Jake saw Gideon and Evelyn making their way along the booths and breathed a sigh of relief. So far he'd been approached by a reject from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and some guy whose smooth mumbles he couldn't follow, but Jake thought he was dealing drugs. Vampires were preferable company.

Their courteous awkwardness seemed to have passed; the Baron even smiled at Jake with none of the former unfriendliness in his eyes.

"Sorry to leave you alone so long," purred Evelyn in a tone she hadn't once used on Gideon.

"That's okay," said Jake, looking into her doe eyes.

"Where's Joe?"

Jake extracted himself from Evelyn's brown silk gaze. "Uh, he and Adrian went to get more drinks." They had been gone a long time. Was he supposed to be covering for Adrian? God, don't let him chow down on Joe, thought Jake. He couldn't take another bloody battle like the one with Safelli, and he certainly didn't want Evelyn or Adrian to end up truly dead.

Adrian? I found Evelyn, he projected hopefully.

Silence.

Then he saw Joe's red head above the crowd, making its way toward the booth. He set Jake's beer in front of him. Jake tried to give him money, but Joe waved it away.

"Taken care of," he said as he slipped his arm around Evelyn's shoulders and pulled her close. The gesture seemed a little too possessive to Jake. Evelyn must have thought so too, because she gave him a sharp look and slipped free.

Before Jake got a chance to ask Joe anything about his conversation with Adrian, the professor was back at the table. Even Jake hadn't heard or felt him coming, he was just there. His teal eyes took in the situation in less than a second. You had to be a quick study to be a good actor, Jake knew, and Adrian was one of the best.

"So, did you have a nice dance?" he asked in a voice so acid it might just disintegrate the table.

Jake wondered if he could get away with leaving now and heading back to Toronto alone.

Evelyn and Gideon both gave Adrian smug little smiles that plainly said, "You lose."

Adrian said absolutely nothing, but his eyes flashed and the red intensified.

Gideon leaned towards Evelyn, across Jake and most of the table, and said in a confidential tone, "You see, there's a perfect example of what not to do in a public place."

Adrian growled and Evelyn simply smiled at him. "Sit down Adrian. Be a good sport."

"Let's dance," said Jake suddenly to Evelyn. He desperately wanted to escape the table and talk to Evelyn alone.

"All right," Evelyn agreed, allowing Jake to take her onto the floor.

"What's going on?" he asked once they were on the floor and a wall of dancers buffered them from the sight of the table and any possible lip reading.

"What do you mean?" she asked. She was getting into the disco number, gyrating and shimmying like a snake. Jake was really tempted just to enjoy it and try and forget about the two vampires and the jealous boyfriend at the table.

Obviously she's too young to know enough to hate disco, thought Jake.

"Adrian's really upset," Jake warned her as he did his best to move to what passed for music at La Club. "and you and the Baron have some little secret...."

"Adrian didn't tell you, did he? He offered to be my mentor. My vampire foster-bloodmaster."

"He did?" After all the times I've asked him to teach me.... thought Jake angrily.

The music slowed and Evelyn slipped into his arms. Her nostrils flared and he knew she could smell his blood.

"And Gideon too."

"He wants to be Gideon's mentor?" asked Jake. The closeness of her cold body was having a bad effect on his mind.

"No-o. Gideon was asked to be my mentor. I think Adrian was trying to scoop him."

Jake felt all the tumblers fall into place in his head and click! the mystery unlocked. This all made sense. Adrian hated the Baron -- why Jake didn't know -- and he was trying to one-up him. Jake didn't claim to understand how Adrian's mind worked, but he knew it worked fast. Sometime between hearing about Jake's trip to Ohio and him mentioning Evelyn, Adrian had come up with his impulsive plan.

"It wasn't much of a contest," Evelyn continued. "I like Gideon; he's the one Tammi suggested. Adrian tried to push his way in, and I wasn't going to let him."

Only Adrian hates to lose, thought Jake. The good feeling he'd had about solving the mystery was suddenly gone.

Evelyn studied him. "Why do you like him, Jake? He's trouble."

"It's complicated," Jake sighed. "Somebody needs to be his friend, that's for sure. But, Evelyn, he's going to do something to get even. He's not going to let you get away with this."

"He doesn't worry me, Jake. Forget him, let's just dance."

She pulled him closer and self-preservation made him push her gently back. "You oughta dance with Joe," he said with a weak smile. While I go talk to Adrian....