Both Vlad and Cadmael looked thoughtful, considering.
“In fact,” I added, “we can set it up that way. Make it look like the ravings of a nutjob. Lame graphics. A black background with red font so bright it makes your eyes water. It’ll be too embarrassingly bad to be real.”
Vlad nodded slowly. “It won’t change the minds of the zealots, but it might sway those who are unsure.”
“In the meantime,” Cadmael said, “we need to keep those three from destroying the Guild.”
Is Sebastian still in the hall?
I checked. Yep.
Clive rested his palm on the door. “Sebastian is outside. We shouldn’t all go out at once.”
Vlad gave Clive an appraising look and then said, “Wait here. I’ll lead him away.” With one more wary glance at Clive, Vlad went through the door.
Nice! Now Vlad isn’t sure what other gifts you might have, I said to him.
It doesn’t pay to be boring or predictable.
At least not around vamps. Can we eat now? I’m starving.
You tell me, Clive said. Have they gone?
I checked. No vamps. “Let’s go,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Show me where the kitchen is.” Clive and I were ignoring Cadmael. He could come or go as he saw fit. I didn’t want to spend more time with him than was absolutely necessary.
How’s your throat? Clive asked.
Okay. He wasn’t trying to kill me. If he had been, I’d be dead. He hates wolves and really wanted me to shut up.
I’m sorry, he said. I’ve known Cadmael for centuries. I have no idea why he has such an issue with you.
I don’t want to think about him anymore. I just want to eat.
We slipped around the door and strode down the hall.
The kitchen is in the opposite wing. We were still speaking mind-to-mind. There was no point in letting anyone who might be listening know where we were going.
The men’s side? Dang. So far, I’d only dealt with female ghosts—I couldn’t believe I’d only now realized that. Men had been in this asylum too. I’d seen the two male attendants. Did they stick to their wing even in death?
As we walked across the white marble of the entry, I slowed. The ghosts I was already dealing with were bad enough. If the men hadn’t realized I was here, I didn’t want to announce it by walking through their wing. Of course, I did know how to get rid of them, assuming they understood Hungarian, or now Romanian.
Problem? Clive asked.
I sped up. No, just thinking. My stomach growled.
We turned down the hall into what used to be the men’s wing.
There are offices here for each of the Guild members, including a suite of rooms: sitting room, bedroom, bathroom, et cetera, Clive told me.
Vlad has rooms up here but stays in the basement?
Apparently, Clive responded. One would assume he finds face-gnawing ghosts and the stench of dead vermin preferable to living beside others of our kind.
I don’t know, I replied. He’s probably not wrong.
Clive opened the door to a large—and thankfully empty—kitchen. The cabinets were a country white, the appliances a smokey steel. White marble floors continued into this room, the counters a darker, gray-veined marble.
He pointed at a pantry door. “I found the protein bars in there.”
