Daisy’s still back there, and that man’s standing closer to her now. Their trek takes them to San Francisco at the height of the storied Summer Of Love, where they encounter other pilgrims just as vulnerable as they once were: When disaster strikes, Lucy and Bee must flee Los Angeles and go in search of the last person they want to see, in order to stop even worse from happening.

Bee, once known as Bertha, is finally free after burning down Thornfield Hall, even though Edward’s voice on the wind constantly taunts her, seeking her out and promising her they’ll meet again. His monstrosity is of an entirely different kind, one that collects young women and puts them on display, then locks them up when they fail to meet his standards. Her closest friend and kindred spirit is Bee, another woman forced into immortality by the depravity of a man she thought she loved, and whom she thought loved her in return. Forced to flee England after the Blitz, she’s spent decades keeping his ashes from reconstituting themselves-thereby preventing him from terrorizing other innocent people-and has cynically watched as his story has grown increasingly romanticized with time and popular media. Now she’s a vampire herself, and the vigilant guardian of Dracula’s remains. Everything about me is a disguise.įor Lucy, pretty Lucy, was once known as Lucy Westenra, the beautiful young socialite who made the mistake of believing that a certain Transylvanian count was little different from the other men who courted her and promised her everything. Never mind the dirt beneath her fingernails and the teeth that sharpen if you catch her on a bad night. When he looks at me, he sees what everyone else does: a perfectly fine young lady, red curls in her hair, red rouge on her cheeks. He’s seen more death in two years than I’ve seen in two lifetimes. His grandson’s been at war, an ugly war, even uglier than most. Lucy has no interest in meeting young Michael but doesn’t know how to politely tell kind old Walter that without revealing the entire truth of herself: Munroe’s itself is a dying business, run by the cheerful Walter, who wants to introduce Lucy to the grandson who’s just getting home from the Vietnam War. Hidden away in the crumbling stone home they purchased with almost the last of their money, they spend their days in hiding and their nights at Munroe’s Drive-In, watching movies with the volume cranked up high in order to drown out the voices of the men who are still searching for them, decades after our heroines were reduced to mere afterthoughts in their own stories. Lucy and Bee have been on the run for so long, and hope perhaps in vain that 1967 Los Angeles will finally provide the respite they’ve been looking for.

Reluctant immortals