Rain pattered against the glass phone booth. It sounded like thousands of fingers drumming lightly on a black grand piano. A man with auburn hair slipped two quarters into the hungry telephone, punching the numbers as gently as those many pianists.

It rang twice, and then clicked.

"Hello?" A female voice called, casual and gentle, not at all suspicious.

The man smiled, and would've cried from relief if he didn't have to answer her. "May."

He heard her jump on the other side of the line, in that bright world he couldn't touch, that free world where she no longer had to fight to live. The easy, peaceful world, where people like him didn't exist.

Painful, pregnant seconds passed before she said anything else.

"Darius," she trembled, and he pictured her beautiful, pale lips shaking each letter off. "I told you I didn't ever want to hear from you again."

"I know, but this is important," he insisted, resting his arm against the phone stand. "My daughter's about to be born, and since our granddaught—Elle's baby miscarried…well, I know this is a terrible thing to ask you, but—"

"You want me to take her in?" May interrupted, growing hostile. "How the hell did you even hear about that baby?"

"Lisa called and told me," Darius confessed. "I know Elle must be very upset right now, but I don't know what else I should do. I want my girl to grow up with her own family."

"Give her to Lisa, then."

"Lisa's in her sixties, same as Allen. They can't take care of a baby."

"Your kind of baby, anyway."

"Don't say that, May."

"Why not? It's true. They'd be dead within a week, wouldn't they?"

He swallowed, clenching his fists. "That's why I want Elle and her husband to raise her."

"Who's the mother? Or, should I say, the bitch?" She demanded, bitingly.

"We're not dogs, and it's Lana, the Eden Court's empress. My daughter will be an ambassador like me."

He listened to May suck in her breath. "An ambassador?"

"I wouldn't leave a wild animal with you."

"Despite everything, huh?" She commented wryly. "Do you love that empress?"

"No. She owed me a favor."

"That's just like you people, to pay each other off with progeny."

"You know it's different for us," Darius sighed. "So, will you think about it?"

Silence from May. Aching, biting silence. The sound of the rain, deafening by comparison, nearly drove him mad. "Yeah. Come here with Lana, and talk to Elle in person. When is the baby going to be born, or 'hatched,' or whatever you people do?"

He laughed weakly. "She'll be born as soon as Lana finds the right first meal."

"Don't say that. You're killing some innocent little kid for this."

"I can't help that."

"Your daughter is going to kill some healthy, innocent little baby seconds after being born. You can't help that?"

"If we use a sick baby, my daughter will die," he snapped. "I know you're angry with me, and I know how you feel about most of my kind, but please don't condemn me for wanting my child to live a happy life with her own flesh and blood."

"She'll be Elle's great-aunt, won't she?" May observed, sighing. "Elle's just going to love this."

"How will her husband take it?"

"Not well, but if you can convince Elle, he'll get over it."

"He won't try to hurt my daughter, will he?" Darius clenched his jaw, skin tingling.

"No, he won't," May's voice assured him, simply by remaining untainted by his momentary intensity. "Elle's got that poor boy wrapped around her fingers."

He laughed. "She definitely learned that from you."

"Probably, but you can be pretty tenacious yourself, sweetie," she laughed, but her voice froze after they both realized what she'd called him.

Darius sucked in his breath, as if punched. His chest even stung, and he paused. "I miss you."

"I know, but I'll be dead well before this century is over. We had fun, and I did love you, but it's time to let go," she sighed, adding, "This is how everyone always said it would be, anyway. Don't be such a baby."

The phone nearly slipped out of his hands. "When did you kill her?"

"'Her'?" She repeated, stammering. "Didn't Allen or Lisa tell you about this, at least?"

Darius stared at the phone desperately, his throat tightening up in terror. "No, they didn't tell me! When did this happen?"

"Four years ago, I went to Brazil, and found her on the bus. I killed her, and now I'm free. Don't act so surprised. To hunters, you people are our curses. We share your lifespan, and your strength, and can't ever be free from it until one of us dies," She pumped strength into her voice. He knew that sound of fake confidence even over the phone. "We're dragged into your world against our will. I'm glad I'm free. I couldn't even handle watching my own children growing old, and I was terrified of staying younger than my granddaughter…. You probably think it's stupid."

"It's not stupid," Darius said at length. "I knew you were scared."

"You're not, though. You were never afraid of anything, except your own appetite," she laughed coldly.

"That's not funny," Darius exhaled. "I never once hurt our kids."

"No, but you hurt someone else's kid," May muttered. "Where are you and 'Lana' right now, anyway?"

"We're in Fairfax, looking at the hospitals."

"Elle and Nathan are at the Inova. I'll drive over, and we'll all talk there, but not about this stuff between you and me," she stated. "I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Four years, huh?"

He heard her pause mid-motion, and he wondered what he'd stopped her from completing. "Yeah, four years. I haven't gotten too old-looking yet, but I did find a gray hair."

"Are you happy?"

Another pause, and then, her sweet, gentle laughter. "Yeah, I'm happy."

"I'm glad," se smiled, but it hurt his mouth. "See you soon, May."

"See you soon, Darius."

He hung up the payphone and walked back to the rental car. Lana stroked her flat stomach absent-mindedly, not even glancing at him when he started the car and drove toward the hospital.