Page 178 of White Wolf

He shrugged. “Living. Reading. Trying all the good burger places and dive bars.”

“I love going to the movies,” Sasha said, dreamily. “It helped me learn English better.”

“How do you afford rent?” Lanny asked.

“We work,” Nikita said, before Sasha could give away any details. No sense giving a cop that information, even one who was obviously in love with his great-granddaughter.

“You, um,” Trina started, and then shook her head. “I…”

Sasha smiled at her, for which Nikita was grateful; he was so overwhelmed himself that he wanted to scream.

She closed her eyes a moment, took a deep breath, and then visibly drew herself together. She was overwhelmed, too. When she opened her eyes, she said, “The bell rang.”

Nikita felt his brows go up. “Philippe’s bell? You have it?” He remembered thrusting it into Katya’s hands, afraid to have even that much contact with her.

Trina nodded. “Family heirloom.”

His mind was spinning. He’d heard the bell last night, just a faint chime, just before Sasha went stiff and dropped his wooden cooking spoon. “Val,” he’d whispered. “He’s trying to contact me.” And then Nikita had felt something bloom inside him – someone; Trina.

“You heard it last night?” He fought to keep his voice even.

“Yeah. Right before…”

“Has it rung before? Ever?”

“No.” She could feel his tension; some of it was creeping up her neck, making the tendons stand out there. “Never.”

“It was Val,” Sasha said under his breath. “That’s why you were able to show her.”

“What?” Trina said.

Nikita cleared his throat. “Something’s happening. Something bad.”

Sasha said, “Val says his brother is awake, and that it changes everything.”

“Who’s Val?”

“A very old vampire,” Nikita said. He itched to light the cigarette he’d been toying with this whole time, the unlit smell of it no longer soothing enough. “He’s locked up somewhere, but he likes to visit. A ghost or something, I don’t know.” Thinking about the man – the creature – always turned him sour. He didn’t know why.

“He’s a prince,” Sasha said.

Okay,thatwas why. He didn’t like the way Sasha talked about him, almost with admiration.

“He calls it projection,” Sasha continued. “He comes sometimes to talk to me. He’s very powerful. I think he helped you talk to us last night. I think he’s the one who’s been giving you dreams.”

“Giving me?” Trina looked disturbed. She sipped her coffee. “Damn.”

“Don’t talk to him if he shows himself to you,” Nikita said, more fiercely than intended. “There’s vampires all over, living quietly. Why’s he locked up, huh? He did somethingbad.”

“Is helocked up? Or is he killing kids in night clubs?” Lanny said.

Sasha frowned. “No, this is someone else. This is someone young, who doesn’t know his own strength.”

“Or is stupid,” Nikita said. Fuck the rules: he shook out a smoke and lit up.

“Can I get one?” Lanny asked, surprising him.

He slid his pack and lighter across the table toward the human. “Tell us about your cases.”

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