"Where's Ume?" Katelina scrambled into a seat next to Loren as the helicopter lifted off. No one answered and she quickly scanned the passengers. The Black Vigil sat at the opposite end, a gulf of empty seats between them and the others. In the corner nearest the cockpit Sushel bent over an unfamiliar vampire. A prisoner?

Verchiel leaned nearby, half-naked, and pressed a folded cloth to the wound on his shoulder. She had a momentary view of his bullet marked back before he ...