“An understatement.” She takes a corner, steering into my neighborhood. “Look, I don’t know what Marlowe told you, but Rasputin is real bad news. Even when he was still human, back at the turn of the twentieth century, he was a first-rate con artist and Svengali—grifting his way into the imperial court and taking advantage of the royals’ trust to accumulate massive amounts of power. And since becoming a vampire, he’s only gotten better at it.” Daphne’s mouth tightens. “He finds lost, damaged humans, Turns them, and gives them not just eternal life and more strength than they’ve ever known, but also a purpose. They worship him, and he worships himself—and there’s nothing more dangerous than that.”

“If I promise you I’m already scared out of my fucking mind,” I say, my heart beating so hard I can see my retinas pulsing, “will you please stop talking now?”

“I’m making this worse—I’m sorry.” She pulls the car to a stop, and I look up at my house. The lights are on in the front window, my dad moving around in the kitchen, and my heart lurches. As if reading my mood, Daphne says, “I already asked for backup, just in case Strauss had other friends, but I promise I … I’ll figure out a way to keep your family safe. I pledged to protect you, Auggie, and that goes for them, too. You have my word.”

“Thanks,” I whisper, unable to speak any louder; then I bolt from the car—three different vampires registering on my silent radar before I even reach the porch. The night watch has already arrived.

14

Almost a week passes where nothing actually happens—no bad dreams, no deadly attacks, no impromptu visits from the undead—and gradually my anxiety subsides to a more manageable level. I won’t pretend that I’m not still scared, though, or that I don’t still look over my shoulder every five minutes, expecting a bony, greasy-haired giant with a scraggly beard and pinwheel eyes to come leaping at me out of the darkness.

Because, oh yeah: I’ve looked up pictures of Rasputin, and each one pretty much screams HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN AREA MAN’S FREEZER. I mean, axe-murdering cannibal mountain men would cross the street if they saw this guy coming.