Page 104 of Black Curtain

It had never occurred to me before, but dark-skinned vampires didn’t go chalk white the way Nick had, and Dorian, and even Brick.

Their skin tone just evened out, even if that meant they went darker.

They also glowed faintly in the moonlight, like the white-skinned vamps did.

“Is it only them, Jean-Christoff?” Dorian asked their leader. “The couple? I smell another. A younger one. Maybe in his teens. Early twenties, perhaps?”

He glanced at the tall black man with the faintly glowing skin, who nodded.

“I smell him too,” he agreed.

Another vampire, a different female who looked Native American, or possibly Mexican, made a dismissive gesture. “There are many here. They have entertained here. They have done sacrifices here––”

“You must learn discernment, little sister,” the lead vampire said calmly. “Dorian is right. There is another staying here. Not a guest. Not one of those buried in the basement…”

I grimaced.

“…a resident, like the witch and her mate. Whoever it is, they have been sleeping here for some time. Not as long as the two we tracked from Louisiana. But a few months, at least. I would guess their adult child, from the smell. Their biological child. Back to live here after some time away. What do you think, Dorian?”

Dorian glanced at his leader, his expression unmoving.

Despite the utterly blank look on his face, it was clear he agreed.

“Is it home?” the red-haired male asked. “The child?”

Their leader shook his head. “No. None of them are here now. We will come back.”

Slowly, the image around us faded.

Before it did, I felt a strange pulsing below me.

It felt almost like a furnace, underneath the house.

Maybe underneath the ground.

The pulsing grew stronger for a few seconds.

Then that faded, too.

* * *

“Brick wouldn’t be looking for his sire, would he?” I asked Nick. “He knows who his sire is already. I mean… he must, right?”

Nick frowned, shaking his head slowly.

“He’s never told me who that is,” he said. “He’s only told me who it isn’t. I know it wasn’t Konstantin. It wasn’t Dorian, either. But you’re right… he must know. It’s one of those things youdoknow as a vampire. It’s one of those things you feel.”

“Unless his sire is dead,” Black grunted. “You’re sure there’s no way it was Dorian?”

Nick hesitated, then shook his head definitively.

“No. Not only did Brick specifically tell me itwasn’thim, their dynamic was completely wrong for that.” Still thinking, Nick added, “I think he told me the truth about Konstantin, too. I’ve thrown a few names at him, but he’s never told me who it was. Not for sure.”

“Could this really be what this is about?” Kiko asked, frowning. “He wants to know how he became a vampire? So he called us here to figure that out for him?”

Nick frowned.

I could tell he didn’t think that was it.

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