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I nodded. "Yeah, that's what I mean."
He smiled. "You are a necromancer, ma petite . I would have thought you could judge my age without
my help."
I tried to read his face and couldn't. "You've always been hard to read; you know that."
"So glad I can be a challenge in some area."
I let that go. He knew exactly how much of a challenge he was, but for the first time in a long time, I was
bothered. Telling a vamp's age was one of my talents, not an exact science to be sure, but one I was
good at. I'd never been off by this much. "A century older, my, my."
"Are you so sure that it is only a century?"
I stared at him. I let his power beat across my skin, rolled the feel of it around in my head. "Pretty sure."
He smiled. "Do not frown so, ma petite . Being able to hide my age is one of my talents. I pretended to
be a hundred years older when Asher was my companion. It allowed us freedom to wander through the
lands of other masters."
"What made you stop trying to pass for older?"
"Asher needed help, and I was not master enough to help him." He looked up at the portrait. "I ...
humbled myself to gain his aid."
"Why?"
"The Church had a theory that vampires could be cured by holy items. They bound Asher with holy
items and silver chains. They used holy water on him, drop by drop, trying to save his soul."
I stared up at that handsome, smiling face. I'd been bitten by a master vampire once upon a time and had
the wound cleansed with holy water. It had felt like a red-hot brand was being shoved into my skin, like
all the blood in my body had turned to boiling oil. I had vomited and screamed and thought myself very
brave for not passing out altogether. That had been one bite mark, one day. Having what amounted to
acid dripped on you until you died was in the top five ways not to go out.
"What happened to the girl, Julianna?"
"She was burned as a witch."
"Where were you?"
"I had taken a ship to see my mother. She was dying. I was on my way back when I heard Asher's call.
I could not get there in time. I swear by all that is holy or unholy that I tried. I rescued Asher, but he
never forgave me."
"He's not dead?" I asked.
"No."
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"How hurt was he?"
"Until I met Sabin I thought Asher's scars the worst injury I'd ever known a vampire to survive."
"Why did you hang the painting if it bothers you this much?"
He sighed and looked at me. "Asher sent it as a present, to congratulate me for becoming Master of the
City. The three of us were companions, almost family. Asher and I were true friends, both masters, both
of near equal power, both in love with Julianna. She was devoted to him, but I had her favor as well."
"You mean a ménage à trois?"
He nodded.
"Asher doesn't hold a grudge?"
"Oh, no, he holds a grudge. If the council would allow it, he would have come with the picture and had
his revenge."
"To kill you?"
Jean-Claude smiled. "Asher always had a strong sense of irony, ma petite . He petitioned the council for
your life, not mine."
My eyes widened. "What did I ever do to him?"
"I killed his human servant; he kills mine. Justice."
I stared back up at the handsome face. "The council said no?"
"Indeed."
"You have any other old enemies running around?"
Jean-Claude gave a weak smile. "Many, ma petite , but none in town at the moment."
I looked up at those smiling faces. I didn't know quite how to phrase it, but said it anyway. "You all look
so young."
"I am physically the same, ma petite ."
I shook my head. "Maybe young isn't the word I want. Maybe naive."
He smiled. "By the time this painting was made, ma petite , naive was not a word that described me,
either."
"Fine, have it your way." I looked at him, studying his face. He was beautiful, but there was something in
his eyes that wasn't in the painting, some level of sorrow or terror. Something I had no word for, but it
was there just the same. A vampire may not wrinkle up, but living a couple of centuries leaves its mark.
Even if it's only a shadow in the eyes, a tightness around the mouth.
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I turned to Jason, who was still slumped in the chair. "Does he give these little history lessons often?"
"Only to you," Jason said.
"You never ask questions?" I asked. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]