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Bradley’s father, either. She would have to ask the caller about that, too, if she ever spoke to him again.
    “ If the guy on the phone was lying,” Rave said, “that means he wants something from you.”
    Leesa had already considered that. But what could he want? That had been one of the thousand or so questions whirling around inside her head a few minutes ago.
    “ Yeah, but what? I don’t have anything anybody would want.” She thought about all the motives that drove people in stories she had read. “It’s not like I have any old manuscripts or magical jewelry lying around. I’m just an ordinary kid.”
    Rave smiled. “We have already established you are far from ordinary, remember? Maybe it’s not about something you own, but something about you.”
    Leesa had not considered that. “What could he want from me? My grafhym blood? Do you think he needs to keep a vampire away or something?”
    “ I doubt that. The guy sounded like he’s been looking for you for awhile. If he wants something from you, I do not think it has anything to do with the grafhym .”
    “ What, then? The grafhym blood is the only thing special about me.”
    Rave wasn’t too certain about that, but he had nothing specific or concrete to offer, so he remained silent about it. “I do not know,” was all he said.
    Leesa’s head was beginning to hurt. There was just not enough to go on. She certainly wasn’t going to risk upsetting her mother or Bradley by talking to them about it. They had both been through more than enough.
    The guy on the phone had asked where she lived, which meant he had no idea where she was. She decided to try to keep it that way. When she got a new phone, she would get a new number as well. It wouldn’t be much of an inconvenience—only about a dozen people had her number anyhow. And now there would be one less.
    “ Well, I’m not going to worry about it any longer. He doesn’t know where I live, and that’s how I like it.” Leesa looped her arms around Rave’s elbow and grinned. “And if he does find me, I’ve got a big strong boyfriend to protect me.”
    Max barked, once. His big brown eyes were looking up at her.
    Leesa smiled. “Okay, a big strong boyfriend and a really smart dog to protect me as well.”
    Rave kissed her forehead. Of course he would protect her, with his life if need be, but what about when he wasn’t around? He wished they knew more about the caller and what he wanted. But they didn’t, and there was nothing he could do about it.
    Having made up her mind, Leesa felt better. She did not have to worry about the guy for a while. All he had to go on was a phone number that no longer worked and was registered in San Diego. Maybe she wouldn’t even get another cell for awhile. After all, it wasn’t like she could call or text her boyfriend, like most girls could. And if her family needed to reach her when she was back at school, they could call the dorm.
    Leesa smiled, pleased with the idea. No cell phone. She would just pretend she was a volkaane for awhile.
    She had no way of knowing the consequences of the decision she had just made.

 
     
    5. EDWINA
     
    L eesa was not the only one making an important decision. Thirty-some miles to the south and west, in a gigantic underground grotto that was home to a coven of more than three score vampires, a tall, slender female vampire named Edwina had also reached a decision.
    For hundreds of years, the vampires have used the perpetual night of this deep cavern to avoid the hated sun and to remain hidden from the ever-growing human population as well. Cut eons ago under the tree-covered hills on the eastern side of the Connecticut River by a now vanished underground waterway, the cavern was the perfect hideaway. Thousands of hours of labor had gone into shaping the various chambers to suit the vampires’ needs—but what were hours, or even years, to the undead, who have eternity?
    Until recently, Edwina had kept a captive feeder in