Ash answered without turning around. "Wherehave I been? Where have you been? We were supposed to meet onthat hill, Quinn." Hands in his pockets, he pointed with an elbow.
"Wrong. It was this hill and I've been sitting righthere waiting for you the entire time. But forget it.
Are they here or aren't they?"
Ash turned and walked unhurriedly to the open convertible that was parked just beside the road, itslights off. He leaned one elbow on the door, looking down. "They're here. I told you they would be. It was the only place for them to go."
"All three of them?"
"Of course, all three of them. My sisters always stick together."
Quinn's lip curled. "Lamia are so wonderfully family oriented."
"And made vampires are so wonderfully . . . short," Ash said serenely, looking at the sky again.
Quinn gave him a look like black ice. His e-mail, compact body was utterly still inside the car. "Well, now, I never got to finish growing, did I?" he saidvery softly. "One of your ancestors took care of that."
Ash boosted himself to sit on the hood of the car,long legs dangling. "I think I may stop aging this year myself," he said blandly, still looking down the slope. "Eighteen's not such a bad age."
"Maybe not if you have a choice," Quinn said, his voice still as soft as dead leaves falling. "Try beingeighteen for four centuries-with no end in sight."
Ash turned to smile at him again. "Sorry. On my family's behalf."
"And I'm sorry for your family. The Redferns have been having a little trouble lately, haven't they?
Let's see if I've got it right. First your uncle Hodge breaks Night World law and is appropriately punished-"
"My great-uncle by marriage," Ash interrupted in polite tones, holding one finger up. "He was a Burdock, not a Redfern. And that was over ten years ago."
"And then your aunt Opal-"
"Mygreat-auntOpal-"
"Disappears completely. Breaks off all contact withthe Night World. Apparently because she prefers living in the middle of nowhere with humans."
Ash shrugged, eyes fixed on the southern horizon. "It must be good hunting in the middle of nowhere with humans. No competition. And no Night Worldenforcement-no Elders putting a limit on how many you can bag."
"And no supervision," Quinn said sourly. "Itdoesn't matter so much thatshe's been living here, but she's obviously been encouraging your sisters to join her. You should have informed on them whenyou found out they were writing to each other secretly."
Ash shrugged, uncomfortable. "It wasn't againstthe law. I didn't know what they had in mind."
"It's not just them," Quinn said in his disturbingly soft voice. "You know there are rumors about that cousin of yours-James Rasmussen. People are saying that he fell in love with a human girl. That she was dying and he decided to change her withoutpermission. . . ."
Ash slid off the hood and straightened. "I never listen to rumors," he said, briskly and untruthfully.
"Besides, that's not the problem right now, is it?"
"No. The problem is your sisters and the mess they're in. And whether you can really do what's necessary to dean it up."
"Don't worry, Quinn. I can handle it."
"ButI doworry, Ash. I don't know how I let you talk me into this."
"You didn't. You lost that game of poker."
"And you cheated." Quinn was looking off into a middle distance, his dark eyes narrowed, his moutha straight line. "I still think we should tell the Elders ," he said abruptly. "It's the only way to guarantee a really thorough investigation."
"I don't see why it needs to be so thorough.They've only been here a few hours."
"Your sisters have only been here a few hours.Your aunt has been here-how long? Ten years?"
"What have you got against my aunt, Quinn?"
"Her husband was a traitor. She's a traitor now for encouraging those girls to run away. And who knowswhat she's been doing here in the last ten years? Who knows how many humans she's told about the Night World?"
Ash shrugged, examining his nails. "Maybe she hasn't told any."
"And maybe she's told the whole town."
"Quinn," Ash said patiently, speaking as if to avery young child, "if my aunt has broken the laws of the Night World, she has to die. For the family honor. Any blotch on that reflects onme."
"That's one thing I can count on," Quinn said halfunder his breath. ','Your self-interest. You always look after Number One, don't you?"
"Doesn't everybody?"
"Not everybody is quite so blatant about it." There was a pause, then Quinn said, "And what about your sisters?"
"What about them?"
"Can you kill them if it's necessary?"
Ash didn't blink. "Of course. If it's necessary. For the family honor."
"If they've let something slip about the NightWorld-"
"They're not stupid."
"They're innocent. They might get tricked. That'swhat happens when you live on an island completely isolated from normal humans. You never learn how cunning vermin can be."
"Well, we know how cunning they can be," Ash said, smiling. "And what to do about them."
For the first time Quinn himself smiled, a charming, almost dreamy smile. "Yes, I know your views on that. All right. I'll leave you here to take care of it. I don't need to tell you to check out every human those girls have had contact with. Do a good job and maybe you can save your familyhonor."