Beast stalked close and sniffed Bruiser, flehmen response, strong sucking sound, pulling air over tongue and over scent sacs in top of mouth. Bruiser smelled like Bruiser, not like stick. “Do you want a keyboard to talk to me?”
Beast shook head no. Padded around Leo’s old bedroom. Leo’s closet. Leo’s bathroom. Smelling for magic Leo left behind. Smelled nothing magic. Searched walls and floor with nose and paws. Beast found no hidden spaces for magic thing. Went to door. Waited.
“Do you want me to follow you?” Bruiser asked. Beast shook head no again and put paw on Wrassler leg.
“You wantmeto come?”
Beast nodded and left room, Wrassler following. Big blood-servant smelled of confusion. Was good. Cats must always confuse humans. Confusion was why humans loved cats.
Beast went to small cage called ele-va-tor. Raised up on hind legs and pushed button for down. When elevator came, Beast padded inside and turned puma eyes to big man. Waited. Wrassler got in elevator and put card in special slot to make elevator go. Beast pushed button for subbasement four. Beast knows numbers one, two, three, four, five, and more than five. Is enough numbers. Elevator dropped to sub-four. Beast walked out of small cage and to partially hidden scion room, place where vampires who were not old enough to be sane were kept hidden away. Jane did not keep scions here. Kept prisoners here.
Wrassler opened door. Beast walked in. Walked to cage for Onorio Monique Giovanni. Jane was silent in brain. Watching. Beast pressed nose to cage. Breathed. Listened. Onorio did not smell alive. Did not smell dead either. Onorio heart beat once, pulse in neck moving. Onorio took one very slow, shallow breath. Did not breathe again. Onorio was not dead.
I remember another creature who just freaking wouldnotdie,Jane thought.I finally beheaded her. Leo was right. I’ll need to take this one’s head too. But... maybe I’ll try to read her first.
Beast ate vampires. Good strong vampire blood. Beast hungers. Could eat Onorio.
Let’s hold off on eating people and go visit Deon in the kitchen. I’ll bet he’ll give you some steak or salmon.
Beast likes Deon.
You like anyone who feeds you, gives you rides in cars, or gives you catnip.
Yes.
***
After Beast and I ate, Beast told me about Leo. I was still getting used to the idea that he was alive and relatively sane for a thrice-born, twice-risen, and trying to process what it all meant.
When Beast found Leo on levee, vampire did not smellsame,Beast thought. Always smelled dead. Now smells different. Smells much like Monique, but with blood and burned paper and burned flowers. Is not same dead smell but is close to same dead smell.Beast gave a mental equivalent of a cat shrug.But still is dead.
Does anyone else know?
Beast cannot talk human talk. Humans are too stupid to speak / hear cat talk.
Beast scratched on a door, and I paid attention to our surroundings. Wrassler opened the door, and Beast walked in, stopped, and barred the way from Wrassler. The big man stopped and backed out, closing the door.And we’re in Leo’s old office, why?
We hunt for magic thing Leo hid here.
We walked down the small hallway into Leo’s office. The office was different. There were no more rugs, no draperies, no tapestries hanging on the walls. The drinking/dinner/sex couches were gone. The low table that Leo had used for tea and drinks was gone, as were all the chairs. It was even more barren than Leo’s near-empty bedroom. His desk was still there, the pretty, carved, elegant table desk. The armoire behind the desk was still there, doors shut.
So what are we looking for?I asked
Magic thing. Leo hid it here.
I thought about making suggestions, but Beast was intent—in hunting mode. I had been present when she hunted prey, but this felt different. This felt almost logical, rational. Fascinated, I sat back in our shared mind and watched.
Beast started back at the door, sniffing the walls, beginning at the floor and stretching as high as she could reach, standing up on her hind legs. Wrassler’s scent moved faintly beneath the door. Guarding. Watching.
Beast moved on. She stopped at the once-hidden opening to the next office and the once-secret elevator there. No one had passed to or from the empty room. There were no fresh scents at that entrance. She moved on to the far wall. There was nothing except various weak scents from fast-moving blood-servants who removed the tapestries and therugs. Then the scent of blood-servants having sex against the wall.
Ick,I thought.
Mating. Not ick. Mating is good. Mating was between strong blood-servants.
Ick,I repeated.
Beast didn’t reply, just kept working the room.Have scent,Beast thought.
