hard for you to get into a position of influence very quickly. The method they’ve used so far—of simply turning humans already in powerful positions—is working very well for us.”
Crouching down until her eye was level with the keyhole, Sera pushed aside the cover and peered through. As she’d hoped, the cover on the other side of the keyhole was missing or pushed aside. The room was full of people—vampires—sitting and standing, perching on the arms of chairs, as if they were attending a busy but dull party.
She saw Blair at once, lounging in an armchair by the fireplace, one foot crossed over his knee. In jeans and T-shirt, he looked perfectly comfortable and at ease.
Without moving his lips, he said, “I can imagine few things more boring than running a bank.”
Nicholas Smith, standing with his back to the fireplace, looked distinguished and relaxed in slacks and polo shirt as he spoke to the room at large. “He doesn’t want a bank role.”
Of course, the other vampires couldn’t hear Blair. Only the psychic Smith heard him. It was weird—Blair and Phil were like a completely different species from the other vampires. Jason and the vampiress Ella sat side by side on a sofa, staring at Blair.
Another vampire, out of her line of vision, said in an English accent, “It wouldn’t work anyway. He has no experience and would be useless for anything except a smash-and-grab.”
“Which brings me to another point,” Blair said. “What’s wrong with smash-and-grab?”
Nicholas rapidly repeated his words for the benefit of the vampires, then added almost immediately, “It’s not sustainable. This way, they keep all the infrastructure intact and take what they need without fight or fuss.”
“While vastly increasing the vampire population. Human numbers will dwindle.”
“They believe there’ll be enough to go round.”
“Humans will always be useful to us as more than blood supply,” the other vampire said. Sera altered position to try to get him in the picture. She thought she could see one side of his face and concentrated on him, hard. Arthur. His name is Arthur.
“Then you’ve some way of controlling the vampires you’ve made?”
Again, Smith repeated the question, but before he’d finished, Blair was speaking again. “Already there’ve been enough vampire murders in the city to have sparked off a human police hunt for a serial killer. It’s instinctive for new vampires to go on the rampage unless they’re under some kind of control. My only surprise, given your numbers, is that there haven’t been more murders.”
“They are under control,” said Arthur, the English vampire. “I control them.”
Sera’s breath caught. He’s lying!
“Well done,” Blair said in her mind, and she realized the thought had been so loud and so instinctively hurled at Blair that she’d projected it right to him. “Keep it down, though, or Smith will hear too.”
She glanced apprehensively at the human who, fortunately, was showing no sign of having overheard her private conversation with Blair.
“Then yours is the master plan?” Blair said, looking across at the English vampire Arthur.
Smith said smoothly, “Of course, the plan is his.” Sera caught something from him—not unease, not uncertainty, but something basically untruthful.
It’s all a lie; they’re all lying, she threw silently to Blair.
Blair said, “Then where does he see me fitting in?”
Arthur stood up and moved thoughtfully into Sera’s line of vision. He was a tall, strong man with smooth cheeks and an unsmiling mouth. He stood in front of Sera, blocking her view of Blair.
“You’re a strong vampire,” he observed. “Stronger than any we’ve encountered. Are there more like you?”
Blair inclined his head. “A few.”
“Any even stronger than you?”
Blair smiled. She could hear it in his telepathic voice. “One or two.”
While Smith translated, Arthur walked closer to Blair, who remained apparently unmoved by the implicit threat of the other vampire.
“At the very least,” Arthur said, “we need your cooperation and are prepared to pay handsomely for it. At best, we’d value you in a more positive role, as an enforcer against other vampires who might try to muscle in or oppose us, or against any human opposition that might arise.”
That, Sera thought, was truthful.
Blair said, “I’ll think about it.” And that was truthful too. He really was thinking about it, the bastard. How could he even consider a situation that would endanger, if not kill, thousands—millions!—of humans?
Easy. He wasn’t human.
In spite of herself, she shivered and tried to pull her concentration back to the scene inside.
Arthur spun around and seemed to stare right at her. In spite of herself, she fell backward