In Gebäude Drei, Hi extracted more liquid ammo from the palm in the maintenance department, where no one was around, and then from the one next door in his workplace. He found the Munitions door locked, and though Hi knocked, he was sure the Rottenführer was asleep in Gebäude Zwei. Hi would have to do without the Rottenführer's Dracaena. He doubted he could have extracted anything anyway had the officer been there. Though making a Müller-type deal with him might be easy, the Rottenführer, being the bootlicker he was, more likely would go straight to the Führer.

Hi was also concerned, as he left Gebäude Drei, about still having no gas masks for Eva and the Countess. Before the next sunrise they would both have to be off of the compound. There was no telling what the garlic powder--which Hi prayed was loaded and ready for takeoff at Canutama--would do to an unprotected vampire.

Hi headed for the Countess's next, via the Gebäude Ein rear door. If seen in Gebäude Ein by SS, Hi could only say he was tending the plants. As Hi explained to her the effect of Dracaena palm extract--D.P.E. or "dope," he now called it--the Countess watched him tap the dragon's blood from her Dracaena. "And to think," she said, "I kept one for years in my castle."

After telling the Countess to be sure she didn't touch any blood that night, and to get off of the compound before sunrise, Hi gave her a kiss on the cheek, and proceeded to Eva's quarters.

Hi and Eva embraced and kissed passionately. They had waited for this time alone for four months. Hi needed to tap that Dracaena, but Eva, pulling him toward her rosewood coffin, begged him to tap her first. Hi could never say no to her. They made love in the coffin, its gold handles rattling. If seen by SS, Hi could only say it was worth it. When they finished, Eva smoked a cigarette while Hi poked the plant with his instrument.

"Remember," Hi said, extracting, "no blood tonight."

"No blood," she said languidly.

"Be ready to get going, you and the Countess, about an hour before dawn."

Crushing out her cigarette in the Dracaena palm pot, Eva put her arms around Hi as he emptied the syringe into a vial. "Hi, please be careful tonight."

Hi was concerned. "I could use some more, Eva."

"You've got it. Let's get back in the coffin."

"No, I mean some more dragon's blood. What if I don't have enough? What if they just puke or get diarrhea?"

"We can't think about that. Let's get back in the coffin."

No, Hi was going to tap one more plant. And it wasn't just because he worried about having enough--though that justified taking the risk. If the dragon's blood worked, Hi wanted the irony and satisfaction of having at least one drop from Hitler's own plant, Neuanfang's prize palm.

"Let's hope the Führer's a sound sleeper," Hi said, putting the syringe back into his shirt.

"You're going to tap his?" Eva fearfully held onto him. "Hi, no! A Schütze is guarding his quarters."

"I'll have to get around him."

"What if he wakes up and catches you?"

"The Schütze?"

"Hitler, you galoot." She had picked up that slang word from a Randolph Scott western.

"If he wakes up, I guess we're kaput. Don't worry, I'll be on my toes. I'll think of something to say. Like what, I don't know."

They looked into each other's eyes. Hi loved her so much he could be tempted just to fly away with her now, if she tried to persuade him. But Hi had a job to do. And he didn't even know yet how to turn himself into a bat. He had been meaning to ask.

"Quick. How do I turn myself into a bat?"

She was unprepared for the question. "It's not easy to explain. It's like learning to ride a bicycle. You, uh--"

"Forget it, show me later." Hi took her in his arms. "Besides, if Hitler wakes up, could I fly off and leave you?"

"No, you couldn't," she informed him. "Vampires can't fly in the day."

"That's right, I forgot. Well, I wouldn't if I could."

They shared a long, gentle kiss. "No matter what happens," he said softly, "remember this . . ." He tried to think of something less trite than "I love you," but he couldn't spend much time on it. "I really dig you, Eva."

She knew that English slang too. They kissed again, as if for the last time.

"Oh Hi," she said, before letting him go. "You're the most."