My survey of the room soon returned me to Abe, who had been watching and seemed amused by my obvious avoidance of him. A sly smile spread over his features.

"Why, Miss Sage," he said slowly. "Aren't you going to say hello to me?"

Chapter Four

ABE HAD THE KIND OF APPEARANCE that could leave many people speechless, even if they knew nothing about him.

Oblivious to the heat outside, the Moroi man was dressed in a full suit and tie. The suit was white, at least, but it still looked like it would be warm. His shirt and tie were purple, as was the rose tucked into his pocket. Gold glittered in his ears and at his throat. He was originally from Turkey and had more color to him than most Moroi but was still paler than humans like me and Keith. Abe's complexion actually reminded me of a tanned person who'd been sick for a while.

"Hello," I said stiffly.

His smile split into a full grin. "So nice to see you again."

"Always a pleasure." My lie sounded robotic, but hopefully it was better than sounding afraid.

"No, no," he said. "The pleasure's all mine."

"If you say so," I said. This amused him further.

Keith had frozen up again, so I strode over to the old Moroi man and extended my hand so that at least one of us would look like we had manners. "Are you Mr. Donahue? I'm Sydney Sage."

Clarence smiled and clasped my hand in his wrinkled one. I didn't flinch, even though the urge was there. Unlike most Moroi I'd met, he didn't conceal his fangs when he smiled, which almost made my facade crack. Another reminder that no matter how human they seemed at times, these were still vampires.

"I am so pleased to meet you," he said. "I've heard wonderful things about you."

"Oh?" I asked, arching an eyebrow and wondering who'd been talking about me.

Clarence nodded emphatically. "You are welcome in my home. It's delightful to have so much company."

Introductions were made for everyone else. Eddie and Jill were a little reserved, but both friendly. Keith didn't shake any hands, but he at least stopped acting like a drooling fool. He took a chair when offered and put on an arrogant expression, which was probably supposed to look like confidence. I hoped he wouldn't embarrass us.

"I'm sorry," said Abe, leaning forward. His dark eyes glittered. "Did you say your name was Keith Darnell?"

"Yes," said Keith. He studied Abe curiously, no doubt recalling the Alchemists' conversation back in Salt Lake City. Even through the bravado Keith was attempting to put on, I could see a sliver of unease. Abe had that effect. "Why?"

"No reason," said Abe. His eyes flicked to me and then to Keith. "It just sounds familiar, that's all."

"My father's a very important man among the Alchemists," said Keith loftily. He'd relaxed a little, probably thinking the stories about Abe were overrated. Fool. "You've undoubtedly heard of him."

"Undoubtedly," said Abe. "I'm sure that's what it is." He spoke so casually that no one would suspect he wasn't telling the truth. Only I knew the real reason Abe knew who Keith was, but I certainly didn't want that revealed. I also didn't want Abe dropping any more hints, which I suspected he was doing just to irk me.

I tried to steer the subject away - and get some answers for myself. "I wasn't aware you were joining us, Mr. Mazur." The sweetness in my voice matched his.

"Please," he said. "You know you can call me Abe. And I won't be staying, unfortunately. I simply came along to make sure this group arrived safely - and to meet Clarence in person."

"That's very nice of you," I said dryly, sincerely doubting Abe's motives were as simple as that. If I'd learned anything, it was that things were never simple when Abe Mazur was involved. He was a puppet master of sorts. He not only wanted to observe things, he also wanted to control them.

He smiled winningly. "Well, I always aim to help others in need."

"Yeah," a new voice suddenly said. "That's exactly what comes to mind when I think of you, old man."

I hadn't thought anyone could shock me more than Abe, but I was wrong. "Rose?" The name came out as a question from my lips, even though there could be no doubt about who this newcomer was. There was only one Rose Hathaway, after all.

"Hey, Sydney," she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were also assessing everything in the room, much as Eddie's gaze was. It was a guardian thing. Rose was about my height and dressed very casually in jeans and a red tank top. But, as always, there was something exotic and dangerous about her beauty that made her stand out from everyone else. She was like a tropical flower in this dark, stuffy room. One that could kill you. I'd never seen her mother, but it was easy to tell that some of her looks came from Abe's Turkish influence, like her long, dark brown hair. In the dim lighting, that hair looked nearly black. Her eyes rested on Keith, and she nodded politely. "Hey, other Alchemist."

Keith stared at her wide-eyed, but whether that was a reaction to us being further outnumbered or simply a response to Rose's extraordinary nature, I couldn't say. "I-I'm Keith," he stammered at last.

"Rose Hathaway," she told him. His eyes bugged even more as he recognized the name. She strode across the room, toward Clarence, and I noted that half of her allure was simply in the way she dominated her surroundings. Her expression softened as she regarded the elderly man. "I checked the house's perimeter like you asked. It's about as safe as you can make it, though your back door's lock should probably be replaced."

"Are you sure?" asked Clarence in disbelief. "It's brand new."

"Maybe when this house was built," came yet another new voice. Looking over to the doorway, I realized now that someone else had been with Rose when she arrived, but I'd been too startled by her to notice. Again, that was a Rose thing. She always drew the attention. "It's been rusted since we moved here."

This newcomer was a Moroi, which set me on edge again. That brought the count up to four Moroi and two dhampirs. I was trying very hard not to adopt Keith's attitude - especially since I already knew some of the people here - but it was hard to shake that overwhelming sense of Us and Them. Moroi aged like humans, and at a guess, I thought this new guy was close to my age, maybe Keith's at most. He had nice features, I supposed, with black curling hair and gray eyes. The smile he offered seemed sincere, though there was a slight sense of uneasiness in the way he stood. His gaze was fixed on Keith and me, intrigued, and I wondered if maybe he didn't spend a lot of time with humans. Most Moroi didn't, though they didn't share the same fears about our race as we did about theirs. But then, ours didn't use theirs as food.