“I wanted to know what it was that made them special,” Lenny goes on,“so I could harness and even replicate their power. That is why, for a century, I have been studying human Stokers exhaustively, searching for that X factor.”
The pit in William’s gut has grown into full-fledged dread, yet his face remains frozen in a mask of indifference. Or so he hopes.
“Yet when I could not find any differences in Stokers’ physiologies or even psychologies, I determined that the special ingredient must be in theirblood. To test my hypothesis, I needed to taste as many of them as possible.”
The dread spreads through William’s body as they weave around the grid of barrels, and he begins to feel like the aisles are closing in on him.
“I set myself the task to learn how to distinguish Stoker blood from all others. Osorio keeps track of various branches of that bloodline, and he regularly delivers a Stoker to me, embedded in a group of non-Stokers, so I can practice my skills. By now, I can always identify the Stokers by theirtaste.”
Leonardo the Bloody looks at William, as if expecting some sort of response. “These barrels,” says William, the dread climbing his throat and threatening to spill from his mouth, “are they…?”
“Stokers, yes,” says Lenny, as if it were the most natural thing to let blood spoil in barrels for decades. “Which brings us back to why you are here.”
Everything inside William is telling him to run. Yet what are the odds he can outrun Leonardo the Bloody in his own lair?
“We have been waiting for a sign that a Stoker was placed in death-sleep with us. For all we know, it could be someone who is not even aware of their lineage.”
Lenny looks at William the way he eyed those human captives—like all he sees is a subject on which to experiment. “The reason you are here, the reason every vampire meets with me upon awakening, is so I may taste your blood and reveal your ancestry.”
Leonardo the Bloody is so close that William dares not move to avoid provoking him. Immortal bodies do not weaken with age as humans do. Like a good wine, theystrengthen.
“Of course, it is possible that the transformation changes the taste of one’s blood,” Lenny adds, “which would make it impossible to identify the Stoker. I would not know, as I have yet to taste a Stokervampire.”
William cannot stay, and he cannot go. If he runs, Lenny will think he is hiding something. If he stays, the vampire will attack him.
“This will only hurt for a moment.”
And before William can react, fangs pierce his skin, and pain as sharpas flames sears his neck. Instinctively, William shoves the vampire off him, nearly sending Leonardo the Bloody crashing into the barrels.
Yet the ancient vampire’s reflexes kick in instantly. “A feisty one,” he says, a smile slowly unfolding, exposing his bloodied fangs.
Lenny moves in, like a predator hunting, and William steps back.
“You have the pride of a Stoker,” he says, and William prepares to run in case the deranged vampire tries to lock him up or drain his blood.
“Yet a Stoker”—the fog in Lenny’s eyes flashes like an electric storm—“you arenot.”
CHAPTER 36lorena
Hanover is emptier today than it was last time. Probably because it’s a weekday.
I spend an hour walking around with the green book, hoping William is nearby and will pick up my scent.
I pass the chocolate caféwe never got to visit and the stores where Salma and Tiffany tried things on. I even check out the warehouse area where Nate and Cisco brought me, but there’s no sign of the vampires.
They’re not here.
He’snot here.
I feel a face-twisting sob forming in the pit of my stomach, and I know I need to get out of here—before anyone spots the crying teen and starts asking questions.
So I pull up an app on my phone to order a car back to school. I spend the twenty minutes it takes to arrive picking up a treat from the Chocolate Bar. And when I make it to Huntington Manor, a tall woman with red hair and dark eyes is waiting for me by the front doors.
The driver takes off as soon as I get out, and I stare into the enraged face of Director Minaro. “Follow me” is all she manages to eke past her clenched jaw.
I do as she says, my gut tight with apprehension.What if she expels me?Ican’t leave this place, especially not now, when I’ve finally found information useful to William. If I go, how will he find me?
Not that he has any reason to come looking for me. By now he must have made vampire friends far more interesting than me. Or maybe he has some cool new Familiar who doesn’t jump at the chance to accuse him of murder.
