Theodore the werewolf takes S&J &P&D through the Umbra, where they see a very interesting structure extending in theme and space. They pause to investigate, and discover fascinating things, like the waves that swept the earth and killed the vampire generations, which all somehow originate from an orbiting undead satellite, composed of a pyramid of vampire ninjas.

Turning, reluctantly, back to their original destination, they arrive in Karella, India, where their way to the Burzmali office is blocked by a group of soldiers busy beating up on some poor old guy. Smith sorts this out, making the captain pay the beatee and take the platoon out of there. Magenta calms the P&D contingent by feeding them her blood (P is a greedy sod), and Theodore quietly slips away.

Also, checking the local time, they discover that an entire week has passed since they entered the Umbra. The 11th generation have already died, and Magenta has about one more night to live. Some frantic phone calls (to Seth's grand-sire) confirm this.

They finally cross the street and enter the small Burzmali office, where there is a little old Indian clerk and his paralyzed, wheelchair-bound son. He knows nothing. sudo - no, he really knows nothing. People come, they go in through the door in the back, they leave. He has no idea what's in the back.

But when Smith binds the man to his will, the man's son who for years has been bound to his chair catatonic, suddenly wakes up and tells Smith to go to a mountain in Gloconda, phrasing fluently in an obscure Jamaican dialect, no less. This is obviously a message planted by someone with fearsome dominate and a macabre sense of humor.

Magenta scans the back door, but it is masked. She forces it, and it booby-traps in her face, obliterating what was apparently a small service closet full of clues or just brooms. All gone now.

They rent motorbikes and ride to Gloconda. There's a movie set in town, so Smith refreshes himself. Magenta finds that the gossip columnists hovering around are not worth her time. However, she finds an obfuscated mountain, which Smith knows how to climb.

They climb the mountain, to an edifice - or natural formation - shaped like an eagle. They go through a cleft, hear some goons discussing Jyhad, slip past them and stumble into a trap.

Bars pop out of the floor/ceiling and block the passage both ahead and behind them; Then from the side come a bunch of Ninjas, and the sun is going to rise any minute now…