Blake gave Stephanie the once over, his gaze lingering on her shapely assets. “Excuse me for sayin’ lady, but you don’t look dead.”

“And you ain’t a vamp,” he said, showing her the Thai inscription on his left wrist. “Believe me: I’d know.”

“A vampire detecting tattoo? How novel,” she drawled, blowing plumes of smoke in Blake’s face. “No, not a vampire. I suppose you could describe me as a – “

“A lich.” Simon said, his eyes wide with the horror of his realization. “You performed the Vecna Incantatum, didn’t you?”

Stephanie smiled her ice cold smile. “You are as smart as I’ve heard.”

Blake looked confused. “A whatsit?”

“A lich, man,” Simon said, not taking his eyes off of Stephanie, busily scrawling a new glyph on his palm. “She performed one of the worst rituals from the Necronomicon and turned herself into an undead thing. How many babies did you kill to pull that off, you frakkin’ psycho!?”

“I had no choice,” Stephanie answered. “It was either this, or let something much worse go free.”