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“If that’s what you want then being around Ryder is not in your best interests,” Lawson said.

Now let me introduce the Helm Bloodline! Balthazar’s voice boomed in Grayson’s mind.

But the street remained empty or so it seemed. People leaned out from the sides of the road to see the Vampires who must have missed their cue.

Helm? Helm? Are you there? Or are you… invisible! Balthazar laughed.

The crowd gasped as a line of Vampires suddenly appeared directly in front of them out of nothing. They wore pale gray pants with nearly sheer tops, even the men. They flipped back effortlessly from the crowd, disappearing in mid flip, before reappearing back down on the ground, arms outstretched.

They take the meaning of the phrase ‘now you see them, now you don’t’ to a whole new level! Balthazar enthused. And you never do know where they are. Think you’re alone? Think you’re confessing your secrets to the moon and the stars? Better check every inch of your room, because it might not be true.

Suddenly, the Helm Vampires disappeared again. Grayson felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see a blonde-haired Helm Vampire appear in an instant, wink at him, and then disappear again.

The Helm used to have it easy when we snuck into people’s rooms to catch a bite to eat, Balthazar said. There were teasing “boos” at his bad joke. What?! It’s true!

Throughout this display, Grayson felt Lawson’s eyes on him. He could feel his breath against his throat. There was the faint reek of whisky and blood. Definitely blood. He’d smelled it enough that night to recognize it now. A chill ran down his spine. What did this conversation look like to others? Eiji had sensed danger and flown. But what about the others? Were they even looking? He didn’t see Seeyr. Didn’t she see the future? Or maybe not everything. And maybe not things she considered important like his fate.

Balthazar was floating above the fountain, doing his commentary thing. He wondered vaguely how he was doing that. But the Eyros Vampire had his hands full, too full to notice what was happening with Grayson. And if Daemon--the literal Vampire King--gave a damn about what Lawson was doing, he wasn’t apparently there. Not yet.

“I know that Weryn isn’t taking fledglings this year,” Grayson finally said.

Was that what the Vampire was worried about? That Grayson thought he could get Ryder to turn him?

Lawson shook his arm sharply. “Or any year!”

Yeah, that was it. The desperation lacing Lawson’s voice was clear. He feared that Ryder would decide to break “tradition” and take a fledgling from this class of the academy. That wasn’t what was going on between him and Ryder. But it looked that way to everyone not in the know. It clearly looked that way to Lawson. He considered telling him that it wasn’t what he thought.

But then Lawson spoke again, “We won’t be taking the leavings of any Eyros or Kaly or Seeyr.”

“Right,” Grayson answered neutrally even as he thought the diss on these other Bloodlines sounded ignorant to the extreme, especially considering his experience with some of them.

Balthazar was introducing another Bloodline. This time it was the Mirryr Bloodline. Even if Grayson hadn’t known what their power was, he would have now. For every single one of the dozen Vampires looked exactly the same. They were a beautiful Indian woman in dark role colored pants and a cropped shirt edged with gold and flowers. A pink cloth covered their dark hair and blew in the wind. A golden ornament was looped around head and hung from her hair.

She--they--were beautiful, graceful, bewitching. And they moved as one. They danced down the street, hands making intricate patterns in their air, hips gliding right and left and right again, and feet hardly touching the ground.

They spread out and, like the Helm, faced individuals in the crowd. One faced a woman to Grayson’s right. She let out a gasp of shock and delight, one hand lifting to her lips, as the Mirryr Vampire looked just like her. The Mirryr Vampire mimicked her movements.

“How are you doing that?” the student asked.

“How are you doing that?” the Mirryr Vampire repeated perfectly in the same tone and pitch.

“Oh, my God!” the student laughed.

The Mirryr Vampire did the same, but this time there was less of a delay between the subject and the clone. The student shook her head in amazement. This time there was no delay with the Mirryr Vampire not just looking like the student and sounding like her, but anticipating what she would do and say. The student’s eyes widened, as did the Mirryr’s. It was eerie and cool at the same time.

But it wasn’t enough to distract Lawson from his task.

“You act like you don’t believe me. But I’m in charge of the Weryn. I make the rules,” Lawson told him.

Yet you waited to scuttle over here when Ryder was distracted. Yeah, sure you’re in charge, Grayson thought with disdain.

“Okay.” Grayson shrugged.

“So sniffing around Ryder isn’t going to get you what you want,” Lawson told him.

“So you say.”

“I command and Ryder obeys!” Lawson snarled.