He stammered at first but eventually the kid got out his story. He had been downtown looking to score something to get high on when he was dragged into an alley and attacked. He described his attacker, and it was as I suspected: bald, two fangs. Old-school Nosferatu. What the kid was turning into.

“You said they. Who are they?” Mo’Lock asked.

“The others.”

“You want to narrow that down for us?” I said.

Ellis looked from his parents to me. “The women,” he said. “The leaders’ wives.”

It was coming together. Sounded like a small hive of them.

“How many all together?”

He shook his head. “Four, including the leader who attacked me.”

Before I could say anything, the kid doubled over, holding his gut. He started to retch but nothing came up, just a painful-sounding dry heave.

I knew what the problem was. The kid needed blood. I needed him alive so he could lead us to the hive. I needed some donations.

I looked at the parents.

“He needs blood . . . now.”

Both parents offered themselves up but we didn’t have any way to get blood out of them. A finger prick would take forever and letting the kid feed would infect the parents.

Mo’Lock must have had the same line of thought.

“He could feed off a small mammal,” the ghoul said.

I started to speak. “Yeah, but how are we—”

Mo’Lock disappeared into the bushes. He could move fast when he wanted to. He returned a moment later with a large rat and offered it to the teen. The kid reluctantly took it, thought about it, then bit in hard. He snapped the neck and blood flowed into his mouth.

The parents looked away.

I waited until he was finished. He looked better, less pale, as he tossed the dead rat away. I asked him to lead us to the den. He agreed.

The Nova was parked in front of the house under a street lamp. I opened the trunk and scanned an assortment of weapons.

“Where are we going? House? Sewers? Warehouse? Cave?” I asked the kid.

He was pulling strands of hair out. He was turning fast.

“House.”

Good. I made sure I had some bottles, rags, and gas. Molotov cocktails would come in handy. I also selected the crossbow, sawed-off shotgun, and for extra protection, some holy water in a jug.

I made the ghoul sit in the back and the kid took the passenger seat. I didn’t trust Ellis behind me. The kid pointed directions as I drove. We headed out of the valley and over the hill to Hollywood. Surprisingly he told me to make a right on Sunset Boulevard. The only homes that way were pretty upper crust.