Exton

Dmitri and Ramji sit and we order drinks all round. There's some desultory small talk of the getting-to-know-you variety, but I couldn't tell you what was said. Then Monty brings the drinks and that part is mercifully done with.

"Dmitri," Raina says, "I don't know how well acquainted you are with our regulars, but the vamp at the corner booth is a newbie here. He's been coming here off and on for about - what, Nick? about two months?"

"About that," I agree.

"This is the first time we've seen this girl in the cloak, and the way she's behaving around him just makes me antsy. Nick tells me there was a scent on her - nervous sweat - when he walked by their table, and that doesn't make me feel any better. Nick overheard some words that he thinks are Greek, but neither of us speaks Greek - and that brings you up to date."

Dmitri turns my direction, hooded eyes flat and unwinking. It's not an unfriendly look, but I get the feeling I've been measured for a pine box if the need should ever arise. Not someone I want to make an enemy of.

"So what are these words you heard, Nicholas?"

I have a certain gift for mimicry, but not with words I've heard only once. I try to manage Mr. Creepy's pronunciation as best I can, and the result isn't any worse than awful. "Mykros skylos."

The eyes widen, just for a second. "Little dog."

Raina's eyes go wide, but that's all. For now.

"Doulos."

"Slave."

"Stalos."

"It could mean many things, but roughly, 'resting place'."

"Fylakas."

"Guard, or sentry."

This next one is a doozy. "Ekmetalleftis."

Dmitri smiles for the first time. "Vampire."

"Pistos peisma."

"Faithful… pet."

That does it. Raina rockets out of her chair so fast it falls over with a crash and her hand goes to her tanto - but fast as she is, I'm faster and I seize her wrist in one hand, my other arm encircling her slender waist.

"Sit down. This isn't the way."

Her voice is low and dangerous. "Let go of me, Nick."

"Just listen. Killing him might solve the problem, but it might not. How do we know he's the only one? How do we know that if he's killed, someone else won't kill the girl? We need to know more before we act."

"He is right." Dmitri looks at Raina as though he were examining an interesting specimen on a microscope slide. "There is a tradition among some vampires that they have human servants who guard their resting place by day. In at least three cases I know of personally, this is a familial duty, much like a family that has always served as servants to another. If he is killed, his retainers - if he has any - may take revenge on her family, to make up for her failure to protect him. Until we know more, we cannot act against him."

It's a struggle for her, but Raina stands down, her shoulders slumping. I pull her close to me and Erik bends to right her chair for her. She sits, but her eyes have a heat that is only under control for now.

We hear a sharp pop and look up in surprise. Ramji has been gripping his glass so tightly that it's cracked, and blood is dripping down the outside of his hand. He seems not to notice until Dmitri hands him a napkin. He looks at his own blood with what seems a sense of wonder, then binds the cut without a word.