Matt's reinforcements arrived within twenty minutes of his call. There'd been enough time for Liz to retreat into her bedroom, which still smelled of some sort of incense Brenda couldn't quite identify . . . jasmine, maybe? With some Lavender? Liz emerged in a low cut, red silk blouse, and a long black skirt with a slit that rode most of the way up her shapely leg. She was smiling and looked a bit friendlier than before, but Brenda sensed she was still irritated, and she couldn't really blame the woman.

Matt answered the door when the knock came, admitting two men, one with long blonde hair, and the other with a shaved head. Both looked like they were in their late twenties and were fairly good looking. "Brenda, Simon, this is Chad, my drummer," he said gesturing at the blond guy, "and Anton, my bassist."

Brenda frowned. She'd expected Matt's reinforcements to be soldiers. Or at least, something more than musicians. She could at least feel the taint of the predator in them, so maybe they could still fight a bit. "They're your band?"

Anton smiled at her. "We have weapons in the van."

"Oh."

"Guys, this is Simon, and Red . . . I mean, Brenda."

She considered saying it was fine to call her Red, but she decided against it. She liked Matt calling her that, and thought it would lose something if everyone else started to do it.

"Is this everyone?" Simon asked, looking around.

Chad nodded. "Afraid so."

"It'll be enough," Matt assured them. "We have s . . . Liz? You'll be joining us, right?"

Liz straightened, looking rather caught off guard. "Me? Oh, I don't know if that's a good idea. I don't think I'd be a lot of help."

"That's not true." Matt went to her side and put a hand on her arm. "I've seen you use a gun. You're a good shot. We could use you."

"I don't know . . ."

"We're friends, right? In this together?"

Liz sighed. "All right. I'll come."

Matt's smile would've made a mortal woman blush, Brenda was sure. Her initial assessment of him was right. He was trouble. But then, she was the one instigating a revolution, wasn't she? Dying had changed everything.

"Let's go," Matt said, and the six rebels headed out the door.

They piled into a white van in the back of the parking lot. If not for all the weaponry contained inside, there should have been plenty of room for the six of them, but if wound up being rather crowded, and someone was going to have to sit on someone's lap. Brenda considered sitting on Simon's lap, despite the fact that his knees looked rather bony. She at least felt comfortable enough in close proximity to him.

"Why don't you come over here?" Liz asked her, reaching out a hand to steady Brenda as she climbed over the other passengers.

Brenda glanced at Simon, who simply nodded, and made her way to Liz's lap. The woman's arm went around Brenda's waist, and Simon pulled the door closed.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Chad asked as he turned the ignition. "Is there any way we can sneak up to this warehouse, rather than burst in through the front doors shooting?"

Brenda nodded. "There's a train yard nearby, and some steam tunnels underneath. There might be something that goes into it." She hadn't looked for it before, but it made sense now that she thought about it that the Prince must have taken Grace to the warehouse that way. She hadn't explored further in the tunnels after coming out. Not that it would have done much good. She couldn't have gotten into the warehouse without a warrant anyway.

As she directed Chad to the train yard, she wondered just how much danger they were about to go into. She was already terrified for herself, terrified just at the very thought of either of those Nosferatu. On top of it all, she wondered if she was about to get all of her companions killed too. Simon had already broken rules for her, for reasons she couldn't quite guess at. And Matt hardly knew her at all and was willing to start a revolution. She had to believe it was because he thought they could win. He did seem confident.

"Over here," she said as they pulled into the train yard. "Should be far enough away from the warehouse," she hoped.

Doors were opened, and Brenda climbed over Liz, carefully sliding herself out to stretch out her cramped legs. The others gathered their weapons infuriatingly slowly for Brenda's liking. She watched, trying to contain her impatience, and heard familiar steps come around to stand behind her, at the elbow. She didn't need to look to know Simon. For someone she knew so little, he was so completely familiar. She was comforted by the light brush of his hand against the back of her own. No words were needed. He couldn't tell her they would be all right. But she wasn't alone.

Doors slammed much more loudly than she would have liked. At last, she led the way in silence to the entrance to the steam tunnels. The group moved stealthily, but she didn't even need her vampiric senses in order to be aware of the soft crunching sound of gravel beneath shoes, and a faint sound of plastic brushing against plastic as her vinyl pant legs swished against one another.

She pushed open the door to the steam tunnels, wincing at the metallic groan. The darkness within was near complete. "We didn't bring flashlights, did we?" she asked quietly. There was a time when she'd never been without her flashlight. "I hope everyone can see in the dark."

She stepped in, and allowed her eyes to adjust in a way that they never would have in her breathing days, finding details in the shadows as the others followed her inside, Liz coming last, pulling the door closed behind her.

"This way," Brenda said, pointing down the tunnel in the direction she'd failed to explore. As she began to walk, she started to realize that the tunnel wasn't as dark as it ought to be. It wasn't merely her much keener eyesight. It really wasn't as dark as it ought to be. She glanced around, realizing everything was very subtly illuminated.

Eyeing the group, her gaze came to rest on Matt. He seemed somehow more visible than the rest of them. Most were shadowy silhouettes, but somehow, his features were much easier to make out. Was it because he was faintly glowing? The light didn't quite appear to be emanating from him. Was he responsible? Simon hadn't told her about vampires having the ability to create light, but surely there was still so much more he had to tell her. Matt's eyes met hers as she studied him. She'd read about people described as having a twinkle in their eyes, but she'd never seen one quite so literal before. He nodded ahead of them. She returned her focus to the goal at hand.

She pressed forward, and came to another door. It did seem to be in about the right area to be below the warehouse, as best she could tell without an actual map. They all stopped in front of it, and Brenda leaned against it for a moment, closing her eyes to try to hear what was happening on the other side. Weapons were being loaded. Then came the even more audible sound of safeties being clicked off by the people right around her.

There were too many ways the Prince could have already been expecting them. He most likely had spies among the homeless in the train yard. Or maybe someone had been following her and Simon around. Or maybe Chad or Anton had betrayed them. She drew out her gun.

Simon reached out and took Brenda's elbow, gently drawing her to the back of the group, while Matt pushed his way to the front. He glanced back at the others, making sure they were all armed and ready, and then nodded. And then he opened the door.

Inside were two armed men Brenda didn't recognize, and the Hound who'd accosted her outside the library, unarmed. He smiled, seeming to look right at her. "You just made a big mistake," he told them.

"Sam, as usual, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into if you don't walk away right now," said Matt, who raised an arm, and was suddenly surrounded by an aura of bright, golden light.

Sam, the Hound, responded with an animalistic snarl as he began charging directly toward Matt. Brenda could now see that his fingertips ended in long, sharp-looking claws.

A moment later, bullets began flying.