"We do," I answered as we followed her through the door. "Have you been in town long?"

"Three days," she said. "I lost the bet. I thought you would show up yesterday. I should know better than to bet against Cyprian; he's forgotten more than I know." She led us through the building to Cyprian's office. Two large vampires guarded the door, and one politely asked us to put our hands against the wall for a search.

"That won't be necessary, Louis. They are my friends," a familiar voice said from inside the room. I figured that since they knew everything else about us, they also knew we had knives...