North Avenue Beach is one of the most popular spots in town in the summer. On a cloudy morning at the end of October, though, not many folk were about. There were two other cars in the parking lot, probably belonging to the two other joggers moving steadily on the running trail.

I parked the SUV, and Thomas and I got out. I spent a couple of minutes stretching, though it probably wasn't as thorough as it should have been. Thomas just leaned against the SUV, watching me without comment. From what I've seen, vampires don't seem to have a real big problem with pulled muscles. I nodded to him, and we both hit the running trail, starting off at the slowest jog I could manage. I ran like that for maybe ten minutes before I felt warm enough to pick up the pace. Thomas matched me the whole time, his eyes half-closed and distant. My breathing hit a comfortable stride, hard but not labored. Thomas didn't breathe hard at first, either, but my legs are a lot longer than his, and I'd developed a taste for running as exercise over the past few years. I shifted into a higher gear, and finally made him start working to keep up with me.

We ran down the beach, past the beach house—a large structure built to resemble the top few decks of an old riverboat, giving the impression that the vessel had sunk into the sand of the beach. At the far end of the beach we would turn and come back. We went all the way down and back three times before I slowed the pace a little, and said, "So you wanna hear what's going on?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Okay." There was no one nearby, and by now the sun had risen enough to be peeking through the Chicago skyline. Mavra couldn't have been listening in herself, and it was unlikely any mortal accomplice could, either. It was as close to ideal privacy as I was likely to get. I started with the arrival of Mavra's package and told Thomas of the events of the entire evening.

"You know what we should do?" Thomas asked when I was finished. "We should kill Mavra. We could make it a family project."

"No," I said. "If we take her out, Murphy will be the one to suffer for it."

"Yeah, yeah," Thomas said. "I'm pretty sure I know what Murphy would have to say about that."

"I don't want it to come to that," I said. "Besides, whatever this Word of Kemmler is, there are some seriously nasty people after it. It's probably a good idea to make sure they don't get it."

"Right," Thomas said. "So you keep it away from the nasty people so you can give it to the nasty vampire."

"Not if I can help it," I said.

"So Murphy gets burned anyway?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes. "Not if I can help it."