something tenuous like a photograph, but if you ‘have word’ then of course I believe you.” I paused. “I have word for you, as well. From my own trusted sources.”
“Word?” he asked and leaned closer. “Of what?”
“A new species of vampire rabbit.”
Laucian frowned. “A what?”
“Yes,” I said and nodded with emphasis. “This species of vampire rabbit is only to be found in the Cave of Caerbannog.”
“The Cave of Caerbannog? I have not heard of it. Where is this cave?”
I waved my hand because, of course, the cave did not exist. “On the British coast somewhere. Anyway, the cave is guarded by a mighty beast, the vampire rabbit, and was originally discovered by King Arthur and his knights. And Tim, the enchanter.”
“King Arthur is a myth.”
“Is he?” I asked, but did not allow him to continue. “At the approach to the cave, Sir Robin soiled his armor upon merely seeing the vampire rabbit, before everyone, with the exception of Tim the enchanter, pronounced it to be merely an innocuous white rabbit. Thus, ignoring Tim’s warnings that the vampire rabbit had a, and I quote: ‘vicious streak a mile wide’, King Arthur ordered one of his men to chop the rabbit’s head off without delay.”
“And then?”
“Then the knight drew his sword and confidently approached it. The rabbit suddenly leapt at least eight feet directly at the knight’s neck and bit clean through it in a single motion, thus decapitating him.”
“No!”
“Yes!” I insisted, nodding. “Then Sir Robin soiled his armor once again, and at Tim’s loud scoffing, the knights attacked in full force. But this rabbit was one of our own kind, my dear Laucian, and it defeated the knights with ease.”
“Why have I never heard mention of this rabbit?”
“Because the rabbit, such as the Vryloka, is a myth, you twit,” I snapped at him. “Actually, there is more proof for the existence of the vampire rabbit than there is for your Vryloka.”
Laucian leaned back into his chair and frowned at me. “How so?”
I shrugged. “There is a movie about King Arthur by those British chaps whose names escape me at the moment.” But, then I remembered. “Aha—Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I believe it was.”
Laucian glared at me. “You just recited a scene from a movie?”
“I did because I wanted to prove a point that just because you hear a story, does not make it true! And you, of all people, should know that!”
Laucian reached into the inside pocket of his immaculate jacket and brought out a handful of photographs which he passed across to me.
“You know, some people take pictures on their phones now,” I muttered as I took the pictures.
“Stop talking for a bloody moment and look at them.”
They were pictures of corpses. Five of them. All of them had, on their chest, a red circle.
“The mark of the Vryloka,” he affirmed.
“Or a hickey,” I suggested. “Or ringworm.”
Laucian frowned. “What is a ‘hickey’?”
“Love bite,” I explained. “An Americanism.”
Laucian looked at me with polite horror. “Bloody hell, Sinjin. What has happened to you?”
I did not respond. I looked down at the photographs before grumbling up at him. “Carry on.”
“These people,” Laucian pointed at the photographs, “are spread across the globe. Two from Europe: one in France, the other in Italy. Two from the United States: Arizona and New York. One from the far east, in Japan. All separated by distance, yet they bear exactly the same mark.”
“Five people in amongst a lot,” I replied. My tone remained dismissive but, truth be told, the pictures rattled me… a little.
“Perhaps you should ask your question,” said Laucian, now feeling as if he had the upper hand.
“Question?”
“Do not play the fool, Sinjin. I know you too well. I know what you wish to ask.”
Dealing with someone who was as powerful as myself was something I had not had to do for a while. I was not sure I liked it.
“Do they have anything in common?”
Laucian spread the photographs on the table between us as if he was about to read my fortune from them. “Two vampires. One Fae. One werewolf. One witch.”
“No mortals?”
“No mortals.”
“But the Vryloka prey on mortals,” I pointed out, hastily adding, “So the legends say.”
Laucian smiled. “The ‘legends’ also say they prefer to feed on supernatural beings. And these corpses are not just anyone. This man was a pack leader in Nagano Prefecture in Japan, one of the most powerful werewolves in the country. This witch ran a coven in New York. The Fae was King Odran’s envoy to Italy.”
“I