One night, Josh is attacked and mauled by a mysterious assailant. Taking refuge at Adam's apartment before he dies, Josh begs Adam to make sure he is cremated within twenty-four hours, because vampires who die without cremation return as emotionless zombies. After Josh dies, Adam and Nicky are joined by other members of the vampire community at a wooded ceremonial plot outside of Santa Cruz. Malcolm, the oldest living vampire, and the greatest hunter-tracker among them, says only another vampire could have killed Josh, and that a unit of the Taveen, a sort of royal guard of the vampire race, is already investigating. He refuses to help, however, because he is no longer Taveen, and is done hunting vampires. An altercation ensues, and Adam strikes Malcolm, sending him flying through the trees, much to the shock of the crowd, who wonder how a month-old vampire could do this to one of the Ancient Ones. Malcolm says that Adam is "old blood", calling him "Tribe". Nicky is horrified at this, and the other vampires flee in terror.