Old Rossi breathed out hard enough his nostrils flared. “How many times do I have to tell you that if I wanted him dead, I would take a very direct action toward that goal?”
“Would any of your clan want him dead because you don’t trust him?”
“Possibly. But they would not act upon that desire without consulting me.”
“Would you know if someone had done it?”
“What do you mean?”
“How connected are you to the other vampires in the town? Can you read their minds? Can you see through their eyes? Hear through their ears?”
“Didn’t your father ever explain the blood bond of our kind?”
“Not in detail. I know you all have an...awareness of each other. You can read minds. Mortal minds and each other’s minds.”
He waited to see if I was going to add any details to that. “Really? That’s all?”
I shrugged. “We try to respect every creature’s privacy. There’s probably more in the books.”
“Which you haven’t read?” He shook his head.
“Yet. I’ll get to it. It’s been a slightly crappy year.”
He unhooked his hands and rubbed at his temples. “All right.” He hitched one hip on the back of the couch and leaned there. “Vampires mate.”
“I know that.”
He held up one finger for my silence. “Vampires mate. Mates can read each other’s minds, see through each other’s eyes, hear through each other’s ears. Vampires born as blood relations also have this ability with their genetic relation—so sisters or brothers, fathers or mothers.”
I didn’t tell him I understood the meaning of the word “relation.” He was talking. That’s what I needed.
“In general, we can communicate thought-to-thought, but seeing and hearing via another of our kind is not easily done. Sometimes lovers can make that connection. As the prime vampire, I can force a connection to any I accept as my family.”
“So you all have telepathy, but the sight and audio is more specific.”
“Yes.”
“Is it influenced by distance?”
“No. Although Ordinary has an amplification effect on those abilities.”
Interesting. I’d have to go back to that little tidbit later.
“So you’d know where any of your clan is, even if they’re outside Ordinary?”
“Of course.”
“Did you know Sven wasn’t in Ordinary when he was killed?”
He was silent. Still.
“No.”
“He was killed, then dragged to the shed out by Joe Boy’s.”
“And how do you know this?”
“Bertie.”
