“I never participated in the raids my family conducted.” Lucien’s upper lip twitched in disgust. “If you were to come to my home for dinner, you wouldn’t find a shifter in attendance, but that doesn’t mean I want your pelts decorating my floors.”
“Is that just a super fancy way of telling me you aren’t as big a dick as you could be?” Trevor replied.
“Be polite,” Holly murmured.
“At least one of you has decent manners.” Lucien took a slow sip from his teacup. “Milk and sugar? For your tea, of course. It’s normal.”
“Milk, please,” Holly said.
Lucien poured a small amount of milk into one of the teacups and passed it to her.
“Thank you.” She took a sip. It tasted perfect. “Can I ask you a question?”
“I imagine you have several.”
“How did you get into town? There’s a magic barrier we can’t get through.”
“I sensed no barrier,” Lucien replied. “Although, most magical barriers don’t stop vampires. The basic formula for barrier spells usually requires some kind of life detection component. I am not alive. Not technically, anyway.”
“So, you can’t tell us how to get through.” Holly’s shoulders slumped.
“I’m afraid not,” Lucien replied.
“Then, why are you here?” Trevor demanded.
“As I said, I believe you’re being hunted. I want to help you.”
“Why? What’s in it for you?” Trevor asked.
Holly took Trevor’s hand and gave it a warning squeeze.
“It’s a fair question.” Lucien laughed softly. “Please understand that if I tell you what I know, I’m putting a great deal of trust in you. If that trust is betrayed, I can’t promise I’ll continue to be this civil.”
“Understood.” Holly nodded. “Please, tell us what you know.”
“Two weeks ago, my wife vanished,” Lucien said.
“Your wife?” Holly repeated. She wasn’t expecting the vampire to have a wife. It sounded so…normal.
“Her name is Celeste.” Lucien smiled softly. “We’ve been married for one hundred and seventy-three years.”
Holly felt her expression soften. “It must be wonderful to have so much time,” she said.
“Time is a double-edged sword, my dear,” Lucien said. “It’s a curse if one has to spend all of that time alone. Luckily, I was spared that fate.”
“Is it possible she wanted some alone time after a century of marriage?” Trevor said.
Holly frowned up at him.
“I don’t mean anything by it.” Trevor put his hands up. “But it’s worth asking.”
“Celeste and I occasionally take vacations from each other,” Lucien said. “However, we always discuss it first. She’d never disappear without saying anything.”
“Do you think she’s the one hunting us?” Holly asked.
“Celeste? Oh, goodness, no.” Lucien chuckled. “She’s a pacifist. She won’t even kill a spider.”
“Then what does that have to do with us?” Trevor asked.
“Celeste is unique. Like all vampires, she was made. Not born. Sometimes, during the…transition, unexpected side effects pop up.”
“Side effects?” Holly frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Normally, a vampire might develop a single gift. I, for example, can travel through shadows.”
“Excuse me?” Holly’s brows shot up.
A mischievous smile spread across Lucien’s pale lips. “Would you like me to show you?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
Lucien set down his cup and stood up. He walked straight toward the wall, where the shadows grew deeper. In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
“See?”
Holly twisted in her chair to see Lucien standing on the opposite side of the room. She looked up at Trevor.
“You have to admit, that’s pretty cool,” she said.
“I’ve seen cooler.”
“It’s a parlor trick,” Lucien said. “I have little use for that ability in my day to day life. Celeste, on the other hand, is a special case.”
“What can she do?”
“Celeste was born human, as all vampires are. However, she spent many of her human years studying magic and the magical sciences.”
“There are magical sciences?”
“Magic and science are one and the same, more often than not.” Lucien smiled. “Didn’t one of your renown human authors suggest similar sentiments.”
“Arthur C. Clarke.” Holly smiled.
“Charming fellow. I’d always hoped he’d become one of us, but he didn’t.”
“You met him?”
“Is this related to your wife?” Trevor cut in.
“Right,” Holly said. “I’m sorry, Lucien. Please, tell us about your wife.”
“Celeste has three gifts, more gifts than any vampire has ever had. She possesses the gift of telepathy, the gift of necromancy, and the gift of foresight.”
“Like Pearl,” Holly said.
“I’m sorry?” Lucien offered her a confused smile.
“My grandmother. She had the gift of foresight, too. I don’t think I inherited it.”
“Celeste always says it was the least favorite of her gifts,” Lucien said. “She says it takes the mystery out of life.”
“If your wife can do all of those things, she has to be one of the most powerful beings in the country. Maybe even the world.”
“Exactly,” Lucien said. “Others have come after her before. We’ve always been able to handle it.”
“What changed before her disappearance?” Trevor asked. “Did anyone come to your home? A new friend, maybe?”
“Someone’s an eager beaver now.” Holly smirked.
“A what?” Lucien furrowed his brow.
“She’s just a smartass,” Trevor said. “You’ll get used to it. She’s never this polite.”
“And you are?” Holly barked out a laugh. “Go on, Lucien. Please.”
Lucien glanced between Holly and Trevor before taking another sip from his cup.
“No new acquaintances. We keep to ourselves. The only difference that comes to mind was a shift.”
“A shift?”
“In the balance of the world,” Lucien explained. “When you get to be as old as we are, you become sensitive to all sorts of things. There was a shift. Once I heard about the shifter battle in Silver Spruce, I realized what that shift was.”
“What was it?” Holly leaned
