by Faith Hunter
When she arrives back at her house, Jane sees Bruiser out front. She goes in through the back, and then opens the front door to speak to him. He has a very official-looking document from Leo. Bruiser said he did not know anything about Leo’s visit the night before until after the fact, and that if he had known, he would have warned her. Jane opens the parchment, and it states that as soon as her current contract with the vampire council is fulfilled, she is expected to get out of town immediately, and if she doesn’t, she won’t be able to leave at all. Jane closes the door in Bruiser’s face, and Molly makes the observation that Jane likes him. Jane asks Molly to check with some of the local witches to see if anyone is aware of why there would have been witch magic at the vamp rising site, and also shares her Cherokee name with Angelina.
We Invade Her Territory: Jane decides she may get some useful information from chatting with the young women at Katie’s Ladies, as she did before, so after verifying that no prying eyes were watching her, Jane hops the brick wall dividing her backyard from Katie’s and goes to the door. Tom/Troll answers, tells her the girls are in the dining room, making sure he emphasizes that Bliss (the one Jane feels pretty sure is a witch but may not be aware of it) is also there. Jane feels guilty at not having gone to see Bliss since the attack on her in the bar, not to mention having left her to chase after the young rogue in the first place (events from Skinwalker). During the conversation with the girls, Jane learns that a few different times some of them have seen a group of women using a glamour to disguise themselves. Jane asks to be notified if the women are spotted again.
Jane goes to the NOPD, to talk to Rick, whom she has not seen since she saved him from bleeding to death, because she wants to be given access to any files they may have on vamp rogues over the last few years. After some negotiation, Rick takes Jane to a room marked 666, the location for the weird cases. Upon entering, Jane and Rick are greeted by Detective Jodi Richoux, who seems to be trying to tell Jane something as she slips a file into a drawer. Rick tells Jane he will have to lock her in, which neither she nor Beast likes, but she agrees.
I Was Living in a Former Whorehouse: Jane’s research in the files proves useful. She learns that even prior to the big unveiling of vampires in the U.S. (when Marilyn Monroe tried to turn JFK), they were somewhat known in certain parts of the world—including New Orleans. She finds pictures of Katie from the early nineteen hundreds, and discovers that where she is living now used to be a house of ill-repute. Of great interest, Jane finds a partially translated section of the Vampira Carta, and some handwritten notes about Sabina, the priestess Jane observed while tracking the creature in Leo’s son’s body, someone named Bethany, and a group called the Sons of Darkness. Most disturbing of all, it turns out that witch children have been taken recently. Jane photographs what she can, and texts pictures to herself also, but since there is no cell service in the room, she has to pull a fast one on her guard when leaving and send the messages from the bathroom.
Jane takes a nap when she gets home but is awakened by a call from Bruiser. Jane wants to know which of the four vampire parties going on that week Leo will not be attending, and she wants an invitation to at least one. Bruiser tells her that the clans now have an interest in her, and that the last time she attended such a function, she was under Leo’s protection. Jane suggests that perhaps Bruiser could escort her, and he says he will check with Leo, using the excuse that he could keep an eye on her that way.
I’d Rather Be Shot, Stabbed, or Chewed On: After an argument with Beast regarding mates, Jane comes downstairs after her shower to find Rick in the dining room chatting with Angelina. Though most of the conversation seems harmless, Jane warns Rick not to question the little girl again without either her or Molly in attendance, and Rick apologizes. Intrigued when he learns that Jane’s date for the evening is Bruiser, Rick sticks around, having brought steaks that he can’t cook at home because of the power outage, playing board games with Jane, Molly, and Angie. Jane gets a call from Bruiser, saying that a woman who will fit her with appropriate formal wear will be there in half an hour. Rick opts to stay. Madame Melisende does her job well, finding the perfect dress for Jane, even though the experience proves to be a whole different level of agonizing for Jane. When Rick sees the finished product, he is more or less speechless. Jane hides a few weapons on herself as a car pulls into the driveway.
Scent-marking Me: Jane and Bruiser get into the limo, and soon after expressing mutual admiration for each other’s physical assets, Bruiser tells Jane she will either need to stay with him or accept the scent-marking he can give her with blood traces (a mix of him and Leo) on a handkerchief. Jane refuses, but despite that the two end up almost consummating their attraction—until Bruiser finds some of Jane’s hidden weapons. Though she is upset about it, Bruiser also uses the opportunity of their compromising position to wipe the bloody handkerchief on Jane. He tells her that when her current case is over, he will keep her at his home for a week, and Jane says two. Bruiser also explains that Leo has a favor to ask—for Jane to keep her ears and eyes open at the party for any rumblings or plots she may hear in light of the unrest among vampire clans. Despite not being thrilled at doing anything for Leo, given that he tried to kill her, Jane agrees, in order to help avert all-out war that would impact the human population as well.
I Am Not Prey! Jane and Bruiser join the party, and get greeted by Bettina, Blood Master of Clan Rousseau, who leans in closer than Jane would like, seeming to sniff her. Bettina then makes reference to Jane as being claimed by Leo, which Jane bristles at, and reminds Jane that she had asked her before to call upon her, and that she still hopes Jane will do so. It seems to Jane that Bettina is trying to tell her something, but she can’t figure out what. While running her hands over her hair, Jane scents the rogue underneath the smell of Bettina’s perfume, meaning the Blood Master must have shaken the man’s hand. Jane looks around but can’t find anyone who matches the scent. While surveying the room, Jane realizes that alliances between the clans seem to be shifting. Jane and Bruiser discuss the ramifications of Leo dying without naming a new heir. After piling her plate with food, Jane and Bruiser get surrounded by six vamps, with Rafael Torrez of Clan Mearkanis (who does not like Leo) looking on. Just before Jane attacks, Bruiser stops her, and Torrez stops one of the male vamps. Rafael insults Jane by referring to her as Leo’s pet. Bruiser confirms that the episode is very disturbing, since the vamps were from different alliances.
Fast Cars and Money Lead Back to Dames: A female vamp that Jane doesn’t know calls out to George, and when the two of them walk over to her, she grabs them by the arms and yanks them into a storeroom. Though it seems a fight between them is about to begin, the vampire insists that she does not mean to hurt them. Bruiser identifies the vamp as Innara of Clan Bouvier, and she says she has a message from her master. Innara reports that Clans Mearkanis and Rousseau have banded together to join forces with St. Martin, who has broken away from Leo, also leaving other clans vulnerable. Rafael Torrez is trying to drum up support for a rebellion against Leo, and her master will meet with Rafael to pretend cooperation. Innara also mentions the Sons of Darkness, that Rafael has contacted one of them. The reason this whole situation is particularly disturbing and dangerous: Rafael and his followers believe in the Naturaleeza approach to vampirism, where humans are nothing but food, and that all other supernatural beings must be eradicated. Warned that Rafael is coming, and knowing it would not be good for him to find Innara with them, Jane and Bruiser go outside the door and pick up their make-out session begun in the car. Rafael and the other spectators leave, as does Innara shortly thereafter, after offering Jane and Bruiser a good time with her and her anamchara, or bond partner.
While Bruiser explains to Jane what dolore means (the state of grief vampires can enter into, so intense they may lose their minds), Jane scents the rogue maker again. Deciding to mingle to see if she can find him, Jane comes upon Brian and Brandon, the twin blood-servants of Clan Arcenau in a g
roup. The two men are delighted to see her, as they credit Jane with saving them after the attack from the rogue skinwalker posing as Leo’s son. Jane then has a verbal run-in with blood-servants from Clan St. Martin. Afterward, Jane remembers the look Bettina gave her, and tries to figure out where that fits into the scenario.
Feeding Frenzy: An hour later, Jane goes into the ladies’ bathroom, where the mirrors are set at odd angles and throw off her equilibrium, at which point she gets attacked by two female vamps—the two she saw earlier in the hallway. A third female vamp stands by watching. Jane is able to reach one of her crosses, though her stake and knife have been knocked from her hands, and she burns one of them. Jane is then able to get to her dropped stake and puts it into the chest of the other, but before she is able to get it in just the right spot to kill the vamp, she is pulled away by another vamp—Leo. After confronting the injured vamps and the one overseeing the attack on Jane (Adrianna), Leo calls Bruiser to take Jane to someone named Bethany for healing. On the way, Jane asks Bruiser why Leo saved her if he wants her dead, and Bruiser responds that Leo will kill her himself if he truly wants her dead, and for now he needs her until the power structure issues among the clans gets worked out. Bruiser puts Jane in a Porsche with a dark-skinned vamp, who asks Jane if she wants to be healed. When Jane agrees, the woman licks her throat and then bites her, causing Jane to feel sensations of both pain and pleasure. Too afraid to move, Jane remains still.
Biting Things, Too Small to Eat: Jane feels stronger, and when Bethany moves away, she states that Jane is not human and never has been, but unlike other vamps, she does not ask Jane what she is. Bethany tells Jane that she shared some of her essence with her, though Jane is unclear exactly what that means, but she finds out that she has access to some of Bethany’s memories. She also learns that Bethany, a shaman, was turned by one of the Sons of Darkness in the first century AD, one of the first ten of the Cursed. After their brief conversation, Bethany appears distracted and drops Jane off at home. When she arrives home and showers, Jane calls Derek Lee to see if he wants to go track the young rogue hunting grounds, and he agrees, bringing along some of his men. Jane tells them that a spelled rock helps her detect vamps, but really she is just using her acute sense of smell. After determining that no other young rogues have been hunting or killing there, the group leaves, and Jane goes home to shift and heal.
After the satisfaction of killing and eating a small deer, Beast makes up her mind that Jane needs to go see Aggie, so she chooses the woods there to shift back. After putting on her clothes, Jane goes to Aggie’s, who asks if she is there to go to water. Jane agrees, not really knowing what else to say, and Aggie, her mother, and Jane head out in a small jeep. After a bumpy trip, the ritual begins, which includes a highly unpleasant herbal cleansing, native tobacco, and submersion in a muddy bayou. When Jane emerges, she feels unfettered, and the three women head back.
Would Little Evan Go Crunch? When cabbie Rinaldo drops Jane off at home, she gets greeted by Molly and the kids, with Angelina asking about her swim with the ladies, and telling her about some situation two of Molly’s witch sisters were in. When questioning the little girl, Molly and Jane learn that she both sees and hears people, further demonstrations of her way-too-early power. Jane leaves to go back to look around in Room 666 at the NOPD, and Rick lets her in. Jane learns, from a file marked LEGENDS, that the Sons of Darkness professed to be the first vamps, and that there were claims that witch blood could bring new vamps out of “devoveo.” She also discovers from Rick that the detective who had done a lot of the earlier research was Jodi’s aunt, which makes Jane feel kind of used. When she leaves, Rick asks Jane out on a date, an invitation she accepts.
Bruiser meets Jane over at the vamp cemetery. She wants to look around, since many new-vamp attacks on humans occurred close to there. When Jane tells Bruiser about the crosses at the rising site where she saw the young female vamp come up, he finds it hard to believe, but Jane insists that vamps are believers. Jane finds a blood rite circle—an old one, involving both vampires and witches, as well as two others. When she is finished, she finds out from Bruiser that devoveo refers to the ten-year period of partial insanity when vamps are first turned. Bruiser gives Jane a box from Leo, which contains the fetishes (saber-toothed lion bones and teeth) used by the skinwalker masquerading as Leo’s son. Jane still needs to find out about the use of witch blood to stave off madness in young vamps, and is sure that a small group of vamps and witches have been working together for a long time.
Nap Time, Aunt Jane: When she gets home, Jane finds her new leathers have been delivered, and that Molly and the kids are over at Katie’s. When they get back, everyone takes a nap, from which Jane gets woken by a call from Tom, asking if Bliss is there. The witch is gone, and Jane has a bad feeling about it, especially when she hears that the security tape shows interference. Jane rushes over to Katie’s, looks and sniffs around, smelling the rogue-maker in the backyard along with witch magic, and then finds a spelled area outside that leads to an alley where Jane scents Bliss’ blood. Then Jane hears Molly yell her name.
They Should All Be Staked: Jane races to the house, smelling vamp, witch, and Molly. Inside, she finds her friend in a pool of blood, telling her that Angie and Little Evan have been taken. Jane calls 911, and calls Leo, begging for help. Bruiser says he will bring Bethany and meet them at the hospital. While the staff, specially trained in dealing with supernaturals, works on Molly, Bethany and Bruiser arrive, causing a stir. One detective, a bigot against witches, gets some special treatment from Bethany, who then heals Molly. After being assured Molly is resting and stable, Jane goes home to shift, allowing Beast to evaluate the many scents. When she does so, Beast refers to three vampire witches, and that confuses Jane. After determining where the children were taken away in a car, Beast goes back to allow Jane to return. After showering, Jane hears the wards go off, and smells vamp.
Hedge of Thorns: Having come through the side door, Leo, fully vamped out, looks around, sniffing the blood. Jane believes he is there to kill her, but when she mentions that the children have been taken, Leo seems to regain control, telling Jane to get dressed and he will make tea. He also says that the vamps who broke into Jane’s house were part of the Rousseau Clan, but not any who actually live there. Though she hates remaining idle while the children are missing, Jane decides she needs to hear what Leo has to say, and that there is a risk in just storming the Rousseau Clan home. Bruiser also arrives.
Leo wants to know why Jane has been asking about devoveo, and she explains that the word came up in her research, though she does not mention Room 666. During her explanation, Jane refers to the witch blood curing devoveo, and the Sons of Darkness. At the reference to the Sons, Leo goes still and then attacks Jane, ripping at her neck. She manages to get a few of her hair sticks in him to slow him down, and then runs outside. Weak from blood loss, Jane is unable to shift, but Beast tells her to touch the saber-tooth bones in the box, and she changes. Beast notices that a red ward surrounds them, which Jane says is the hedge of thorns. The big cat watches Bethany arrive to heal Leo, and overhears their discussion about Jane. Leo suggests she is a were, but Bethany disagrees, also saying that Jane is not their enemy.
After coming into herself again, Jane sees the scorched earth where the ward had gone up, and she is pretty sure it was triggered by her blood soaked into the ground. Realizing her gold nugget necklace is missing, Jane is relieved to find it inside. Talking to Molly on the phone, Jane finds out that the reason she and the children didn’t leave when Jane first suggested it was a vision Angie had, warning that a man would get them on the road. Jane returns to the City Park site of the young vamp rising she witnessed, and scents the vamp who had taken the children and Bliss. Surmising that the rogue-maker and his group would move somewhere they felt safer, Jane heads to the vamp cemetery. When she starts checking the place out, Jane gets the feeling something unpleasant is about to happen.
They Killed Me Already:
Jane comes across a site that she missed before, since it was likely spelled, and wonders about the connections between vampires, witch children, and leaving newly turned vamps buried longer. Then Jane witnesses another rising—a male this time—and he attacks. After they scuffle , he surprises Jane by speaking to her, which new vamps aren’t supposed to be able to do, and he understands Jane when she speaks to him. Suddenly Jane begins to make sense of what has been going on: the new vamps were being kept in the ground longer, bound by a stasis spell, to see if that would cure their insanity, which was why the missing witch children and new young rogue dates didn’t match up. Jane also fears that the use of crosses may be part of the experiment—to see if an immunity can be built.
Jane talks to and reasons with the vamp, who even knows his name, and calls Bruiser to bring someone to feed him. The new vamp loses control and Jane ends up staking him—an unfortunate development, since he was her only lead to his creator. Bruiser tells Jane to not cut off the vamp’s head yet, so Sabina can try to figure out why he was so unusual. Jane carries the body to the chapel, and Sabina greets her by referring to her as a creature. When Jane describes to Sabina what has been going on with the vamps and witches, at first the old vampire is reluctant to believe her, but then identifies the scent as belonging to one she killed long ago, of the Rousseau line. When Jane says she witnessed Sabina holding a cross to fight off the liver-eater, Sabina grabs her by the throat.