"Not for this. There has to be a brain of some kind for a multi-input, multistage system like this," he explained. "The fried module is the brain, but it's the one thing I don't have a spare for. I can fake it, but no guarantees, or I can get the correct part in the morning." He glanced at me, then looked over at Cameron. He twitched a stiff shrug. "Sorry."

Cam's face wrinkled up and he pursed his lips. I could almost read the swear words forming around his head. But all he said was, "No problem." Then he looked at me. "You got any suggestions?"

I shook my head and looked at Quinton. "You?"

"Well, if you guys both trust me with her, you could leave the car with me and I can take it down to a friend's garage first thing in the morning. I'll get the module from him, finish up the work, and bring the car back. Be done by nine."

"A.M.?" Cameron asked.

Quinton nodded. One corner of his mouth rippled.

Cameron looked at me with rising panic. "I'm not much of a morning person."

I waved him down. "I'll take care of that. I can pick up the car and pay for it. You'll have to pay me back. Assuming that I can find you a safe place to sleep, that schedule sounds OK to me." I looked at Quinton.

"All right," said Quinton as he pushed to his feet. "Any problems, I'll page you. Car's all locked up. Should be safe where it is till morning." He looked at Cameron. "You need anything out of it before I take off with the keys?"

"Uh, no. I can make do. Thanks."

"No problem," Quinton replied, slipping out the door.

When he was gone, Cameron shot me an expectant stare. "What am I going to do? Where am I going to sleep?"

"Hang on. I have to make a phone call."

I dialed and waited.

"Hello?"

"Mara, it's Harper. How do you two feel about vampires?"

"Never met any. Why?"

"I have a young man in my office who doesn't have a pulse, sleeps during the day, and needs a place to hide out while the sun is up. He seems all right, but he's got some problems we're dealing with. I only need a place for one night. Would it put you out if I dropped him off with Ben?"

"Oh, no. I'm sure we can work something out. There's a little finished room in the cellar that's quite cozy and the light doesn't come in during the day. That might do."

"All right. Now let me talk to Ben."

"You do catch on quick to this wife/husband business," she said, before turning away from the phone to call for Ben.

"Hi, Harper. Are you coming back for pie?"

"Let me tell you what's come up before I answer that. I need to find a place to hide a vampire for one day, and I'm in a bit of a bind about it."

"I don't understand."

"He's a nice kid, but he's new to this vampire business and his normal sleeping place won't be available until tomorrow. Mara thinks you might have a place he could hang out until sunset tomorrow, but I wanted to OK it with you first. Is this safe?"

"Safe? Sure. You're not worried about all that 'has to be invited' junk, are you? Folklore. That's all. But are you sure this kid's a" — he lowered his voice—"vampire? Really?"

"You could almost pass him off as normal except for the teeth and the eyes and the fact that he doesn't have a heartbeat."

"Wow. This is kind of exciting. We can manage. Yes, sure. Brian's at my mother's until tomorrow, so that's no worry."

"Thanks, Ben. I couldn't think of anyplace else. And he really needs more help than just a place to crash for a day. I thought you might want to talk to him."

"Oh, God, yes! When are you coming?"

"I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Great! We'll fix some things up and see you then."

I hung up and looked at Cameron. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure. Who are these guys? They didn't seem too freaked out by the idea."

"I'll tell you on the way."

Cameron followed me to the office door. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"It's the safest option I can come up with on such short notice. They won't be any threat to you, except that Ben might keep you up till dawn asking questions. Do you eat pie?"

"No. Solid food makes me spew. I drink a little alcohol or coffee every once in a while."

"Coffee?"

"Yeah. It has just the opposite effect it used to have. Now it smoothes me out."

On the drive back up to Queen Anne, I explained Ben and Mara Danziger, to the best of my ability.

"A real witch? Sweet," said Cam, leaning back in the passenger seat. "This could turn out all right."

"I hope so. The only thing I'm worried about is Albert getting agitated. I don't know if he could cause you any kind of trouble."

"I'll do my best to snake-charm him," Cam said with a smile that was both winsome and horrifying. It had to be the teeth. "Who's Albert?"

"He's a ghost. He… lives there."

Cam was still puzzling on that one when I pulled up in front of the house and parked.

"Come on," I urged, grabbing my bag as I stepped out.

We started across the sidewalk together. Albert materialized in the arch at the foot of the steps and glowered at us.

I sighed. Folklore. Right. "May we come in?"

He didn't move, and I was loath to walk through him. He stopped looking at me and directed his baleful gaze onto Cameron.

Cam stepped forward and held up his empty hands. "I promise I won't do them any harm," he said. "I… I give you my word. I just need some help and I hope your friends can give it to me. OK?"

Albert looked at him a moment longer, then nodded and whispered away.

Cam glanced at me. "Tough customer. Must have been a bouncer."

I grinned and we went up the walk.

Ben Danziger opened to my knock. He looked Cameron over as hard as Albert had before stepping back. "Come on in."

Mara stuck her head out the kitchen door. "Would either of you like some coffee with your pie?"

"I would love some coffee, thank you, Mara," I said.

"Coffee would be very nice, thank you, ma'am," said Cameron.

"Oh, heavens, call me Mara. Even my students don't call me ma'am." She smiled and vanished back into the kitchen, calling out, "Go ahead. Ben will catch me up on anything I miss."

Cameron and I exchanged a look as Ben led us into the living room and waved us into seats. He sank himself into a big wingback chair by the fireplace. Cameron took a corner of the couch and I sat next to him, in spite of the vertigo his proximity caused me.

"OK," Ben started. "You think this young man's a vampire?"

Before I could reply, Cam let out a barking laugh and grinned to bare his teeth. "Harper can think what she likes, but I know. Three months ago I had perfectly ordinary teeth. Now I've got these. I used to get up in the morning with a pulse. Now I don't roll out of bed until sunset and you couldn't time the motion of a glacier against my heart rate."

Ben looked at him with a combination of skepticism and excitement fighting on his face. "Are you sure it isn't just a mental aberration?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Come over here."

Cam ambled over to Ben, who reached out for his wrist.

"Damn, you're cold!"

"Yep. It takes about two hours for my skin to rise to room temperature if it's cold outside."

"Hmmm… I wonder why."

"Thermal inertia, I think. If it gets too warm, I start to smell a bit unpleasant up close. Summer's going to be a real treat."

"Well, you've got no discernible pulse in your wrist." He raised his hand up toward Cam's neck. "Do you mind?"

Cam bent forward. Ben placed his fingers against the side of his neck. "No pulse at the carotid."

"That's the jugular side. Trust me—I've learned my veins and arteries." Ben wrinkled up his nose. "Oops. Harper says I have bad breath. I don't know if that's part of the condition, or if I've just forgotten to brush in a while. I've sorta lost track of time. This thing kind of bums me out."