The next day, Lady Katherine did not emerge from her private quarters, and Lord William had vanished.

"Where could they have taken him?" Eleisha asked a sniffing Marion.

"I don't know. It's a loony house, it is. What with them shouting through supper 'bout God knows what."

"Lady Katherine's mad."

"'Course she's mad! They're all mad. You just noticing that now?"

The day passed silently. Several cooks and servants slipped away without collecting wages. No one blamed them. Julian's habit of emerging in the evenings made Eleisha wonder if she shouldn't follow suit and disappear before dusk.

But what about William? She couldn't leave him. And what if she interfered? Julian would kill her. That much seemed certain. If it had been anyone but Julian, her courage might have won.

Knowing she could not pack up and run, she simply went to her room before sundown and locked the door. Perhaps events would work themselves out. She would just wait. Despite Marion's outburst, Eleisha knew Julian hadn't lost his mind. To the contrary, if anyone had control of this terrible situation, he did.

The screaming began shortly after dark. Eerie, keening wails from Lady Katherine swirled up through the floorboards. She wailed on and on until nearly ten o'clock. Eleisha pulled a comforter off the bed and crouched down inside the closet. Around midnight, she had just drifted off when a loud, smashing sound jerked her awake.

"Where are you?" Julian shouted.

He was in her room. Sounds of the bed being jerked amidst gasping snarls terrified her into silence. Maybe he wouldn't think of the closet. Maybe he'd just go away.

The fragile whitewashed door flew back as its hinges were ripped out. Julian's hand closed over her wrist, his eyes bloodshot, his breath stinking of something stale and sweet.

"Please, please don't…" Fear drove every other thought away. In all her life, Eleisha had never begged for anything-not food, not money, not mercy, not pity. But she begged now, like a frightened, kicked dog. Her fingers clawed at his. "Please, let go."

"Quiet."

He yanked her up and toward the door. By the time they reached the hall, she was sobbing. A familiar face peered out from the opposite room.

"Marion, help me!"

No one answered. Marion couldn't stop Julian. Nothing could.

He dragged Eleisha straight to the end of the hallway and slapped the end wall with his free hand. To her amazement, it opened up to a black stairwell. Turning, he picked her up with one arm and descended the stairs rapidly. She stopped fighting and clung to his neck, too numb to think.

Soft light emanated ahead. Julian ducked his head below a beam and entered a glowing open space with stone walls decorated by four torches. Lady Katherine sat in a heap on the floor.

Dead center of the far wall stood a door. Dead center of the door was a two-foot barred window. Julian carried her over to it.

"Look inside," he whispered.

Barely discernible muttering drew her attention before she made out the room's occupant. William paced back and forth in a ceaseless flow of motion, talking to himself.

"Lord William."

The sound of her voice caused him to whip his head around. She grasped the bars in helpless frustration, but then pulled back when he rushed up to her. His prominent wrinkles had deepened to dried creases, his flesh looked chalk-white, and dried blood covered his hair and cheeks.

"What have you done to him?"

"This place used to be a prison," Julian said. "Not a legal prison, but a place where my grandfather locked away troublesome servants and relatives. I used to play here as a child, pretending the cells were full of people. Father always hated it here."

"What did you do to him?"

"Made him immortal."

"No, you failed!" Lady Katherine cried from the floor.

Julian's body shook slightly, and for a moment Eleisha thought he might begin screaming himself. But his voice went on in low, controlled tones. "He is an abomination now, not what was intended. I worried about his reaction, his morality, trapping his once-sharp mind in an aged body, but never this. His illness is forever now. I've damned him to eternal senility."

Julian's white shirt was soiled and stale. He smelled of mold and something sickly sweet. Waves of fear washed through Eleisha.

"Please, put me down," she said.

"No. My father must leave this place. I can't bring myself to kill him, but he has no place here."

"You want me to take him away?" Her heart rose slightly. Julian might have slipped over the edge with his mother, but he might let her take William and run. That was almost too much to hope for. "I'll take him far away, as far as you like. Just unlock the door and let him out."

"It isn't that simple," he whispered. His jaw twitched. "You'll die in one lifetime, and then what happens to him?"

He walked over against the wall and slid down, holding Eleisha in his lap with one tightened arm. "Whether you believe me or not, I find this regrettable. You aren't the right type any more than he is."

She sobbed once and tried pushing him away as he grasped a handful of loose hair to pull her head back. "I'm weak and tired," he whispered. "This will hurt."

The world exploded into white. Awareness waxed dull, and memories grew dim. Eleisha didn't feel his teeth, but thought his lips were burning, crisping the flesh on her neck. Pushing at his chest, too lost to cry, she grew light and faint until the ceiling seemed inches away. Perhaps it was.

Her eyelids fluttered. His white face looked down from directly above, teeth ripping at his own wrist. He forced it into her mouth. "Take it back. All of it."

Warm.

Rich.

Liquid flowed freely into her mouth, and when it stopped flowing, she bit down to draw more. Heaviness filled her again, then darkness.

Eleisha woke up in the crook of Julian's arm, lying on the dirt floor, stunned to find she had both wet and soiled her nightdress. Lady Katherine was gone. William whimpered from his cell. How much time had passed?

When she sat up, Julian stirred. She stared at him. "Your wrist is still bleeding."

"Get cleaned up and pack a bag. Then do the same for my father."

"Where are we going?"

"Just do it."

An hour later, the three of them were traveling in a carriage at top speed down the coast road. Eleisha feared Julian was going to kill the horses.

"You're driving them too hard."

"Quiet."

"Where are you taking us?"

"I've booked two tickets on a ship to America. It's an old cargo ship, and you can't feed on the sailors. Don't try to eat any real food, or you'll be no good to anyone. Just manage by draining rats or whatever else is available. I've heard we can last up to three months like that if necessary. You'll have to hunt for my father as well. Stay out of the sun completely, or you'll die. Are you listening to me?"

"Julian, I don't know what-"

"Just do as I say!"

She clutched tightly to William's shivering form and remained silent for the next two hours. When they pulled into a small wharf town, Julian hid the carriage in an alley and jumped out. "Stay here no matter what happens. I have to hunt."

Eleisha lost track of time. She sat, comforting William and waiting in terrified confusion. She almost sighed in relief when Julian's tall form slipped around the alley corner, and he climbed back up beside her. His face looked fuller, healthier.

"You have to feed before boarding. At least once." Using his own teeth, he tore at his wrist again. "Here, drink this."

"No."

He grabbed her head and forced his wrist in again. The warmth grew overwhelming. A hunger touched her mind, and she bit down again, this time consciously hating his closeness but unable to stop. He finally pushed her away.