Afterward, Jane cleans up and rides home, thinking over what she has learned about herself. Jane realizes that she has followed the path she chose because of being a skinwalker—a protector. This is why killing comes naturally to her. However, the duties of a skinwalker do not mesh well with the Christian rules ingrained in her, causing her distress and guilt. Jane feels as though this understanding about herself gives her the chance to choose what she will do with her life, how she will handle problems.
Arriving at the house, Jane smells grilling steaks, as well as her housemates and Bruiser. After changing, Jane confronts Bruiser, who tries to apologize and explain that he was under compulsion, and even though he was beaten up for attacking Leo after she left, Jane is not ready to accept his apology. Bruiser also says that after seeing Jane’s report and remembering problems with an old Spanish Mithran who goes by his last name, de Allyon, in the past, Leo knew he needed Jane. Calling him George rather than his nickname, Jane tells him to leave.
Eli and Jane discuss the connections between de Allyon and Blood-Call, how it may have been the way some were infected. Jane calls the Seattle clan home and finds out that the sick humans were cured. Early in the morning Jane gets a call from Bruiser, reporting that de Allyon has declared a blood-feud with Leo, which predates the Vampira Carta and is not subject to the rules of a Blood Challenge. De Allyon claims he can do this because Jane killed his Enforcer unprovoked, and when she takes issue with that, bringing up some of the points Aggie made, Leo says they have no evidence of that, other than a police report that they do accept as valid in Mithran affairs. The blood-feud also means that everyone on the one side may be killed, so it becomes clear to Jane why Leo bound her when he did. After she gets off the phone, Jane finds Eli in her room, saying there is a man across the street watching them. Jane says she knows, but she doesn’t seem to care, more bothered by the slight attraction she and Eli seem to have for each other. Bruiser calls again and says that one of the captured vamps being kept at Katie’s has been healed by Sabina, wants to join with Leo, and they need Jane to go talk to him to find out de Allyon’s plans.
Free Dick Dot Com: Jane finds Callan, the vamp, over at Katie’s Ladies, and learns from him that de Allyon had one woman that he had people fed from, but he never let her out of his sight. Realizing that she won’t get much more out of the guy, Jane leaves. At home, Jane looks up the Vampira Carta, and thanks to a translation program Eli tells her about, she can read the codicils that are in Latin. The Blood Challenge was developed in response to a terrible blood-feud that resulted in the deaths of two thousand humans and vampires in the tenth century. Alex tells Jane he has found records of some property recently purchased by de Allyon. Jane and Eli have a discussion about Alex, in which Jane tells him that he needs to show his appreciation for his younger brother rather than just always bossing him around.
Later that evening, Alex tells Jane and Eli that he has figured out how de Allyon is indeed using Blood-Call to infect the other vamps. After hearing his explanation, Jane calls a meeting at Katie’s with a group of vamps and humans. Alex explains that a virologist at Greyson Labs contracted a rare strain of Ebola, and two weeks later de Allyon bought the lab, the woman also vanishing. A few years earlier, one of de Allyon’s other labs had found a chemo drug that worked with a deactivated virus, and Alex believes that one of the scientists discovered that the drug gave vampires a high, and then soon after realized that it could be combined with the Ebola strain. The vampires end up craving the drug but also get sick. When humans are infected, they eventually develop antibodies, so they get better, as do the vamps who continue to feed from them. In answer to a question from Grégoire, Alex says that most of the humans at Blood-Call are healthy, and that the cities are specifically targeted. Jane asks who in Asheville used Blood-Call, and Leo says there will be an investigation.
Vampires Are Like Boars. And Kits: Jane gets a call from Derek, telling her that Sabina is sick, but none of his men want to drive Bethany (who is unbalanced) over to heal the vamp priestess. Bruiser says he will handle the situation, and also tells Jane not to feel guilt over the Enforcer she killed and the resulting chaos. If Grégoire’s men, the blood twins Brandon and Brian, had known the man’s status or had known how badly he was injured, they would have healed him. Jane, vacillating between wanting to kiss Bruiser and wanting to punch him, notices physical changes in him, as he looks ten years younger.
When Jane leaves, she heads out to the woods to shift, needing the simplicity and clarity time as Beast typically brings. Beast is excited at the prospect of killing and eating the wild boar she spots, though Jane is less than enthusiastic. Beast prevails and afterward tells Jane that vampires are like boars and kits—the bad ones need to be killed, and the good ones need Jane’s help. Beast also says that the leash on Jane from Leo is not on her, and she can break it for Jane, taking a swipe at it. When she reemerges, Jane can tell that the binding has lessened considerably.
A call from Reach wakes Jane, and he tells her that the Kid (nickname for Alex) has discovered the identity of the mole and in about two hours will tell her. Jane falls back asleep, and pretty much right on cue Alex knocks on her door and gives her a name—Joran Stevens, or as they call him in the unit, Angel Tit. He was approached in a Special Forces chat room to get some information about Leo’s blood-servants in exchange for some cash to provide a lawyer for one of his sisters. At first, the information he was asked for was not secret, but then became increasingly sensitive, and the former marine was in so deep he couldn’t get out. Surprised and disappointed that the traitor in their midst isn’t a vamp, Jane nonetheless contacts Derek that they need to talk. When Derek arrives at her house, Jane gives him the news, providing the e-mail paper trail that Alex provided. Jane wants to use Angel Tit as a way to get to de Allyon, but agrees to allow Derek to get his shot at the man first. Derek brings the slightly beaten up Angel Tit over to Jane’s and with Alex works up a plan to draw out the go-between, and a meet is set up.
Landed on a Limo Floor: Before they leave to meet the handler, Jane calls Jodi Richoux at NOPD to tell her that she will have a “package” for her shortly, filling the cop in on the potential vamp war. Jane stays in the van during the meet, and the person who shows is not what anyone expects—a small five-foot woman. Derek and Angel have no trouble securing her, and when she is brought to the van, a search of her purse turns up a gun built into the structure of the bag, identifying her as a hit woman. Upon interrogating her, the group learns that two days ago she was contacted about three targets: Jane, Bruiser, and a floater. Since the woman had Katie’s address, Jane and Eli silently agree that they need to move the vamps from that location, and drop the woman—literally—in front of NOPD.
When she and Eli get back to the house, Alex informs them he thinks he has found de Allyon—in Natchez, about an hour from New Orleans, in the territory of the latest vamp-master to get sick, Hieronymus. Jane, Eli, Alex, Wrassler, and Bruiser borrow Grégoire’s new heavily armored (according to Jane’s recommendation) limo to go and check out the property. Wrassler thinks it odd that Reach didn’t know, or report, that de Allyon is there, but Jane doesn’t think he is the other leak that they may have, given that he could have taken down the organization long ago if he were. After scouting the building owned by de Allyon, the group arrives at the bed-and-breakfast they have rented out, owned by Esmee, an older woman who expresses delight at meeting Bruiser, seeing as how he knew Reagan. Despite Eli’s concerns about how difficult the place will be to secure, Jane picks a room and takes a nap, waking to gunfire.