“Not yet. I was hoping to form it while you tell me—in detail—about these dreams. Then I was going to cut you off with a big, dramatic exclamation, something along the lines of ‘aha!’ at which point you’d find yourself impressed and slightly aroused by my genius.” He shrugged. “But now, I guess I’ll just settle for the detail part.”

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. “I never see his face, but I know it’s him.”

Nathan nodded, indicating I should continue.

“There aren’t any colors except blue.” I bit my lip. “The watercolor kind of blue I remember from when I was…dead.”

A deep frown creased Nathan’s brow, a sure sign I’d piqued his interest with my story. “Are you sure it’s not your super-conscious working through that night?”

When I had those dreams, I always saw the same things. The bright orange cat that had passed my splayed body. The thick shapes of the shadow people coming to claim me. I didn’t bother Nathan with these memories. My brief death—the second one—had traumatized him enough. “Cut the psych bullshit. You think I’m having these dreams for a reason, don’t you?”

He let out a long breath as his mind searched for nonanswers. “I suppose it could be some residue of your former blood tie to him.”

“But why now?” I shook my head. “It’s been two months. What could have happened to reactivate the tie now?”

Nathan stood, trying—and failing—to look unconcerned. “It could be anything. I’ll have Max do some digging in the Movement files.”

The Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement was a harsh, totalitarian organization demanding the death of vampires who didn’t live by their strict code. Nathan had been on probation for seventy years for killing his wife, though it hadn’t been entirely his fault, and by siring me he’d broken one of the cardinal rules: preventing the inevitable death of a wounded vampire. Rather than wait until they found out and killed him, Nathan had chosen to go outlaw. But he maintained ties to Max Harrison, the only other vampire who knew the circumstances surrounding Nathan and me.

I smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled with the assignment.”

“He doesn’t have a choice,” Nathan said cheerfully. He no longer hid the fact he lived to make Max’s life hell. “Well, the sun’s long down. I’d better get downstairs and earn my keep. Are you going to work tonight? I’ve got some inventory that needs cataloging.”

“As tempting as it sounds, no.” I’d clocked enough unpaid hours in Nathan’s occult bookshop to last several lifetimes. If I never saw another Book of Shadows or packet of herbs, it would be too soon. I gestured to the computer. “I need to finish this before it drives me insane.”