I drove back to the City, and the scenes out the window were like a slideshow of my life with the vampires: here was where Edna had taken me to buy clothes, here was where Oswald worked, and here was where my sabotaged car had plunged off the mountainside.

It was too early for Mercedes to be up, so I went to my loft, anxious about what I would find. I unlocked the door and pushed it all the way open so I could see inside. The place smelled stale and a layer of dust covered the surfaces.

I set down my sports bag and walked in slowly, listening and peering around. Things were moved fractionally and drawers weren’t completely shut. Even though Wil’s murderer had been apprehended, I was still uneasy being here. After searching the apartment, I locked the front door and used the bolt lock.

I had to act fast while Ian was still with Ilena. How could one chica, albeit one who had recovered her fabulous style, defeat a building filled with men who were trained in battle?

I came up with ten plans in half an hour, each more convoluted than the last. It occurred to me that I hadn’t slept last night, what with the excitement of reanimated corpses and catching killers. I wrapped myself in a comforter, lay down on the pink sofa, set my alarm for noon, and passed out.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the overcast sky outside my windows. The Grants had sent me home with a care package, so I drank a calf’s-blood spritzer while I fried fresh eggs and topped them with salsa.

As I was washing the dishes, the buzzer sounded from the front entrance.

“Yello?” I said.

“It’s me,” Mercedes said.

“Come up.” I pressed the button to open the building’s entrance and waited in the hallway. In a few minutes, my friend came from the elevator, holding a paper bag. My brown dog, Rosemary, trotted at her side.

Mercedes smiled broadly and said, “You should have called me. Gabriel phoned as soon as he got the news from his family.” She hugged me, and I kissed her cheeks and mussed her dreads until she pushed me away and said, “Cut that out.”

I scratched Rosemary’s back and he wagged his tail and licked my hand, but he didn’t seem as elated as I thought he should be.

Once we were inside my place, I locked the door and said, “I’ve missed you like crazy.”

“I’m glad to see you looking healthy again.” She went to the kitchen table and put down the paper bag. “I’ve got to go to the club in an hour. Can you tell me what happened in that time?”

“I can edit for brevity, I suppose, but you’ll miss out on my insights.” When I’d finished telling my story, Mercedes sat openmouthed.