chapter 1

When Lila left Emil’s Hollywood mansion, she had only had half a plan. She realized that. It had seemed like a whole plan at the time but it was painfully clear now: merely half. 

He found me so easily, she thought, as she raced back to the storage facility where she’d been hiding. He was on his way here, to this tiny high desert town she’d chosen randomly. The only miniscule upside to him having taken over her mind was that every once in a while she could see through his. And he was pulling off the freeway onto the road into town.

It was ten PM. Seven hours until dawn. She could realistically make it a hundred miles in that time. But really she had six hours because she would need time to find a crypt or basement to hide from the sun. 

Lila slipped into the silent, hulking building. After eight there was no security guard, just a keypad. The hallways were filled with shadows cast by widely spaced fluorescent lights, flickering. 

Her unit was deep inside the maze-like rows of orange sliding doors. It was six feet by four feet of solid, comforting cinderblock and concrete floor. 

Sliding her door up, she snatched up her fanny pack of cash and fake IDs. She was back out before the door had rolled all the way up. Lila didn’t bother sliding it back down. 

She ran through the halls, heading for the back of the building. She needed to figure out a better way to hide her scent. That had to be how Emil had tracked her to this specific random town, a hundred miles northeast of his Mulholland Drive mansion. 

The streets of this little high desert town were dusty, lit only by buzzing orange sodium street lamps. This area was made up of light industrial buildings, a car impound lot, some abandoned-looking warehouses. 

Lila kept deep in the shadows of the buildings. As far as she knew, Emil hadn’t found her lair. He only knew she was somewhere near here, but that wouldn’t last long. His senses were so fine grained, so precise. It was possible he was toying with her even now. 

Either way she needed to run. She would zig west, back towards the coast. 

The storage warehouse was about a mile from the highway. There wasn’t enough vegetation to bother finding cover on the sides of the road so she jogged lightly down the middle of the pavement. 

This town was a lot like her hometown, Lawry. Dusty mailboxes in front of ramshackle farm houses. Chain link fences, to protect what? A rusted minnie winnie on blocks? 

She shook her head and jogged faster. 

As she was turning onto the state route, the scent of a dog drifted past. She slowed. 

Emil hated dogs. If one came near the house when he was up, he would wrinkle his patrician nose dramatically as though he smelled shit. Filthy creatures. Carrion eaters. She could hear him sneering it. 

Lila turned towards the scent. Maybe a stray dog wouldn’t mind walking with her. She actually loved dogs. Vampires weren’t supposed to, but she always had. 

Such were the contradictions that were inherent to having lived longer as a human than she yet had as a blood sucker. Emil’s humanity had drained away decades ago, but her soul was still clinging to her body. 

“Hey buddy,” she murmured sweetly when she caught up with the dog, who was loping along a farmer’s fence a few hundred yards off the road. 

The dog, a lean but well-cared for Malinois mix, glanced up at her. He flicked his ears in a gesture of welcome, but didn’t stop. She matched his pace, following him along the fence. 

Down a slight hill, the black-eared dog found what he’d been looking for: a dead deer. Lila crouched down and watched him sniff all around the carcass, pawing at the dirt near it. 

The moon was a sliver but Lila didn’t need light to see the canine’s velvety, muscular form as he began to roll in the dirt around the deer carcass. 

Presently, he had his fill and stood up. The dog shook himself and looked around as if to compose his thoughts. Lila slipped in front of him, and crouched down to look him in the face. 

“Let me have your scent,” Lila murmured, gazing into the hound’s shining eyes. His tongue hung out and he gave her a friendly pant. She scritched his perky black ears and stood. He leaned against her as she pet him all over, rubbing her hands deep in his coat. 

She let go and he wagged his tail. 

“Thanks, buddy,” she said. The dog dipped his head and ran off the way he’d come. 

Lila could smell herself now. Deer carcass and stinky dog - better even than garlic for warding off vampires.