“That will be fine. I’d like to reserve that please. For tonight.”

“Aisha, what—?” I began. She shot me a sharp look. Then, placing her right hand down on the counter, she left behind a heavy gold coin.

The man’s eyes widened.

“I’m sure this will be payment enough?” she said sweetly.

The man nodded. “I’m sure,” he said, a little breathless.

“Good,” she said, a smile on her face. She caught my arm and pulled me away from the counter.

I glowered down at her. “What was that about? Why did you need to reserve a room?”

She ignored my question and cast her eyes about the room. “Over there,” she said, pointing to our right. All the way over in one corner was the most empty table in the room. There was only one person sitting at it. A lone hooded figure. From where I stood, it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female.

Irritated by her evasiveness, I gripped Aisha’s forearm and forced her to face me. “What is the room for?” I asked through gritted teeth.

She returned my glare. “It’s for you,” she hissed, jerking her arm out of my grasp. “I told you, I don’t know exactly how long I’m going to be. I’m hoping I won’t need more than a few hours, but in case I do need more… I just fixed you up with somewhere to sleep tonight. A thank you would be nice.” She threw me a scowl. “Or maybe you would’ve preferred that I left you stranded in this grotty hole.”

That wasn’t the answer I had expected.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice lower. I trusted from the offended look in her eyes that she wasn’t lying to me.

We both looked back toward the almost empty table. Aisha jerked her head in its direction. “Go take a seat.”

She turned her back on me and glided out of the pub.

I weaved my way through the maze of tables, keeping my gaze on the floor and avoiding eye contact. I neared the other side of the room and walked around the table, allowing me to see the face of the lone figure. She was a vampire, a young woman, her thin hands clasped around a glass of animal blood set on the table in front of her. Her raven-black hair hung beneath her hood in a bob that stopped beneath her ears, and bangs swept across one side of her forehead. Her features were slight, with high cheekbones sloping down to a narrow jawline and a small, pointed chin. She glanced up at me with large hazel eyes, deep-set and elongated. If I’d had to take a guess at her country of origin, I would have said Japan.

“May I take a seat?” I asked, clearing my throat.

She nodded, looking me over. “I’m not expecting anybody else.”

I sat down. From this position I could better make out the room—at least when people weren’t standing and blocking my view. The next table along was occupied by a group of four brown-cloaked vampires smoking pipes.

I hoped that Aisha wouldn’t keep me waiting more than a few hours. Although she’d arranged a room for me, I didn’t want to have to stay the whole night in this place. It wasn’t like I’d be able to sleep. I just wanted to keep moving forward.

“Where are you from?” the young woman asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I stalled, wondering how best to answer her. Or if I should even answer her at all. She raised her glass to her small, round mouth and took a sip, eyeing me with mild curiosity.

“I’m a wanderer.” I figured that was the easiest and shortest explanation I could give. And I realized with a grimace that it was actually accurate.

She nodded slowly, running a forefinger around the rim of her glass. “I am too,” she said. “Do you travel alone or in a group?”

“Alone,” I replied, now beginning to consider leaving this pub and going straight up to my room. If Aisha returned, she’d assume I’d gone upstairs. I really wasn’t in the mood for talking with strangers.

“Hm,” the young woman murmured. “So do I.” She shifted her focus back to her glass.

She was quiet after that, neither asking me more questions nor offering more information about herself. Still, I decided to sit only five more minutes at the table before going up to my room. The noise and the smoke were beginning to get to my head. I craved the silence of solitude.

“Good night,” I said as I stood up.

She nodded briefly in my direction.

My eyes traveled across the room, toward the counter where the waiter stood. I needed to get the key to my room from him.

I was about to cross the pub to talk to him when the main door swung open, letting in a strong breeze and… a young human man. All at once, his scent surrounded me, exacerbated by the breeze. My hands clamped down around the edge of the table as my stomach knotted. I had Bahir within me delaying the Elder from taking over my mind, but I still felt the bloodlust just as badly. Even though my last feeding had only been hours ago.

The female vampire I’d been sharing the table with eyed me with a slight frown.

“Um… Are you all right?” she asked.

She twisted in her chair, following my gaze. The human—a man perhaps in his late twenties—had just made his way behind the counter. He picked up a broom and began to sweep up. Apparently he was a worker here.

“Are you newly turned?” the girl asked, pushing aside her now-empty glass and standing up.

“Something like that,” I managed.

I wanted to bolt from this place, but there were only two exits that I could see—a staircase, and the main door. To reach both would mean traveling right past him, and I didn’t want to risk that.