Chapter Two: A Photograph That Would Not Pass

Wearing Zhou's hooded jacket, she crawled into the service shaft through the kitchen panel. Before leaving, she hid the childhood photograph against her body. Pei Du's posture in the image did not resemble feeding. One hand covered the child's eyes. The other gripped the altar while some invisible chain burned the flesh from its back. He looked as if he had been enduring something in her place. At 1:07, Jianyue emerged through a vacant neighboring apartment. The three vampires still watched her door. She held her breath and reached the stairwell. Two floors below, their leader suddenly turned his face. “Ms. Lin.” He had caught her scent.