Page 8 of Sergi
“Colantha asked that too. It was either the second or third night.”
Devon picked up on Sergi’s train of thought. “Before we tried to reach out to you.”
She nodded.
“While you were under his mesmerizing.” Sergi didn’t fully grasp how dreamwalking worked, but at the time, Colantha had suspicions that even though Cressa had been mesmerized, it wasn’t as deep or as effective as Venizi assumed. Her dreamwalker nature, though subject to mesmerizing, would eventually override the mental push from Venizi. At least enough to make her question what she was being told.
Cressa nodded again. “That’s what Colantha believes. With all our current discussions focused on Lorenzo’s labs, my latent memories of that meal are resurfacing. My dreamwalker nature is making them more realistic, putting me in the middle of the dream with full awareness.”
Decker stood, his face a mask of anger. “If what Cressa remembers this vampire saying is true, then Venizi is close to field testing, assuming he hasn’t already started. And we don’t know if it’s some new version of Magic Poppy or something worse. We need to find that lab.”
Chapter Four
Sergi settledback in the leather armchair and rested his feet on the ottoman. He stared at the low embers in the fireplace. The weather was mild, and a fire wasn’t necessary, but it reminded him of the old days when the army would gather around campfires and talk of long-ago campaigns—whether won or lost. Though most of the tales would be about the individual battles where one warrior went up against the other.
He smiled as he sipped brandy and closed his eyes. The movements in the Mozart sonata filled the room. A room that was surprisingly large for the vampire. While he preferred his office small so it wouldn’t invite too many visitors, his personal room at the manor was a different story.
It was as large as Devon’s, and, fortunately, didn’t require permission from the Historical Society when most of the manor restorations were completed in 1940. The decor would be considered austere by most when, in actuality, it was more equivalent to a museum with artifacts he’d collected over the centuries.
The knock on the door surprised him. It was rare for anyone to intrude on another’s privacy unless an emergency.
His eyes remained closed as he called out, “Come.”
Maybe it was Lyra. She used to visit when she’d been ill, and he always made time for her. But she wasn’t that young vampire anymore—physically or mentally.
“Sorry to bother you.” Devon took a step in.
Sergi sat up. “Is there a problem?” If there had been, Devon would typically text.
“No problem.” He walked farther into the room, moving from relic to relic. “I wanted a few moments to talk, and it’s been some time since I’ve seen these.” He stopped in front of an old wood-and-metal shield. It was nothing remarkable; the wood scratched and marred, the metal banding dented from battle. “My god. Is this the one you used that first day we met?”
Sergi stood and poured a brandy for Devon while pouring a second one for himself. He smiled as he handed the snifter over. “It was in storage until a couple of months ago.”
“Why bring it out now?” Devon took the chair next to Sergi, and they both turned to the fire.
“Once I knew a war with Venizi was inevitable…” He shrugged. “Some of the old days came to mind. It seemed apropos.”
“That was a good day.”
Sergi laughed and rubbed his elbow. “That cost me twenty silver denarii.”
Devon grunted, his gaze brushing over Sergi. “A fair exchange at the time.” After a few minutes of silence, he turned to the fire. “Those were the days of true war. Brawn, might, and strategy.”
“And yet, even without the battlefield skirmishes, we seem to leave a trail of blood wherever we go.”
“It’s the vampire way.”
Silence returned as the two sipped their brandy and listened to a violin sonata. The fire crackled, and a cool breeze floated in from the open window.
Devon tapped on the soft leather of the armchair. “Have you read Remus’s report?”
“He seems convinced Venizi’s secret lab is in the Carpathian Mountains.” He hadn’t been pleased when he’d read it. They were rugged mountains where wild shifters roamed.
“I’ll need your expertise on this one.”
“Remus has lost several shifters searching those mountains. Do you believe his intel?”
Devon took his time considering the question. “What I know is that Remus doesn’t like losing wolves. There’s something more than wild shifters there. The question is whether it’s the lab where the Poppy is coming from.”
