them.”
The two vampires stared at one another, then the nest leader blinked. “Find them,” he ordered the female in red. She left without saying a word.
After tense minutes in which the leader and Andreas exchanged desultory comments on an upcoming vampire meeting and the rest of the group eyed them in silence, the female vamp returned, bringing two young men. The newcomers’ body language telegraphed their desire to be somewhere else, anywhere else. They kept their heads down and shuffled their feet.
“Reno and Lorenzo,” the woman announced and fell back into silence.
“You are friends of Marcus?” Andreas asked.
The boys glanced at each other and nodded, shuffled some more.
Ari nudged Andreas. “We need to talk with them alone.”
“No,” the leader replied, glowering at her.
She started to protest, but Andreas spoke first. “My friend, I understand your reluctance. We live in tense days. But you know me, and I give you my word, this will bring no injury to your nest. We wish only to find the missing men. We’ll finish our business and leave more rapidly if you allow some privacy.”
Scowling, the leader thought it over. In the end, he sent the guards back to the entrance and took the two women with him when he left. His parting shot, “You have ten minutes. Even you, Andreas, can’t expect more.”
Even you? Indicating he had some special privilege. She’d already figured that, but it was something more for her to think about at a later time.
Andreas spoke in her ear. “Your turn. Be quick.”
He stepped away, leaning against a wooden brace at the turn of the passage. Ari knew he could still hear every word. The young vamps would know it too, if they thought about it. But his actions gave them their own space and the illusion of privacy.
Ari studied the boys, teenagers. Nestlings really, transformed within the last year. Awkward and lanky, never to outgrow those uncertain years. She shrugged off a touch of sadness. “Which of you is Lorenzo?” The skinny kid with his dark brown hair cut in a butch waved a hand. “Then you must be Reno,” she said to the other.
Reno nodded, his eyes peeking out from a chocolate brown face.
She smiled to put them at ease. “Look, you’re not in trouble. We’re trying to find Marcus and Gordon, and we need your help. I was told you were with Marcus the night he disappeared. Is that true?”
“Earlier,” Lorenzo admitted. “Didn’t see anything happen to him. Honest.”
“That’s fine. Just tell me what you can.”
The boys looked at one another, clearly intimidated with the situation. Lorenzo shifted his feet and stared at the ground. Reno stood stiff as a board.
“Lorenzo, look at me.” Ari made it a gentle command. He was used to obeying orders. She added a little magical projection of empathy, and he slowly relaxed enough to give her a shy smile. “You could save your friend.”
“We weren’t supposed to be there,” he blurted. “Not in a bar. It’s not allowed for the first year.”
“I don’t care about that. Nobody’s going to care if we save Marcus.” She hoped that was true, that Andreas could protect these kids from any punishment for breaking the rules. “Why don’t you tell me which bar, and we’ll go from there?”
“The Bloody Stake,” Lorenzo mumbled with a furtive glance at Andreas. “Just that one night.” Once the admission was made, the rest of the story came pouring out, with Reno adding details Lorenzo missed.
The three young friends had spent the night drinking and playing pool. At some point a group of wolves joined them and showed particular interest in Marcus once he mentioned working at Club Dintero.
“Way too nosey. At first they were real interested in Marcus’s job. Asked a couple questions about him,” Lorenzo said, pointing his chin toward Andreas. “But Marcus blew that off.”
“They talked weird,” Reno added.
Reno grinned. “He means they had an accent. Said they were from Toronto, wherever that is.”
Yes, Ari thought. There’s the tie in.
“Can you describe them?”
“Sure.”
It turned out not to be as easy as she hoped. Three or four. One tall, some not so tall. No women.
“And one dude was pretty old,” Reno said.
That could mean anyone over twenty, Ari figured. She gave up on the descriptions.
“What makes you think the wolves had something to do with Marcus’s disappearance?”
The boys exchanged looks again, and Reno took the lead. “They followed him. He left just before us, and they followed him right out the door.”
“I thought they called his name.” Lorenzo shrugged.