The night air was cool, but no longer cold, spring was rapidly advancing into the long desert summer. David breathed deeply, smelling green, growing life. Even in the desert, things grew in the springtime.

He was out hunting, but not too seriously. He could see no sign of caravans this night, and though he'd swung by one nearby city on his course from the bolt hole where he's started the night, there was nobody on the road, so he wandered through the empty hills, hoping he might chance on a vampire in a bolt hole. He'd done so a few times before, but finding just one in all the endless miles of desert, when he could only sense them from about a mile off, was a matter of sheer luck and didn't happen often. But the night was starting to wane now, and he turned his course towards Aidan's cabin. He would have enough time to reach it before dawn.

As he paused atop a small rise, however, he heard a sound. It was unmistakable: footsteps in the distance. Not following the road, but moving cross-country, headed in his direction. He could sense no vampires, so the steps had to be human. But... what sort of madness would bring a human out into the night, alone, with no lights?

He moved cautiously towards the sound, curious, but also a little wary. He was only just close enough to catch a glimpse of a humanoid figure wearing a pack and moving slowly but steadily across the desert, when the figure spoke. "I can smell you out there, vampire. I'm not human, my blood won't do you any good, so please just go on your way and save us both a lot of trouble."

The voice was female, a warm alto, but with a note of weary resignation in it. Despite what she had said, she sounded very human indeed, but as David came a little closer, he realized that the tantalizing scent of human blood was completely absent, and even at this distance, he ought to have been able to detect it.

"I'm not after human blood, ma'am," he said. "So you don't have to worry about me."

She laughed, and stopped, turning a bit to look at him. "I don't think I've ever been called 'ma'am' by a vampire before."

David blushed a bit. "My mother always taught me to be respectful. Just because I'm undead doesn't mean I should be rude."

"You're a rare one." She chuckled, and as she started walking forward again, she came close enough for David to make out color in the dim light. She was dressed in ordinary clothes, jeans and a plain white shirt, but her hair was an incredible, vivid orange, streaked through with red and gold.

He blinked in surprise. Although her face was lined enough that "girl" probably no longer applied, there was no mistaking her identity. "You're the orange-haired girl."

She stopped again and gave him a long look. Then she sighed. "And you must know Aidan then."

"Yes ma'am. He's helped me out a great deal. I consider him a friend."

"Aidan, friends with polite vampires. Amazing." There was a note of bitterness in her voice as she said it.

"Ma'am..." David trailed off, uncertain of how to say what he wanted to say and feeling rather awkward. "He said, once, that he'd done you a really great wrong, and I guess maybe you're still upset at him about it, but I'm pretty sure he's changed since then, and all he wants is to make it up to you somehow."

"Ha!" It was almost laughter, that short bark, but not a joyful sort of laughter. "Make it up to me! There's no way in all the worlds he could make up for what he did!"

David shook his head. "Maybe there isn't, ma'am, but... could you at least talk to him, give him a chance to try? He owed me a tiny debt, one most people wouldn't even consider a debt at all, and he's done a lot to help me because of it. I guess he'd do pretty much anything at all to make up his debt to you. Honor is very important to him."

"Honor!" She shook her head, then sighed. "If honor is important to him, then maybe he has changed." She paused for a long time, then sighed again, a deep, weary sound. "I stopped fearing him many years ago. I suppose maybe I could try not hating him as well. All right, sir polite vampire. You've convinced me. I'll talk to him. I take it you know where I can find him?"

"Yes ma'am." David considered. He wasn't really that far from Aidan's cabin, but it would still take him a few hours to get there, and that was at a vampire's speed. At the slow pace of the obviously tired woman, the sun would be up long before they arrived. "Uhm. It's still a good ways off, ma'am, and I don't think you could make it there before sunrise. Would it be all right if I carried you?"

She gave him a level look. "You do believe me when I say I'm not human? You wouldn't get any benefit from biting me, and I wouldn't be very pleased about it if you did. I may not be a vampire, but I've fought them before, and they didn't usually come off terribly well."

"Yes ma'am. I won't hurt you. I promise."

"Very well. I'm probably crazy, but... very well."

David picked her up very carefully, trying to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. She was shorter than he, but not by much, and was sturdily built. But her weight wasn't too much once he got it balanced, and a moment later he was running across the desert at nearly full speed. He couldn't help but wonder, as he carried her, exactly what she was. She was telling the truth when she said she wasn't human, her scent was utterly alien, strange and different. But she wasn't any sort of vampire either, he could hear breathing and a steady heartbeat. But what else was there in the world that could look so like a human and yet not be one?