The Vampire Always Rises (Dark Ones Book 11) by Katie Macalister

Author:Katie Macalister [MacAlister, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Keeper Shelf Books
Published: 2017-04-23T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Merrick took one look at the thief taker, and knew he wouldn’t like the man.

“Hi! I’m Savian Bartholomew. You the vamp who’s looking for a mortal?”

For one thing, the man smiled too much. He was downright cheerful, his long face and English accent all but radiating genial good humor.

“Whew, it is hot here, isn’t it? I don’t know how you lot stand going around with those long leather coats and fedoras and sunglasses all the time. Well, the sunglasses I understand, but you must be sweltering under that duster.”

Then there was his chatty nature. He stood right next to Merrick in the shade of the portal shop building, long tendrils of some blooming flowers drifting down from hanging baskets, effectively making a screen from the people shopping and meandering along the streets. Savian chatted away just as if Merrick was a normal person, and not one of the dreaded Four Horsemen. What the hell was wrong with this man that he greeted him like a long-lost friend instead of treating him like he was a pariah?

“My secretary—really my wife, Maura—she’s a dragon, but she’s a whiz at keeping records—told me that you’re trying to track someone who was just down the coast near Genoa. Like to see a picture of Maura? Here we are at St. Moritz last winter. And here’s the sprog. Attractive little beast, isn’t he? Maura insisted he be named after me.” Savian donned an expression that Merrick assumed was meant to imply modesty. “He’s a clever little devil. Gets that from his mama, of course. Well, now! Here we are, and you need my services. Luckily, I just finished up a job in Vienna finding a troll who was wanted for some child support, and was able to take a portal out here. They really need to put in some portal shops in the north of Italy—it would have taken me forever to get here by train. But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s hear about what you’d like me to do.”

It was Tempest, Merrick decided with an odd sort of martyred satisfaction. She was infecting everyone else until soon there would be no one left who feared and shunned the sight of him as was right and proper. “There is a man named Carlo who, until a few days ago, was located in the area near Genoa. We believe he is connected with the company known as the Revelation. You know of them?”

Savian gave a low whistle. “Yes, I’ve heard whispers about them. Not a lot of info is going around, but word on the street is that they’re offering some pretty big sums of money for beings with special abilities to go to work for them.”

“What sort of work?”

Savian shrugged. “No one seems to know. There’s a story going that a mage tried to investigate them, and promptly disappeared. No idea if he’s reappeared or not.”

“Hmm.” Merrick considered this new information. The Revelation that he knew wasn’t trying to lure people in with offers of money—that appeared to be a new tactic.

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