Melissande shifted gears as the car started climbing into a mountainous region. "Saer believes that Damian is being held as bait in order to trap him."

"That makes sense. Hold the kid, and make daddy dance to your tune. So why does Asmodeus have it in for Saer?"

"Saer believes that it's not actually Asmodeus who wants him destroyed. That honor, he believes, belongs to Adrian."

"Who's Adrian when he's at home?"

She glanced at me.

"Sorry, it's an Americanism. You haven't hung out around the States much, have you?"

"I like Los Angeles," she said. "Such interesting people. And excellent shops. Adrian is…"

I raised my eyebrows as a number of interesting expressions flitted over her face.

"He is the Betrayer," she said finally, not looking at me. "He is a Dark One who has turned over a number of our people to Asmodeus."

"Turned over? What could a demon lord do to a vampire who was already damned?"

She shuddered. "You do not want to know the answer to that."

The horror in her voice confirmed her words. I rubbed the goose bumps on my arms. "OK, so there's this guy named Adrian who sells out his own kind, and he's got it in for Saer. Why?"

If I didn't know better, I'd say Melissande was avoiding something. Her reluctance to speak was pretty obvious. "Saer believed it has to do with a ring, an object of great power which the Betrayer is hunting for."

"A 'one ring to rule them all' kind of ring?" I asked, peering in the side mirror to see if any wizards on white horses were following us.

"Decidedly not Tolkien, no," Melissande answered. "Saer believed the ring was once held by Asmodeus, and thus the immortal world would be put at risk if the Betrayer obtained it."