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“Dammit, this isn’t a game.”

“We are vampires, Anita. Do you not understand what that means? We are apart from your world. What happens to you does not affect us.”

“Bullshit. Some fanatics are out here trying to duplicate the Inferno all over again. That affects you. Thomas and Gideon have had to repel invaders while you slept. It does affect you.”

“It doesn’t matter. We are in your world, but not of it,” he said.

“Look, that may have worked in the 1500s or whenever, but the minute vampires became legal citizens, it changed. A vampire got taken to the hospital in an ambulance. They are doing their best to keep him alive, whatever the hell that means for you guys. Firemen are risking their lives to go into burned-out buildings to save vampires. The fanatics are trying to kill you, but the rest of us humans are trying to save you.”

“Then you are fools,” he said.

“Maybe,” I said, “but we poor humans have taken oaths to protect and serve. We honor our promises.”

“Are you implying I do not?”

“I’m saying that if you don’t help us here, today, then you aren’t worthy to be council. You aren’t leaders. You’re just parasites feeding on the fear of your followers. True leaders don’t leave their people to die, not if they can save them.”

“Parasites. May I tell the rest of the council your so high opinion of us?” He was angry now. I could hear it like heat across the line.

“Yeah, tell them all. But mark me on this, Traveler, vampires can’t just gain privileges with legal citizenship. They also gain responsibilities to the human law that made them legal.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, that’s so. This mysterious ‘in your world but not a part of it’ may have worked in the past. But welcome to the twentieth century, because that’s what legal status means. Once you’re citizens who pay taxes, own businesses, marry, inherit, have children, you can’t hide in some crypt somewhere and count the decades. You are a part of our world now.”

“I will think upon what you have said, Anita Blake.”

“When I get off the phone with you, I’m going inside the house. We’re going to start bringing out the vamps in body bags to protect them in case the floor caves in. If they rise as revenants while we’re doing it, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

“I am aware of the problems,” he said.

“Are you aware that it’s the presence of the council that’s giving them the energy to possibly rise this early in the day?”

“I cannot change the effect our presence has on the lesser vampires. If this Malcolm wishes to claim the status of master, then it is his duty to keep his people safe. I cannot do it for him.”

“Can’t or won’t?” I asked.

“Can’t,” he said.

Hmmm. “Maybe I have overestimated your powers. My apologies if I have.”

“Accepted, and I understand how rare it is for you to apologize for anything, Anita.” The phone went dead.

I hit the button that turned off the buzzing line.

Dolph walked back as I got out of the car. “Well?” Dolph asked.

I shrugged. “Looks like we go in without vampire backup.”

“You can’t depend on them, Anita, not for backup.” He took my hand, something he’d never done, squeezing it. “This is all you can count on. One human to another. The monsters don’t give a shit about us. If you think they do, then you are fooling yourself.” He dropped my hand and walked away before I could think of a comeback. Just as well. After talking to the Traveler, I wasn’t sure I had one.

45

AN HOUR LATER I was dressed in a Hazardous Materials suit—Haz-Mat for short. It was bulky, to say the least, and turned into a portable sauna in the St. Louis heat. Heavy tape was wrapped around my elbows and wrists, securing the seal between gloves and sleeves. I’d walked out of the boots twice, so they taped my legs, too. I felt like an astronaut who had gone to the wrong tailor. Insult to injury, there was a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, SCBA, strapped to my back. Add Underwater and you got SCUBA, but we weren’t planning to go underwater. I was grateful for that.

There was a mask that covered the entire face instead of a