Page 100 of Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 29)

“So, he’ll need someplace big enough for him to sleep comfortably in,” I said.

“Warehouses,” Nicky suggested.

Jean-Claude said, “Does he prefer creature comforts, or will sleeping rough on a warehouse floor be enough for him?”

“Why does that matter?” I asked.

“If he is staying in a warehouse, but cushions and bedding are being delivered to it, that would raise a flag, would it not?”

“Some warehouses sell bedding, or at least store it and ship it out to stores,” Nicky said.

“But I am not saying we look for mass purchases of bedding, Nicky. I mean soft pillows, velvet cushions, expensive coverlets in small, personal purchases delivered to warehouses or semiabandoned buildings.”

“If you do not want to be found, then you live without luxuries until your mission is over,” Rodina said.

“I have known more than one master vampire who was found because they could not live without their comforts,” Jean-Claude said.

“He slept on bare floor in a cave back in ancient Greece,” Ru said.

“If he has been active in the modern world he will be accustomed to softer care than that,” Jean-Claude said.

“If he hasn’t changed, then his needs will be minimal,” Jake said.

“So, luxuries will not be the way to find him,” Jean-Claude said.

“Where has he been for the last few thousand years?” I asked.

“I would like to know that, as well,ma petite.”

“What difference would that make?” Ru asked.

“Has he learned to read modern Greek, or any other language? Can he read at all?” Jean-Claude asked.

“You want to know if he would have books or other reading material delivered to where he’s staying,” Edward said.

“Oui.”

“Can he see in the dark?” Peter asked. We all looked at him, andsuddenly the fourteen-year-old him peeked out from the six-foot-plus twenty-year-old as he fought not to look embarrassed. He ended up glaring at everyone; at fourteen he had looked sullen when he did, at twenty he looked a little menacing. I was strangely proud.

“You’re wondering if he would need light to read by,” Richard said.

We looked at him, but he kept his attention on Peter, and Richard didn’t give a damn if anyone stared at him. “I know he’s supposed to be a different sort of dragon, but some of the dragons we have today can see in the dark and they only hunt at night.”

“Yes,” Richard said, “the prevailing theory is that all the big dragons that were day hunters got killed off by humans.”

“And the night hunters spread into that ecological niche, which is why the fossil record has the ones we know today as smaller,” Peter said.

Richard nodded. “But seeing in the dark to hunt is different than seeing in the dark to read.” He looked around the room. “Leopards see in the dark better than wolves; can you read a book in the dark?”

All the wereleopards in the room looked at each other, and then Rodina said, “We don’t read books to each other in leopard form, Ulfric.”

“But if you tried to, would you be able to see the print at full dark?”

There was another round of looks, and then Ru said, “I’ve read a printed book by near full moon, but it was before electricity spoiled the night so it’s never truly dark.”

“So that’s a yes,” Peter said.

“Good point, Peter, just because we’d need a lamp to read by doesn’t mean that Deimos will.”

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