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bottle bottoms.
"Yes& that is& " She took a deep breath and went on. "I'm here on behalf of my mistress, who wishes
to obtain passage to London for her and myself."
"And why does she send you instead of coming herself?"
"Her knowledge of English is not good," Colleen replied, hoping the answer would be enough.
"Then she could speak to my partner, Mr. Steranko."
"That would hardly be "
 "Of course it would be," he said, cutting her off. "We need to know whom we are to arrange passage
for."
This wasn't going as Colleen had hoped. She guessed it was her accent that strange blend of cockney
and Irish that gave her away. Though she'd worked hard to learn to hide it, and to get an education of
sorts, she'd never been able to leave the slums of London and Dublin behind. There seemed to be only
one option. "She'll be along soon. If Mr. Steranko can wait, he can speak to her."
"Mr. Steranko just stepped out for a little while. I'm sure he'll return soon enough."
He took her back into the office and brewed them both a cup of strong black tea. By the time they sat
down to drink it, the sun had already fallen behind the distant western slopes. Colleen could feel her
mistress wake, feel their minds brush. The intimacy gave her comfort.
She turned toward the door, but the form she saw there was not Joanna's but that of a large man, well
dressed but with long, unruly dark hair. "Mr. Steranko?" she asked.
He nodded and stepped forward. Some years younger than his partner, he nonetheless seemed to be the
one in charge. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Please," she said, pulling it away from his
grasp.
"Her mistress will be coming soon to arrange passage west," Summers explained.
"Ah, yes. I saw the wagon outside and the emblem on the bridle. I was wondering when the others in the
family would decide to follow the count. Which one is leaving next?"
Before Colleen could decide how to answer, she saw Joanna take form in the doorway. She looked far
more beautiful in the pale blue gown than in the tattered clothes she'd been wearing, and the flush of the
life she had taken was still on her cheeks; but her pallor, the silence when she moved revealed everything
to a knowing eye.
Steranko walked quickly to Joanna, taking both her hands, bowing so that his forehead nearly touched
them. "Enter freely and be welcome. Countess," he said, revealing just how much he understood.
Colleen watched how Joanna took a seat in one of the office chairs. Her bearing was stiff and regal, and
yet Colleen could sense in how her hands gripped the chair arms, her fingers playing with the turnings in
the wood, how her unruly hair seemed to shiver in some unfelt breeze, that she was on the edge of
another bout of hysteria.
What did she dream about in her long days in dark confinement? Colleen wondered. Did she dream at
all?
Joanna had never looked into the eyes of a man who understood what she was, and yet was unafraid.
She had to fight the urge to bare her fangs and arouse that fear, had to remind herself that he was
undoubtedly someone who was used to her kind and whose help she needed. She wisely managed to
keep it at bay, even while she grew more and more flustered as he spoke words she could scarcely
understand, pointed to documents she could not read.
She had revealed that fact to Colleen last night. They had sat by the fire, sifting through the stack of
papers she had taken from her brother's ruined castle. There were crumbling edicts written centuries ago,
letters written in a language strange to both of them from someone in Szged, notes to a banker in
Bucharest, and the most recent from some gentleman in England concerning the shipment of her brother's
belongings to his new home.
Those last had provided the name of the shipping house he'd used, and brought them here. Now
Steranko sat with the documents spread over his huge desk, explaining to her what each of them meant.
She didn't understand half of what he was telling her, but there was no need, especially when he assured
her that there would be solicitors in London more than willing to handle all her affairs.
He then took a map and showed the route their ship would take, and last explained the papers they
would both need to travel openly.
"Don't worry. Countess. Everything can be handled through us," Steranko explained. "We are quite used
to handling the affairs of nobility like yourself, as well as those with other unique needs."
Beside her. Colleen whispered in a voice so low only a vampire's ears could detect any sound at all.
"Unique needs. Banshees. Dearg-dul. Rakashas."
"And you can handle this all?" Joanna asked.
"All of it. We can even keep you safe until the ship departs tomorrow evening."
So easy! So very easy! Joanna pulled in a quick breath, then realized how insane her laugh would seem,
how out of place. She pressed her lips together tightly, feeling ready to explode.
"It will cost, of course," Steranko went on.
How dare he try to cheat her! Her eyes flashed with anger and he quickly added, "But no more than any
set of forged papers, I assure you."
Forged? "I go under my own name," she insisted.
Steranko considered this. "I think you must once you reach your destination. Countess. If you do not,
you will have no part of your brother's wealth once you've arrived in London. According to these
documents, he has sizable holdings there."
"And why not now?" she asked.
"It would not be be completely wise. Countess. You see, your brother's name is too well known in this
country, and the fate of the sailors on the Demeter only added to his reputation. You might end up on a
ship where some part of the crew knew the Demeter's story and would wish you harm. And by day& "
He left the thought unfinished, a polite gesture.
Joanna shut her eyes, struggled to remember the distant past. "There is another name that is also rightly
mine," she said at last. "Princess Joanna Mezid-Bey."
Steranko bowed again, lower this time. "I thought I detected some eastern blood in you. I'm sure it will
do for your travel papers. Princess. I will also prepare a second set for London."
Joanna glanced in Colleen's direction, but the girl seemed to understand the language as poorly as she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]