“We both know that’s not true.” Adella insisted. “I’ve only
just arrived in Tenbrous, and your auction is the worst kept secret below
ground. I’m in need of live specimans, and those poor creatures on the block
out there won’t do. I have the cred, I just need to know when. Why are you so
coy?”
“Well Missus, one can’t be-“
“Doctor.” She correctly him firmly once again.
“Doctor, if you must.” He acknowledged. Then he leaned
forward, hands flat out on the counter. He inhaled, sampling the air between
them. It brought the image of a snake to Adella’s mind, and she took a step
back involuntarily. She was halfway to pulling her pistol free, when his eyes
narrowed. “Ah,” He spoke again. “But I know you, do I not?”
“I…” The realization that he’d just processed her scent
struck her speechless a moment. “I can’t think how.”
But she had been here. How could she have failed to remember
a vampire had been running this place? Had she simply not recognized the
creature back then? She straightened her spine and gave him a smile. “I was
here, years ago. I fear it was before your time.”
The return smile displayed his stark white fangs. Adella’s
heart hammered. Leslie would be angry if she allowed herself to be killed
because of a faulty memory.
“You were as much an oddity then as I am. A woman with that
pack of thug medical students. You didn’t notice me, because there iron bars
between us.” He move from behind the counter in a flash, to stand inches from
her. He reached out to trail a blacken fingernail down the side of her face,
scraping it over the crow’s feet at the corner of her eye. “You’re older now,
of course. Same brassy girl in there somewhere, though, I expect.”
A shudder wracked through her before she could stop it. She
pulled away from him. “This can’t be an effective way to do business.”
She insinuated the pistol between them, pressing
it to his chest. “I require information.
If you don’t have it, I’ll speak to your master
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