“Like my statue?” I said. “The not-so-cunning vampire swooping down on his not-so-unsuspecting prey.”

“I see your binding spell has improved.” She looked at John and sighed. “Let him go.”

I released the spell. John fell on his face. Cassandra sighed again, louder. John scrambled to his feet and brushed off his pants.

“She trapped me,” he said.

“No,” I said. “Your ego trapped you.”

John adjusted his coat, then scowled at a line of grease across his white shirt.

“This better come out,” he said.

“Hey, I didn’t do that,” I said. “That’s what you get crawling around dumps like this.”

“I wasn’t crawling. And I didn’t duck out the back door. I—”

“Enough,” Cassandra said. “Now, John—”

“I prefer Hans.”

“And I prefer not to have to chase you through abandoned buildings, but it seems neither of us gets our wish tonight. I came to speak to you about—”

“The Rampart.” John rolled his eyes and slouched against the wall, then noticed his shirt creased and adjusted his slouch. “Let me guess, you’ve been to see Saint Aaron. Such a waste of a gorgeous vampire. I could reform him, of course.” He grinned, all teeth. “Show him the error of his ways, or the way to delicious errors. Show him what that perfect body—”

“You’re not g*y, John. Get over it. Now, I don’t know what beef Aaron has with the Rampart, but I know nothing about it and I saw no cause for concern myself.”

John straightened. “Oh?”

“The matter I came to discuss involves the Cabals.”

“The Cabals?” John’s brows knitted. “What about the Cabals?”

“This”—she flourished a hand at me—“is Paige Winterbourne. You’ve met her mother.”

Recognition sparked in John’s eyes, but he dowsed it and shrugged.

Cassandra continued, “Of course, I don’t expect you to remember a nonvampire, but Paige’s mother was the Leader of the American Coven. Though I’m sure you don’t follow spell-caster gossip, Paige is involved with Lucas Cortez, Benicio Cortez’s youngest son and heir.”

From John’s expression none of this was news to him, but he gave no sign of it and let Cassandra continue.

“Young Lucas has some ethical disputes with his father’s organization and is actively involved in anti-Cabal activities. That’s why Paige approached me. As a fellow council member, she’s well aware of my strong anti-Cabal stance.”

I nodded, though the thought of Cassandra taking a strong stance on anything had me struggling to keep a straight face.

“Paige wanted me to join their little crusade, but I’m hardly about to join forces with spell-casters. She then told me that you and your…associates have formed your own anti-Cabal league. Naturally, I’m intrigued, though I cannot understand why you wouldn’t have approached me about this yourself.”

“I—we—didn’t someone tell you? I asked Ronald—”

“For now, I’ll accept that excuse, though I wouldn’t suggest you try it again. As for this campaign, I hear that you’ve been quite busy. Busy and successful.”

John hesitated, then shrugged. “Not surprising, really. They’re such an easy target.”

“But this latest assault? Truly inspired.”

Again, John hesitated, and I saw by his expression that he had no idea what Cassandra was talking about. He coughed to cover his confusion, then pressed on. “Yes, well, it was a team effort. Months of planning. We were pleased with the results, though, and we hope to build on that success for our next effort.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Cassandra walked to the window and looked out, regrouping and plotting her next move. I left her to it. That fake phone call had tested the limits of my deceptive abilities.

John shot up the sleeves on his coat. “We’ve let these Cabals go on too long. It was an amusing exercise to watch, but they’ve forgotten their place in the supernatural world. We should have taken a hand in the Cabals right from the start, demanded tribute, something to remind them who’s in charge. Not that I blame you—”

Cassandra looked at John. He lifted his hands and stepped back.

“Not at all. You were misled, like the rest of us. When they said they didn’t want vampires joining up, we didn’t care. Why should we? Vampires certainly aren’t going to punch time cards for spell-casters. We just didn’t see where that would lead.”

“Where that would lead…” Cassandra murmured. “Yes, of course. I’m assuming you’re referring to the recent problems we’ve had with the Cabals.”

“Sure. Right.”

Cassandra glanced at me, my cue to play the clueless outsider.

“What problems?” I said.

Cassandra waved to John, as if to grant him the floor.

“Well, the, uh, general problems they have with vampires. They know we could rise against them at any time. Too long we’ve lain dormant, complacent with our place in the world—”

Cassandra strode to the door and disappeared into the hall. John hurried after her.

“Did you hear something?” he asked.

“No, I’ve heard enough. Paige? Come on.”

I followed her from the house.