It was, undoubtedly, Axel. Emily’s ex-boyfriend and former drug dealer had disappeared for months. Brigid didn’t even know if he’d stayed in Dublin. Emily claimed to have nothing to do with him since rehab, and Jack had been frustrated, since he thought Axel had something to do with whoever was shipping drugs into Dublin. While the heroin problem seemed to be tapering off, the whispers about the new “vampire drug” were growing louder.

Brigid still had her doubts whether he had the brains to mastermind an operation, which had gone undetected under Murphy’s nose, but his disappearance, and now reappearance, was certainly speaking in favor of Axel being more than just a pretty face and a long set of fangs.

“You want to grab him?” she asked Jack.

“Yes. I don’t think he’s noticed me. Grab the human he just sent to the bar and meet me in the alley. I have a few questions for our dear Dane.”

“He’s Norwegian.” She slid out from the booth eagerly. Finally, the night had become more interesting.

She waded through the sea of dancers, using the crowd to hide her approach from the girl who stood twitching at the bar. User. The girl looked like she needed a fix. Her balance was uneven and Brigid could see the beginning of ribs showing though the skintight black dress she wore. Her light brown hair hung limp at her shoulders. Brigid sidled up to her, glancing over her shoulder to see Jack approaching Axel from the far side of the club.

No scenes. Just a friendly chat with Axel’s current—

She looked over, stunned. “Emily?”

It couldn’t be.

It had been four months since they’d met for a drink. After their meeting in May, they’d talked on the phone a few times. Brigid had gone to Emily’s house to meet her family, all of whom seemed understandably wary of the vampire. The two friends had kept in contact, but only over the phone the last few months, she suddenly realized. Otherwise, Brigid would have noticed Emily’s rapid deterioration.

“Brigid… hello. I’m just—”

“Em, what’s wrong with you?”

The thin smile Emily had been trying to muster fell. “Nice to see you too. Been a while. How’s life? How’s immortal health? Must be nice.”

Brigid shook her head and glanced rapidly between where Axel had been standing and back to Emily. Jack must have already taken the other vampire out to the alley. “I’m just… I’m not going to lie, Emily. You look sick. How…?” Brigid’s voice dropped and she stepped closer, closing her nostrils to the sickly sweet scent of Emily’s illness. “Are you using again? It’s okay. Everyone slips. I’ll get you help. We don’t even have to tell your parents if you don’t want to. I have some money and I can—”

Emily tore her thin arm away from Brigid’s warm hand. “You think I’m on drugs again?”

“You’re skin and bones! I mean… what the hell? The last time I saw you, you’d lost some weight, but you said you’d found a new diet and you felt wonderful. Now, you look like a—a skeleton. I’m worried about you!”

“Well, don’t be.” She handed her cash over to the bartender and took her drinks. She turned, but Axel was nowhere to be found.

“What are you doing with Axel? Are you two back together?”

Emily’s eyes flickered over the crowd, and Brigid had the distinct impression that she’d already been forgotten. “We’re just friends,” the woman murmured, clutching the two martini glasses between bony fingers. “We just hang out. It’s not like he’s dealing drugs anymore.”

“He better not be.” She was drifting away, and Brigid was torn between wanting to shove the girl in a cab and send her to her parent’s house—possibly along with some chicken soup if she could find it—and trying to find Jack and Axel. She didn’t buy for one moment that Emily wasn’t using again. And if Axel was the one to blame…

Brigid blinked. In the split second that she’d glanced toward the alley, Emily was gone. She searched the club with her eyes, but the thin woman wasn’t in the shadows or the mess of surging dancers in the middle of the floor.

“Shit!” Where could she have gone so fast? Brigid bolted down a narrow hallway and out the alley door. She stepped into the dark street and looked around. There were two figures near the dumpster. She could hear voices, but nothing distinct. Brigid scowled. They must have been vampires. Only other immortals could drop their voice to a low whisper that was only intelligible to others with preternatural hearing. She walked toward them.

“Oy!” She reached for the pistol at the small of her back.

They were cloaked in thick darkness, but her eyes caught the profile of the shorter one as he began to turn.

Her breath caught. “What—?”

The pinch caught her at the base of the neck a moment before she sensed the vampire behind her. It was like being blasted by fire from the inside out, and the crackling energy that lived under her skin froze for a split second before time seemed to stop.

The dust motes hung still in the glowing streetlights. She tasted the acid on her tongue. Silence blanketed the cold alley.

A familiar voice screamed ‘No!’ as her heart took off in a panicked gallop. The air around her seemed to contract a second before the fire exploded out and everything went black.

When Brigid woke, it was approaching dawn. She was naked and alone in the alley, and a black ring scorched the earth around her. Her fangs fell down at the scent of human blood; then she gagged as the smell of burning flesh touched her nose. She turned, and there was a pile of black flakes scattered out behind her and the twisted body of a human a few feet away.