Raj thanked Peter Saephan and disconnected. He'd promised to keep Raphael informed, assuming this matter turned out to be something other than a local dustup.

"What was that all about, boss?” Em's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"That was Raphael's pet doctor,” he said casually. Em turned to stare at him. “Watch the road, Em.” She jerked her attention back just in time to avoid running a red light. “I called Duncan last thing this morning. There was a message waiting for me when I woke up tonight."

"Raphael let you talk to Saephan?"

The light changed and Raj winced as she floored the accelerator. “He did,” he said, answering her question. And then he shrugged. “If someone really is selling vamp blood, it could come down on all of us. And all I wanted was to ask a few questions."

"Wow. Maybe he really meant all that alliance bullshit you told me about."

Raj nodded staring out the window. “Maybe he did."

"So, what did Dr. Saephan say about our missing researcher?"

He looked at her. “He says if Edwards is doing this, she'd normally need as many donors as possible, but since it's vamp blood we're dealing with, he thought two or three would do it."

"Vamps or humans?"

"Both. He said the choice of women is probably just the vamps’ preference. She can't just use bagged blood for the humans, because the physical bite changes the chemistry."

Em was staring at the road, listening to every word. “So the women are probably still alive then. That's something."

"For a while anyway, yeah."

They turned down Lake Road and the blood house came into view. Raj studied the white clapboard farm house and said softly, “Well, that's an improvement."

Em's head swiveled his way. “I meant to talk to you about that,” she snapped. “I can't believe you came out here with no backup. What if—"

Raj gave her a cool glance. “Are you suggesting I'm incapable of defending myself, Emelie?"

Em blinked and swallowed hard, but held her ground. “Not at all, my lord,” she said formally, but then added with a snarl, “And you know it. But that doesn't mean you're invincible. A simple phone call, that's all I'm asking."

Raj permitted himself a bare smile. “Done. Can we go inside now, Mommy?"

"Fuck you,” Em said cheerfully and threw open her door.

They crossed the uneven lawn together, bypassing an orderly line of club goers waiting for admittance. Two vamp bouncers stood at the door, checking IDs and producing waivers, which were then signed and delivered to a third vamp sitting at a small table just inside. The bouncers gave Em the once over, which she ignored, and nodded respectfully to Raj, holding the crowd back so he could go ahead. The music was just as loud as before, but then everyone seemed to prefer it that way. Why have a blood house in the boonies if you couldn't crank up the sound? There was a steady stream of vamps and humans heading for the private rooms upstairs, and more than a few cries of pleasure emanating from dark corners downstairs. But as long as it stayed inside the house, Raj didn't much care what they did.

"My lord."

Raj turned to find Mick waiting for him. When their eyes met, Mick dropped his gaze immediately and bowed from the waist, holding the bow for several seconds before straightening with a grin. “I'm honored at your return, my lord, and with such a lovely companion.” He admired Emelie's shapely form, his appraisal resting somewhere south of her face.

Em gave Raj a "Can I smack this fucker" look, but, to her obvious disgust, Raj only shook his head in amusement. “My lieutenant, Emelie,” he told Mick. The other vamp's eyes widened slightly at Em's title, and Raj felt the jump in power as the big vampire instinctively challenged Em for her position. He stifled a smirk of satisfaction as Emelie flicked Mick off with a surge of power and a vicious grin. She might look like a runway model, but Em was tough. Certainly tougher than any of Raj's other vampires, and that was saying something.

Mick stumbled back a step, his expression grim, but he gave Em a grudging nod of acknowledgment and turned back to Raj. “I trust everything is as you wanted, my lord?"

"Yeah, it looks great. Listen, is there somewhere we can talk?"

The other vampire's eyes widened in surprise a second time. “This way.” He led them back through the house to what had probably been a closed-in porch at one time, but when Mick closed the door to the house, the loud music shut off as if a switch had been thrown. “A vampire can't think with that racket sometimes,” he joked. “Please, my lord.” He waved at a cluster of chairs, then sat down himself, leaning back and looking completely relaxed, despite his confrontation with Raj only a few nights ago. Raj had noticed this about vampires. They were most comfortable when there was a clear chain of dominance. Mick sat easily under Raj's power as long as Raj demonstrated his superior strength. Problems arose only when there was no obvious hierarchy, or when, as with Krystof, the would-be dominant held the reins so loosely as to be ineffective.

"So, Mick,” Raj started, “You know why I'm in town, right?

Mick shrugged. “I know what I've heard. Krystof brought you in to deal with these missing girls because the cops have him worried.” He eyed Raj speculatively. “Jozef thinks it's bullshit. He's not entirely thrilled to have you back."

"Yeah, I noticed that,” Raj said dryly. “I'm not all that thrilled to be here either.” He had a sudden thought and leaned forward, head cocked curiously. “Jozef doesn't think there's a vamp connection to these crimes?"

"He didn't come right out and say it, but I got that vibe from him. Why, do you think there is?"

"I notice a lot of new faces in town,” Raj said, changing the subject. “And not just in the blood houses. Half of the meat in Krystof's basement the other night was new to me."

Mick snorted. “Why do you think everything was so out of control here? The old man's making new bodies so fast I'm surprised the cops aren't investigating that instead of a few missing pieces of—” His gaze swung to Emelie. “—er, young women. At least some of those guys have to be from out of town, or maybe right off the boat, so there's no one to miss ‘em."

"Any theories on why Krystof's so eager for converts? Any threats you know of?"

Mick snorted. “Other than you, you mean?” he said in an unconscious imitation of Jozef. He shook his head. “Nah. A couple of the old ones have disappeared, though. Maybe Krystof's worried—"

"Old ones?” Raj interrupted. “Like who?"

"I can only tell you what I've heard. But you know Byron?"

Raj nodded.

"Yeah, well, his partner Serge disappeared a few weeks back. At first I thought he'd just moved on, what with Krystof the way he is. But Serge wouldn't have gone without Nina—that's his longtime squeeze. She's a fucking ghost since he's been gone, and Byron's not saying nothin'. That's who you should be talking to."

Raj frowned. “They still have that video store in the city?"

"Yeah, but you're just as likely to catch them at home. I hear Byron's not really paying attention to business these days."

Raj and Emelie stood up, followed by Mick. “All right,” Raj said. “Thanks, Mick. Good job here, by the way."

Mick put a hand over his heart and bowed again. “Thank you, my lord."

"Yeah,” Raj said. “Okay. We're out of here, Em."

Em followed Raj's quick steps across the grass and back to the BMW. “Keys,” he snapped. She handed them over with a sigh.

"I knew it couldn't last,” she muttered.

Raj barely heard her. “You or any of the guys hear anything like that in the other blood houses?"

"No, my lord. Not a whisper. Just that the houses are overcrowded, and like I told you before, no one so much as blinked at our unknown faces, although I did tell the guys to tamp down the power levels, make it seem like they were fresher than any of them really are."

Raj frowned. Old vamps. He had to find out who was missing besides Serge. If the missing vamps were strong enough to pose a challenge, it could be someone eliminating the competition before making a play, but if not . . . He didn't know Byron and Serge that well, but Serge had never struck him as the type to strike out on his own and Byron was weak.

He dropped into the driver's seat and started the car. “Byron and Serge live in the city close by the store, maybe even the same lot. See if—” But Em already had the address and was entering it into his dashboard GPS, her Blackberry in hand. “Nice,” he said.

"I live to serve, my lord."

"Right,” Raj snorted.

The video store was dark when they arrived, which was consistent with what Mick had told him, but still surprised Raj. Byron and Serge had always stayed open late, since their fellow vampires were some of their best customers, especially the old ones who were slow to accept the newer technologies. He circled around the block to the modest house which sat right behind the store. This was an older part of town, from when a lot of merchants lived in the same building as their businesses. With the rise in inner city crime, most of the stores had relocated long ago, but two vampires had no need to worry about crime. A single demonstration of the consequences, and the local hoods pretty much left the store alone.

He and Em crossed to the small, neat house. “Think anyone's home?"

"Everything's closed up pretty tight, but there's at least one human inside,” Em said, concentrating. “And a vamp too."

"Byron and Nina, if Mick's right. Okay, let's ring the doorbell like the unwanted guests we are."

They made no effort to be quiet, letting their boots thud on the wooden porch and hitting the pretty, little doorbell hard and long. Raj waited one minute and rang again. If Byron had the brains God gave a hamster, he'd know that not only were there two vamps on his doorstep, but that either one of them could rip the door open without the courtesy of ringing the fucking doorbell.