After listening to the three vampires discuss her options deeper, Vera walked into the kit and began ing the bakeware that she’d used while making her cupcakes. While she was fttered, Vera was so scared she felt every little thump of her elder heart beating hard and desperate for relief. forted by the fact her new mistresses wao preserve her life, Vera quietly came to a clusion. While looking out over the soft yet hellish glow of the city’s ongoing fire, Vera finally spoke. “Amber…Daniel.” Vera set her mixing bowl in the drain basket and looked over her shoulder. “It’s okay, really. I’ve lived a very long time and if I were thirty years younger, I would have loved to share my blood with you both until you turned me.” Vera sighed and poured soap oiny blue sponge and washed the utensils o a time. “No, there is too much you all o do and you will need all of your blood.” Vera turned around pletely and pointed down into the lightout shelter. “Amber dear, downstairs there is a suitcase full of cash that you should have. I expect that Master Jason and Mistress Daniel have a small fortune as it is, and since I know through listening to all of the versations, you are the among them. Do something fun with it.” Vera smiled and dried her hands on a little towel, “Truth is…” Vera k and opehe et beh her sink and pulled out a handful of iron-tipped wooden stakes and hahem to the others. “...while I was a servant, I was also discovered by the vampire you knew as Livia Vegas. My days they called me a ‘Sleeper’. I was meant to keep an eye on as many vampires as I could, report numbers and the newly created.”
Waving her hand at the remaining used dishes, Vera breezed past the three fused vampires and sat down in her chair once more. “Oh, that feels better.” A wave of relief washed over the old woman and she closed her eyes as she rocked slowly. “I suppose the question is…who did I report to?” Vera queried and lifted the sleeve on her gown to reveal a tattoo with a set of closed eyes, as though sleeping. “Seems obvious, doesn’t it?” She ughed. “I was unceremoniously removed from my job after I was too old to fun as a sleeper.” She ughed, “It’s funny to be ho, I was the only one in the area and when Phantasmagoria opened, I could have gotten ba…since all of your brethren were in one pce.” Vera rubbed her eyes and then looked at her panions. “The stakes were for my prote, I never used them.” She paused, “However you might find the need for them again. Rid is a deadly pce.”
Knowing the value of a suitcase full of cash, Amber shrugged and darted downstairs and found what she was looking for rather quickly, aurned. “Vera, thank you.” Amber smiled, “You were a spy? So why are you helping us now?”
Jason turo look at Amber, “I would expect that you know why, Amber.” Jason took a useless breath, “She’s basically upset that she was ditched by whomever she was w for. Hoping for a little bit of payback.”
“Yeah, I khat.” Amber sighed, “You wao help us before, right?”
“I did.” Vera closed her eyes and ehe presence of her guests. “It is difficult to desire two families. One living and one undead.”
“So tell us about who you worked for, if you don’t want to be ged…” Amber blinked her majestic teal eyes pyfully. “I’ll get your vengeance for you.”
Without much left to offer, Vera stopped rog and opened her eyes. “Trust me, there are many more sleepers still out there. I answered to a person called ‘The Mason’ and they created a small group he Order of the Final Fang’ and somehow discovered all of you pooled here in this area.” Vera hesitated, “We never moved against anyone directly, but ‘The Mason’ would send ruo different locales and leave subtle hints.” She shrugged, “Sometimes vampires would disappear, sometimes nothing came of it. Either way, we moved in the shadows and ‘The Maso making statues.”
Reag down for one of the cupcakes, Daniel broke it in half and fed Jason, thehe remaining half herself. “Is this whole area filled with secrets?” She ughed and cleared her head, “Vera, that’s great. I am not sure what we do with that information now.” She poio the ce of the fire that had resumed oelevision. “We have to deal with that. Your ‘Mason’ will have to wait.”
“Agreed.” Amber looked at the s once more. “We have to deal with Tatum, well Enas-Tatum…” Amber corrected herself, “...I don’t think it is a good idea that we let that white-wraith discover all that Miss Bckwell could do.”
Jester reached down while cuddling Daniel in one arm and handed Amber a cake, then grabbed another for the couple. “So to be clear, we aren’t going to do anything about the portal? We could try and stop the song, sihat is causing mayhem.” Jason looked betweeires. “That is a hell of a lot more bats that live in this area. They have to be ing from further away.” He went on, “I mean Sylvie did tell me everything she knew about the portal from her dream, even though we knew most of the details from the meeting we had st night.”
“I am not sold on doing this in separate groups, even if Amber is some superstar.” Daniel muhe sed cake that Jason offered. “I don’t think we do both, so is it going to be Tatum or the crystals on the ring?”
“Crystals.” Amber voted. “We deal with Miss Bckwell after.”
“Crystals.” Jason seded, “Tatum will be a moo fad pretty well protected with the other shadewraiths. We are likely to draw attentiohe song stops or ges anyway.” Jason pulled Daniel close and gave the small vampire a longing kiss. “Plus, we might be able to use the vampires freed from the song to help us fight the white-wraith.”
“Crystals it is then.” Daniel sheepishly offered after the couple’s kiss left her lightheaded. “Vera?”
“Humm?” The elderly woman replied softly.
“Thank you for everything. You’ve been wonderful.” Daniel offered and hopped out of Jason’s arms.
Amber grabbed the st few cupcakes and hahem to her felloires, “I promise to look into your thing after this mess, okay?” When Vera shook her head, Amber headed for the door. “No time like the present.”
