A Girl's Guide to Vampires

and playing with them until they yelled out their excitement.

'Dear Lord, it must be him. I always thought he was joking when he insisted he was a vampire. I mean, it was just all too ludicrous, what with those fake teeth and all. But what if he believes it? What if he really, really believes he's a vampire?'

Another wave of chill hit me. I gathered up my skirt and stood as the crowd yelled at something Dominic said. 'I have to go tell Raphael. He thinks the murderer is Milos. I'm willing to bet you he doesn't know that Milos finished the magic show last night!'

Roxy tugged at my skirt, trying to pull me back down. 'Joy—'

'The perfect volunteer!' Dominic bellowed from the stage, leaping into the crowd and heading straight for me, his hand held out. 'Mon ange, if you will assist me?'

'What?'

'He was asking for volunteers, you fool. Too late—he's got you now,' Roxy muttered.

'What? What?' I stared stupidly at the hand Dominic held out for me. I didn't want to touch him—he was a murderer! The crowd started cheering.

'Come, mon ange,' Dominic said with a full-fanged smile. 'Assist me. It will be over quickly, I assure you.'

I wondered if he had said the same thing to Tanya. Dominic grabbed my hand and started hauling me back through the crowd. I debated accusing him there on the spot of Tanya's murder, of screaming for help, or of kicking him until he let me go so I could run to Raphael. In the end, I decided that it was better to not make him suspicious, so I made no complaint when he jerked me onto the stage and dragged me over to the glass box.

He kept a hold on my hand while he helped me into the box, doing a spiel about his powers and how I would be sent to the underworld to await his command to return. It was a bit creepy, considering Tanya. As he turned to close the lid on the box, he hissed, 'Do not fear, mon ange. As soon as the smoke fills the outer layer, the trap will open and you will escape. Crawl under the stage to the rear. Antonio will be waiting for you there.'

'Crawl? I'm supposed to crawl?' I asked as he closed the lid, getting a little panicky at the thought of being shut into a box with a bunch of smoke. I crouched in the box, my head pressed up against the top of it, the lights and the crowd blurring a little through the thick glass. Dominic waved his arm dramatically, and the box began to fill with smoke, obscuring my vision.

That was when I realized what he was talking about. The part I was sitting in was insulated, a box within a box, made of double-paned glass. The smoke filled a thin space between the two layers of glass, no doubt making it look as if I were sitting in the middle of the smoke, when in fact I wasn't. As soon as my vision outside the box was completely obscured, the floor beneath my knees gave, and I dropped down to a small space under the stage. The skirting around the edges of the stage kept me from seeing anyone, but I could hear the crowd. They roared with laughter at something Dominic was doing, no doubt misdirecting their attention so they wouldn't notice the box wobble as I dropped. I wadded up my skirt and crawled forward on my belly when I saw a bit of light flashing at the rear, muttering to myself about ruining my lovely skirt just so Dominic could impress his audience.

Antonio, Dominic's assistant, helped me out from under the stage through another trap in the curtained-off area. Antonio pulled on a gruesome rubber mask, saying, 'Stay here until you hear Dominic announce that he's brought back a demon from the underworld instead of you. Then you can go out into the crowd.' Then he dived under the stage and headed for the box.

'like hell I will,' I muttered, and peered out of the curtained area. My watchdogs must have been waiting patiently up front for me to return, because there was no one around the back. I slipped out and started hunting for Raphael, keeping well away from the audience around the stage.

I spotted Henri on the far side of the grounds, zipping up his pants as he emerged from a portable toilet.

'Henri, where's Raphael?' I asked as I raced up to him.

He frowned. 'Aren't you supposed to be at the magic show? I thought Raphael said you were there. It's not over yet, is it?'

I almost danced with impatience. 'Forget the magic show. I have to find Raphael. It's very important. Where is he?'

'He won't like knowing you're not at the magic show,' Henri pointed out.

'He will when he hears what I have to tell him. Where can I find him?'

'He said you were going to stay with Paal. Raphael's not going to be happy that you left without him.'

Friendly puppy or no friendly puppy, I wanted to throttle him. 'Henri,' I said with a smile that would do a shark proud. 'Do you remember what I did to Christian in the west garden?'

His hand moved protectively to his groin as he nodded vehemently.

'Good. I don't want to have to do this, but if you don't tell me where Raphael is, I'll do the same to you.'

His eyes opened wide. 'He's down in the cave,' he answered quickly, his voice thick.

'The cave? Already? Thanks, Henri. Wish me luck.'

I took off like a hound after a hare, dodging around people, heading away from the festival along the graveled path that curled around the bottom of the abyss, ending at the entrance to the cave. Since the caves were only going to be open for a couple of hours around midnight, there weren't many people on the path, and those were mostly made up of couples lip wrestling.

I raced down the path toward the cool, dark entrance of the cave, large pools of yellow from the sodium lights strung overhead eating at the blackness within. There was no one at the entrance, but I could hear voices from inside. I listened for a moment, but other than guessing one of the voices was Raphael, couldn't determine whom he was talking to, or where they were in the cave. Noises tended to carry a long distance in there. I plunged in, trotting down the path, ignoring the scenic views and signs describing the various sights.

'Thank God I was here before,' I said to myself as I paused at a junction in the path. The public tour continued around a bend to the left that led to the boat dock. To the right was a dirt path that according to the sign led to a maintenance area. I held my breath and listened. The low rumble of Raphael's voice echoed from the right. I started down the path, pausing for a moment, then sprinting down the path when a woman's voice answered him.

The path was badly lit, with lights distant and far between. I stumbled over debris and rocks a couple of times, but managed to keep from falling. As I rounded a bend in the path, I almost slammed into Raphael.

'What the hell?' I yelled, staring in appalled horror at him.

He stood close to a woman, his mouth almost in her hair as his rotten, stinking, cheating hands moved under the back of her sweater.

'You bastard!' I bellowed, my words echoing down the walls of the cave. Their heads snapped around at the sound, identical expressions of surprise on their faces. The woman was about six inches shorter than me, had a slight figure, and a pretty heart-shaped face with long, curly hair that I wanted to tear off and stomp all over.

Raphael had the nerve to look annoyed. 'Joy! What are you doing here?'

'OH!' I screamed, fury battling with the pain of his betrayal. I doubled up my fist and punched him right in the tattoo. He grunted and let go of the hussy he was holding to grab his stomach. 'You cheating, lying bastard! No wonder you didn't want me down here until later! I never want to see you again. NEVER!'

I spun on my heel and raced back the way I came, stumbling and tripping over rocks because I couldn't see through the tears. Suddenly the tears dried up as fury took the upper hand. How dare Raphael put his hands all over another woman? He was mine, dammit, and I wasn't going to let him get away with that. It was time he understood one or two things. I turned around to go back and slammed right into him.

'Dammit, woman, will you stop and let me explain?' I would have fallen but for the strong hands grabbing my arms.

'Don't you dare yell at me, you beastly man! You complete and utter rotter! You can't touch anyone else, do you hear me?' I struggled against Raphael, but knew it would do no good. He pushed me against the smooth limestone wall of the cave, his body pressed against me as I fought him. He pinned my lower half back with his legs, his hands clamping down on my head, holding me in place.

'She's a policewoman,' he said, breathing heavily. 'Christ, baby, did you have to hit me?'

'You're despicable,' I gasped. 'Using your position to corrupt an innocent woman. You should be hung by