way to do it." A familiar sound caught the edge of his hearing and he turned it up. "The cavalry's almost here."

Simon looked at him. "I don't he--" and caught himself before finishing the thought. Stupid thing to say to a man who could hear another person's heartbeat for Heaven sakes. "Can you tell when they'll get here?"

"Should only take them another minute." The wailing of sirens grew steadily closer and from the sound of it, there were at least three units heading in their direction. "I vote that we hold off with pest control until they show up."

Simon nodded enthusiastically. "I second that motion. Maybe we should see if we can pick up any clues outside?" He sounded suspiciously anxious to leave the room to Jim.

Jim was just as anxious. "Good idea, Captain."

With that they were out of the room's suffocating stench and outside thankfully inhaling the night air.

"What'd you find?" Alecia called to them.

The detective and captain headed in their direction. "We found another victim."

Alecia's mouth quirked to the side. "Oh."

Simon assessed the two young adults propped up against Jim's Ford. "How did you get involved in this mess?" he demanded succinctly.

"Sheer luck," Alecia answered humorously. She reached out a hand. "I'm Alecia Wynters."

Bram did likewise. "Bram Lyte."

"Captain Simon Banks," he introduced himself, impressed by their politeness.

"Ah, so you're Super Cop's boss?" Bram grinned widely.

Simon gave Jim a confused look. Alecia laughed softly and Jim rolled his eyes.

"He's such a comedian," Jim commented wryly. "You're gonna love this guy even more than Sandburg."

Simon raised his eyebrows, giving Bram another look, this time seeing the mischief that he had missed beforehand. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Jim.

"Backups going to be here anytime. We better get a look at Cassie's car before they show up."

Simon nodded. "Do you see her car?"

"Yeah, saw it as we came out of the room." He pointed to a car just opposite the motel room. The lamp planted in front of the car cast its light directly on the vehicle. "She wasn't trying very hard to be inconspicuous."

The two men headed for the car, moving around their vehicles. Alecia and Bram started to follow. Aware of the movement behind them, both men stopped synchronously. The kids copied the movement. Banks and Ellison turned around, rotating in opposite directions. Banks cocked an eyebrow, disapproving of the tagalongs.

Aware of his boss' scrutiny of these strange young people, Jim gave them a stern look. "Where do you think you two are going?"

Bram was all innocence in his reply. "We're going to help you."

"There's nothing you can do here. Just stay out of the way until we can find something we can use."

Alecia scowled at the reprimand. "You let us go with you at the last crime scene."

Jim winced. Caught.

Simon turned his disapproving gaze onto his top detective. "Something you forgot to tell me, Ellison?"

"I didn't have any choice," he weakly defended himself. "It's hard to explain, Simon, but they're essential to the investigation."

"Essential how?" Simon asked in that point blank way that only he had mastered.

"We're tracking down the killer ourselves," Alecia answered smoothly. We may not look it, but we're actually well versed on the strange and unnatural murders that are occurring. Something almost exactly like this occurred in our town three years ago. We have a friend on the police force who can testify that we are qualified to look into these horrible events. His name's Detective Jerrod Grant. I can give you his number at the station if you so desire."

Simon rubbed his fingers on his temples. "Um, maybe later. Why don't you two . . . just sit back. Things are going to go crazy once the rest of the cavalry arrives."

"Cavalry's arriving a little too late to do any good," Bram noted.

"Whatever," Simon commented numbly and headed back towards his previous destination--Cassie's car. "Come on, Jim."

Smiling at his aberrant companions antics, Jim did as ordered, shaking his head in amusement.

Bram turned his own impressed grin on his friend, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard. "Man, who taught you the fine art of B.S.?"

Alecia grinned back. "You did, Bram. You did."

The first thing to catch Blair's attention on entering the loft was the blinking answering machine light. He hit the message button and was met with Cassie's voice.

"Hey, Jim. It's Cassie. I just got a call from someone, saying they had a clue to the serial killings. She wants me to meet her at the Starlite motel and I told her I'd be there in about an hour. Get your butt over there as soon as you get this message. I'll see you there."

The machine beeped, leaving no more messages. Blair swallowed.

"Sorry, Cassie. He didn't get your message in time." He picked up the cordless phone.

"Blair? Are you going to be okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Still in shock I guess. You look exhausted, Aje. Why don't you lay down? You're gonna have to take off your shoes first of course. Jim's rules."

Adrian took him up on that offer and sprawled himself out on one of the loft's soft couches, especially comfortable to his exhausted body.

He heard the sounds of Blair punching in a number, a pause, and then: "Jim, Cassie left a message on the machine. . . Yeah, I know. . . Yeah. Okay. Well, as soon as you can I guess you better check it out. All right. Later."

Blair turned off the phone, placing it back on its base.

"I'm going to make some chamomile tea. Would you like some?"

"No thanks," Adrian answered into the cushion, just loud enough to hear. "I'm too exhausted to drink anything."

"I hear that. I just need something to calm my nerves. That was just too much for me to handle in one night."

Adrian shifted his head so he wasn't speaking into the cushion. "It usually is. I'm really sorry. I wish we had found her first. It's part of my responsibilities."

"No. It shouldn't have to be. Even with Alecia and Bram, it's too much. You guys are so young. There's no reason you should be responsible for everything that happens."

The sincerity in Blair's voice touched him, but he just couldn't agree. "Not everything that happens. Just the matters of vampirismo." He sighed wearily. "I appreciate everything you and Jim are doing to help us and for keeping our secret. Very few know and they were very dear friends. After Artell, we never found anyone else we could trust like that."

"Must've been rough," Blair sympathized.

"Not really. We had each other."

"That's amazing."

Adrian stared at the window looking out over Cascade, wishing he had the energy to get up and have a better look. The view at night must be spectacular. "If you and Jim were in our situation you'd survive through each other. Sometimes, a special friendship like that is all you need."

There was a bit of clanging and clattering coming from the kitchen and Adrian determined Blair must be gathering all the items he would need to make the tea.

"Do you ever miss your other friends?"

Adrian blinked. "You know, it's not something I've ever really thought about. I guess in a way I do. We went through so much together--those of us who survived the Artell incident that is. And we really did have some good times. I miss them, yeah, but they weren't vital to my life. Not like Alecia and Bram are. Leesh and Bram are very important parts of my soul. Without them I'd collapse."

The clattering in the kitchen seized momentarily, as if Blair had stopped his activities to think. Finally, he uttered a barely audible, "Like me and Jim," and went back to making preparations for tea.

The young Italian laying on the couch shifted, trying to make himself more comfortable. He cradled an arm under his head for a makeshift pillow and thought he might very well drift off into sleep right there. He could've done so easily, too, but the thoughts coursing through his mind would give him no reprieve.

When he could get Blair and Jim together he meant to talk to them. He just knew that there was more to them than meets the eye. The bond he had spoken of before was no lie, and he had the feeling that the same rule that applied to him and his friends, was very close to the same rule that applied to the detective and his partner. Which brought him to another point that had been bugging him. What in the world was an anthropologist doing with a cop? Sure, Blair had said something vague to him earlier about it being for his dissertation, but that still didn't explain a lot. From everything he could gather, the two of them had known each other for quite a while and he wanted to know why.

His head swam with questions, pondering, twisting everything inside-out, yet receiving no answer for all his troubles. A delectable aroma drifted from the kitchen, tickling his olfactory nerves, and soothing his overworked brain. A light-headed sensation overcame him and he welcomed it with pleasure. It felt strange, but great all the same. He didn't even have to think about it. And soon he wasn't.

He had finally fallen asleep.

"Gee, this is fair," Bram complained, as expected. "We get to go out and hang around with a bunch of cops, not even allowed to do anything to help, doing absolutely nothing for hours, about one a.m. we finally get to leave, and they get to sleep!" He gestured emphatically at the sleeping figures on the couches.

Alecia opened her mouth to rebuke the young man's childishness, but was pleased when Detective Ellison beat her to the punch. "Shut up, Bram. I really don't think you have too much room to complain. Adrian and Blair went through enough tonight."

Alecia grinned, thinking to herself that she couldn't have put it much better. Bram glowered, honestly looking like a recalcitrant child.

"Should we wake them up and tell them what was found?" she asked of the detective.

"Better sooner than later," he concurred.

He strode towards the couch facing towards him. He moved around the table and knelt down in front of his peaceful looking friend, who was sleeping on his back. His hair was spread out wildly, promising stubborn tangles, his mouth opened slightly to allow for easier breathing; his closed eyes and slack face muscles gave the appearance of blissful calm. He hated to wake the young man, as he needed the sleep desperately. Ever since the murders had started Blair had been suffering from lack of sleep. His mind had finally run out of its reserve energy. Tentatively, he placed one large hand gently on the shoulder closest to him, shaking it lightly.

Blair moaned, not happy with the disruption to his slumber. Jim shook a little harder and spoke softly. "Come on, Chief. I hate doing this to you, but we need to talk."

Jim's gentleness was met with a sharp rebuff. "Go 'way! Talk in the mornin'."

Despite himself, Jim had to smile. The kid could just be so darned cute sometimes. "I know, Rip Van Winkle. It's important though. Life and death."

The eyelids cracked open a bit. "That bad?"

"That bad," Jim affirmed.

"Okay. I'm up." Blair shifted his body, working his arms around to push himself up to a sitting position on the couch.

Adrian was already sitting upright on the other, leaning against Alecia, who had wrapped an arm around his waist. He curled an arm around her shoulder and leaned in closer. Bram scooched them over, not caring about intimacy between the couple. They could get romantic at a more convenient time.

Blair rubbed at his eyes and scooted over a little more to make room for Jim. "So what happened? Did you guys find anything?"

"Actually, what's interesting is what we didn't find."

Sleep-ridden eyes gave Jim a curious look. "What does that mean?"

"We don't have the slightest idea what Cassie was doing there in the first place. There were absolutely no clues. We searched her car inside out, the motel room, talked to the manager. Got absolutely nothing."

A dampened curse caught Ellison's attention and he focused his attention on the Italian. The young man turned startlingly deep eyes on the detective.

"Don't you get it?" Adrian demanded.

Honestly not, Jim shook his head, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Blair mimicking the movement.

In uncharacteristic dramatics, Adrian threw his arms up. "The vampire is on to you!"

"How can you possibly know that?" Jim demanded quietly.

The handsome, olive-toned man leapt from the couch as if he had not just wakened from slumber. He moved around to a more spacious area of the room and began pacing, more characteristic of his friend, Bram Lyte. His visible agitation bothered the detective. Sure, he didn't know the young man very well, but he was a trained observer and everything he had observed about this unique individual suggested overriding calm, not fluttering nervousness.

"She's on to you. I can feel it. That was how Blair and I found the body so easily. She was leading us to it. I knew it. I knew it. How could I be so frickin' blind?!" He ran a hand through his long, straight hair, pulling at it. "Do you have any idea how little time you have?"

Jim raised a hand as if that would cease diatribe. "Hey, hey. Calm down some there, Adrian. How can you possibly know she's found us?"

Adrian stopped and turned a steady gaze on the older man. "I didn't say she's found you. She's 'on to you.' Soon she will find you. When she finds you she will cross you and Blair over. That's obviously what this is all about. I still don't understand what it is about you, Detective Ellison, but it must be pretty powerful. I'd even wager that it'd make her a formidable opponent. One with a startling amount of power at her fingertips."

"Don't you think you're calling doom upon us pretty hastily?" Jim questioned, feeling rather put out by Adrian's Apocalyptic forecast. He expected to be met with silence, perhaps grudging acceptance, or maybe even contemplation over his words. To his shock he was met with none of the above.

Emphatically, Adrian shook his head, wagging his index finger back and forth as if scolding a wayward child. "Not at all. You haven't the slightest idea what 'they' are like. Give them an inch of rope and they will hang you. No two ways about it. When waging war against nosferatu, you must always remember one important rule: stay at least one step ahead at all times."

Angered by the declaration, Jim blurted out, "So you're saying we're all dead then? That we should just give up? We've lost any chance we had at defeating the enemy?"

This time Adrian was silent. His hand dropped lifelessly by his side. He glanced at his compatriots, who were watching him intently from their seated position on the couch. Fine tremors ran along his muscles, giving away the fear he had been trying to hide.

When he spoke his voice came out hushed. "I apologize, Detective. I was out of line. The stress is finally getting to me I guess. You have to understand that we live more than one life. We are self-supporting college students. All three of us have jobs, college work, and, by night, vampire hunting. We have seen things that no one should have to see. People murdered violently before our very eyes. The images never go away. It's very difficult. I guess it just bothers me because I know how dangerous they truly are and how easily they can win."

Gently: "The Artell incident?"

"We won. Barely. And only because we had a vampire on our side. If we hadn't had Stacia, we would've lost. All of Artell would've been obliterated. Believe me on that."

"And the government just covers everything up," Jim muttered, remembering Alecia's statement from earlier about the F.B.I.

Adrian shrugged lackadaisacally. "That's how it always works. Kinda X-Filish, don't you think?"

"Just a little," Jim admitted, remembering his days in Covert Ops. He knew exactly how the government ran. "I need to ask you guys this now, because I'm going to need a consensus--who thinks telling Simon is the best course of action?"

Not having met the person in question, Adrian made sure he knew exactly who was being discussed. "That's your captain, right?"

"Yeah," Blair answered. "I told you about him coming back from the motel."

"Personally," Bram spoke up, "I don't think it's a bad idea. He definitely seems like one of the good guys, but letting him in on it could also put him in unnecessary danger."

"That's a good point," Jim mused. "Right now he's confused, but at least he's handling it. At some point, however, he may want an explanation. He's already suspicious about you two." He looked directly at the two seated diagonally from him. "Simon's not a dumb man. He knows something very strange is up already. Heck, half of Major Crimes knows something very strange is up, it's just a question of how much they know about it. Simon knows more than anyone else. As captain he has the inside track."

"I vote that we tell him," Alecia said. "It's dangerous to tell him, but it could be even more so to just leave him in the dark. If he's a good friend of yours, that makes him a target."

Jim reflected on this statement, leaning back against the sofa. "Point well made."

Blair turned to look at him, probably trying to figure out what Jim was thinking at that precise moment. "I agree with her."

Slowly, Jim nodded, as if still not sure about the matter. But he was sure. Just not sure how he was going to go about telling his boss. "We'll have to convince him. You know how long it took for me to believe any of it. And I'm still kind of dubious about this entire situation. We won't tell him too much, just enough that he realizes a normal investigation won't cut it."

As Jim spoke, Adrian visibly calmed, his fidgeting having desisted. His tone was much more even, as well. "I'm with the rest of you. He should be told if he could be put into jeopardy. If it's preventable, then by all means, let's do it."

"I have a question for you, Mr. Ward."

Adrian raised his eyebrows.

"How are you so sure that the vampire is a 'she'?"

The young man opened his mouth, but Blair answered instead. "I told him. Everything."

"Everything?"

"Yeah. That you slept with the vampire."

"You slept with a vampire?! You gotta be kidding!" Of course, this was Bram. Everyone ignored him.

"Jim and I discussed this earlier and I thought she could possibly be pregnant. After all, you said Stacia had a baby when she was a vampire."

"But she was impregnated while she was still human," Adrian pointed out.

"Right. So, it's not possible then?"

"I highly doubt it. Vampires aren't alive in the terms we think of them. They don't have a heart beat, don't have to breathe to survive, can't naturally produce hemoglobin or blood cells, and they can't reproduce sexually."

"But we had sex," Jim reminded him.

"Sure. But she won't have offspring. Her sexual organs are, in many aspects of the word, dead."

Jim's head flopped back on the cushion behind his head. "Damn. Talk about good news."

"What?" Bram asked. "Did you think she was going to come after you looking to exchange vows or something?"

Blair and Jim looked at each other. And burst out laughing. The three young adults stared, feeling pretty much lost.

"Don't worry about it," Blair assured them. "It's nothing. Just a coincidence in what he said. Um . . . It's getting really late. I think we should try to get some sleep and get together as soon as possible tomorrow and try to work something out."

"You've got a point," Alecia said. "I can barely think straight myself. So, how are we meeting up tomorrow?"

Jim reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and slipped out an index card. He got up and walked over to Adrian, handing it to the slightly shorter man. Adrian looked at it and flipped it over, reading the two numbers written on the back.

"The top number is to my desk, the second is my cell phone. Either one's fine, I just probably won't be at my desk all day. You guys give us a call whenever you're ready."

"Right. Thanks, Detective. We appreciate it. Really."

Alecia stood up, resting her palm on Bram's broad shoulder. "Come on, Shorty. You need a nap."

"Don't call me Shorty," Bram grumbled, good naturedly. "Just because I'm shorter than everyone in this room."

"Serious disadvantage, isn't it?" She grinned teasingly.

He just rolled his eyes and accepted her open hand to help him up. "Damn, I'm getting old."

"We'll see you later," Alecia said, walking towards the door. "You guys have been great. Really. Sleep well."

Jim smiled. "You too."

She returned the friendly gesture, and opened the door, soon followed by Bram, who was still complaining about his "old age." Adrian moved to follow them and stopped in front of the open doorway and turned back around.

"I really do apologize for my earlier outburst."

"It's okay." Jim shrugged it off. "I've seen more hardened men crack."

Adrian smiled wanly and left the room.

And Jim had to wonder, were the cops and military men he had known his entire life actually more hardened than these kids? That's all they were really. Just kids and, already, they'd seen some of the greatest horrors the world had to offer.

For Blair Sandburg, sleep came easily. As soon as his head hit the pillow the dark vertigo swelled over him, claiming him entirely. He succumbed to it thankfully, overjoyed to finally have a respite from the overwhelming day. Sleep was the one place he was finally safe from it all.

So he thought . . .

. . . "Cassandra Wells?"

"This is her." Cassie shifted the phone for a better grip. From where he stood, Blair watched unbelieving. Was this a dream?

"I have something for you. It's about the vampire serial killings."

"Who is this? Why are you calling me? I'm not in charge of this investigation."

"I know you're not," the cool voice retorted. "But I don't want to talk with the person in charge. You have the forensics knowledge that is so vital."

A stroke to the ego and Cassie was ready to go. "What do you have that's so vital to the case?"

"It's a clue. From one of the victim's. Something I found. You have to meet me at the Starlite Motel though."

"Why there?"

"Because what I have to show you is in one of the rooms there. I can't tell you on the phone, it isn't safe."

Dread gripped Blair. He knew now who this mysterious caller was and what she wanted with Cassie. "Don't! Cassie, don't listen to her!"

But of course Cassie couldn't hear him; and she ignored him, telling the mystery informant that she would be at the motel in an hour, and hung up the phone.

He tried to reach out to her, finding that he had no arms to reach out with. In fact, he had no body to speak of. He was invisible to all, simply a spirit, floating, watching.

Witnessing.

Cassie picked up the phone again and dialed another number--Jim's cell phone. There was no answer so she dialed in the loft number. "Don't know where you are, dear," she muttered. "But you better get this."

The answering machine picked up. "Hey, Jim. It's Cassie. I just got a call from someone, saying they had a clue to the serial killings. She wants me to meet her at the Starlite motel and I told her I'd be there in about an hour. Get your butt over there as soon as you get this message. I'll see you there."

She didn't even wait around. She rushed off to her death.

"I can't be seeing this. There's no way." Blair shook his head in denial. He knew what was coming, remembered Adrian telling him about it and feared what he knew was to come next.

A sudden whirl of activity encompassed him and he found himself whipped away from the station. And he suddenly had a body.

But not his body. It was feminine. Taller than his own and he could feel the fluid grace as it moved through the air. He tried to twist around, to see why he didn't feel pavement underfoot, but couldn't get the body to work for him. He had absolutely no control over it.

Below he saw Cassie getting out of her car, peering around the car lot nervously. Probably having second thoughts about this entire deal.

An overwhelming sensation came over him as he detected a scent unlike one he had ever experienced, yet keenly familiar. Blood. Blood that filled him with a burning, fiery, animalistic hunger. And an urge he had never wished to feel.

No! No, don't kill her! Please don't kill her!

There was no use to plead. It was the past. This was Stretta Mortale. Death Grip. Let me go! I can't be seeing this, this can't be real, please let me go, this can't be real. His mind rambled on and on as the body-that-wasn't-his descended down from its elevated position.

Behind the oblivious redhead, the vampire/Blair sat foot on hard ground. First lightly, on tip-toes, then gradually allowing the ground to firmly support her weight.

He called to the woman, not really surprised when the voice coming from the mouth was not his own. He was in the vampire's body now. He had absolutely no control of the situation.

"Ms. Wells?"

The redhead jumped and whirled around, startled. "Oh my!" She placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart.

This realization totally blew Blair away. He could actually hear her heart beating. Pushing the life-giving blood throughout her veins in steady pulses. He could feel the warmth of her body so close, and the scent . . . flesh, blood . . . so deep and so intense.

Blair jerked back to himself. What on earth was he thinking?! If he'd had a body he would've shuddered. A rampant, murderous urge was slowly consuming him and he didn't know how to fight it.

"I'm sorry to startle you, dear." The vampire raised her hand, revealing a small key. "I do believe you'll need this to get into the room."

Cassie laughed nervously. "Of course. I'm sorry I'm so jumpy."

"That's quite all right, dear. It's not a safe neighborhood. I wouldn't have asked you to come out if it wasn't imperative."

Cassie, run away! She's going to kill you! Blair screamed, dismayed that the woman couldn't hear him. Dammit, run! He felt like sobbing. She's going to murder you . . . Tear you . . .

Shock gripped him. I'm going to kill her. I'm in this body and I can't stop it. I'm going to . . .

He wanted to close his eyes, but knew it to be impossible. So he watched the surreal scenario play out before him, trying to block out the ever-growing urge.

The desire pulsating throughout his very fiber, shredding it into millions of pieces.

Blair/the vampire opened the door for Cassie, letting the young woman enter, smiling secretly as the woman winced at the sight of the dismal room. The door clicked shut.

Hunger.

Cassie turned around.

A craving . . .

"What did--"

She stopped short. And screamed.

As the vampire pounced, Blair screamed as well. And the desire to kill surged over him, the thrill of death became everything. He tore into Cassie, his friend, lapping greedily at the blood. Enjoying it. Loving the intoxicating sensation of the rich fluid.

And he kept screaming until he started shaking.

"Blair! Wake up!"

No, someone was shaking him.

"Come on, Sandburg. It was just a dream."

Tentatively, he opened his eyes. Scared that he may not find Jim there, but instead the vampire. "J-Jim?"

Jim squeezed his shoulders. "Yeah, buddy. It's me. Are you okay?"

There was no way to express in words what he had just undergone. The horror. He had actually enjoyed killing. He couldn't understand it. "Jim . . ." he faltered.

"Hey, it's okay. Calm down. If you can't talk about it right away I understand."

Blair shook his head emphatically. "No, you don't. You don't understand at all. Adrian was right."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she knows." He would've swallowed if he had any spit left. His mouth had gone dry. "She just left me a little present." He fought to keep his voice from cracking. "I want to send her an appropriate 'Thank you.' "

---

CHAPTER EIGHT

---

It was many years ago that I became what I am
I was trapped in this life like an innocent lamb
Now I can never show my face at noon
And you'll only see me walking by the light of the moon
--Sting(Moon Over Bourbon Street)

---

"Are you going to be okay?" Jim was truly worried for his friend.

Jim had rushed into the room upon hearing Blair's rapid-fire heartbeat and tortured moan and pleas. Tearing Blair from whatever demons possessed the young man's dreams proved to be trickier than he would've ever thought. After shaking Blair forcefully for much too long, the vivid blue eyes opened cautiously, warily, as if afraid of what he might find. The words that spilled from his mouth were overcome with horror, and the strangled vow he made had been spoken with a solemnity that had startled the sentinel.

A proper thank you? It seemed to Ellison to be something that could never be carried out. Not against something they had yet to encounter face to face. And only he had witnessed the phenomenon, once upon a time. He hadn't even known what she was at the time. This was something he cursed himself for--that he was the actual cause of Blair's present distress. Still, the way Blair had said it ran ice cold chills through his veins, and though he knew Blair had an aversion to violence and death, Jim had realized that there was actually no doubt in his mind that his partner would find a way to make the demon suffer.

He sat on the bed, beside Blair, making sure not to hog the small space. Blair shifted himself until he was sitting up, leaning against the headboard. Jim sat in a similar pose, letting his legs stretch out, surprised that it almost didn't accommodate his 6'1" frame. He ignored the slight discomfort. He had no intentions of leaving. Being here with Blair right now was most important to him, and though his companion didn't seem to mind the company at all, he was still concerned for Jim's welfare.

Blair lifted his head to look at him. "You're not planning on staying down here are you?"

"If I need to," Jim answered sincerely.

"You're going to hurt a lot in the morning if you fall asleep like that."

Jim shrugged. "Probably. I don't want to leave you alone, though."

"I'm a big boy, Jim," Blair remarked wryly.

"I can see that, Sandburg, but are you really okay with what just happened?"

Blair leaned his head back against the headboard again. "No. I don't think I ever will be. It was bad enough to find Cassie's body like it was. I almost couldn't tell it was her. But then I was there and I was the one killing her."

"You were killing her?"

"Well, not exactly. It's hard to explain. I was in the vampire's body. It was a female body. I felt everything, including her desire to kill. When she killed Cassie I went through the motions, feeling every sensation, every emotion. The thrill of it. I enjoyed it. How could I like it?" Blair turned to Jim again and though the grad student could barely see the sentinel in the dark room, Jim could clearly see the dismay in eyes that appeared almost luminescent by the moon's pale glow.

It did not come as a shock to Ellison that he was at a loss for words, and verbally admitted so. "I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I really." Blair's head leaned back again. "I'm still trying to figure out what to think." He jerked upright.

Jim started at the unexpected movement.

Blair's pupils seemed to swallow the irises whole. "Adrian forgot to talk to you about the connection!"

"What?" Had Sandburg snapped?

"Our connection." Blair gestured between himself and Jim as if it were obvious as to what he meant. "We have a psychic connection of sorts, but it hasn't actually been established."

"Psychic connection?" Yep. He had snapped.

"Yeah. You see when Incacha passed on the way of the Shaman to me, he passed on a lot more than that. I have powers that haven't been tapped into yet and they won't be until our bond has been established."

Jim shook his head, perplexed. "Adrian told you this?"

"Well, part of it. I'm the one who deduced that it had to do with Incacha passing on the way of the Shaman to me. Adrian, however, was able to perceive that there's something special about us and there's a ceremony or something that we have to go through to strengthen it or something. He didn't talk about it in detail so I really don't know very much about it."

"You believe this?"

Blair looked down at the rumpled blanket, covering the lower half of his body. "Yes." Then up at Jim. "Yes, I do." The young man tensed a bit, figuring Jim would be as gruff with this theory as he had initially been with the vampire theory.

"Then I do, too."

His eyelids fluttered rapidly. "You do?" Why was that so hard to believe? Jim Ellison, skeptic down to the last drop, actually believed in a psychic connection? Blair felt like jumping out of the bed and dancing. He had a feeling his roommate's reaction to that would be less than desirable.

"Yeah, I do, Sandburg." And he voiced Blair's own doubts. "Why do you find it so hard to believe? There are some things that I can take as an explanation without hard evidence."

"Even something like this?" Blair was aware that he sounded like he was pleading, but was much too in awe to control it. "Then you'd be willing to go through the bonding ritual?"

Jim bit his lower lip. "Perhaps. I think we first need to talk to Mr. Ward about it. We'll just have to make sure that's first on the list when they call us tomorrow. I have some things I have to get done at the station myself."

"Anything you need help with?"

"Not unless you want to help me convince Simon we have vampires loose in Cascade."

Blair attempted to stifle a smile by pressing his lips together. "I think I'll let you handle that assignment solo."

"How about this, I'll let you do some paperwork for me."

"You make it sound like an honor."

Jim put on a hurt tone. "It should be. I don't let just anyone do my paperwork for me."

"Man, someone needs to set you straight on what a privilege really is. Paperwork for you is not. Actually being allowed to drive your truck is. And if you would let me drive it more often, the chances of it being totaled again would go way down."

Jim ignored the jibe and said instead, "You need to get some sleep, kid. It won't do you any good to go through the day exhausted."

"Maybe not." Blair yawned. "But I don't have a choice."

"I'll sit here with you. If anything happens I'll wake you up."

Blair scrunched up his face and lifted his head to look at Jim. "What about you? You need to sleep."

"I'll be fine. I've gotten more sleep lately than you have. You deserve the break."

The grad student frowned and seemed ready to object, but was rudely interrupted with another yawn.

"I think that's all the argument I need," Jim noted in a very parental impersonation.

"You sound like Naomi," Blair grumbled.

"Scary to think she's rubbed off on me that much. There's enough Sandburgs in this world, without you trying to create one out of me."

Blair grinned woozily. "You just want to deprive the world of our charms."

"I don't think we could go so far as saying that we're depriving anyone." He mock punched Blair to show that he was kidding.

Sandburg acted like he wanted to punch him back, but was too tired to be coordinated.

"Get some sleep, kid. We'll argue about the fairness of it in the morning."

Blair slipped down into the bed, so he was lying down again. Jim remained sitting, but sank down a little more to accommodate himself better.

"You shouldn't be down here," Blair tried to argue again, but the fatigue coating the words did little to help his argument. "Go back upstairs and get some sleep."

"I will," Jim assured him. "Later."

Blair's eyes drooped, his mouth turned down in a frown, and he honestly looked like he wanted to continue the argument; but energy had escaped him and he only uttered an irreverent, "Yeah, right."

Several minutes later his heart beat slowed down as he was consumed by sleep. This time, the Sentinel sat vigilant, praying that if his Guide's dreams were invaded once more, he'd be able to pull him from the tenacious grasp once again.

---

"Thought you were safe?"

His eyes snapped open. Adrian found himself standing on a grassy hill in what he what he immediately knew to be Italy. Where in Italy, he had no idea. By the surrounding mountains, apparently in the Apennines somewhere, like that did him a lot of good. He turned until he saw the woman who had spoken.

First glance told him what she was, because it was blatant what she was not.

"Vampiro," he stated, his voice metamorphosed into a deeper, more commanding tone. "What are you after?"

"Your new friends," the erotically beautiful night-demon said offhandedly. Her eyes luminesced and lips glistened like rubies. "You associate with dangerous people, Adrian Ward, and take on ever more dangerous adversaries."

He bristled. "How do you know about me?"

She grinned like a lioness. "Oh, I know all about you and your companions. Alecia Wynters and Bram Lyte. Brave guirrere they are indeed. But I am not after you or your partners in slaughter. Only the protector and shaman."

"They are my friends and I will make sure that you are never given the chance to hurt either one of them."

She laughed abruptly, singing the words, "Too late, handsome." A long, lacquered nail pointed against her smooth, shimmering cheek. "My plan has already been set into motion."

It suddenly dawned on Adrian what she was referring to. "When you slept with Ellison."

One of her eyebrows slanted, mirroring the tilt of her mouth. "You know about that, huh? Then you also know that I hypnotized Ellison and he is at my service."

"Your influence over him is limited," Adrian pointed out roughly.

"As is my influence over the shaman. Yet, it is still effective."

Adrian pressed his lips together, eyes growing wide. "What did you do?" He stepped forward, trying to appear imposing, knowing she could kill him, even in this dream world.

"I gave him a little souvenir. Now he knows exactly what happened to his foolish little friend."

"You could drive him insane!" he raged.

She found his flaring temper hilarious. "Oh please! You didn't crack when Auturo pulled the same trick on you."

His jaw dropped, as did his voice. "How did you know about that? How could you possibly know? The only two vampires around were his two associates."

"Associates, yes." She smiled, still grinning humorously. "I have those, too. I'm sure Ellison remembers them. If somewhat vaguely. There are many things I know about Auturo. His obsession with you for one." The smile turned lewd. "I can definitely understand why. You're a very good-looking young man. I also know that he was killed by another vampire. A female vampire at that. Bet he wasn't expecting that!" she chirped.

He shook his head, unwilling to believe. Not sure he understood. "You knew Auturo?"

"I wanted to kill him." The smug grin reappeared, tenfold. "You see, dear Adrian, I am more powerful than any male vampire you've ever come across. I have studied the strongest of my kind and learned their weaknesses, as well as strengths. I must commend Stacia, Auturo was one of the most powerful. I saw his downfall before he did, though. His pride. So sure a woman could never defeat him."

Adrian tensed, wishing for all the world that he could attack her. "I won't let you win." To the casual listener there was no aggression in the quietly spoken words, but underneath flowed determination and certainty.

The smugness of the smile faded, but the smile itself remained. "You can't stop me. Neither can your little sidekicks. This is not your battle."

He closed his eyes, attempting to rein in his anger. They opened again, only to find her vanished. He gritted his teeth, trying not to scream his fury to the mountains. They wouldn't care.

This is not your battle.

Several deep breaths later he had composed himself somewhat. At least he knew more about their opponent. The fact that he was now aware she knew so much about him was a distinct advantage unto itself. Now to utilize it.

Once again his eyelids fell shut. He let his body go lax and the next time he opened his eyes, he was lying on the motel bed beside a softly snoring Bram.

---

Weary eyes, burning with lack of sleep, struggled open. Blearily, Blair looked around, feeling considerably disoriented. Man, he'd had the strangest dream last night. It had ended with Jim coming into his room and insisting that he sit on the small bed while Blair slept. The smell of frying bacon and eggs wafted into his room and he suddenly realized that none of it had been a dream. Not even the horrible part about Cassie's death.

"Oh man," he groaned, wiping at his sleep-fogged eyes. Why couldn't it have been a dream?

No such luck in matters such as these.

He gathered some clothes together and headed for the bathroom, feeling a strong need for a shower. He felt dirty, but he knew part of that was not just from the physical activities of last night. Part of it had to do with that--that dream. As he walked past the kitchen he caught sight of his roommate standing over the stove.

Jim's head rose as he walked past. "Morning, Chief. Breakfast is almost ready."

"All right. Going to take a shower first."

Jim nodded and turned his attention back to the frying bacon.

Blair walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and sighed. He felt weary to the bone and the day promised to be a stressful one. More vampire hunting. All he needed to make his week complete.

---

Jim was completely exhausted, but this wasn't something he was going to share with Blair. The kid would try to blame himself for Jim sitting on his bed the entire night. Jim knew he wouldn't be able to convince his friend that the decision had been his and no one else's. It made him feel more secure to know that he could keep an eye on Blair. The fact that this enemy could attack them in their own home, in their very dreams, jolted him. He hated the helplessness of it. All he wanted to do was go out there and find this monster and rip her from limb to limb.

Shaking the feeling off, he dished out the eggs and bacon in equal portions on two plates, and grabbed the two pieces of toast protruding from the toaster. They didn't often have meals like this for breakfast, it was usually coffee, toast, and, of course, Blair's algae shake. After last night, however, Jim felt compelled to do this. He hoped it would at least calm their nerves down some. He set the plates down on the table just as he heard the bathroom door open.

He looked in that direction and saw Blair still drying his thick hair with a towel. "How does coffee sound this morning?"

Blair shrugged. "I guess I can handle it. We don't have any orange juice do we?"

"I think I drank the last of it," Jim said, giving Blair an apologetic smile.

"Thanks, man," Blair griped good-naturedly. "How'm I supposed to get my daily intake of Vitamin C?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way."

Blair chuckled. "Yeah. Well, I guess one day won't kill me." He took the towel back into the bathroom and reemerged again. "So, what's up with breakfast, Jim? You haven't made a breakfast like this in . . . too long."

Jim shrugged. "I just had a craving for bacon and eggs."

Blair walked into the kitchen, leaned against the counter, crossing his arms against his chest. "Yeah. I bet. This is about last night, isn't it? You felt bad because there wasn't anything you could do, so you decided to cook all this."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Chief," Jim warned.

"I'm not, man! This is great, but that's what this is about isn't it? You feel guilty."

"That's my concern, Sandburg. Not yours."

Blair straightened up and walked to the table, where Jim was standing. "There's no reason to, you know. No one's expecting you to know what to do. I don't either. You don't think I feel bad about that? All we can do is hope that Adrian and his friends can help us out. That's all we can do."

Jim nodded his head, not feeling very confident.

Blair patted his arm. "Come on, let's eat."

---

They had just entered the Bull Pen when Captain Banks caught sight of them from his office. The door opened and from there he called out across the length of the room.

"Ellison, I want to see you in my office, now!" The door shut as soon as the order was shot out.

The partners looked at each other in puzzlement. Neither had any clue as to what this was about.

"Why don't you handle the paperwork on my desk?" Jim asked, his gaze on Simon's office.

"Uh, sure," Blair answered, not really happy with the circumstances. He would have preferred to go with Jim.

Jim looked down at his shorter friend and patted him reassuringly on the back. "This shouldn't take long."

He headed towards Banks' office, leaving a frowning Blair to walk to the desk cluttered with folders and paperwork.

"Just great, Jim," he muttered unhappily. "Let me handle this by myself. What are friends for, man?"

Before he even opened the door, Jim could make out another heartbeat in the room. He walked in. "What did you wa--" he broke off as he saw who the second person was. "Sebring."

The Fed smiled humorlessly. "Right on the first guess. Your captain has some news to give to you. Shortly, he'll be reporting the news to the rest of the Major Crimes division."

Jim's light blue eyes flicked to Simon, just remembering to shut the door behind him. He took another step into the room before speaking. "What's going on, sir?"

Simon stood up from behind his desk, face grave, mouth turned down in a grimace. "The F.B.I. is taking over the 'vampire' serial killings. They're pulling jurisdiction on us."

"They can't do that!" Jim argued, knowing full well that they could.

Simon cast his eyes down, exhaling in a sharp puff of breath. "I'm sorry, detective. This case is theirs now."

"Which means," Sebring sneered, "stay out of it."

Jim turned on the man, all but snarling. "You people think this is actually going to help? When three more people die tonight, I want you to think long and hard about this mistake you've just made."

The cocky F.B.I. agent flinched, but quickly regained his composure. "We don't need you or your people involved. And if memory serves me correctly you had civilians on the scene of the crime. My my, detective," Sebring drawled out the title, "what do you have to say about that?"

"They're helping us with the investigation. They have inside info on these murders."

Sebring's eyebrows raised. "Then I'd like to meet them."

And arrest them when you can't find the real killers,'Jim thought viciously. Out loud: "I don't know where they're staying." Which was really the truth. He didn't know exactly where they were staying. They'd never revealed the name of the motel.

"Likely excuse, Ellison. Never mind. We don't need them. We have all the leads we need."

"I'm sure."

Simon addressed the Federal officer, fighting to maintain his civility. "Will that be all, Agent Sebring?"

The Fed nodded, keeping his gaze locked onto the detective's. "You interfere with this case in any way, we'll have you locked up for impeding a federal investigation."

"I'll be sure to watch my step," Jim answered dryly.

"You do that." And with that, he nodded curtly towards Banks and left the room.

Jim clenched his jaw tightly.

"Just calm down," Simon ordered the seething detective. "There's nothing we can do about this."

"I'm not dropping this, Captain," Jim responded stubbornly.

"Jim. . . ." came the warning.

"I'm on the trail of the killers." He gestured dramatically without even turning, to the door Sebring had just exited. "They don't even have a clue! I had a run in with him last night that pissed him off. He's endangering who knows how many innocent lives just to settle his own personal vendetta!"

Simon sank into his plush chair. "How close are you?"

Jim shut his eyes, feeling the impatience swell up within him. "Very close." He looked at his commanding officer and close friend. "I can't just let them take this. They won't be able to do anything about these killers. They're not normal human beings."

"Then just what are they, detective?"

Okay, moment of truth. He had wanted to tell Simon about this, but wanting and doing were at two totally different ends of the spectrum. "Well . . . you know how this case is jokingly being referred to as the 'vampire' serial killings?"

Simon crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back into his chair. He had a very strong feeling he wasn't going to like this. "Yes."

"It's the strangest coincidence--"

Simon unfolded his arms to hold up a halting hand. "Please, don't go any farther. I don't think I want to know."

"No, I don't think you do either."

"Is there any connection between this and your Sentinel thing?"

Jim was always amused by the way Simon vaguely mentioned his abilities. "Kind of."

"Ah." Simon nodded, as if that explained everything.

"So you understand why this is imperative?"

"How about this . . . I don't ask, you don't tell."

Realizing what Simon was doing, Jim gave a succinct nod of the head. "Yes, Sir. Will that be all?"

"For now. And Jim," his voice rose as the detective made to leave the room.

"Sir?"

"Be careful. Something about this feels very wrong."

"I know what you mean."

At Jim's desk, about ten minutes after Blair had sat down, the phone rang. He scanned the Bull Pen, never put in the position of answering Jim's phone before, and decided to go ahead and pick it up.

"Ellison's desk."

"Blair?"

"Yeah . . ." Then he realized who the person on the other end was. "Adrian? What's going on?"

"How soon can you guys meet us?"

Blair looked up at the clock. "I'm not sure, Jim's with Simon right now--"

"I'm right here, Chief."

Blair's eyes rose to catch sight of the tall, muscular detective heading for his desk. "It's Adrian. He wants to know when we can meet."

"Right now. Where does he want to meet?"

Blair spoke into the receiver. "Have anywhere specific in mind?"

"Yeah. Do you guys know where the El Rio Rojo Motel is?"

"Sure. It's in Little Cuba. It should only take us about fifteen minutes to get there. What's the room number?"

"106. We're on the bottom floor."

"Great. See you in about fifteen."

"Okay, later."

Blair hung up the phone. He took in Jim's glower and immediately knew that whatever had transpired in Simon's office had not been good. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you in the truck. Let's get going."

---

Blair listened in mortified silence as Jim related the news that had been laid on him in Simon's office. The young man shook his head slowly, amazed at the audacity of Agent Sebring.

"How could he be so stupid?" Blair asked, not really expecting an answer.

Jim's eyes flicked from the road before him, to his partner, back to the road. "I don't think it's stupidity so much as arrogance. Hm, now that I think of it, there really isn't much difference between the two."

"None that I've noticed," Blair agreed.

Jim caught sight of the red sign that declared itself to be the El Rio Rojo Motel not too far up the road on the right. "We made good time. Traffic's a lot lighter than normal through here."

"I think people decided to get out when the vampire struck. I can't say as I blame them, man. I don't like being around here myself."

"Neither do I," Jim admitted. He flipped on the right turn signal. "But at least we can do something about it." And he turned into the motel's driveway entrance.

---

The motel room Jim and Blair stepped into was nothing like the one they had set foot in the night before. Not luxurious or spacious, nevertheless it was neat, clean, and the cloying emanation of animal feces was absent. The TV was playing at a reasonable level, sounds of cheering and two announcer's excited voices proclaiming a victory for what sounded like a football team. On the bed, Bram sat, back to the headboard, knees drawn up lotus-like, eyes locked intently on the screen before him. He held one hand in front of his chest, clenching it; his green irises flared. Jim shut the door behind them without looking, already scanning the room for any other occupants. No one.

Jim spoke up, hoping to gather an intelligible reply. "Bram, do you know where Alecia and Adrian are?"

Bram grunted in an approximation of "I don't know."

The partners stood there several seconds longer, waiting for anything further and realizing they weren't going to get any more than that, invited themselves in.

"I guess we'll just make ourselves at home," Jim uttered, unconsciously moving directly into Bram's line of sight with the TV.

"Sure, as long as you get out of my way!" Bram snapped. "It's Ohio State and Florida State, and F.S.U.'s winning. This is not good."

Blair grinned, moving quicker past the television screen than Jim had. The tall, muscular man in front of him gave the intent figure on the bed a withering scowl before sitting on the other bed. It sank with his body and he fought the urge to flop back and let sleep claim him. He was exhausted after last night, and there was no way he was telling Blair that. His young friend would force him to go back to the loft and catch up on much needed sleep. Not something any of them had time for. He glanced at the screen. Well, they didn't have time for football either. And where was Adrian and Alecia?

As if on cue, the door opened and in sauntered the young couple.

Adrian cocked his head up as he caught sight of their visitors on the far bed. "Glad you guys could make it. Leesh and I were out talking about something that came up last night."

"A lot came up last night," Blair noted. "After you guys left."

"Yeah, I know about it. She came to me too. Told me what she did to you." Adrian hung his head. "I'm sorry, Blair. I wish it hadn't happened."

"Nothing you could've done about it, man."

Alecia rubbed Adrian's back, then pushed him forward, past the TV, and onto the same bed Bram had propped himself up on. She sat herself on the edge of the bed, crossing her denim-clad legs in a rather ladylike manner, clasping her right knee with both hands. Adrian sat, legs wide open, hands clasped between.

His words came with the characteristic quietness Jim and Blair had learned to expect from him. "There are things you and I need to discuss, Blair. Things that could mean the difference between living and dying."

"Specifically, what kind of things?" Blair asked, sounding almost nervous.

"Would you like to know how people like us go into each other's minds? Do you want to know the trick?"

Blair moved to rise off the bed, Jim catching his arm, silently reminding him to control his emotions. "Yes. Can you teach me now?"

"I can. I'll have my friends take Jim somewhere, and we'll meet up with them whenever we're finished."

"You'll teach me this--this--" he fumbled for a word.

"Mental projection," Adrian supplied. "It's almost like telepathy. Not quite though. You've already witnessed that though."

Blair shut his eyes, nodding his head feelingly. "Yeah. I know all about it."

"I know what you're going through," the Italian reminded him. "I went through the same thing three years ago. We're here to help you, and I'm going to see to it that it never happens to you again. You have the power to block her, you just need to know how."

Alecia stood up. "Come on, Detective--"

"Call me Jim," he interrupted her.

She smiled warmly. "Jim. There's a rec room here." She spoke louder for the benefit of the immovable lump. "And there's a TV there! A big TV. A TV with sports!"

Jim looked on in amusement, trying to hide his smile. Blair and Adrian laughed.

The sports fanatic would have none of it. "Damn you, guys. I'm trying to watch the game." With a huff he clicked off the set, flinging the remote control onto the bed as he rolled off of it. He grabbed his shoes that had been sitting by the door and jerked them on. All the while he mumbled under his breath about, "people" having "no respect," and couldn't "these things wait till later?"

The aggravated grumbling was ignored, and soon after Bram had stalked out of the room, Jim and Alecia strode out of the still open door, closing it with a soft click.

Adrian kicked off his Nikes, allowing them to flop on the narrow strip of floor between the beds. He scooted himself onto the bed and drew up his legs so he was sitting in a relaxed Indian-style. Blair pulled off his own shoes and followed Adrian's example.

Due to the small room's quietness, Adrian's soft voice came across clearly. "Sit as if you were going to meditate. Relax, be comfortable. I'm going to have you jump into my mind."

"You make it sound so easy," Blair murmured.

"Let go and it is," was Adrian's smooth reply.

Blair inhaled deeply. Nervousness crept up and he had to concentrate on calming himself.

"Listen to my voice. Let it all go. Relax."

Blair's eyes closed, seemingly of their own volition. Nothing but blackness, and he welcomed the oblivion of sight.

"Feel yourself floating, see yourself out of yourself. Crawl out of your skin."

Crawl out of--vertigo seized him so suddenly and violently he gasped.

"Don't fight it," Adrian commanded placidly. His tone was without inflection. "Let the power take hold of you."

The dizziness was disorienting and it was enough of a struggle to not even fight. Around and around, progressively faster he spun. Breathe in, breathe out, calm. Calm. Faster.

And faster. And faster and fasterandfasterfasterfaster--

Nothing. Just the weightless pleasure of floating. Blair gave in to temptation . . .

. . . and saw the top of his head. He gasped. And Adrian below on the other bed. Blair looked back at his own body. It sat unmoving, eyes closed, lips resting in a straight line. A hollow shell.

He wasn't even sure what to do next. Crawl out of his skin, jump into Adrian's mind. It all sounded so simple.

Once again he closed his eyes, all the while aware he was without a corporeal form. He didn't think, didn't try, just let himself go. Feeling for Adrian. Seeking without searching, like a moth drawn to the fire. He felt the energetic static, sensed the opening in the electric field, and knew he had found Adrian's mind. He let his body (not body) sink down, grasping for the vacancy, the entrance to Adrian's inner being.

Not everyone could do this. Only the special few whose minds were made just so. Blair realized that this opening he could feel stretching out to him was within himself as well, such as it was with vampires. But not Jim. It saddened him to think he wouldn't be able to share this marvelous feat with his best friend.

He slipped through the opening, surrounded by Adrian. It screamed of Adrian Ward. The prickling pull at his skin (not skin) was so totally, undeniably Adrian that he was amazed and appalled all at the same time. Never in his life had he felt another so strongly.

Never, except for Jim. Even this awe-inducing experience did not take away from that special bond. Sometimes words could not even express the depth and emotion for certain relationships. It wasn't blood, it wasn't water--

"It's fate."

Blair's eyes opened, and he saw that he was standing in the loft. Why . . .

"Our minds pick the scenery," Adrian explained from where he sat on the couch. "Our homes usually are foremost in our thoughts."

Home. That made sense. "That was . . ." Blair shuddered in overwhelmed joy. "Incredible. Is that how you are able to choose the person? You can just feel them?"

"Pretty much. You're a quick study. Took you less time than I was expecting. You must be a natural."

Blair smiled coyly at the compliment, but it quickly dissolved into a frown. "I'll never be able to share this with Jim. It's amazing and he'll never be able to see what it's like."

"The bond you have with Jim, the protector, transcends this. Yours is not fully developed yet, so you aren't aware of the extent to which such a bond can go." Adrian paused. "What is Jim the protector of? This is what the vampire called him."

"He's the protector of this city."

"And you are the Shaman of this city?"

Blair had to grin at the definition. Uncanny. As if Adrian had seen that part of his past. He looked around, soaking in the atmosphere. It looked exactly like the loft.

"I can do this to her?" Blair asked casually. "To the vampire I mean?" He moved from where he had been standing in front of the balcony doors and strolled in the direction of the kitchen. He moved around the table and walked in the direction of his bedroom, stopping to peer inside through the French doors.

"If her guard is down."

Blair spun on his heel. Adrian's head rested on an arm propped up on the couch's back. "Now?"

Adrian shook his head. "I don't think you'd be able to find her. Besides, your powers need to be developed. This is only a first time for you and my mind was already open to accept you in. Hers may not be."

"Soon." Blair's visage was set in defiance. "And I want to break the hold she has on Jim."

"Don't try to take on too much at once," Adrian warned. "She can kill you in these encounters."

"How? We're not even flesh."

"Mind tricks," the dark-eyed Italian answered tersely. "Most vampires I've encountered, however, like to play games. They think it's funny. Rarely will they kill the person whose mind they inhabit."

"Can we kill them that way?"

"We're not as powerful as them, friend. It would be suicide to try."

"But we can," Blair pushed.

Adrian relented, albeit reluctantly. "Yes. We can." Then quickly added, "But I don't recommend it."

Blair stared out the balcony doors and wondered how time ran in this plane of existence. Outside it was night.

A shushed voice ran across his thoughts. "It's always night here."

The Shaman stepped in the direction of the couch Adrian rested upon. "Does it have to be always?"

Silence passed. Adrian shifted his body to look out the balcony doors. "Sometimes it's evening; you can see the sun setting in the distance. But never daylight. I think the vampires have seen to that."

"Then I'll see that it's changed." And the next thing Blair knew, he was sitting in the motel room across from Adrian Ward.

---

NEXT

---