In those situations, a vampire would've attacked. "I'm surprised he let you live."

"Cragnow needed a zoning variance. I couldn't do that dead." Venin crushed the cigarette into the ashtray. "He demonstrated the trance: mesmerizing my staff was no trick when they answered any question, no matter how personal." Venin paused and smiled. "I learned who on my staff cheated on their spouses, who embezzled money, and who leaked stories to my opponents and the press. At that point I grasped the significance of Cragnow's gift."

Venin paused again. "Imagine, Mr. Gomez, searching all your life for an edge, a leg up on the competition. And one day, that supreme advantage walks in your door."

"You're talking about the hypnosis?" I asked.

"What else? If I teamed with Cragnow, no one could keep secrets from us."

"Team with Cragnow? Why would he do that?"

"Because I told him he had this potential, and all he wanted was a zoning variance to make nudie pics. What a waste of an opportunity. That also made me realize how small my own ambitions were, especially when he revealed what he was."

"A vampire," I replied. "And that didn't scare you?"

"He had come to my office asking for a shortcut through the red tape. So he wasn't all-powerful."

"And you haven't wondered why his hypnosis doesn't affect you?"

"Neither does Jenny Craig, and you don't hear me whining about that." Venin readied another cigarette, as if the room didn't stink enough.

"You're the only human I've met who can resist hypnosis," I said.

"Apparently."

"Why? How?" My kundalini noir knotted and thrashed. "You're among vampires. They drink blood."

"How my constituents gain sustenance isn't my concern." Venin spoke despite having a cigarette in her mouth. One eye followed me, the other bounced along with the cigarette tip. "This is L.A., the home of fad diets."

"Constituents?"

She lit the Newport and dropped the lighter into a drawer. "Cragnow told me about your 'undead' society and that he was the leader. Mr. Gomez, open your eyes."

I couldn't decide which of her eyes to look at.

"One moment I'm Petale Venin, more councilwoman, the next moment I have access to super hypnosis and a secret army of vampires."

Here it was, the target of my investigation-vampire-human collusion.

"With this knowledge," Venin said, "my ambitions grew and grew as we crossed one threshold after another."

"Threshold?"

"Some thresholds involved eliminating those who stood in my way."

"You mean murder?"

"You're a vampire. What do you care about murder?"

"I care about one. Roxy Bronze."

Venin grimaced. "Her again." An ember from the cigarette dropped onto her blouse. Her right eye tracked the falling ash.

"Her name bothers you?" I asked.

"Not as much as it used to."

"Why?"

Venin brushed the ash off her blouse. "Because she's dead."

"How much do you know about her murder?"

"Only what was in the media."

Like I would believe that. "Do you know who killed her?" I didn't expect Venin to jump up and yell, "Me, me," but I had to ask.

"If I did," she replied, "I'd name a street after them."

"Them?" I asked.

"Them. Him. Her. Whoever."

"Considering this arrangement you have with Cragnow, why so much trouble with Roxy? Why didn't you use hypnosis or sic vampires on her?"

"As you know, there are limits to those powers and when you can use them."

"So you tried something?"

Venin stabbed the cigarette butt into the ashtray. "I didn't bring you here to discuss Roxy. I have an offer for you." Her mouth curved into a smile. Both eyes stared in my direction. "Join me."

Join her? This was no public radio membership drive. "Does Cragnow know about this? He is trying to kill me."

"Don't concern yourself with him. Cragnow has no say in this matter." Venin's smile cooled.

"I'm sure he'll object and-"

Venin interrupted, her voice chilling several degrees. "Cragnow has no say in this matter."

"Meaning what?"

"You misunderstand the relationship between Cragnow and myself."

"What's to misunderstand? As the vampire, he-"

Again she interrupted, her tone ice cold. "Cragnow Vissoom will do as he's told."

Told? Cragnow was the head of the L.A. nidus. Petale Venin-a human-was his boss? She commanded the undead in Southern California? The vampire-human collusion was worse than what the Araneum feared.

"How can you be in charge?" I asked.

"Because I understand Cragnow. I know what he wants. I know how he can get there."

"You've lost me."

"This arrangement he and I have is not about petty zoning variances. It's about laying the foundation for a new tomorrow."

"What kind of new tomorrow?" I recalled Lucky Rosario paraphrasing Cragnow… lifting humanity to a new partnership with the unseen realm… the next step in social evolution.

"That doesn't concern you, Mr. Gomez. Not yet."

"Then when?"

"I'll tell you."

"Why aren't you a vampire?" I asked. "Wouldn't you want to take advantage of supernatural powers?"

"Because I know everything, Mr. Gomez. I own many chalice parlors, including the Majestic Lanes."

That admission knocked the breath out of me. Venin mentioned this to flaunt how familiar she was with the secret vampire underworld.

My talons and fangs grew. My kundalini noir coiled upon itself, tensing to strike. I forced myself to keep still and not lunge to decapitate her. At the first instant of an attack, the guard behind me would stitch my back with silver bullets.

Venin nodded, enjoying my discomfort. "I know your strengths and weaknesses. The hypnosis, levitation… strengths. Your appetite for blood… weakness. Your vulnerability to sunlight. Another weakness. And your biggest weakness of all, the fear of being discovered and exterminated by humans."

She didn't mention auras or our transmutation into wolves. So maybe she didn't know everything.

"I join your team and then what?"

"You'll be given a special mission. For some reason, this arrangement between Cragnow and myself is a big taboo. Word of our collaboration got out, and vampire spies were sent to question Cragnow."

Did she mean the agents from the Araneum? "What happened to these spies?"

"Two I witnessed getting roasted by the morning sun. A marvelous spectacle." Venin wrinkled her nose and smiled, as if sniffing a freshly baked cinnamon roll.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Infiltrate the Araneum."

I might as well shove dynamite up my ass. "Why me?"

"Because Cragnow suspects you may be one of their vampire spies."

I faked a chuckle. "That's ridiculous."

"You'd become a double agent, working for me. So what is your answer? Join me or not?"

"This is a serious decision. I'd have to think about it."

Venin's lips scrunched together, as if she had sucked on a tart lemon. "Think about it? That's a polite way of saying no. My offer is withdrawn." One eye cut to the guard, the other stared at me. Her aura surrounded her like a steady red flame. "It's been a displeasure to know you, Mr. Gomez."