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Mark opened his eyes and groaned

He&039;d been close So damn close

But he hadn&039;t expected the trap, and that had been a serious-nearly fatal-mistake on his part But when Deanna had screamed, he had knohy Pursuit had see alone and had known Stephan had come with an army

What Stephan&039;s arive a damn about any one of them; they were there to be sacrificed, and that was that The athered around hi the way, security against his own capture or death

It was actually a ed to ot out of bed and walked to the bathroom, where he stared at his face in the mirror

He should have looked a hell of a lot worse But he&039;d never given up his weapons No ht into an ambush, he&039;d kept hold of his weapons, weapons his opponents hadn&039;t been prepared for

Stephan had known, of course

But his minions had no idea that Stephan knew his enemy, and so they had died for hi hiether

A shoould help

It did Half an hour later, he was showered, shaved and dressed, and he didn&039;t look nearly as bad as he had He was pulling a coh his hair when there was a knock at his door

He opened it to find Helen, fro there

"Mark, you are here," she said breathlessly

"Yes, what&039;s wrong?" he asked her

"I just thought you should know, one of the girls fro"

"Deanna?" he said, feeling his heart slam inside his chest

She frowned "Yes, how did you know?"

"I knew she&039;d been feeling a little off, that&039;s all," he lied

"Oh," Helen said, s "Heidi rode in the ambulance with her, and Janice and I dropped Lauren off at the eency room It&039;s been a while I knocked earlier, but you didn&039;t hear me"

"I sleep pretty soundly," he told her "But thanks for everything I appreciate the information"

"You&039;re welcome" She smiled "Oh, and your newspaper" She handed him the daily paper, which was delivered to each door every

He saw the headline

Second Day-Second Corpse

He thanked her again, then, after closing the door, threw the newspaper across the room A few minutes later, he stepped outside, desperate to reach the hospital as quickly as possible

Mistake nu; he was too concerned about Deanna and the report of the second corpse

And his attacker was prepared

Whatever hit hiainst his head

As he crashed to the ground, he thought itone Like a medieval battle axe Then he passed out and didn&039;t think about anything at all

"We&039;reover to this place," Lauren told Heidi

"What?" Heidi asked, distracted

Deanna had been given a roo color, though, and the doctors kept assuring the to be fine, but the next twenty-four hours were critical Her blood levels had been so low that she was close to death, but the transfusions see the tide, and they believed a full and perhaps even speedy recovery was not only possible but likely

She was in a private roouard in the hall

It should have felt safe, Lauren thought, but it didn&039;t

"That cop, Lieutenant Canady, said we&039;d be saferto this place," Lauren explained to Heidi

"What is it to him, where we stay?" Heidi demanded

Lauren took a deep breath "He&039;s afraid we&039;ve been targeted," she explained "By a lunatic"

Heidi frowned

"Maybe a lunatic who thinks he&039;s a va"Lauren, think about what you just said A va too many freaky books"

"Heidi-"

"Deanna lost a lot of blood," Heidi explained gently "She&039;s sick She ot here, and that caused her sleepwalking She wasn&039;t attacked"

"Heidi, Lieutenant Canady said we should move, and I want to," Lauren said firmly "Look, one of the lieutenant&039;s officers is apparently always at this place, and he considers it really safe If we are being targeted, we should move We don&039;t want to put anyone else-like Janice or Helen-in danger, right?"

Heidi arched a brow, considering Lauren&039;s words "All right Whatever you think When do we move? I don&039;t think we should both leave Deanna Not now"

Lauren felt the same, but she didn&039;t want to stay at the hospital all day, either She decided to go back to Jackson Square later She was going to find Susan, the fortune-teller, and shake her until she said so that ht grimly But tell them what? She didn&039;t want the cops to think that she herself was crazy There was nothing concrete to tell them Best to talk to Susan first

Lauren leaned forward "All right, for now, you get going Pack up our things If you need to take a walk, shake off the hospital for a bit do it, then couess," Heidi said She looked at the bed where Deanna lay, motionless and still ashen co She rose, and touched her friend&039;s forehead "She&039;s cool," she h," she added quickly "This , she was like ice" She looked across the bed at Lauren "I&039;m so worried about her," she said

"So am I"

"Was this all my fault somehow?" Heidi asked

"No Definitely not," Lauren assured her "And she&039;s going to be fine That&039;s what all the doctors have said"

Heidi stared across the rooht before he died of a second heart attack" She looked worriedly at Lauren "I don&039;t want to leave her right now You go, okay?"

"Okay I&039;ll be as quick as possible," Lauren assured her

Heidi offered her a weak s around here doesn&039;t et out later And this way you have to do all the work of packing us up" She smiled weakly

"No problem See you soon" Lauren smiled back, then left

Mark came to slowly but didn&039;t open his eyes He tried to feel his surroundings first

He was sitting up Tied to a chair, wrists bound tightly behind his back

He was not at a police station

The te

There was no noise, but someone was in the rooh It wasn&039;t a va

He inhaled and exhaled, trying to ease the pain

"You hit him too hard," someone whispered The voice was feminine, soft Concerned

"I needed hi away the fact that he was conscious He knew the voice Lieutenant Sean Canady

He went on listening, trying to ascertain just where he was

"Sean, you could have killed hih"

"You don&039;t even know that he&039;s guilty of anything"

"I do know that he knohat&039;s going on around here"

He listened, trying to determine if there was anyone else in the roo on his senses, he was certain no one else ith the ith

He definitely wasn&039;t under arrest Things al for the cops to crack your skull and tether you to a chair at a re his eyes

Canady was in a chair, facing him A very attractive wo by his side, her hand resting on his shoulder Canady earing a tailored shirt and light jacket; the woym

He stared at Canady for a moment, then looked around

Attic They were in an attic A big attic-they were in a big house He recognized the architecture; his own home had been built in a similar style They were out on plantation row somewhere, he decided, and this house was at least two-hundred years old

He arched a broly at Canady and the woman "I take it I&039;m not exactly under arrest," he said

"Not officially Not yet"

He waited, doing his best to hide hishis wrists Of course, Canady had a gun Canady, he was certain, just about always carried a gun Glock? S, his jacket covered it

Mark, however, was certain that the gun was there

"Your home?" he inquired

Canady nodded He didn&039;t look particularly angry He was more wary And speculative

"Hello," the woieCanady"

"Yes"

"I&039;d thank you for having me in, but"

"What are you up to here in town," Canady asked

Mark lowered his head for a moment, stunned to find a half-smile on his lips He felt almost as if he had walked into an old Western, and the sheriff was about to tell hi, by sunset

"I went to see you, if you recall," Mark said

"To tell me there are vampires in New Orleans," Canady replied

"I knoho yourhimself, he&039;s responsible for it," Mark told him

His hands were almost free

"This reed

"So you&039;re saying there are real vaie ie, let him spell it out"

Mark shook his head and stared at the two of the there are real vaer out there And I&039; at hi, even if her husband reo," Mark said "I went to you to warn you"