At Dawn They Sleep

Death and the High Cost of Living

Early October

Roland's Log

The vic's beachfront estate was all the way out in the Hamptons, a solid two-and-a-half-hour drive from Midtown Manhattan. I replayed in my head the conversation I had with Fiona right before I left her house. We were standing on her front porch. She had lit a cigarette, and I could tell something was on her mind.

"Ro, when you were in the cave mine with Efraim, did you happen to see them?"

"Naw. Just the decomposing corpse of that vic."

"So, you've never seen one of them, one of the Uninvited?"

I shook my head no. "Why?"

"First-time contact with the Uninvited can be a little jarring. It'll feel like they're seeing straight through you and into your mind. They have an awareness that is nothing short of weird and otherworldly. When you make eye contact with them, your mind will go into a primeval shock, like seeing a snake or wolf in the wild. Eventually, you can shake the sensation, but it will be unsettling and stay with you like a really bad dream."

"Efraim said something about dreams with them."

"That's how they hunt and stalk their prey."

"Shit. Maybe I should knock back a few shots first."

"Oh no. Don't do anything with drugs or alcohol. That'll make it far worse. The best advice I can give you is to avoid them as best you can. Use your amulet, which will help you stay clear. That's what the Alatyr was designed for."

"Shit. Now you got me scared."

"Don't be scared. Your best bet is to stay covert and remain focused on the mission. You're just there for reconnaissance. They'll have trouble sensing you with the amulet, but that doesn't mean you're totally invisible to them. If they sense you, they should pick up a residual psychic image that you're a thief working with Gram. There's also another thing I need to tell you: how the Uninvited move through darkness and shadow."

"What, it's like, ninja or something?"

"No. It's far more complicated than that. They move through the darkness like phantoms, a sublimation of ephemeral shadow. You may see them move like this, and I didn't want you to be surprised if you did."

"Once down in the Caribbean, Dad and I actually went down in one of those shark cages. Those underwater killers didn't seem scared of shit. Do the Uninvited fear anything?"

"Putting aside the bizarre metaphysics they represent, not that I'm aware of...I don't even think they fear death. If they really are after you, they'll even risk being burned by the sun."

*

...I came out of the Midtown Tunnel and onto the LIE that would take me to the Hamptons. In my rearview mirror, the sun and the city were behind me, and soon it would be dark....

Late October

Marozia wanted to make sure the arcane stone amulet wasn't covertly manipulating her senses, so she ventured out looking for the little girl who wore it and fancied herself a sorceress. She saw Ana during the parade, but the girl's aura quickly shifted as soon as she laid her sights on her, becoming faint like a mirage. This was indeed peculiar for the type of amulet Ana had in her possession and why preventing occult power from growing between the Alatyr stones was imperative. She hadn't known the actual sorceress that created the occult amulets like her sire Cora had.

Before Cora's inexplicable disappearance, she had given Marozia strict orders: find the amulets and destroy them and their mortal users, regardless of whether the thieves' guild, with whom they had a pact, was utilizing them. She had endeavored in this mission for half a century, and she would not waiver now, even with the possibility of facing off against a burgeoning sorceress, something the Uninvited hadn't contended with since that cavalier over four hundred years ago.