The battle to save mankind from domination by the vampires is about to begin but Johan has more pressing concerns. His mentor and friend, Alexander, lies dead in a Paris morgue and the mortal friend, John Jones, had been taken hostage by the vampires. Johan, his new girlfriend Annick, have to figure out how to stop the Princess and the three Families from building an unstoppable army and come up with a plan to rescue John before the vampires use him to feed their slaves.
When John’s mother arrives in Paris, desperately trying to get the police to save John, she is sure that vampires are once again endangering her son. While she is making waves in city hall, Johan and Annick battle the Princess' allies in Paris.
The Princess celebrates the death of the Enemy with her close confidants from the three Families, urging them to accelerate the pace of transformations so their army will be ready to strike. Sleeper vampires have been installed in key military, political, and business positions around the globe. When the final pieces are in place, the world of the mortals will topple without a shot being fired.
News of unexplained vampire deaths in Japan disrupt her calm and begin to make her doubt. Is the Enemy truly dead, does he have unknown accomplices who will carry on his work? The Army of Vampires is ready to rise.. The fate of mortals hangs in the balance, and the clock is ticking
The familiar voice answered the phone on the third ring. “Commissaire Gilbert reporting,” he said.
“Commissaire, I trust you are calling because you have good news,” the Doctor said in an even tone.
“Yes, Doctor. The Enemy is dead.”
“You are absolutely certain on this. He has faked his death on several occasions in the past.”
“I was there when his body was pulled from the Seine. As you predicted, the Enemy was plotting something in Sarcelles. Two of my officers chased him from Sarcelles to central Paris. When the fool finally realized what was going on, when he knew he had no escape, the coward killed himself by driving into the river. I saw the EMT declare him dead, although this was hardly necessary since he had been in the water for almost half an hour, and he looked like a limp rag when they got him out.
“Where is the body now?” Even though her voice betrayed no emotion, the Doctor was ecstatic. Actual proof that the greatest threat to her plan for the rise of the vampires had been eliminated virtually ensured her success. Now she could concentrate on growing her hidden army, hiding them in plain sight until they were ready to strike and bring down the government of mortals from within.
“In the morgue at Police Headquarters.”
“I want to see it. Can you bring him here?” She cursed herself for the need to see the body of the man who had twice nearly killed her. Still, after the experience in New York when the Graf accepted on faith that the Enemy was dead without seeing the body only to have him reappear and destroy their operation, she was not going to trust anything but her own eyes.
“Impossible. At least for now. The coroner needs to do an autopsy, and then the judge d’instruction must declare him deceased, and the case closed. This review may take several weeks. However, I do have pictures of the body.” Gilbert fingered the stack of crime scene photos that had been delivered to his office.
“Excellent. Bring them here. I expect you by the end of the day.” Seeing his body would have been better, but pictures would have to do. Part of her regretted that the Enemy had not suffered like the Mother Superior and the other members of the Moscow family, but she had to put aside her personal desires for the success of the plan. The Enemy was dead. That was enough.
The Doctor was about the hang up when she heard Gilbert say, “Doctor, there was one other thing you should know.”
“What?” she asked impatiently.
“After we pulled the body out of the water, this strange American teenager appeared and fell over the body crying.”
“An American teenager? An immortal?”
“No, Doctor. Just some Black kid. Seemed to know the Enemy. Called him Scott, which was one of the alias’ we had for him.”
“What have you learned from him?”
“Not much. He doesn’t speak any French, and my English isn’t very good. Mostly he keeps asking for a lawyer.”
Was this kid helping the Enemy, the Doctor wondered. She had often questioned whether the Enemy had help bringing down the Graf, but using a mortal seemed foolish. She would need to interrogate him personally. “Just what we would expect from an American. What did you do with him?”
“I stashed him with Claude at a cheap hotel I know. Didn’t want him showing up in our files until I knew what you wanted to do with him.”
“Commissaire, you are clever. I knew you were perfect for this assignment. Change of plan. Don’t come here. Fetch the boy and take him to the lab. I will meet you there. And get rid of any record of the boy before you come.”
The Princess had not let any emotion enter her voice during her call, but after hanging up the phone, she could not contain herself. “Ingrid!” she called, summoning the matronly woman who served as her majordomo. The stout woman came running.
“Yes, Doctor?”
“Ingrid, we have reason to celebrate. Our great Enemy is dead, drowned like the pathetic rodent he was. Find the finest unsullied buck we have in the stables. I am in a frisky mood!”