It was instantly clear that she was a Wraith. She was pale—ghostly pale—her hair an iron gray length caught back in a perky ponytail atop her head. But she didn’t look like any Wraith he’d met in the past. She was actually quite pretty, not gaunt-faced with prominent bones. She had high cheekbones, but other than that her face was soft and round.

She caught sight of him and froze midstep. The tray of seedlings nearly dropped from her hands, but she caught it, clutching at it as if it could somehow shield her from him.

“Wh-what do you want?” she demanded of him. “This is p-private property.” She looked about furtively, casting a longing look at the front door to the house. Clearly she was judging whether she could make it past him before he could grab her.

“You don’t look like any Wraith I’ve ever seen before,” he said.

If she could have gone any whiter, she would have right then.

“Y-you know what we are?” She was incredulous. Then she was afraid. “What are you? Go away! I’ll scream!”

“I am not here to hurt you. I am here to talk. To make contact between the Bodywalkers and the Wraiths. To perhaps come to some kind of truce—”

She cut him off by laughing in a hard burst.

“Bodywalkers? The Bodywalkers, like all the other Nightwalkers, want us dead and gone.”

“Not true,” he said. “Perhaps there has been animosity in the past, but the current regime of the Politic Bodywalkers is interested in a peaceful accord. Is there someone in charge that I should be discussing this with?”

“If you knock on that door”—she nodded to it—“you’ll have a farmhouse full of Wraiths’ attention. But you don’t need them because all I would have to do is touch you and you’d be dead,” she said.

Kamen thought about that a moment. “Then why are you so afraid of me?”

Her hands clenched around the seedlings tray.

“I’m not a-afraid of you. But you must be a very powerful Nightwalker for them to send you all alone into a den of Wraiths.”

Well, at least she was smart. He had to give her that.

“I am a powerful Nightwalker, but I’m not interested in using that power unless I am forced to. I could have used it on you already but I didn’t. And now we are talking. Which is all I wish to do today. Talk with Wraiths and let them know my purpose and why.”

“Why?” she asked. “Why do you want peace with the Wraiths?”

He wasn’t sure if he should jump into the details right away, but he did so anyway.

“Because an enormous danger, one that threatens every Nightwalker breed there is, is brewing and will attack at any time. It will start with the Bodywalkers and work its way down to the Wraiths. It’s only a matter of when.” He eyed her from head to toe. She was smaller than he was. Smaller by far. Petite but busty in the tank top she wore with a pair of worn denim jeans. She must be the thoughtful gardener of the house, seeing as though the knees of the jeans were stained with fresh soil. She had probably done every last bit of the landscaping. It bemused him, to think of a Wraith doing such a normal thing. To care about plants and the appearance of the house? It was all very…human.

“They won’t believe you,” she said, lifting her chin a little. “And you can’t threaten a race of people who only need to touch you to kill you.”

“I don’t have time to explain it all to you. I need to speak with whoever is in charge here. I would prefer if it were the person in charge of all the Wraiths, but I’m willing to start lower down on the chain and work my way up. But I’m not going to explain it to you then repeat myself again later on. Let’s start with you going into that house and bringing out whomever is in charge.”

“In charge of all the Wraiths?” She dropped her jaw. “You want to speak with the Doyen?”

“Is that what you call him?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes. I want to speak with your Doyen. How else am I to implement a peace accord?”

“I thought you were just trying to start with this cell. I didn’t realize you were thinking you could do something like that all by yourself.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “Why are you all by yourself? Seems to me a delegate for peace from the Bodywalkers would come with a group. For support or something.”

“We felt it would come across less threatening if I were to come alone.”

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Then she sucked her lower lip between her teeth and began to nibble on it.

“I’m supposed to kill any person who comes up to the house. We all are. I’m supposed to be killing you right now.”

“But you’re not,” he observed.

“I don’t want to drop my plants.”

“I’ll wait for you to put them down,” he said politely.

“A-aren’t you afraid? All I have to do is touch you.” She slowly bent her knees, lowering herself so she could gently place the tray of seedlings down in the grass. She stood up straight, still nibbling on that lip. She looked far more adorable than she did threatening right then.

“Then touch me,” he invited her softly.

She took off her gardening gloves, dropping them beside the seedlings, and rubbed together a pair of long fingered narrow palms.

“If I don’t, I’ll probably get in a lot of trouble,” she explained, almost apologetically.

“I understand. Let’s get on with it then, shall we?”

She came closer to him. About two steps closer.

“You’ll have to get closer than that,” he noted.

“What is wrong with you?” she cried then. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why aren’t you?” he countered.

“B-because…because…” She floundered for a reason, clearly trying to avoid the true one.

“Because you’ve never killed anyone before?” he offered.

She looked at him in surprise. “How did you know that?”

“Call it intuition. So, you aren’t going to kill me and I’m not going to kill you. That’s a start anyway. How about we go inside the house next?”

Her eyes widened. “You don’t want to do that. They have killed and they won’t hesitate if you’ve invaded their territory. Besides, you have no idea the trouble I’d get into if I let you in the door.”