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he
cleared his throat and said a little too cheerfully, “Here, Bryn. Try the
sandwich. It’s a BLT. We had to tell Gus what the L and T stood for.”
    He passed the plate to
Augustine, who tore off a little piece of bacon and offered it to Bryn. The
warlock accepted it with his long, slender fingers and actually put it in his
mouth. Augustine sagged visibly with relief.
    After just a few bites
Bryn said he was full and rolled onto his side, his back to Augustine. Alastair
draped an arm protectively over his friend’s shoulders as Bryn rested his head
against Alastair’s chest, and the warlock sighed quietly and tried to doze.
Augustine got up and went downstairs, and once he was gone, Joey curled up at
the foot of the bed like a cat, obviously exhausted, and let his eyes slide
shut.
    I stood up, and
Alastair looked at me with heartbreak in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,”
he whispered.
    I nodded and whispered
back, “I know. Get some rest. We’ll talk later.” Then I went to the kitchen to
find Augustine.
    He was putting food
back into the refrigerator – including cans and boxes that belonged in the
cupboard. He knew the moment I entered the room, of course, and asked without
turning around, “How’s Alastair been?”
    “Good. He’s healed
completely after having nearly all his blood drained. Speaking of which, we
haven’t seen or heard anything from Margaret, have you?”
    “No, and I’ve been looking
for her, because she may try something again,” Augustine said. “Her little
revenge fantasy didn’t really pan out, and Meg’s no quitter.” A few days ago, Alastair
had been abducted by his sister Margaret, who had intended to murder him in
front of Augustine. She was a vampire as well, deeply evil and jealous of their
mutual maker’s obsession with her brother. “So, what brings you to San
Francisco? Are you finally on Jin’s trail?”
    “We will be soon. We
left Ashland abruptly because the Order showed up.”
    “The Order! How on
earth did they find him there, of all places?”
    I shrugged and said,
“Well, you found him there. How hard could it be?”
    Augustine grinned a
little at that. “I was following him. And I had a lot of men at my disposal at
that point.” He rolled back the sleeves of his pajama top as he added, “So
you’re right that it wasn’t that hard for me. But who knows how the Order found
him.”
    “They were questioning the
werewolf pack you’d hired.”
    “Ah. So, like
everything else, it’s my fault. I must have attracted too much attention when I
was in Ashland, and they caught wind of it.”
    “Are they really bad
news?”
    “Of all Alastair’s
numerous enemies, they’re by far the most deadly. They’re incredibly strong,
thanks to their angel blood, and highly trained. And they work as a unit,
making it even more difficult to defeat them.”
    “Why are they after
Allie?”
     “The Order decided
long ago that it’s their divine calling to kill all vampires. And Alastair’s at
the top of their hit list because of his strength and uniqueness, and the fact
that he’s a vampire with knowledge of the world of the nephilim.” He’d been
gathering pots and pans and dishes as he spoke, piling them beside the sink.
    “Ah.”
    “So, I know you’re
dying to ask about Elizabeth. And I’ll tell you what little I know, on one
condition.”
    “What’s that?” I asked
suspiciously.
    “Help me with these
dishes. Please? If Bryn happens to come down here and sees the kitchen like
this, he’ll be so upset. And the last thing I want to do is to upset him.”
    I grabbed a few dishes
and brought them to the sink. He was holding a pot under running water, and I
said, “Let me guess. You have no clue how to wash dishes.”
    He smiled at that.
“When exactly would I ever have washed dishes in the past?”
    I rolled my eyes and
opened the dishwasher, and began rinsing plates before loading them into it,
scraping off several untouched meals in the