The vampires glided easily over the moonlit clouds. There was no weather up here and, to Agnes’s surprise, no chill either.

“I thought you turned into bats!” she shouted to Vlad.

“Oh, we could if we wanted to,” he laughed. “But that’s a bit too melodramatic for Father. He says we should not conform to crass stereotypes.”

A girl glided alongside them. She looked rather like Lacrimosa; that is, she looked like someone who admired the way Lacrimosa looked and so had tried to look like her. I bet she’s not a natural brunette, said Perdita. And if I used that much mascara I’d at least try not to look like Harry the Happy Panda.

“This is Morbidia,” said Vlad. “Although she’s been calling herself Tracy lately, to be cool. Mor—Tracy, this is Agnes.”

“What a good name!” said Morbidia. “How clever of you to come up with it! Vlad, everyone wants to stop off at Escrow. Can we?”

“It’s my real—” Agnes began, but her words were carried away on the wind.

“I thought we were going to the castle,” said Vlad.

“Yes, but some of us haven’t fed for days and that old woman was hardly even a snack and the Count won’t allow us to feed in Lancre yet and he says it’ll be all right and it’s not much out of our way.”

“Oh. Well, if Father says…”

Morbidia swooped away.

“We haven’t been to Escrow for weeks,” said Vlad. “It’s a pleasant little town.”

“You’re going to feed there?” said Agnes.

“It’s not what you think.”

“You don’t know what I think.”

“I can guess, though.” He smiled at her. “I wonder if Father said yes because he wants you to see? It’s so easy to be frightened of what you don’t know. And then, perhaps, you could be a sort of ambassador. You could tell Lancre what life under the Magpyrs is really like.”

“People being dragged out of their beds, blood on the walls, that sort of thing?”

“There you go again, Agnes. It’s most unfair. Once people find out you’re a vampire they act as if you’re some kind of monster.”

They curved gently through the night air.

“Father’s rather proud of his work in Escrow,” said Vlad. “I think you’ll be impressed. And then perhaps I could dare hope—”

“No.”

“I’m really being rather understanding about this, Agnes.”

“You attacked Granny Weatherwax! You bit her.”

“Symbolically. To welcome her into the family.”

“Oh really? Oh, that makes it all better, does it? And she’ll be a vampire?”

“Certainly. A good one, I suspect. But that’s only horrifying if you think being a vampire is a bad thing. We don’t. You’ll come to see that we’re right, in time,” said Vlad. “Yes, Escrow would be good for you. For us. We shall see what can be done…”

Agnes stared.

He does smile nicely… He’s a vampire! All right, but apart from that— Oh, apart from that, eh? Nanny would tell you to make the most of it. That might work for Nanny, but can you imagine kissing that? Yes, I can. I will admit, he does smile nicely, and he looks good in those waistcoats, but look at what he is—Do you notice? Notice what? There’s something different about him. He’s just trying to get around us, that’s all. No…there’s something…new…

“Father says Escrow is a model community,” said Vlad. “It shows what happens if ancient enmity is put aside and humans and vampires learn to live in peace. Yes. It’s not far now. Escrow is the future.”