Page 47 of Mongrel
Offering my hand, I reach down to haul him up. He takes it, stands, then leans into me for a proper hug. “Are you ready for more of the same?”
“Yes.” With my body damn near rejuvenated, I feel as if I could run all night. “Let’s see how far we can get.”
He reaches around me with both hands to pet my tail. I feel his chuckle where his chest is pressed against mine. “It really is lovely. So furry.”
Suppressing a shiver along with a wave of desire, I give it a wag for him. He grins.
“All right, that’s enough.” I step back and tuck my tail into my pants for now. “Time to return to work.”
* * *
The girls’scents have been properly annihilated. I expected as much, but still, it’s disappointing. Once the enhanced smells of damp earth, wet grass, and muddy bogs have faded to normal, I should still be able to pick up lingering traces here and there, but for tonight, we must continue on the assumption they traveled through to Pest.
After three hours of walking, we stop only briefly in Ecsed.
Bowie insists on buying me a proper plate of food. “For the sake of beavers everywhere,” he says as he leaves me seated at a low table in the corner of a near-to-empty tavern. There’s only one other pair of men here, on the opposite side, so deep in their cups they don’t register our arrival.
The pub is rather dim, quiet at this hour, and smells of ale, smoke, and plain, unspiced foods. Giant wood timbers span the low ceiling. A fireplace and hearth stand along the far wall, but it’s not lit; the air is still warm enough without it.
Returning with a plate in one hand, a mug in the other, and an utterly delighted smile on his face, Bowie fails to hold in a snicker. He sets before me a meal of buttered toast and beans.
His laughter tickles my ears. I love seeing him so amused with himself.
I join in. “You didn’t.”
“I did!” Chortling, he hands me an ale. “Drink up. I’m going to make a quick round through the village while you eat. I won’t be long.”
Shaking my head, I can’t help but smile.
He warned me we’d have to be careful asking questions in Ecsed. The Báthory family owns these lands, and Erzsébet was born and raised here. Though she hasn’t lived in Ecsed for decades, she’s been known to visit on occasion, and that’s what Bowie will try to discover with his snooping.
He doesn’t need my help with this. He’s faster without me, and conversation comes far more naturally for him. I would only get in his way.
So I watch his pretty silhouette as he leaves, take a sip of my ale, and settle into my buttered toast and beans.
* * *
“Anything useful?”I ask as we make our way back to the road toward Pest. It’s pleasant to walk along beside him in my human form so we can chat. But I’ll need to shift soon if we’re to keep up our pace.
He shoves his hands into his pockets and shrugs. “Not particularly. I’m not sure what to make of the information. I’ve never been good with persuasion. Not like Ivaz or Bettina. They are masters.”
“Tell me what you mean.” He’s mentioned this power before, calling it a nudge. I’m curious about the details.
“Persuasion is a skill some vampires develop,” he explains. “It enhances with age, though I’m perfectly happy if my skill never improves. I find the tactic rather uncomfortable. Imagine being able to nudge a person’s thoughts in the direction you wish or to tell them to forget, and they do.”
Suppressing a shiver, I remember Ivaz asking me to stay and speak to him and the overwhelming urge I had to obey that felt unnatural. Bowie can do that?
“Anyway.” He pulls his hands out of his pockets and flails them around as he talks. “I have the rudimentary ability. I went to the Báthory estate and nudged a stableman in an effort to determine whether Lady Báthory had been in attendance recently.No, he said. Had there been any young peasant girls brought here?No.Had anyone come through in the last three weeks?Yes, a merchant wagon selling cloth and beads.And was the wagon headed for Pest?Yes.”
“That could have been them.”
“That’s what I thought too, but the groom didn’t know. If the wagon hid girls, it hid them well. I couldn’t risk approaching the estate to inquire further. The fewer people that know we’re asking questions, the better.”
“But did you make him forget?”
“I did my best, which isn’t very reliable.”
“It’s more than we knew when we arrived. We know to keep an eye out for suspicious merchant wagons now.”
