A “big white house” and a pointed finger was all I had to go on, but I found what the human was talking about easily enough. Almost due north from the tower, past a crumbling street lined with rusty cars and across another swampy lawn, a bristling fence rose out of the ground to scar the horizon. Twelve feet tall, made of black iron bars topped with coils of barbed wire, it was a familiar sight. I’d seen many walls in my travels across the country; concrete and wood, steel and stone. They were everywhere, surrounding every settlement, from tiny farms to entire cities. They all had one purpose: to keep rabids from slaughtering the population.

And there were a lot of rabids shambling about the perimeter, a pale, dead swarm. They prowled the walls, always searching, always hungry, looking for a way in. As I stopped in the shadow of a tree to watch, I noticed something weird. The rabids didn’t rush the fence, clawing and biting, like they had the tower. They skulked around the edge, always a couple feet away, never touching the iron bars.

Looming above the gates, a squat white building crouched in the weeds. The entrance to the place was circular, lined with columns, and I could make out flickering lights through the windows.

Kanin, I thought. Sarren. Where are you? I can feel you in there, somewhere.

The breeze shifted, and the stench of the rabids hit me full force, making my nose wrinkle. They probably weren’t going to let me saunter up and knock on the Prince’s door, and I really didn’t want another fight so soon after my last two. I was Hungry, and any more blood loss would drive me closer to the monster. Besides, there were a lot of rabids this time, a whole huge swarm, not just a few. Taking on this many would venture very close to suicide. Even I could be dragged under and torn apart by sheer numbers.

Frowning, I pondered my plan of attack. I needed to get inside, past the rabids, without being seen. The fence was only twelve feet tall; maybe I could vault over it?

One of the rabids snarled and shoved another that had jostled it, sending it stumbling toward the fence. Hissing, the other rabid put out a hand to catch itself and landed square on the iron bars.

There was a blinding flash and an explosion of sparks, and the rabid shrieked, convulsing on the metal. Its body jerked in spasms, sending the other rabids skittering back. Finally, the smoke pouring off its blackened skin erupted into flame and consumed the monster from the inside.

Okay, definitely not touching the fence.

I growled in frustration. Dawn wasn’t far, and soon I would have to fall back to find shelter from the sun. Which meant abandoning any plans to get past the gate until tomorrow night. I was so close! I was right here, mere yards from my target, and the only thing keeping me from my goal was a rabid horde and a length of electrified metal.

Wait. Dawn was approaching. Which meant that the rabids would have to sleep soon. They couldn’t face the light any better than a vampire; they would have to burrow into the ground to escape the burning rays of the sun.

Under normal circumstances, I would, as well.

But these weren’t normal circumstances. And I wasn’t your average vampire. Kanin had taught me better than that.

To keep up the appearance of being human, I’d trained myself to stay awake when the sun rose. Even though it was very, very difficult and something that went against my vampire instincts, I could remain awake and active if I had to. For a little while, at least. But the rabids were slaves to instinct and wouldn’t even try to resist. They would vanish into the earth, and with the threat of rabids gone, the power that ran through the fence would probably be shut off. There’d be no need to keep it running in the daytime, especially with fuel or whatever powered the fence in short supply. If I could stay awake long enough, I’d have a clear shot to the house and whoever was inside it. I just had to deal with the sun.

It might not be smart, continuing my quest in the daylight. I would be slow, my reactions muted. But if Sarren was in that house, he would be slowed, as well. He might even be asleep, not expecting Kanin’s vengeful daughter to come looking for him here. I could get the jump on him, if I could stay awake myself.

I scanned the grounds, marking where the shadows were thickest, where the trees grew close together. Smartly, the area surrounding the fence was clear of brush and trees, with no places a rabid could climb or hide from the sun. Indirect sunlight wouldn’t harm us, but it could still cause a great deal of pain.

Finally, as the sky lightened and the sun grew close to breaking the horizon, the horde began to disappear. Breaking away from the fence, they skulked away to bury themselves in the soft mud, their pale bodies vanishing beneath water and earth until there wasn’t a rabid to be seen.

I stayed up, leaning against the trunk of a thick oak, fighting the urge to follow the vicious creatures beneath the earth, to sleep and hide from the sun. It was madly difficult to stay awake. My thoughts grew sluggish, my body heavy and tired. I waited until the sun had risen nearly above the trees, to allow time for the fence to be shut down. It would be hilariously tragic if I avoided the rabids and the sun only to be fried to a crisp on a damn electric fence because I was too impatient. But my training to remain aboveground paid off. About twenty or so minutes after the horde disappeared, the faint hum coming from the metal barrier finally clicked off.

Now came the most dangerous part.

Pulling up my coat, I drew it over my head and tugged the sleeves down so they covered my hands. Direct sunlight on my skin would cause it to blacken, rupture and eventually burst into flame, but I could buy myself some time if it was covered.

Still, I was not looking forward to this.

All my vampire instincts were screaming at me to stop when I stepped out from under the branches, feeling even the weak rays of dawn beating down on me. Keeping my head down, I hurried across the grounds, moving from tree to tree and darting into shade whenever I could. The stretch closest to the fence was the most dangerous, with no trees, no cover, nothing but short grass and the sun heating the back of my coat. I clenched my teeth, hunched my shoulders and kept moving.

I scooped up a branch as I approached the black iron barrier, hurling it in front of me. It arced through the air and struck the bars with a faint clatter before dropping to the ground. No sparks, no flash of light, no smoke rising from the wood. I didn’t know much about electric fences, but I took that as a good sign as I drew close enough to touch the bars.

Let’s hope that fence is really off.

I leaped toward the top, feeling a brief stab of fear as my fingers curled around the bars. Thankfully, they remained cold and dead beneath my hands, and I scrambled over the fence in half a second, landing on the other side in a crouch.

In the brief moment it took me to leap over the iron barrier, my coat had slipped off my head, exposing it to the sun. My relief at being inside the fence without cooking myself was short-lived as a blinding flare of pain seared my face and hands. I gasped, frantically tugging my coat up while scrambling under the nearest tree. Crouching down, I examined my hands and winced. They were red and painful from just a few seconds of being hit by the sun.

I’ve got to get inside.

Keeping close to the ground, I hurried across the tangled, snowy lawn, feeling horribly exposed as I drew closer to the building. If someone pushed aside those heavy curtains that covered the huge windows, they would most definitely spot me. But the windows and grounds remained dark and empty as I reached the oval wall and darted beneath an archway, relieved to be out of the light.

Okay. Now what?

The faint tug, that subtle hint of knowing, was stronger than ever as I crept up the stairs and peeked through a curtained window. The strange, circular room beyond was dark and surprisingly intact. A table stood in the center, and several chairs sat around it, all thankfully deserted. Beyond that room was an empty hallway, and even more rooms beyond that.

I stifled a groan. Judging from the size of this place, finding one comatose vampire in such a huge house was going to be a challenge. But I couldn’t give up. Kanin was in there somewhere. And so was Sarren.

The glass on the windows was shockingly unbroken, but the window itself was unlocked. I slid through the frame and dropped silently onto the hardwood floor, glancing warily about. Humans lived here, I realized; a lot of them. I could smell them on the air, the lingering scent of warm bodies and blood. If Sarren was here, he’d likely painted the walls with it.

But I didn’t run into any humans, alive or dead, as I made my way through the gigantic house, and that worried me. Especially since it was obvious this place was well taken care of. Nothing appeared broken. The walls and floor were clean and uncluttered, the furniture, though old, remarkably intact. The vampire Prince who lived here either had a lot of servants to keep the place up and running, or he was unbelievably dedicated to cleaning.

I kept expecting to run into someone, a human at the least and Sarren or the Prince at the worst. I continued to scan the shadows and the dozens of empty rooms, wary and alert, searching for movement. But the house remained dark and lifeless as I crept up a long flight of steps, down an equally long corridor and stopped outside a thick wooden door at the end.

This…this is it.

I could feel it, the pull that I’d followed over half the country to this spot, the sudden knowing that what I searched for was so close. Kanin was here. He was just on the other side. Or…I stopped myself from grasping the handle…would it be Sarren that I’d face, grinning manically as I opened the door? Would he be asleep, lying helpless on a bed? Or was he expecting me, as I’d begun to imagine from the silent, empty house? Something was wrong. Getting here had been way too easy. Whoever was on the other side of that door knew I was coming.

Carefully, I grasped my sword and eased it out, being sure the metal didn’t scrape against the sheath. If Sarren was expecting me, I’d be ready, too. If Kanin was in there, I wasn’t leaving until I got him out safe.

Grasping the door handle, I wrenched it to the side and flung the door open.

A figure stood at the back, waiting for me as I’d feared. He wore a black leather duster, and his thick dark hair tumbled to his broad shoulders. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he didn’t even raise an eyebrow as the door banged open. A pale, handsome face met mine over the room, lips curled into an evil smile. But it was the wrong face. I’d gotten everything wrong. I’d followed the wrong pull—and this vampire was supposed to be dead.

“Hello, sister,” Jackal greeted, his gold eyes shining in the dim light. “It’s about time you showed up.”