Invisibility wasn't a subject I'd given much thought to. Still, I think my logical expectation would have been that being invisible would make you lose your inhibitions and become a little reckless. In reality, it made me feel exposed and overcautious.

Maybe the situation would have been a little different if I were using my invisibility to spy on the men's locker room at the gym instead of sneaking into a house I'd tried desperately to escape from before.

When Cyrus ran the place, it had been crawling with guards. But he'd been paranoid. As I eased open one of the French doors leading from the terrace to the foyer, I noted that the Soul Eater seemed pretty confident no one would try and oppose him.

Then the alarm went off.

For a split second I panicked. Since when had there been an alarm system? And I'd thought Dahlia had killed all the guards? Then I remembered that, though I might not have anyplace to hide, I was wearing the best camouflage possible. Still, being invisible didn't make me noncorporeal. Which became a real concern as the room flooded with guards.

Oddly enough, some of them I recognized. They were the Soul Eater's personal retinue, trained to obey their master's whims, most likely on pain of death. They'd been there the night of the Vampire New Year, accompanying their master to his feeding. I'd probably get an extra helping of torture before they killed me.

I slipped into the corner under the stairs and watched as they assembled, praying none of them copied my get-out-of-the-way idea and discovered me. Fourteen of them milled about, weapons drawn—shiny, black stakes with gleaming metal tips—scanning the room in a state of determined readiness.

"Nothing here," one of them barked, both to the guards in the room and into his headset. "I want two men at the top of those stairs, and stay there. Another team searches the servants' wing. I want two more casing the kitchen, dining room and ballroom. Go in threes to search the grounds. The rest of you get back to your posts, and keep your eyes open. They might have tripped the alarm to distract us. Go, go, go!"

The guards scattered as quickly as they'd assembled. Somewhere, someone turned off the alarm, and an unnerving silence descended.

Creeping from my hiding place; I willed myself to stay calm. Someone hypervigilant—or a vampire—might be able to hear me.

The door to the study was open. I noticed no one had been posted there, so it seemed a good place to start. I was halfway across the foyer when I heard steps coming down the stairs.