“He’s kicking, he’s very strong. And Sarah says he’s robust. That’s the word she uses—robust. We’re going to have a son, Paul!” What bullshit. You couldn’t make a baby with a creature that wasn’t human. “You’re a liar,” he said, barely disguising his contempt.

They left, then, all except Leo, who stayed watching him. She had the gun, Paul could see it stuck casually into her belt. This was a tough kid, this Leo. She looked like a cross between a punk rocker and a schoolgirl. She was stationed right in front of the door.

Even if he hadn’t been shackled, he was probably too weak to do anything at the moment. But he wasn’t real concerned. He’d get his ass out of here soon enough. He looked at Leo, and she looked back at him.

Here was a question: Was this pretty kid, this Leo, a vampire or not? You really could not tell with these creatures. They were that good. He needed to know because he needed to know what kind of physical abilities he was dealing with. His instinct was that Leo was not a vampire. She was a hanger-on who knew the score. A very sick puppy, this Leo.

Paul tried an indirect approach, an interrogation technique he’d used a thousand times. Let the subject assume you know more than you do.

“So, Leo, what’re you in it for? Drugs? Dough?”

Leo looked at him.

“Love.”

“Oh, yeah, that. You love the monster. You ever fuck it?”

“Shut up.”

“You know, I don’t get you people. I mean, you’re not a vampire, but you tolerate it. You go along with it.”

“Miriam is a beautiful and ancient being. She deserves our support.”

“Oh, I see! I guess Ellen Wunderling would agree with you. Hell, yes!”

“Sarah took her, not Miriam.”

He stopped. He thought about it. Sarah had come after him with some kind of an instrument, not her sucker mouth.

Could it be that she didn’t have a sucker mouth, but that she still fed on blood? If so, was there more than one species of vampire? Meaning, more vampires than he thought?

“Ellen wasn’t the right kind of food for Miriam’s species, or what?”

“We’re blooded. Miriam gives us her blood, and—it’s a miracle. You stop aging. You get incredibly healthy. You live for—well, a very long time.”

Paul stared up at the ceiling. Now it develops that Miriam can make ordinary people into vampires. Jesus wept!

Then Paul had another, equally chilling thought. Maybe this baby bullshit was not bullshit. If this blooding thing was real, maybe the two species were closer than anybody thought. If he’d given a vampire a baby —

He uttered a carefully contrived chuckle. “I can’t believe that I knocked her up. Like, I’m human!”