to see Philip packing his bag, she walked to the kitchen, pausing in the arch. She needed a more concrete idea of how this night was going to play out, how their future was going to play out.
“Robert,” she said. “Are you coming with us tonight?”
He was sitting at the table beside Wade again, and he studied her for about thirty seconds. “Yes,” he said finally. “I’m coming.”
Julian brought Jasper back to the Fairmont, allowing him to stay in the suite. He had also introduced him to Mary—so there would not be any drama occurring from her frequent and sudden appearances. If Jasper could so easily accept the reality of vampires, he should have no trouble with ghosts.
And he didn’t.
More important, Jasper’s awe at his opulent surroundings was most satisfactory. He’d probably never even seen a suite like this outside of a movie. His body was still completing the change, but Julian wanted to send him hunting soon.
Julian had a fairly good idea what Jasper’s gift would be once it surfaced. But in all his years, Julian had never trained anyone, never acted as master. He’d turned only two other vampires—his father and Eleisha—and that had been nearly one hundred and seventy years ago.
He hadn’t taught Eleisha to hunt. Edward Claymore handled all that for him.
He was pondering exactly how to broach the subject with Jasper. But he cringed inwardly at the thought of another conversation. He didn’t like having such human filth anywhere near his suite, much less sleeping in it, and it bothered him that he could not completely rely on his gift to cow his new creation into reluctant obedience . . . as Jasper must want to succeed.
Obtaining anyone’s willing agreement had never been Julian’s strong point, even when he was alive.
“So, where’d you get all your money?” Jasper asked, turning circles inside the suite while reexamining everything. “Do you have some kind of mental power that lets you find lost treasure?”
Good God.
He made Mary look like a Mensa candidate.
“No,” Julian answered, using all his restraint to remain civil. “I inherited an estate and made sound investments.”
“Inherited? Sure. You’re lucky.”
“If you are to attain full strength,” Julian said, changing the subject, “you’ll need to feed, and I would prefer not to travel outdoors myself any more than necessary. I want you to listen to me carefully.”
He expected some questions, some argument, some form of reluctance at his mention of feeding, but Jasper just turned and looked at him with glowing eyes. Maybe the change had finished quickly? Jasper appeared to have lost any lingering remnants of mortal ethics.
Julian was about to begin explaining the best methods for drawing someone off alone into the darkness when the air in the room shimmered and Mary appeared, looking even more dramatic than usual.
“They’re going to leave!” she shouted. “Tonight!”
Julian didn’t even tell her to calm down. “What?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t stay long. . . . There’s something in that apartment that keeps trying to find me. But I was alone in the sitting room for a few seconds, and I heard Eleisha and Wade talking about a train leaving at midnight from Jack London Square! They’re going home to Portland.”
Julian put his fist back to his mouth again, but this time he was simply thinking. They were leaving sooner than he expected.
He did not wish to destroy Eleisha yet—and possibly not for some time—if she was going to continue seeking other elders who might be in hiding. He needed her to find them, and he wanted her to view the church in Portland as safe so that she would remain there and he could keep track of her. She was weak of character and did not like being alone. He believed that no matter who he killed, she would keep on looking, keep on trying.
So he had to destroy Robert before they left San Francisco, and he couldn’t risk this if Robert was traveling with three other vampires—and a mortal who Mary swore was a telepath.
Julian had to thin the group. But how?
He forced himself to calm, to think.
He couldn’t expose himself yet, and his only possible tools were Mary and a newborn vampire.
Jasper could hardly stand up to Robert or Philip.
But would he need to?
From what Angelo had told him long ago, Julian understood that although the newly turned were not immune to each other’s gifts, even a young untrained vampire could defend against a straight telepathic attack, to a degree, by putting up a mental block. Julian was