Page 33 of Vameer

The sword in my hand and bare feet.

I shrug.

“So.” He drops his hands and nods to mine. “If you’ve been outta touch for the last century, I should probably tell ya that those things are unhealthy.”

I look at the burning stick in my hand. “That sounds about right. But…” I take another slow drag. “I can’t get sick.”

The human dips his chin. “Fair point.”

I look at the ember on the cigarette and feel for my Fire Touch. But even with the energy I gained from the whale, it’s still quiet.

I lift my gaze back to the man and repeat my original request, this time in English. “I’d like to purchase some information.”

He shakes his head. “Ya don’t gotta pay for it. Whaddya wanna know?”

“Everything.”

He snorts. “That’s gonna take a while.”

“I have tonight.”

I’ll allow myself that, because information is a weapon in its own right. But then I need to search for My Heart.

“Can you read?”

“Sí. Do you have newspapers?”

The man shakes his head slowly and grins. “Nah. But you’re gonna love the internet.”

“What’s the internet?”

“It’s…” He laughs as he shrugs. “Trying to explain it will make us both feel like eejits. I’ll just show ya. But you can find answers to literally any question you have with it.”

My brows raise. That sounds useful. “Where is it?”

“It’s…” He blows out a breath. “Boss, we have phones that fit in our pockets now. And the internet is on the phone. So, my internet is sitting inside on the bar.”

A lifetime of battle taught me the importance of hiding your weaknesses. And not understanding a single damned thing he’s saying feels like a weakness. So I don’t react.

“I’ll bring it out.” He uses his thumb to point at the door behind him. “Unless you’d like to come inside? I can kick out the locals if you don’t wanna crowd staring at ya.”

I look at the door, curious to get a closer look. “You run the bar?”

He nods. “Yeah, me and my girl and my buddy bought it a couple years back. We were looking for an adventure.”

I grunt in understanding.

“So, you’ll come in if everyone leaves?” he asks hopefully.

“Sí.”

“Deadly! Give me like, ten, to clear the place.” He turns and reaches for the door handle.

I stop him. “When you say that everyone knows about vampires…”

He lowers his hand and faces me.

“Does that mean—” I pause, focusing on my heartbeat.