When Ashikawa's goons fail to recover the girl and her son, he sends his vampire servant Kage. Kage almost kills Alek, but in the end is severely wounded and forced to flee.
Sending Robyn to safety at Covenhouse, Alek confronts Ashikawa hoping to convince him to give Robyn her freedom. Instead he is attacked by another servant of the Dragon Lord, Kurayami, a mist vampire, who imprisons Alek within herself, slowly absorbing his energy and his life. Before Robyn can reach the safety of Covenhouse, Kage finds her and Danny and returns them to Ashikawa.
Debra, Alek's dead twin, linked to him from the other side of the Web, saves him from Kurayami. When Alek escapes Kurayami's clutches, Ashikawa orders Kage to protect Danny. When Kage demands to stay and protect his master, Ashikawa tells him that Danny, who is actually Ashikawa's son, is now his master, transferring the vampire's blind allegiance to the boy. Ashikawa remains to face Alek and almost defeats him when Alek is weakened by the pain of his hunger and need. Ashikawa offers him the honorable chance to leave, but without Robyn and Danny, Alek refuses. Another trick of Debra's allows Alek to escape.
Alek rescues Robyn, and they follow Kage and Danny into the abandoned subway tunnels, where Alek saves Danny when a tunnel collapses. Robyn attacks Kage with an iron railroad spike and he falls into a chasm where rats swarm to devour his flesh. Alek's attitude changes when Alek learns that Robyn is actually Ashikawa's wife and Danny his son and that Kage, rather than being a threat to Danny, is his protector, but he is still determined to help Robyn gain her freedom.
Back at Covenhouse, Robyn, who has convinced herself that she loves Alek, tries to seduce him. Desperate to protect her from his ravenous hunger, Alek rejects her. Memories of her abused childhood and her hatred and fear of men drive Robyn to strike at Alek, stabbing him with the iron spike. Mortally wounded, Alek lays helpless, until Kage arrives, looking like a demon from hell,
