Page 38
“Well, what about—”
“Adam, vampirism originated from the Black Death, which happened in Europe. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, there were no vampires outside of Europe until European vampires started travelling and made them. Do you know how long it took by ship to get to Australia from Europe back then? Vampires didn’t like travelling by ship for months on end, so they weren’t coming to this part of the world. There were no indigenous vampires in the region who wanted the job—most of them didn’t even want to be vampires—and even if there had been, they likely wouldn’t have had the strength to stand against the troublemakers.”
“Oh.” It still seems gross to me, but I guess there might be context.
Dad continues, “Tristan had been working for the Council for decades, and he had a reputation for ruthlessness that they thought would be necessary here.”
Tristan? Ruthless? He’s so soft-spoken and genteel in his ridiculously tailored suits. Although he did seem pretty ruthless when he was throwing Geoffrey against several walls.
Speaking of… “Tristan had a meeting the other day with two vampires, and it didn’t go well. What are the chances that you could tell me about them?”
They exchange a glance. “It depends,” Dad says slowly. “We don’t know every vampire in Australia. Especially the ones here in Melbourne, since we’ve made an effort to stay out of the community.”
“You should stay out of Tristan’s business,” Mum tacks on. “Don’t get involved in anything you don’t have to.”
Yeahhhh… might be a bit late for that. “But if I tell you their names and you recognise them, can you tell me about them?”
“It’s too much to hope that you’d ever learn to listen, isn’t it?” Mum says sarcastically. “Fine. Who were they?”
“One was called Geoffrey—”
“Geoffrey?” Dad interrupts, surprised. “What did he look like?”
Huh. I guess I was so busy concentrating on the fragments of wall and Tristan’s epic strength that I didn’t pay that much attention to the man he was beating up. “Uh, brown hair. Kind of mousey? He was about my height.” I think. It was hard to tell with him dangling in the air. “He looked like he was my age too.” Though that doesn’t mean anything, with the whole not-aging thing.
They exchange another glance. “That sounds like him,” Mum murmurs, and Dad nods.
“Like who?” Seriously, they’re gonna be cryptic now?
“The newest vampire. The one who was made when you were little.”
Chapter 19
“What? That happened here? Not in Europe somewhere?”
“It happened here,” Mum confirms. “From what we read on the Dish—”
“Hold on, sorry, wait. You mentioned that before but didn’t say what it is.”
“What? The Dish?”
“Yeah. What the hell is it?”
“You need to be on there,” Dad says. “Cat can probably get you set up with the family account, but in the meantime, I’ll give you my login to use.”
“Great, thanks, but what is it?”
“It’s an online forum for feeders and other humans who know about vampires. Some vampires are on there, too, but they mostly stick to their own boards. Your father and I used it to keep on top of all the news after we left.”
My mouth is hanging open. A motherfucking forum? Like a vampire Reddit? That would have been a fucking goldmine for me these past few days. Cat and I are gonna have words. “That would be great. Please and thank you.”
Dad stands and heads for the door, saying over his shoulder, “I’ll get the laptop and show you before you go.”
I turn back to Mum. “What did you read on the Dish about Geoffrey?” I mentally cross my fingers that it’s something that will give me insight into what happened the other day.
“It wasn’t nice,” she says, shaking her head, and that doesn’t surprise me. The guy must be a real wanker to have pissed Tristan off like that. “The regent tried to keep most of the details under wraps, but it was too juicy not to leak. There was a group of vampires, maybe a dozen, most of whom had been here before Tristan was appointed and weren’t happy with the changes he’d made. They—”
“Sorry, quick tangent. What changes did he make?”
