the path of the dead.â
âSo I gathered. Better you than me, although I have to say that Karl and Marta seem like nice enough people. Er . . . ghosts. But still, Iâm sure theyâll be delighted to know you can help them.â
âIt is the job of the Brotherhood. I will be the light the lost ones seek,â she said simply.
I sipped my wine. âThis is probably out of line for me to ask, but donât you find those Brotherhood people a little too . . . well, intense, for lack of a better word?â
She frowned a little frown. âIntense? What do you know of the Brotherhood?â
I shook my head. âNot much really, nothing other than some connection to northern lights and the moon.â
âThe light has its power in the moon,â she said in all seriousness. âBut I see it is not that which disturbs you most. You were afraid of the Brotherhood?â
âNot afraid, just a little uncomfortable,â I hedged, not mentioning how Kristoff had threatened me.
She was silent for a moment, sipping her wine before she leaned forward. âYou are mundane.â
I was a bit taken aback by the comment. Did she just insult me?
âYou are not of our world, but you have kind eyes, and you have seen much tonight that most people will never know exists. I will tell you about the Brotherhood so that you will understand why they are intense. There is darkness in the world. You have felt it, have you not?â
âYou mean like terrorists and such?â I asked, confused.
âNo, that is part of the mundane world. I speak of true darknessâDark Ones, they are called, although they are better known as vampires.â
âVampires!â My urge to laugh died with a glance at her serious expression. Clearly she believed what she was saying. . . . That or she was a very good actress going to a whole lot of trouble to pull my leg.
âYes. They do not like that term because people fear vampires, and they wish for the world to view them as victims, rather than as the evil murderers they are, but you must not let yourself be fooled. They are born of darkness, and carry it within them, spreading their evil like a disease. You know that they have no souls?â
I blinked a couple of times and shook my head.
âIt is so. They are born without them, damned just as demons are damned, only they do not bear the stench of Abaddon on them so noticeably.â
âAbaddon being . . . hell?â I guessed.
âMore or less, yes. The vampires have existed since the beginning of manâs time, hoping to dominate them, to infect them with their darkness until all the light is gone from the world. The Brotherhood seeks to destroy them, to wipe out their evil, to cleanse the world of the poison that they would use upon innocent people.â
âGood god,â I said, seeing the truth shining in her eyes. âHow can this have been going on and no one in theâwhat did you call it? mundane worldâknew it existed?â
âThe Dark Ones are very clever,â she said, sitting back. âThey hide themselves with mortalkind, blending in so that their evil is not discovered until it is too late. But the children of the light have existed through the ages to find them, to cleanse them of their darkness.â
âWow,â I said. âIâm just . . . I guess Iâm flabbergasted that this has been going on around me and I had no idea. Vampires! Weâre talking about the same thing, right? Waitâare we talking about the sexy Frank Langella type of vampires who seduce women, or the Gary Oldman-scary bun-head guys who kill people?â
Anniki frowned. âI do not know of this scary bun-head people you speak of, but I assure you, there is nothing romantic about the Dark Ones. They are heartless, soulless fiends who want only their own domination over the mortal world. And they are nearly impossible to kill.â
âReally? So the old