New York City, circa 1995 AD.

The Necropolis became home to the lot of them, though, it did seem at first they might all kill each other. Julien and Louis did not get along. They fought whenever together. Joy allowed herself to become something like a possession to Julien. She and Louis were somewhat jealous of each other. Faye and Min didn't like being forgotten. Robert was finding Joy distracting; Blade was angered by it. There was no peace.

Julien had fed once, from Joy, and not killed her and after that Louis would take him out to feed, but every time Julien saw the dead body laying before him he vomited the entire amount of blood he had just drank, and then seeing he had just vomited he would go into fits of panic and become uncontrollable. Louis wasn't tolerating him well, he resorted to hitting Julien, but that only made Julien curse Louis and stop speaking to him.

Joy wanted to feed Julien, but Robert and Louis both insisted she was yet too weak. Robert would sit on the beige sofa trying to watch videos but was distracted every time Julien and Louis chose to wrestle on, or scream across, the floor in front of him.

Someone had sent a bouquet of lilies with a note that read: Psyche won't be able to bother you for a very long time. Z.

And then Robert felt sad for Zerachiel. He knew that she and Psyche had been close for a while, it must have been hard to punish Psyche.

Still Julien kept mentioning Psyche in arguments, saying she was right. He kept insisting that there was nothing between him and Louis because Louis had faked it all, which of course hurt Louis because he hadn't really faked all of it. "If I hear the words 'Do you love me?' pass you lips I'll slap you again!" Louis would shout. And Julien already knew Louis could slap very hard.

Louis had found time, when Julien was at either of the penthouses, to clean out the room hidden behind the vault (Joy had helped carry the fifty years worth of comic books down to a lower room) and decorate it for Julien. Louis even built the bed himself, though carpet and mattress he said had fallen off trucks. The walls he covered in paintings of Julien. Julien moved in, forgot to hate Louis for a second as he kissed him in thanks for the shrine. But he remembered to hate Louis when the next pang of hunger hit.

Julien believed he was a vampire, but only because Joy said he was. He believed he was whatever sort of vampire she might draw on popular fiction to describe. He kept saying it was not magic only viral, and Robert was inclined to agree and told Julien so. Robert had feared that it would be difficult to make Julien believe the truth without causing madness in him as had happened with Blade, but Joy made it all very easy.

Julien listened to everything she said, lay in his bed touching her, thinking her warm, kissing her everywhere but on the mouth, and well, never her sex either, and the breasts only teasingly. But Julien wouldn't ever listen to a word Louis said. That is until the night Louis understood that what Julien was bothered by was the fact they had sex hundreds of times and Louis had felt nothing.

"Nothing?" Louis had said, waited for Joy's giggle, "We'll see about nothing, you come with me." All one had to do to impress Joy was be cute and able to recite quotations from many vampire novels.

Julien had left with him, and when they came back, they were giggling and appeared best of friends. Julien was a much healthier color and even kissed Louis. It was obvious that they had gone somewhere and that Louis and some Human person had convinced Julien that Vampyres do feel something when they are close with Humans. But because being with Joy hadn't helped Julien understand that Louis hadn't just cruelly faked an entire relationship the others all guessed there must have been some boy of their acquaintance involved.

This in turn made Joy jealous. She left and when she came back the next day, (being the only Human to really know the way in and out by heart) she was considerably dressed up, black lace corset, long chiffon skirt, and same old pair of skull-buckled boots with the one broken buckle. Of course Julien was out with Louis, and only Robert was upstairs. All Joy accomplished was making Robert want her. This made him uncomfortable and Blade defensive.

Blade sat herself in Robert's lap and explained some things to Joy that made her blush and fear. And then she got up from Robert's lap and stalked close to Joy, her hands sliding to the tiniest part of Joy's waist and then to the corset strings. She yanked hard, Joy gasped and shrieked, and Blade fell back laughing. "Nice li'l marriage breaker there," she said.

"Oh, that fucking hurt!"

"Maybe that'll teach you that a corset isn't going to excite Julien unless it's got a label that says Gaultier on it," Blade said, "All you're going to do is make my beloved Goth-loving spouse's fangs ache a bit, and Julien and I aren't about to let him bite you."

When Julien and Louis returned, more drunken than usual, they gifted Blade with a bottle of blood that turned out to be spiked with some sort of hallucinogen. They sat either side of Joy and watched the movie she had put on: The Lost Boys.

Joy remained quiet most of the time, as Robert did, but the other three screamed and giggled continuously. Louis told Blade her blood was wine, she believed it, choked. The boys laughed. Robert noted the "drink me" tag on the bottle.

Julien confessed they had been to a birthday party and watched Alice In Wonderland. "One side will make you grow taller," he squealed.

"One side of what?" Asked Blade.

"The Mushroom!" Screamed Julien.

Louis confessed they had played party games: The Rest of Your Life in the Closet, Fill the Bottle, Burn Down the House. Julien said he didn't think he'd like the games if he was Human. But as it was he liked them immensely. Joy shrank down under his arm and avoided looking at Louis.

When they took the coffee table books off their coffin and lay Joy in it Robert thought he'd better leave with Blade. The boys were feeding Joy drops of blood and she looked very pretty. Louis was giggling over a bottle and Julien was sliding his fingers over the coffin cooing dreamily. "Oh, I spilled some, I better lick it up," Louis said as Robert left.

When they took Joy out of the coffin Julien took a little drink from her, kissed her eyes, her throat, her chest, but not her mouth. And then he got bored and sleepy.

Louis watched Julien to make sure he wasn't really looking and began caressing Joy, a hand, an arm, quite soon a thigh, until he had her writhing as madly as any of the children he and Faye had ever lured to the palazzo.

He carried her away into his bedroom, and she didn't fight. She even liked it when he whispered in French and Venetian as if she was supposed to understand. She ignored his words completely when he insisted he knew her. The name Francesca meant nothing to her. But still Louis moaned and said, "I might have been mistaken before but I remember this body."

Tears came from her eyes. "No."

"You loved me."

"No."

And when he pierced her neck with his fangs she didn't struggle, not even when he spread her legs with his hand. When he shoved his dick into her she only struggled a little, but when he tore her neck and slammed against her she screamed.

Joy didn't say, No. She didn't say, Stop. But she screamed and she said, "Louis, your hurting me, you'll kill me!"

He didn't stop.

Not until Julien woke, grabbed a handful of hair and jerked off Louis the bed. They wrestled; Julien looked to the bed and saw Joy was barely conscious, bleeding, wearing shreds of fabric. And when he saw her he threw Louis across the bed and scooped up Joy.

Louis and the bed suddenly caught fire. And then looking at the flames Julien realized he'd done it and he did not want Louis to be burnt. He dropped Joy on the floor and crawled onto the bed, frantic, not wanting Louis dead. Julien was trying to beat out the flames when Faye and Min slunk from their room thinking they ought to come to Louis' aid. Min picked up Joy; Faye threw Julien against a wall.

When Julien's vision cleared he went after Min. She called Troy, sent him after Julien. The wolf knocked him to the floor and snapped for his throat.

Faye put out the flames with a quick burst of wind, a very quick one. And as soon as he was able Louis yelled for Troy to leave Julien alone. This only made Faye angry.

Julien grabbed Joy from Min, stomped off toward his room and turned only to tell Louis and Faye that Joy belonged to him, and he'd set them on fire if they hurt her again.

By the time Robert and Blade returned things appeared to be normal. Louis had healed so quickly that they couldn't tell he had been burned. Troy slept under the kitchen table. Faye and Min were as quiet as usual. But when they went past the door of Julien's room they saw him sitting up in bed and Joy sitting behind, her forehead pressed to his spine, a new robe on, and her skin pale, sickly looking.

"You can't take so much if you want her to live," Robert said. He went inside and lay a hand to Joy's cheek. "She's burning up," he said.

Julien said nothing but continued sketching the figure of a woman holding a long cigarette filter to her mouth.

"Julien didn't do it," Joy said.

She never actually said that Louis raped her, in fact after a few days it seemed she didn't remember it happening. She would shy from Louis if he tried to kiss her, but she didn't if he stretched out beside her on the couch. And if Julien or Robert ever subtly asked if Louis ever did anything to hurt her she would say that she couldn't remember having a reason to be afraid of him. And yet she would never go near his bedroom and she would never kiss him.

Julien made his peace with the other's eventually; he spent an evening in Faye and Miranda's room sharing a bottle of blood. Faye did her Madonna impression and Julien thought it hilarious. And since Julien had never heard any of the old stories he was shocked when Min explained that their father had been a whore and that he'd been Robert's lover as well, and that was why Louis called them his sisters: because when he was growing up they all lived together.

Faye and Min didn't do the sort of things that Louis and Robert did, they never went out to clubs, they never went to schools, they just went out every night, killed some people, put on their clothes, walked around the city just a little while to see how the world was doing and how people treated them in their clothes, and then they came home and played Scrabble, or cards, or sometimes Trivial Pursuit.

Apparently Louis was the best Trivial Pursuit player, but if they played the Silver Screen Edition Faye usually won.

It seemed as soon as the others were able to get along-spending nights playing board games, watching videos, or listening to Joy read books-Blade was getting into trouble.

Louis noticed first. And he took Robert out and showed him.

Blade had found one of their Nightcloaks and was roaming about the city foiling crimes. She never killed them, she just hurt them a little, or told them to dream, and they would. She usually left one awake long enough to let on she knew their name and all their secrets. She left one awake so he could tell the story to others, exaggerating as Humans are bound to do.

When Julien found out he said she was the "The Terror that Flaps in the Night" and laughed.

Louis told her to stop.

Blade just refused.

When the next fall came around they were used to each other, both Joy and Steven knew more than one way in and out of the Necropolis, Joy was living in the Penthouse across the hall from Steven and sleeping in Julien's old room.

Of course, with Julien wanting to finish school, and Blade being too famous to disappear without dying, they could not avoid their Human friends. Mandy was entirely suspicious. He had thought it interesting when Blade had been turned. Now he seemed so jealous whenever he saw Julien. He did invite all of them to his parties, but not to his beach house. He was too jealous to let them come to his beach house.

The first time Mandy had met Joy he had not said, "Do I know you?" He had stared and said nothing. And it was Joy who trembled and said, "I know you."

And then Mandy said, "Well, I am seven hundred years old or nearly so."

Julien didn't like the way they looked at each other and never left Joy alone with Mandy afterward.

John knew, it seemed then John knew everything. It was not a secret to Blade that John had become one of those who only collected token pay checks from Steven and his real job was very secret and involved uncovering conspiracies and crime rings. Of course he had help. Steven called them the Abdals, this very real secret crime-fighting team. He said Monday had told him that Seraph had said this was the name for a secret organization of seventy mysterious spirits whose names were known only to God, or so some Muslims said.

It was not unusual at all for a dozen or more Gothic kids to be in Joy's penthouse or for Julien to be with them. Most of this particular group said they believed Julien was a Vampyre, none of them acted as if this were strange. They were very friendly to any other Vampyres that came to the house, particularly Robert, because he looked so cool, they thought, but even more so because he was old enough to have been on the scene longer than any of them and actually have been friends with people who were now famous musicians.

Sometimes while they were all there Joy would be in the bedroom with Paul, all alone, and Pat who was Paul's boyfriend would come to Julien and say that they had been doing this for at least a year, having sex. Julien figured if Pat was going to tolerate his boyfriend fucking Joy he ought to tolerate Joy being fucked, especially since he had no interest in doing it. But Julien still told Joy in secret he didn't like it. He wished that she would belong only to him. He just didn't want to have sex with her.

Pat seemed to think the arrangement all right because Joy was the only one besides Pat that Paul had ever slept with. "But I think Joy has done this with lots of other guys," Julien whispered once.

Pat seemed shocked by this. Though Julien never understood why, most everyone that frequented the clubs knew of Joy's habits.

When Joy and Paul would reappear Julien and Pat would act very friendly just to make them feel bad. And then because Julien was rich, and liked them all so much, and never had to buy food anymore, he'd take them all out to breakfast, if not an after hours club.

The lot of them would walk into Around the Clock or some East Village dinner like a gang, all wearing sunglasses and ask for a table away from the windows. Julien never ate, and neither did Opium, but Joy and Paul who seemed to have known her longest would explain that Opium just didn't like eating in public. Some seemed to believe this was religious, as if Opium was required to do nothing but drink water during certain hours of the day. Seraph who always had a set of Tarot cards on her and would order tea so she could break open the bag and read the leaves when she was done seemed to know Opium wasn't Human. Elle seemed to know to. Julien thought she was Opium's girlfriend at first, but he decided later Elle was her bodyguard.

Opium was very mischievous, she liked Julien, but not Louis, even though Louis always bowed instead of trying to shake her hand. (Opium never shook hands.) It was Opium who always said Paul wasn't really bi, the only reason he was interested in Joy was Robert Smith wasn't available (sometimes she used Morrissey's name instead but this brought groans from certain people and always started arguments) and that Paul would never be able to do it if Joy didn't have so many pictures of guys with strange hair and lipstick on her bedroom walls.

Paul sometimes tried to slap Opium, but Elle or Joy would stop him.

Opium never touched people or ate in public.

Sometimes they would get into arguments about whether or not Angels could father children, or between Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman who was the more brilliant writer.

Blade was suspicious of the lot of them, didn't like Humans knowing about her. Louis didn't find them a threat, though he was jealous of a few though. He often went out with them and often had invitations home from some. Actually the more Julien was with Joy the more Louis could be found in some corner with five black-clad and androgynous figures crawling all over him and each other, wanting him. Julien didn't like Louis in the love knots, but rather than become domineering and remove Louis from them he only got closer to and more possessive of Joy.

So far as Robert was concerned the children were good. He was able to have Humans about who did know about him. There were always people about who shared his particular aesthetic. And they kept Julien quite happy, important because Julien was still just volatile enough that they watched his moods carefully afraid in the wrong one he'd get in trouble.

b b b

Becoming a Vampyre had been a good thing for Julien. After the first couple times when he was sick he never had trouble killing. He just walked about till he saw someone very pretty, and then followed them till he couldn't stand to just follow, dragged them away to some dark and secret place, held them in thrall, and finally killed then. He always burnt the bodies. He was a natural pyrokinetic it seemed. And it was so easy to make them do what he wanted, all he had to do was look them in the eyes and it just happened.

He could sew very fast by hand and keep the stitches small and evenly spaced, as if he were a machine. As long as he had enough blood he always woke in time for class, and remembering what they told him there was so easy. Of course the art itself came from his soul, as it always had, there was no change in that, inspiration still came from the same places. But after being turned Julien seemed to everyone a much healthier creature, he had been slowly killing himself before that of course. When he started his fifth semester of school he took an extraordinarily heavy course load and after that he worked through the summer sessions as well so that he would graduate a year early. It took a lot of blood to keep him awake in class, especially in Summer, but all his work done at home went quickly. They all thought it a good idea to get him out of school as soon as possible.

He and Louis had found out how it was models were hired for the art schools, and had got Joy on a list so that it wasn't unusual for her to end up posing for a sculpting class that Louis was taking, or for a beginners painting course Julien was taking as an elective.

Julien liked painting, he said it wasn't like work to him, he never worried that it had to look good because it wasn't going to be the base of his career, and so things flowed quite easily. Louis always scoffed at this. Everything that Julien painted was quite abstracted and more about color than form. Louis didn't much care for this, though he had to admit it was art.

Mandy took just a few pictures of Joy, when Julien would allow, and Cary modeled Madonnas after them. Joy said they were almost as pretty as Caravaggios, which were some of her favorite paintings.

Robert said Joy and Julien would get into the art history books one way or another.

Louis still seemed just a little jealous of them, he never understood why it was Julien liked Joy so much and yet wouldn't kiss her. Julien might say to him, "I'm not bisexual, I'm just a Vampyre," and Louis would scoff at this pretty much. Louis believed it unnatural to love one sex more than another just as he believed it unnatural to love one race more than another, but he had grown up in Eden.

Louis still didn't understand when Julien attempted to explain how it was he felt for Joy, that it wasn't sexual at all, but he still loved her. She made him feel good about himself, and he never felt dependent on her, just extra happy when she was around. Louis would say, "I know about completely spiritual love, what I don't see is how you can drag your mouth across most of her body and then say it's not sexual."

Julien would try to explain in some words that it was obviously physical, but it was not sexual it was Vampyric. This rather made the others laugh. And every once in a while one of them would point out, "What you are doing with her is sexual to Vampyres." Eventually Julien would learn, he was after all a fledgling, and his teacher wasn't even one of his kind. Joy taught him most everything.

Joy explained that she thought Louis gorgeous, but she'd always liked tall slender blondes a lot, and besides Julien had told her how he wanted her to belong to him, and she was trying so hard to stay away from other boys. Somehow it didn't seem to bother Joy that she was a belonging, not as long as Julien continued to own her. It just didn't bother her.

Neither she nor Julien considered her a slave, the word never occurred to them in relation to themselves. It occurred to Louis of course, but he kept himself from saying it. Julien was gracious enough to include Louis in their circle most of the time. He called them a family. And as Louis was grateful the worst he ever called Joy was Doll.

While Joy read The Witching Hour to Julien one night Louis was inspired to dig Israfel's pendant, which was an emerald, out of the jewel box it was hidden in. He gave it to Julien, and Julien placed it on Joy. Joy thought this enormous genuine emerald a fabulous gift and swore she'd never sell it.

Louis had to explain it wasn't just a silly emerald, but it had once belonged to the Seraphim Prince Israfel and that whoever wore it was promised to be kept from death as long as they kept wearing it. Louis supposed then that the charm had nothing to do with aging and only protected the wearer from violent and accidental death. Still it was a powerful charm they were giving to Joy.

She wore it under her clothes most of the time.

Louis painted a picture of her sitting in Steven's open bedroom window wearing the emerald. It was hung in Joy's penthouse next to the painting of Julien as an Angel that was the same size.

b b b

By the summer of Julien's graduation he and Louis were talking of moving to Paris. Louis was especially eager to get out of New York. They'd been there a lot of years. Blade was supposed to be 28 and looked like she could be twenty, Julien was supposed to be turning 25 that fall and looked more boyish than he ever had at 21; the effects of cocaine, sleep deprivation, and greasy food didn't war across his face and eyes any more. He was thin, but he never looked sick. Even Steven was worrying them; he hadn't aged the last two years.

Julien didn't want to leave, as romantic as Paris still sounded to him, he didn't want to leave Joy. Louis suggested Julien just make her a Vampyre, he said Joy would make a good one. Julien always refused this with violent argument. Louis supposed this was Julien's normal irritability, this summer had been particularly hard on him.

Joy was then sporting purple hair and came into the Necropolis from the tunnels one afternoon wearing a suit Julien had made. He had his first actual show coming up, nothing seasonal, a sort of debut after he'd impressed everyone at the Parson's show. Joy was in charge of putting music to the show.

Robert was in the pool as Joy came across the bridge. It was the only way to get to the other rooms from the tunnels, crossing the wooden vaguely Japanese looking bridge over the pool.

"Who's that clopping across my bridge?" Robert asked.

"It's me, the littlest Billy Goat Gruff," Joy laughed, "You might try wearing a bathing suit."

Robert was swimming nude among the mosaic mermaids and dolphins. "I might if I owned one," he said.

Robert got out of the pool and pulled a robe on as Julien came in. He stood on the bridge with Joy, then walked slowly down to the platform. Louis came in soon after. He lifted Joy and held her over the water.

Joy screamed, told him the suit was four of a kind.

Julien asked Louis weakly to stop, let Joy down.

Louis dropped Joy in the water anyway. She wriggled out of jacket, skirt and nylons, tossed them up to the platform. The silk blouse had gone transparent. Louis smiled devilishly. "Now there's just three of a kind."

Joy climbed from the pool and stomped of to find clothes to wear. Julien fell asleep in Louis' arms complaining the sun exhausted him.

Robert pointed out they were supposed to be at the hotel shortly, for Julien's show.

Louis never worried about arriving on time, he could move fast if he needed to.

b b b

The Julien Dangerous show, perhaps because it took place during a time when other designers were secreted away designing their fall lines, perhaps because Julien was truly brilliant, attracted a crowd with influence. Of course there had been invitations, but invitations never meant in themselves that you would have guests.

Robert had tried going back stage. For several moments he had stood in the utter chaos of young fashion students turned dressers for the night walking hurriedly across the floor, make-up artists and hair dressers fussing, models looking bored, staring dully into mirrors as they smoked a last cigarette, the designer screaming as the exquisitely dressed Korean girl at his side told him she'd just seen Keanu Reeves outside.

"Robert, get the fuck out of here," Blade screamed. She was sitting in a chair next to Keri with Mandy standing between glaring at the girl who powdered Keri's face.

"These are my models," Mandy said, "...don't fuck up her eyebrows like that."

The young student looked about to cry.

Robert couldn't have left right then if he wanted. A crew from Fashion Television was rushing into the room. An intern in the group was asking the name of every model they took footage of and recording it on a small pad. He almost confused Minerva with Beverly Peele, but the young model who had decided to take this name snapped at him and spelled her name for him.

Robert made his way out to the main room, nearly tripping down a half-flight of stairs. He'd never make it as a model. He thought he saw Madonna as he looked up, if no one else, Julien would be happy. It seemed a representative was there from every Magazine, Vogue to Sassy, and even for some reason Propaganda. Robert wound his way through the mingling crowd and found Joy.

She looked unlike herself, more like Faye did on her best days, the hair upswept and folded into some sort of twist, delicate purple curls falling from the top of her head, the make up looked artful less death-like than usual, and she wore a column dress of purple velvet complete with vaguely Egyptian looking collar at her throat and dangling earrings to match. She was on Steven's arm and he was dressed as impeccably as usual. "I do hope the music turns out OK," Joy said. And it seemed for a moment they were inside the movie My Fair Lady.

Seats were taken and the show started. The music sounded like stuff the club kids did Runway to and when the models came out it was obvious these were retro designs, yet more eighties retro than sixties or seventies, some of the models wore platform shoes, but these looked a lot like they were inspired by Dr Scholl's, actually they looked designed by a boy who had played Ringeleveo during the summers of his youth and seen too many girls in Dr. Scholl's fall to the ground. Each model had a button pinned to their left breast with a number on it. Blade was number two and wore a black jacket trimmed strangely in white. Some of the models carried neon colored water pistols; Keri carried a cigarette in a long filter.

The music changed abruptly to "Every Day is Halloween" by Ministry as Minerva led the way onto the catwalk in something that might only be described as vampire lingerie. All these vampire designs were black, white, or red, very often with tear-shaped red jewels fastened to the face of the model near the eyes as well as on the clothes. When "Bela Lugosi is Dead" began to play models walked out in copies of the robes Julien had done for Louis and Joy, both thin boys in make-up who stripped on the catwalk to reveal miniboxers and cropped tanks of velvet and net as well as inverted crosses dangling from gold rope chain.

Cartoon theme songs played as models turned about in comic-bookish gear, red body suits and open crochet after Spiderman, blue and red clingy dresses and bodysuits after Superman, a stunning pair of girls as Catwoman and Batgirl both in black vinyl, A fabulous Darkwing Duck ensemble that looked half Barbie Doll outfit for all it's many parts and half Lagerfield rip-off, only because he'd already done fitted jackets over short swinging skirts many times over. Toward the end there was a man in a long cloak, entirely covered in sequins, red at the bottom fading by way of flame-like shapes into black, and then finally, and most shocking two models, Blade and Marc dressed in black leather with many buckles Blade with actual Nightcloak thrown over her left shoulder, Marc with a Nighttrench made from the same stuff.

But as if that were not enough Julien brought out the last models in gowns and formal suits, often cross-dressed. Kara was made up with sinister beatnikish make-up and walking on six-inch platforms in a black dress made out latex. They all looked very weird. Keri's dress was made of clear plastic; Minerva's of chicken wire complete with silvery wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. Blade appeared as the bride wearing a dress made of a single layer of red tulle zipped up both sides and fitted tightly from wrists to ankles with train and veil of more opaque red satin, you couldn't see her face. And when Julien came out in a very normal looking black suit, strange only because it looked like he was dressed for a funeral, he lifted Blade's veil and everyone saw she had a black satin blindfold covering her eyes.

When critics begged to look at the bridal gown Julien let them, they saw he'd actually cut each dart and seam out entirely and stitched one square of the net to the next with tiny stitches in every square along the seams. Anyone else would most probably have gone blind doing that, besides there were some designers who could never cut so well.

Every single Dangerous original was lusted after. Julien was ecstatic. The several models, young boys and girls, fashion students who were more beautiful than talented; they were overwhelmed by offers from modeling agencies, all this before anyone went home.

No one who had been to that show would ever believe that Julien Dangerous killed himself.

b b b

They were coming home in the limo, to the building where Joy and Steven lived. They were in Steven's limo, he, Robert, and Julien sitting up on the seat, but Joy sitting on the floor, legs folded under and face just about in Julien's lap. They watched as Julien made a fist, causing the veins in his right arm to stand out. He cut through the skin with his fingernails, wincing just a bit, and then he pressed his thumb to the wound and put his wrist to Joy's mouth before lifting it.

She was sucking up Julien's blood rather slowly, lips gliding across the pale skin of his wrist as beautifully as they had ever moved across a bell-shaped Coca-Cola glass. It made Steven nervous, Robert hungry, watching.

Julien lifted Joy and his wrist so that even though the two never separated. Joy came to sit sideways in his lap, more of her bare back to him than not as she sucked at the wrist he held before her face. His fangs went into her neck from behind and Joy's back arched, her head fell back as her inch long and gothic-arched black fingernails were lifted to the arm held to her mouth and scratched.

Robert still did not believe Julien's constant denials that there was nothing sexual between him and Joy, he wasn't fucking her, maybe, but there was no denying this wasn't just as intimate and just as physical. Robert knew that the days Julien spent sleeping in his old bedroom with Joy they slept naked and entwined, most everyone knew, because they lingered there so long someone always had to go in there and wake them or they'd never leave.

Julien and Joy reminded him of Angels.

The moment Julien's wrist was taken from her Joy fought to get it back. Only when Julien released her neck and turned her toward him did she calm. They sat kissing everywhere but the mouth and under clothes, the movement of their hands, constant and slow, it was rather mesmerizing. Joy turned once to see Robert staring, stared back for just a second before closing her eyes and sucking at Julien's neck.

Steven wouldn't watch. It disturbed him that Julien was doing such a thing in his car. He thought Joy and her friends a bad influence because the more Julien was around them the more he was making very public displays of affection and being a little more careless with who he was affectionate with. "He used to be such a proper boy," Steven would say. Of course Steven had lovers, he was just very discreet about it.

When they got inside Steven said he would go to his own house for a little while. The other three went to Joy's house. There was a message from Paul on the machine: "What? I can hardly fucking hear...guess where I am, downstairs at Roseland, thought you were coming to the concert. You would not believe what this guy Marilyn Manson said! Seraph says you better get over here right away or you won't be able to come at all, but she's crazy. TRENT LOOKS SO AWESOME TONIGHT! Get over here!"

"Julien, help me get dressed! I didn't think we'd hung around at the show so long!" Joy cried. They rushed into the bedroom to dress.

Robert was playing the message back again when Louis brought Blade in. Blade had already changed into street clothes; Louis had been hiding backstage at the show already dressed to go out. They heard the last part of the message, "Seraph says you better get over here right away or you won't be able to come at all, but she's crazy. TRENT LOOKS SO AWESOME TONIGHT!..."

Louis appeared to be listening for something.

"Seraph's usually right when she says things like that," Robert said.

"I'm sure Paul was exaggerating, he's probably afraid you won't get in," Blade said.

"We have tickets," Louis said and pulled them from a pocket.

If you can hear my thoughts get out now!

"Steven!" Blade shouted.

The running in the hall was plainly audible, even Joy heard it.

"What the fuck? Why couldn't I hear them?" Louis yelled. He and Blade were running already toward her old bedroom. Robert realized this was because Blade still had a habit of keeping guns in the bedroom.

Robert heard noise in the hall, metal cutting against metal. He flew into Julien's room. "You have to get Joy out!" He said.

They were both dressed to go out, standing in the pale corner looking frightened. They knew something was wrong, but not what. Julien had never been very good at hearing the thoughts of Humans other than ones he spent a lot of time with, but even he seemed to sense there was something strange about those in the hall. He couldn't sense them at all.

"The window," Robert said. Louis was at his back then. He darted forward and shoved tickets into Julien's hand.

"Get Joy out, damnit, no one would find her in that crowd, and don't you come back here either!"

"Louis..."

"Get the fuck out of here!" Louis shouted. He tore the foil from the window himself and shoved it open.

"Hurry," Robert said.

The answering machine picked up in the next room. It was John's voice, "alarm was set off in Steven's offices...you know that's where the clothes were taken after the show."

"Find that number," said a voice from the living room.

Louis put a gun in Robert's hand.

Robert didn't know what to do, face those in the living room or try escaping through the window. And what then? Try to keep the Humans from getting a Nightcloak to study, run underground to save Raziel's book maybe, fight across the living room to be with Blade.

Louis kicked the bedroom door open and shot the first person he saw without question. Only afterward did Robert hear the shout, "Federal agents! Drop your weapons, the building is surrounded."

The decision was made; Robert shot.

b b b

Blade came from her bedroom then. Robert thought she had a grenade in her hand, but when she threw it into the room it filled with smoke.

Don't breathe.

Louis rushed into the living room, pulled a knife from the sheath hidden under the back of his pants, and sliced one of the agents across the bright red jacket they wore. Robert realized they were all wearing these jackets, but unlike the FBI they had no acronymic letters on the back. They were all coughing. Eyes squinting. They couldn't see to aim.

Robert crossed the room as more Humans rushed in, gas masks on. He took a bullet in the shoulder, fell at Blade's feet.

She lifted him up and dragged him toward the window in a blur of movement. Helicopter whirring above and flashing lights below. Blade pushed Robert from the window, he had one second to look up, saw her flip from the window just as machine gun fire sounded behind her, and then he looked down and willed himself to miss the ground. And it worked; his body glided across the ground on a cushion of air. Robert gained control and rolled under a car.

b b b

Julien rushed Joy into the club, shoved tickets at the boy at the door. Nine Inch Nails was on stage, the music throbbed through the entire club. Julien rushed through the thin crowd toward the wooden dance floor where children dressed in black cotton or military surplus pushed against each other in time to the music. Paul was standing up on the metal rail at the edge of the floor, holding onto a post at his right to keep his balance. Julien pinched his thigh.

Paul looked back over his shoulder and jumped down. Julien leaned close and yelled in his ear, "I have to leave, keep Joy with you, I'm serious, Paul, she can't be alone tonight, make her go to Opi's house if she doesn't go home with you."

Paul stood back, yelled up at Julien, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Feds fucking busted into our house!"

"Feds? No way?"

"No shit, really, don't let Joy out of your sight, get the others to look out for her. I have to get out of here! THEY'LL FIND JOY IF SHE'S WITH ME!"

Paul made an exaggerated nod and took Joy's hand. She grabbed Julien's wrist. "Don't leave!"

"Joy, don't let them get to you, just stay away from your house whatever you do! I'll find you when I can! Stay with Opium!"

"Kiss me!"

Julien shook his head. "I'll find you." He hurried away from her.

Paul kissed Joy and then he led her around the floor to find Opium and Elle both dressed in vinyl standing up on the back of the bench along the side wall. "Hey, Girl!" Opium screamed, "Come stand up here, you can see better."

b b b

Blade and Robert were crouched down on the street. Pedestrians and cars could hardly get through for all the police cars. They were hid by shadows, but pretty well. Blade said she had seen Louis run across the tops of the buildings, it looked rather like that scene in that movie they had seen only a few days ago, the one Robert had a comic book of.

"The Crow," said Robert. He'd wanted badly to paint a wide black smile on his face and go to the concert. Well, half wanted, he knew lots of kids would do it.

They searched the crowd before them. There were at least sixty of the red jacketed agents, the ones standing outside had night vision goggles. Steven was visible, uncuffed, but guarded as he sat in the back of an unmarked car. Around him as well as the guards were several people in suits, men and women who looked to be in charge. None of them were readable.

"Are they all witches?" Robert asked.

"Psychics?" Blade asked.

"We-"

Robert pressed against the wall behind. A light was swept across the street and stopped on them. Robert leapt as the light touched him. He rolled into the street and saw Blade follow.

"I was blocking them!" Robert hissed, ducked under his arms as a spray of bullets strafed over the street.

"Didja see that? That woman next to Steven, that guy there in the gray jacket keeps asking her things, and she whispers, and then he gives an order. I don't think they're all talents, just some of them."

"The red jackets all are," Robert said. He jumped up and ran across the street. He couldn't keep this up forever.

Blade took a shot at the guy in the gray jacket, the witch at his side pushed him, he turned wanting to yell at her and took a bullet in the shoulder joint.

"The red jackets are trained to block, but very few of these Humans can see," Blade said. She walked forward, toward the flashing light and noise, gun aimed at the witch. The gray suited man was holding his shoulder, they both looked up at her, and Steven looked, as Blade crept across the street in black leggings and torn flannel shirt.

"Jonathan Zion," she said.

The man in gray stepped back. She had called his name.

Blade moved close to him before the others could get a clear shot. She stared down the witch, the slight redhead moved away slowly, feeling her way as she slid along the side of the car. Blade took Steven's hand and took him from the car.

They walked toward the door to the building.

"Steven," Blade called. He turned to face her. "Do you want to die, Steven?"

"No."

She shot him in the chest.

"Where's that other ambulance?" Zion shouted.

"He's dead," someone else called.

The witch ran over to Steven and lifted his head. "He's alive! He's alive, get the Goddamn ambulance!"

Blade had disappeared into the building.

b b b

Robert had managed to slip away while Blade distracted the crowd of Feds. He worried that she really meant to martyr herself. He ran the whole way to the house above the Necropolis. Louis was standing in the driveway at the trunk of Faye's Porsche.

Robert stopped at Louis' side and saw that Faye and Min were dragging luggage up from under the ground. "Say goodbye to them," Louis said quickly, "they're leaving."

Min was just helping Troy up from below. Faye was looking over a pair of American passports in her hand. Robert asked where they were going.

"Japan," Faye said, "After switching flights a couple times domestically first, we're leaving for Tokyo from LA probably."

"Speak Japanese?"

"Aa...Nihongo."

Robert wished her luck and kissed her once. And then he kissed Min and watched them wheel their suitcases down the street.

Louis said that the Necropolis was locked down, sealed. Splendor was in there making sure things were locked again from the inside, it could always will itself out afterward. Julien had come by and was at the loft packing a few things up there. Niki had gone to find Everett; there were a few things they needed him to do.

Louis didn't have false documents for anyone else yet, but he was working on it. He still had one safehouse in the city and said Julien would meet them there.

b b b

Joy's penthouse was crawling with Red Jackets. They weren't expecting Blade, as far as they had heard in confused reports over walkie talkie, she'd persuaded the lobby staff to take her out a back entrance and she was being followed down Park Avenue South. They'd lost their strongest talent, the ambulance crew had insisted she come with them, and so they had no way of knowing if that woman might be someone else in black leggings and flannel shirt, someone perhaps wearing a blonde wig.

And when Blade came to the Penthouse floor the hall was empty. The door to Steven's house was open. Someone was in there, someone shorter than she was, dressed in black. Blade slunk in, saw Mandy glancing over the contents of the refrigerator.

He turned around and smiled silently. He didn't speak. Just beckoned for her to follow.

They took the stairs two floors down, went into the service elevator. Their doorman, Tom was inside waiting. He handed a plastic bag to Blade. "Get changed," Mandy said.

Red bustier, baggy blue jeans, wide leather belt, thin leather jacket. Keri's clothes, except for the borrowed bustier. There was a brown wig in the bag.

When Blade was dressed Tom took her own clothes in the bag and said goodbye. Mandy led Blade back to the staircase, looked up at the surveillance camera and waved. By the time they were at the door to the Lobby Maury was on the stairs. He handed Mandy a set of keys. "Don't hurt my car," he said.

Mandy gave him a kiss and skipped down into the garage.

They drove down Park Avenue and picked up Keri on a street corner.

"What that a fucking drug bust or what?" Keri asked, "Good thing Mandy got you out of there, Hon, I'm going to miss having you at my hip. They'll probably find some German girl to pose me with soon enough!"

b b b

Steven woke in the ambulance with a pain in his chest. He saw Dr. Stewart leaning over him. "Gail?"

"John," Gail said.

Steven felt a needle go into his arm.

"It's just a painkiller," Gail said, "You've got bullet fragments buried in your chest."

Steven lay his head back and moaned. "How many times?"

He saw that red-haired woman was sitting somewhere behind his head.

"We brought her along as insurance," John said, "Sorta seemed to fit in with the Princess of Swords Theory..."

Steven turned his head and saw Monday sitting on the floor with two different cellular phones. "Hey Cap'n," he said quietly, seemed to be listening to someone on one of the phones.

"I drug him away from a Nine Inch Nails concert for this," John said, "You should thank him later."

Steven felt numb all over, but it still felt almost painful when Gail dug into his chest.

"Who you got driving this thing?" Steven asked weakly, "Not Mandy?"

"No, Mandy and Keri went to rescue Blade, It's Pam," John explained.

"The Abdals..." Steven murmured. The woman sitting behind him was looking right down at him when he lay his head back. He liked her; she had hair like Steven's mother had. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Helen."

Steven winced. "Ever been to Turkey?"

"Yes, I studied with the Dervishes for a while."

"The face that launched a thousand ships."

"Whatcha give him, J.? Heroin?" Monday asked. He went back to listening at the phone. "Still with us Cap'n? I'm supposed to tell you that uh-"

Monday turned his face full toward Helen and just looked.

"Joy..." she prompted. There was no use trying to hide anything, she knew it all anyway.

"She's all right. Ser and Opi are having her stay with Kara and Minerva a while."

A hooded figure turned back from the front passenger seat, "Almossthere," he said and Steven knew it had to be Cary. It seemed just everyone was involved in this. "Your people aren't the oness who developed thissthing I have?" He asked Helen.

"No, but they put you on our wanted list, Michael," Helen said. "Same list Steven is on. And Gail's been wanted for questioning...I'd like to see how you mean to pull off an escape."

John pulled a Nightcloak from under the stretcher. "Know what this is? Some of your Red Jackets tried to steal it from Steven's building, but we captured them. If you won't deal for them then we'll just have to keep Steven surrounded by reporters 24 hours a day till you back off, it wouldn't even be hard to do."

b b b

The safe house was just around the block and down the street from the hospital's back entrance. Once they were all together, Robert, Julien, Louis, Blade all they had to do was get in the car with the dead bodies hidden below, drive to the hospital, let themselves be seen by the Red Jackets who had showed up in suspiciously plain dress looking for Steven and Helen, look scared, let themselves be chased a while as they uncovered the bodies, then fly from the car as it crashed and exploded.

Maybe it wouldn't fool every expert, but it would fool most people. After that any Feds who wanted to could try insisting they were alive, could just try to hunt them. But they'd all have new names by then. And as Steven still owned that cosmetic company which Mandy's friend, James, operated they might just have new faces.

And that's what happened. The car exploded as Louis had planned; no bomb was found when they looked, and the bit of body they found might possibly have been theirs.

And when Jonathan Zion left the emergency room with two plain clothes agents and went upstairs to the room Steven Jewel lay recovering in, supposedly still in need of intensive care, he found Helen looking through the glass. "I just got word that there was an explosion outside. The Shades were in a car, it crashed...I don't believe they were really in the car...were they?"

Helen looked through the window at Steven. Dr. Stewart was in robe and mask hovering over him, their eyes met. "I do not think they planned that, I think that...Julien was never really with them by choice...he forced the car to crash at the last moment."

Zion thought this over a moment. "I read his file...several previous suicide attempts."

Helen nodded. "I guess the case is closed then."

"Well, there's Jewel here."

Helen nodded. "Do you want to risk exposure now?"

Another agent in casual clothes ran up with a printout on fax paper. "This message got posted all over the internet...apparent suicide note."

Zion shook his head. "I think it was planned, all of it."

"But they're still all dead," Helen said, "and Steven isn't going anywhere, it won't be a problem keeping tabs on him...Jonathan, I'm worried that the H.O. ordered action with discretion."

Zion crumpled the printout in his hand and left with the three agents following.

On the other side of the window Steven turned his head and looked at Helen.

She smiled.