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handed the phone back.
    “Hello, Ms. Hathaway . I hear Elizabeth wants to come home.” Her voice dropped a level again, as though she could keep her words from the little girl . The other woman obviously had no idea about Elizabeth’s abilities. “To be honest, we’d rather she went home as well. We’ve never experienced the sort of nightmares your daughter suffers , and we’re a bit at a loss about how to handle them. And as I said, she’s screaming at night and scaring the other children ...” She t railed off and then said, “Can I ask a personal question, Ms. Hathaway? Are there any problems at home we should be concerned about? Does Elizabeth need to talk to someone?”
    Serenity sighed. “Veronica, I don’t know how much you know about my past, but only a year has passed since I was returned to my family after my ex-husband kidnapped me and held me a prisoner for two years. The police assume him to be dead now as a lot of his blood was found in Washington after a brawl started, though , unfortunately , his body was never found. Elizabeth ’s father took care of her in the time I was gone, but something like that is always going to affect a little girl. If she’s not scared for me, then she transfers her insecurities over to her father. That’s what the dreams are about. She’s been much better recently , but I’m guessing that being in a strange place has caused everything to resurface again.”
    “I’m so sorry for what you went through,” the other woman said, sounding genuinely shocked.
    “Don’t be,” she said. “We’re healing now.”
    A n awkward silence buzzed down the line.
    Veronica broke it by saying , “Even so, I think it would be best if you came and collected your daughter. This doesn’t seem to be the right environment for her to ... heal. Do you have transport ation ?”
    Though partly she felt annoyed and a little angry at the implication that her choice to send Elizabeth to camp was the wrong thing to do, she was also pleased to get out of the house and have her daughter home. Serenity walked to the window and used her index finger to pull open a slat on the blind. Her 4x4 sat on the gravel driveway. Unconsciously , her eyes flicked left and right, checking no one else stood on the property.
    “Yes, I do . I’ll leave right away.”

Chapter Four
     
     
    Sebastian stood on the wide streets on downtown Los Angeles. Multi-story office buildings rose either side of him, the windows all ablaze, though no workers seemed to move around inside. The street remained quiet, vehicles on the road noticeably absent . Dotted at regular intervals, palm trees remained motionless in the still night, no breath of air rustling their fronds.
    He frowned. Something was wrong. With his acute senses, he could always hear something moving, the low hum of traffic in the city, the buzz of people talking. Now, u tter silence had fallen over the city . His ears strained to catch any sound—the movement of a rat rummaging through the trash, the yelp of an urban fox, anything! But the place seemed to be deserted.
    On the other side of the road, a street lamp flickered. A dark shadow darted beneath, merging with the spat e of darkness. The light sputter ed back to life, revealing only an empty space where the shape had been.
    Sebastian braced himself. “Hello?” he called, but no response came. U sing his vampire’s speed, he ran across to where he’d seen the movement. He turned a slow circle, one hand locked in his hair. The sidewalk remained empty.
    What am I doing here? He didn’t remember coming downtown , and this certainly didn’t feel like the city he knew. Was he dreaming?
    He gave his head a slight shake. He couldn’t be dreaming , vampires didn’t dream. The last time he’d dreamed had been befor e he’d been turned. Since then, hi s sleeps were a nothingness —he closed his eyes and when he opened them again, dusk had once again fallen. When he slept, he had no sensation of