The cool night air caressed Edgar's skin like a lover. It rippled the fabric of his clothes as he moved easily and silently through the darkness, propelled by some unthinkable preternatural force. He knew that he should hate it, but he couldn't; it felt good to be in the air again.

He felt strong. The night filled him with an energy, and he felt more alive than he had in years. He felt young, strong, and powerful. He felt as though he could do anything. He tried not to think about the quart of blood he had chugged in an alley around the corner from the butcher's shop, or how much the revolting but so very welcome meal must have contributed to his general sense of wellbeing.

He was a creature of darkness now, one that thrived on the night, and on blood. He had become everything that he hated, but for that one brief moment, flying through the air above the city looking down at the life below him, he didn't mind. All he felt was freedom and joy.

And now that he stopped to think about it, that chilled him to the bone.

No. He needed to resist that feeling. He tried to push everything that was good about it out of his mind. He couldn't allow himself to be tempted, to be seduced by this. Not even in the tiniest way. He couldn't allow himself to feel good about what he had been forced to become. Not ever, but especially not now, when they were getting so close to an ending. Not now, when it was not only his own, but also his brother's humanity that hung in the balance.

The thought of Alan thrust back into this nightmare after only just regaining his humanity strengthened Edgar's resolve. They were going to fix this. They had to, because the alternative was unthinkable. As he flew, he glanced down at the city below him; a sprawling mass of lights spreading ever outward in three directions and coming to an abrupt halt in one, where the land met the ocean. The streets below him teemed with human life, visible only from the moving headlights of the card below him. Most of those people would be blissfully unaware that high above them, monsters circled.

He increased his speed slightly to bring himself into the lead position. The map that Alan had shown him earlier, the one that showed the likely vampire lair, was clutched tightly in one hand, easily accessible if he needed to compare the scene below to the image. He was in uncharted territory here, and not just because he was in the air. Despite the years that he had called San Cazador home now, Edgar's knowledge of the city didn't extend far beyond the route from his home to the busy boardwalk, the Book O'Neer, and the main tourist areas that were his hunting ground. Vampires in suburbia? The idea just seemed ridiculous.

The sky on the horizon to the east was a shade of blue so dark that human eyes would have perceived it as black; the very first glow of the faraway sunrise. Dawn was still many hours away, and across the whole of the cloudless sky, a thousand stars that he had never been aware of until recently shone down, illuminating the night.

What they were doing was incredibly dangerous. It occurred to Edgar that the fact that he felt good right now, meant that the vampires they were searching for would also be at full strength. The mission was strictly recon, but if anything went wrong, he wouldn't be able to rely on his time-tested tactic of fleeing into the sunlight where the vampires couldn't follow. Hunting out in the open at night was one thing, but this was visiting a vampire lair after dark, and it would be hours before the sun would rise and the monsters would be forced to flee.

Besides, he was one of the monsters now, and so the thought of the rising sun held no comfort for him anymore.

Alan had been right. Not only about the mission being risky, but also that the vampires probably knew that Daniel hadn't turned. If they knew that, they might be expecting a visit, and if so, there was a good chance that they were waiting for them.

There was even the possibility, one that only occurred to him now, that the whole thing with Daniel had been an elaborate trap; they had to have known that if Daniel didn't turn he would lead the hunters to them when they let him go. Perhaps the plan was to get Edgar there, and then to do to him what they had done to Daniel.

All things considered, this had been a very stupid idea. Not that that was a departure for him of course, stupid ideas were his speciality, and most of the time they actually worked out.

Daniel increased his speed to bring himself alongside Edgar, then shouted over the rush of the air whistling around his ears. "This is a pretty dumb idea, isn't it?"

Edgar frowned. Could half vampires read thoughts? He didn't think so. He knew some full vampires had that talent, but he had never heard of it in a half vampire. Which meant this must be a spectacularly bad idea, if Daniel, with no hunting experience at all, had had the same thought.

He shook his head. "It probably isn't a trap. They'd be leaving too many things to chance for that."

"Who said anything about a trap?" Daniel replied. "I just meant that if the vampires sense us here, they'll probably be out of those houses and up in the air before you get the chance to pull out your stakes. Wait, you think this is a trap?" He looked worried suddenly. "You don't think they're going to try to make me turn again, do you?"

Edgar slowed in the air, but maintained a little motion. He circled slowly, half-afraid that if he were to stop moving completely, he would fall out of the air. Daniel, more experienced than him, slowed too, then came to a complete stop. He hung motionless in the air, watching Edgar. He wore a worried expression on his face.

"I said it's probably not a trap." Edgar repeated. There was one thing Daniel had said that hadn't occurred to him though. He hesitated, still circling in the air above the city, staring down like some kind of oversized bird of prey. "Wait. Sense us? Can they do that?"

Daniel shrugged. "I mean, you know that halfies get about half the abilities and half the weaknesses of a full vampire, right? We're stronger than humans, but not as strong as full vamps. Daylight doesn't kill us, but we're pretty much useless until sunset. Holy water, well…" He indicated his damaged face with a wave of his hand.

Edgar scowled impatiently. "I've been hunting vampires since I was a kid. I know all this."

"Right. Well, we can sense them… so do the math."

Shit. Edgar glanced down at the city below him again. Somewhere not far to the east, there might be a street full of vampires, and now they weren't going to be able to go there and check it out.

"You couldn't have brought this up sooner?" Edgar turned in the air. "Right, back to base."

"Hey, wait." Daniel's hand reached out as fast as lightning and gripped his forearm. Edgar tensed. His weapons were ready in his holster, and his free hand was mere inches away. Even when he had been human, he would have been able to strike in seconds. He was curious to see what he would be able to do now. He considered the ridiculous possibility of a fight at 1000 ft. "Where are you going?" Daniel asked.

Edgar's fingers twitched, still ready to go for a stake if he needed to, but there didn't appear to have been any aggression in Daniel's grab of his arm, he had only wanted to stop him. "I'm going back to Alan's," he said, and grimaced. The last thing he wanted to do was go back to his brother with his tail between his legs and admit he had been wrong. Especially when it would potentially mean days of inaction.

Once, what felt like a lifetime ago, but in reality was only a few short days, Edgar had said something unforgivable to his brother. He had been angry and frustrated, and he had been terrified by the vampire blood coursing through his veins and desperate for a cure. He had told Alan that he wished the vampires would turn him too, because that way he would try harder to help.

He regretted his words. He had regretted them almost immediately, but especially now. He also hated that he had been wrong. He didn't doubt that Alan wanted to be free again of the vampire infection, and that he wanted his humanity back every bit as much as Edgar did, but five years as a half vampire had taught him more patience than Edgar would ever have, Waiting might be sensible, but it was the last thing that Edgar wanted to do.

Besides, the longer they waited, the stronger the head vampire might become as she amassed power in her battle against the other vampires vying for control of the city.

Daniel's grip tightened on Edgar's arm, his fingers pressing so hard into the flesh that it hurt. If Edgar had been human, he would have been bruised. As it was, he had no idea whether that was even possible. "You didn't let me finish," Daniel told him. "Look, I know you're the expert when it comes to killing these things, but I know how they think."

Edgar shook his arm free of Daniel's grip. "You think I don't? I've been studying…"

"Yeah yeah, you've been studying them since you were in diapers, killing them since kindergarten or something. I remember, Eddie, and I don't doubt you probably know the best places to find them when they hunt, or who they're going to go after as a victim, that kind of thing. But the rest of it? Sorry, no."

"What 'rest of it'?"

Daniel shrugged. "Think about it. If there are vampires down there, there are a lot of them."

"Yeah, I know," Edgar told him. "That's the problem."

"No, that's the solution." Daniel folded his arms and somehow managed to hand in the air as though he were casually leaning against something. "You need to stop thinking about this as you vs them. You're one of them now, Edgar."

A jolt of white hot anger and sick disgust pulsed through him and Edgar barely resisted the urge to reach out and grab him by the neck. He glared menacingly at the other half vampire. "I am not one of them."

Daniel spread his hands like a man trying to placate a wild animal. "Hey, don't stake the messenger. Anyway, yeah maybe you're not technically one of them, but Eddie, look where you are right now." He pointed down at the city far below them as though to prove his point, and Edgar felt his gaze drawn downward.

"Fine, what's your point?" Edgar asked him. "Or are you just trying to piss me off?"

"My point is, the vampires down there are surrounded by other vampires. They're probably expecting vampires to be coming and going all night. They're not going to notice one or two more."

Was that true? If it was, then maybe there was still a chance this would work. Edgar sneered, still pissed at Daniel for calling him a vampire, even if it was technically true right now. "And you know that for a fact, do you?"

Daniel hesitated, then shrugged as though it didn't really matter. "No, not for certain. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. Think about it, it makes sense. I only need a minute to check the place out and then you'll know whether you're right about where the vampires are hiding. Isn't that worth the risk?"

Edgar folded his arms tightly. He glanced down at the streets below, then back up at Daniel, who was hovering, looking confident despite the still obvious damage to his face from his last run-in with the vampire coven. It was one hell of a risk to be taking. If they were spotted, not only might the vampires attack, but even if they somehow managed to escape with their lives, the enemy would probably disappear, go deeper underground. If that happened, they might lose the only chance they had.

He weighed the danger against the benefit. Edgar could hold his own in a one-on-one against most vampires. Nothing was ever guaranteed of course, but his skills, combined with the strength and improved reflexes his half vampire state gave him, might mean that he would be able to take on two, or even three vampires at a time. The trouble was, if this was the place they were looking for, there were going to be a hell of a lot more than three vampires down there, and all he had for backup was Daniel, who had no combat experience at all.

But was it worth the risk? Yes. To be human again, anything would be worth the risk.

He glanced once again at the half vampire hovering by his side. Daniel looked eager to go; ready to take the first step toward securing his revenge on the monsters that had tortured him and tried to make him turn. Edgar understood the need for revenge. He wanted it too, for what had been done to Alan.

Edgar had been turned by chance. In his line of work it was almost an occupational hazard. He was pissed about it, and he desperately wanted for it to be over, but it was what it was; an unhappy accident that he intended to put right. Alan, on the other hand had been targeted deliberately. After five years a half vampire, after a few short months of freedom they had come for him again, snatched away the humanity that he had just gotten back.

That was unacceptable, and Edgar intended to send a message to every bloodsucker on the west coast. If they even thought about coming after the Frog Brothers, there would be hell to pay.

He unfolded the map he had been carrying with him, and compared the street-lit view below him to the image. They were almost directly above the target. "You've got half a minute," he said. "Thirty seconds, and not one more. Take no unnecessary risks. Understood?"

Daniel raised a hand and tapped his forehead in a sloppy mock-salute, but nodded in agreement, looking completely serious. "After the last time? Believe me, I don't want to be there for any longer than I need to be."

Edgar nodded. That was good enough for him. He willed himself to move forward again, propelling himself forward through the air as though it were the more natural thing in the air. He moved slowly, keeping an eye on the ground, aiming to position himself directly above the target street. Daniel followed after him, increasing his speed slightly after a moment to fall in and fly next to him until Edgar slowed to an almost stop.

It was difficult to be sure at such a height, but they seemed to be in the right place. He turned to Daniel, and nodded.

Without warning, Daniel dropped out of the sky. He plummeted downward at an incredible rate, hurtling toward the ground. Edgar instinctively reached out to grab him, but half a second too late, and found him already a hundred feet below and still falling fast. Edgar followed after him, flying downward as quickly as he could, arms outstretched ahead of him, as though he might be able to catch the other half vampire before the moment of impact.

The ground loomed larger as he approached, but Daniel was falling faster than Edgar could fly, and he could already tell that he had no hope of catching him before he hit the concrete. If that happened, not only would his half vampire healing abilities not be enough to save him, but the impact would give both of them away to the vampires below.

After a few seconds, he realized that he was catching up. Daniel's descent slowed and finally halted completely. Edgar forced himself to defy gravity and halt his downward trajectory. He passed Danile in the air, then flew back up again to hover at his side, remaining still in the air this time. He looked down at the city below; they were still high enough above the ground that the streets resembled the map in his hand, but low enough now that Edgar felt exposed, certain that they would be visible from the ground. Especially to vampire eyes.

"What the hell?" he asked, in between gasps for breath. He could feel the horrified expression on his face and fought to rearrange it into something more like the anger he was feeling now that he realized the other half vampire was okay.

Daniel frowned in apparent confusion. The street lighting below them shone light pollution upward and reflected in his eyes, making the damage to his left look much more obvious. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?! I thought you'd fallen out of the air!"

"Well, that's because I did. You told me I needed to be quick. The fastest way to get closer to the ground is to stop flying for a few seconds."

Edgar could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his breathing was still far too fast. He fought to control it, not to give himself away. He didn't want the half vampire to think that he might actually have been worried about him.

He was right though, it definitely was a fast way to reduce altitude. It wasn't something Edgar was going to try anytime soon, or anytime ever, but it was fast.

He treated Daniel to one final exasperated glare of the kind he used to reserve for Sam, before he looked down again to cast a critical eye over the whole neighborhood. It looked completely normal; large suburban houses, mowed lawns, neat little fences drawing divisions between the properties, the occasional kid's bike left out unlocked with no apparent fear of it disappearing. This place was so close to the San Cazador that he knew, but it somehow felt like another world.

The street below them was illuminated by streetlights that bathed the whole neighborhood in a white-yellow glow, while the windows of the houses were mostly dark, curtains drawn across to block out the world outside. If he hadn't known any better, he would have assumed the occupants of the houses were all safely tucked away in bed.

"Can you feel that?" Daniel asked him. "That tingling feeling, just under your skin? That weird nervous feeling, like you're uneasy but you can't quite put your finger on why? That's vampires."

Edgar concentrated. Looking down over the perfectly manicured neighborhood, he paid attention to the sensations within his own, still unfamiliar body. Daniel was right. He recognised it too, it was the same feeling that he had experienced at the warehouse; a creeping, tingling feeling that started on his back, just between the shoulder blades, and spread outwards, combined with a definite feeling of not right. There was no sense of the source of it, and no way to tell how many vampires might be causing it, but he could definitely feel it.

He shook his head. "No," he lied. "I don't feel anything."

"No? Huh." Daniel shot him an incredulous look, but let it drop with a shrug. "Well, good. At least that means you still need me."

"Talking of, the clock's ticking," Edgar told him. He looked pointedly at his watch. He hadn't been timing, but they had to be approaching the thirty second mark, if they hadn't already exceeded it.

There were no signs of life - or of death - anywhere below them. If the vampires were down there, and the uncomfortable sensation that he was experiencing seemed to imply that they were, they were inside the houses, not on the street. There was nothing down there that they could learn with their eyes, he just had to hope Daniel could sense more from the houses than he could.

"Well, it's definitely the place," Daniel told him. "I've got an idea. Stay here."

With that, he dropped again, turning around in the air as he did until he was falling face first toward the ground. Edgar watched in horror, frozen in the air, caught between following him, trying to stop him before he gave away their position, and doing as Daniel had said, and waiting. He wasn't used to taking orders. Especially not when they came from random half vampires that he barely knew.

As he watched, Daniel swooped, Superman-style, around the neighborhood, one arm stretched out in front of him as he glided over the houses, so close that it looked as though he might touch the roofs. When he was done, he arched upward, back into the air. Without stopping to even glance back at Edgar, he sped away into the distance.

Edgar took chase, following as Daniel rose higher into the air. He moved faster than Edgar was able. The city passed beneath him in a blur as he followed behind the other half vampire toward the deep black expanse of the ocean. The crawling feeling under his skin faded the further he got from the vampire nest, without even having to look back to make sure he wasn't being pursued, he took that as confirmation that the vampires hadn't noticed them.

Just as he thought he was about to lose the other half vampire, Daniel changed his course. He flew around in a wide loop and turned back to face Edgar. He folded his arms. "You're faster than I thought," he said. "Well, you were right, that's the place alright."

"You already knew that before you went and buzzed the houses. What was the poin…" He stopped as Daniel fell out of the sky yet again, dropping like a dead weight, as though the ability to fly had been snatched away from him. Edgar followed more slowly this time, no longer concerned for the other halfie's safety, instead just annoyed by his sudden disappearance. As Edgar watched, Daniel slowed in the air, then brought himself to a gentle landing on the beach below.

"What was the point of taking a risk like that?" Edgar asked, completing the question he had tried to ask in the air, as he landed a little less gracefully than Daniel on the uneven sand. He almost stumbled, hands reaching out instinctively to grab at anything nearby for stability. He found Daniel's arm.

The other half vampire winced in pain at the sudden hard grip on his injured skin.

Edgar winced too, in sympathy. "Sorry," he told him.

Daniel snatched his arm away and took a step backwards, cradling it carefully in his other arm. "It's cool," he said.

"Good. So I'll ask again. What the hell was that about? We already knew the vampires were down there; you already told me you could sense them. What made you think it was a good idea to go swooping around down there like some kind of wannabe superhero? The mission was already complete, and you could have gotten us both killed." He inhaled deeply, as though catching his breath, and leaned in to glare at his errant comrade. "What part of 'don't take unnecessary risks' didn't you understand?"

Daniel shrugged.

"If they'd noticed you, that would have been it for both of us. You think you can fight off a whole coven of vampires? Especially in the state you're in right now? I couldn't do that on my best day, and I've been training for it my whole li…" he stopped abruptly and looked around, suddenly noticing something. They weren't just on the beach. They were on the very outskirts of town, in an area that wasn't well-used during the day, and appeared to be deserted at night; too far away from the bars and clubs that fueled the San Cazador nightlife. "What are we doing all the way out here?" he asked.

Daniel looked around, then shook his head helplessly. "I needed a minute," he said. "I didn't think you'd catch me that fast. I just needed a minute to think. There's nobody else here, so it just felt… safer." He shook his head again, and Edgar could almost feel the anger and frustration that radiated from him.

"Think about what?" Edgar demanded. "Did you notice something else about the vampires?"

Daniel looked at him, eyes wide for a moment, then he glanced away and sank down to sit on the sand. He pulled up his knees and wrapped his arms around them, then sat, staring out over the black expanse of the Pacific. He raised a hand, and ran it over his face, wincing as the fingers touched the holy water burns.

"What?" Edgar asked him.

Daniel shook his head again. Shit," he said, then turned to look at Edgar. "I'm sorry, Edgar. It's just… they've set me back about ten years. The damned vampires on that street, I mean." He turned back to stare out over the ocean again. "They've taken my self control away. I've been over this a long time - bloodlust, that need to be outside in the nighttime - that stuff hasn't even touched me in so long I'd almost forgotten what it was like." He drew in a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know how long it's going to take me to get it back."

Edgar gritted his teeth and stared down at the half vampire sitting on the sand. That he actually wanted to be one of the monsters had irritated Edgar since the moment they had met, and he couldn't help but feel a glorious wave of schadenfreude at the other man's predicament. "Boo hoo, being a vampire isn't all fun and games. Who'd've thought?" he said, then winced. He hadn't actually meant to say that. Worse, he genuinely didn't know whether the cruel words had come from himself, or his own monster taking the wheel. He sighed. "Sorry."

Daniel shrugged. "It's fair."

Maybe, but that didn't make it helpful at that particular moment.

"Okay, look…" Edgar sank down onto the sand next to him and clapped him awkwardly on the shoulder. "They did this on purpose. They wanted to take away your self control so you'd bite someone, and guess what? They failed. I'm sure you'll be back to nibbling on the tourists' necks in no time. Until then, concentrate on the mission. We know where the vamps are hiding, that puts us one step closer to beating them. So, did you learn anything else on your unauthorized recon that might be useful?"

Daniel didn't reply. He sat very still on the beach, staring out over the water. Edgar turned to look too; a seemingly endless expanse of black, with more blackness overhead, speckled with stars so much brighter than he remembered seeing before, and so many more of them than he could usually see. He had his vampire senses to thank for that, but despite that, the night was beautiful. He didn't hate this particular aspect of his transformation at all.

"You're wrong," Daniel told him, after a long pause. He turned to glance at him, then looked away again. "I won't be biting anybody. If this works out how you're hoping, it's over."

Edgar frowned. "We don't talk like that, soldier. We never go in expecting not to come out again. If we don't, we don't. But we have to work on the assumption we're going to survive, or else what's the point?"

"That's not what I meant," Daniel told him, "But hey, good to know you're feeling confident. The vampires are in five of the houses, but I bet they've got influence in more, because the one they were keeping me in, I don't think they were sleeping in there. Right now I'd say there's about a dozen vampires in each house, but of course that's now. This time of night they're probably not all home."

Five houses. Edgar felt his heart sink. "Shit," he muttered.

"What? I thought you wanted to know this stuff."

Edgar sighed. He pulled off the bandana he wore around his head, fidgeted with it for a moment, then re-tied it a little tighter with practiced speed. "We have no way of knowing which of those five houses the head vampire is in, and there's a good chance that all of them will be filled with innocent human shields being forced to serve the bloodsuckers who stole their home from them. Yeah, I want to know what we're up against, I was just really hoping for better news."

Daniel smiled. "Well, I might be able to help you there," he said. "You didn't wait for the good news, Mr Optimist. I know which house the head vampire is hanging out in."

Edgar stared at him. "How?"

"That stupid risk you were so pissed at me for taking? Getting closer to the houses meant I could learn more. The older a vampire, the more power it has. The more power it has, the more easily I can sense it. One of those houses had power coming from it in waves."

"And you're sure?" Edgar asked.

Daniel nodded. "I'm sure. I'll show you guys which house on the map when we get back."

Despite everything, Edgar couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He stood up and offered a hand to Daniel, who accepted it and allowed himself to be helped to his feet. "Quite a useful skill you've got there," he admitted grudgingly.

Daniel shrugged modestly. "Well, it's like I keep telling you and Alan, but you both keep denying it. Halfies…"

"Make better hunters," Edgar finished for him. He spoke dully, without emotion, quoting Daniel's own words back to him, but finding himself wondering for the first time whether it might actually be true.

Daniel gave him a half smile and clapped him on the back. "Hey, you're the one that said it this time, not me."

"Shut up," Edgar told him. "Alright, you ready to get out of here and go tell Alan he was wrong about this mission being a bad idea?"

"I guess so," Daniel told him. He looked thoughtful, almost unsure of himself in a way that Edgar had never seen from him. He had only known the half vampire a short while, but it looked like something about this was bothering him.

Edgar looked at him, considering. Whatever it was wasn't more important than the mission, it was something they could deal with later. He nodded, and the two of them took to the sky.