Daniel leaned to look around Trisk. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, thanks,” the man beside her said, his voice higher, almost apologetic. “Sometimes he forgets to breathe enough for me is all.” Eyes pinched in worry, he leaned forward to see them both. “I’m Leo. Do you need to pick anything up on the way?”
Daniel stared; the change was obvious. Leo was upfront where Piscary had been calculating, attentive where Piscary had been detached. “A-ah,” Daniel stammered, but Orchid, still on his shoulder, hummed her wings, filling the back of the car with her sparkling dust.
“Slugs in beer!” she swore, hovering inches in front of the man now trying not to sneeze. “I’ve never seen that before. You’re Piscary’s scion, aren’t you?”
Leo nodded, looking exhausted, as well as proud, and scared. “For the last few days,” he said, wiping sweat off the back of his neck. “His usual scion is unwell.” Leo’s eyes flicked to Trisk, then back to his hands. His mood ring had shifted to a fiery red, and he made a fist to hide it. “The faintest taint of sickness, and they won’t touch us. It’s becoming a problem.”
From the front, Sam said, “Those of us not ill are taking on an undue burden,” he said, holding up his bandaged wrist in explanation. “It’s hard keeping up.”
“We’ll manage,” Leo said, a hard determination stiffening his shoulders. “We won’t allow our masters to make Cincinnati into another Detroit.”
Clearly confused, Daniel leaned close, whispering, “Scion?”
“An undead vampire’s aide who does his or her daylight work,” she said, adding, “I’ll explain it to you later.” She turned to Leo, seeing him trying to recover. “You’ll be okay,” she said, and he looked up, his fear quickly hidden. “Your family will be fine.”
Wan, Leo nodded, clearly not convinced.
All the vehicles had worked themselves back onto the road, and Trisk felt a new ribbon of unease wind around her heart when Takata and Ripley were escorted onto the expressway heading into Cincinnati. She watched the van go distant, a black car before them, one behind.
But then she looked out the front window, her lips parting in amazement as the car rolled into Newport, just across the river from Cincinnati. There were cars on the road and people on the sidewalks despite the predawn hour, and yes, the shops were open unusually early. She wondered if the plague had somehow skipped them, but then Orchid’s wings drooped when a bus with MORGUE spray-painted on it rolled past, stopping when someone waving a red dishcloth came out of an apartment building.
“Are they all Inderlanders?” Trisk asked, and Leo followed her attention to the people pausing to pay their respects to the anonymous shroud-wrapped body. Yet the city was functioning, and she couldn’t help but compare it to the locked-down fear that held Chicago.
“I’d say most are,” Leo said as they bumped over a railroad trestle. “Simply because of the hour. This isn’t Cincinnati’s first plague. We know what to do, especially the old ones.” His smile faded. “They started a new cemetery up by the museum. Spring Grove is already full with cholera victims from the 1800s.”
“Old ones?” Daniel questioned, and Orchid flew back from the rearview mirror where she’d been charming Sam and the driver with her pert smile.
“Don’t worry, Daniel. I’ll stick with you,” she said as she landed on his shoulder. “It’s a fact that even old vampires leave you alone when there’s a pixy on your shoulder. Right, Leo?”
Leo looked at her, and Orchid touched the tiny blade on her hip. “Sure,” he said, his attention going to the elaborate Victorian house the car was pulling up to. It looked as if every light was on. A small marina lay to one side, and a restaurant on the other. A huge stone-foundation barn that had probably once held carriages was set behind it under even larger trees. Sleek cars and old vehicles were parked before it under security lights, with no regard to age or style. It was here that they stopped.
Immediately the driver and Sam got out, the trunk popping up so they could get Kal. Leo put a hand on Daniel’s knee, stopping him from opening the door. The dome light made odd shadows on his face. “Have you met with the undead before?” he asked.
Daniel stared at him. “I don’t think so.”
“Just one,” Trisk said. “And he blew up my truck with us in it.”
Daniel’s expression went empty as he began to put it all together.
Leo took his hand back. “Some advice. Piscary appreciates manners above all. He will forgive untidiness, but not disrespect. You,” he said, looking at Daniel. “Don’t eat anything in front of him, even if he offers. You can drink if he hands it to you, but otherwise, no. It’s probably a good idea if you don’t even talk.” Leo’s brow furrowed as he turned to Trisk. “Are you sure you want to bring him down? I can keep him entertained upstairs.”
“I’ll be fine,” Daniel almost growled.