I didn’t ask again.
“That’s fair,” I replied. “It’s not been my best few years, even counting only the ones I remember. But I’m much clearer now, and I know what I saw.” I was only lying a little bit. There weren’t too many nights that I lay awake until dawn trying to escape the bad dreams, and I was almost to the point where I could hear a piano without thinking of the people I cared about who died by my inattention, my insufficiencies.
I took a deep breath. “It’s not Anna. I know that. Anna is dead. I didn’t just watch her die, I felt her die.” When the Nazi colonel murdered my love, the psychic connection between us was severed, but not before I felt every second of her agony. The combination of the psychic backlash and feeling her die inside my head had driven me insensate for at least three years. There were times I thought I still felt her mind touching mine, like the pain of a phantom limb, but I knew she was gone.
“But this woman is connected to her somehow. I saw her eyes, Luke. They were Anna’s eyes.” I looked from Luke to his current Renfield and back. They both wore looks of pity, but they weren’t convinced.
“Even if she is somehow connected to Anna,” Luke said, “what business is it of yours if she dabbles in dark magic? You aren’t the magic police, Quincy.”
“Aren’t we?” I shot back. “Isn’t that exactly what you created the Shadow Council to be? Protectors of the innocent from the supernatural monsters and mystical evils of the world? This guy I fought tonight was definitely demon-touched. If this woman and her group are playing around with the dark arts, there’s no telling what kind of trouble they could unleash upon the area. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that a demon running loose around New York would be bad for anyone of a supernatural disposition trying to keep a low profile.”
That registered. Ever since Stoker’s book, Luke worked very hard to remain invisible. He even rotated through names every few years when he changed cities. But he liked New York, and he liked being Lucas Card. I knew he would want to protect this identity.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll have Renfield look into Anna’s family history, what we can find of it. Many of the records from Europe simply disappeared under the Nazis, particularly those of Jewish citizens.”
“If there is anything to be found, Master Quincy, I will unearth it,” Renfield pledged.
“Thanks,” I said, stifling a yawn. Pink sunlight crept in around the edges of the drawn curtains, and I realized that I’d let another night go by without sleep. If I kept up this nocturnal schedule much longer, I’d forget who was the vampire, me or Luke. “I’m going to get some sleep and then look around the park this evening. Since I spoiled their ritual, they have to try again tonight. We’re right on top of the solstice, so the spell probably has a calendar component.”
“The guest room is made up,” Renfield said, pointing down the hall. “Just ring the bell if I can bring you anything. I will make some calls to friends in Europe and find what I can, but I doubt I’ll have anything before you wake.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” I said. “These things take time. Unfortunately, I may have to go in without much in the way of information.”
Luke chuckled, then covered his mouth and turned it into perhaps the worst fake cough I’ve ever seen. When I looked at him, he gave me a smile. “That is something of your forte, Quincy. Of anyone I know, you have raised blindly rushing into a situation to an art form.”
I let out a little laugh of my own as I stood and stretched. He was right, after all. Planning and forethought were great ideas. Unfortunately for me, they had always remained just that—ideas. “Good night, Uncle. Renfield, thank you for the drink. I’ll see you in a few hours.” With that, I went down the hall, listening as the siren song of the pillow called my name.
* * *
—
I slept until dusk, and let myself out