VtM: Information, Connection, Planning

Shannon was just as striking as she'd been when he first saw her, standing in the door of the Crux Invertis just after dawn and studying his face. The smile she offered him looked concerned. "You all right?"

He nodded. "I got in, I got out. I need to know things before my... patron finds me again."

Shannon studied him for a moment longer, then said, "Okay. Come inside." She hesitated, then said: "Malachi's still awake."

Edhem hesitated. "Is that usual?"

"No, but... Come inside."

Edhem nodded and stepped through the door. He shouldn't be trusting Shannon as much as he was, but then Malachi and the kids hadn't seemed actively hostile either. At least, not so far...

"Ah," said Malachi. "Edhem Blackburn, the would-be reporter." He smiled. "And sometime hunter."

Edhem glanced at Shannon, then crossed to the table where Malachi sat. "Investigator," he said gently. "Not reporter."

"But privy to ancient powers, Shannon tells me."

Edhem nodded, putting a hand on the book in its pouch at his belt. He hadn't brought in any of the canes; that would have been asking for trouble, and trouble was the last thing he wanted here. "Some," he admitted. "I wasn't lying about looking into the death of the Magical Mister Grey."

"I didn't think you were." Malachi glanced at Shannon, who nodded. 

"I didn't think you were, either."

Edhem hesitated. He didn't want to owe either of them a favor, not with everything else going on, but... "Could we trade knowledge, as I did with Shannon before?"

"Of course," answered Malachi. "You've no idea how much I've missed this. What sort of magus are you? What tradition?"

That was technically two questions, but Edhem recognized a clarification when he heard one. "I'm one of the Scions of the First City," he said quietly. "I create effects by inscribing the first tongue in my own blood." He paused. "What are Toreador and Tremere?"

Malachi answered without hesitation. "They are clans of vampires, the artists and the sorcerers among our number."

"I think you may have answered more than my original question," Edhem observed carefully.

Malachi shrugged. "Consider it a gift. As I said, it's been some time since I could gather information this way. I've missed it. Now then... What can you tell me about the one who set you to this task?"

Edhem considered that, then blew out a breath. "Since it found me in Jack and Valeria's apartment, likely a Tremere. And as Shannon observed, old. There was a sort of otherworldly beauty, but also a... stillness. Like talking to a statue, until it moved and answered. I don't know how much that narrows it down. It said that Jack's death had upset... one of its grandchildren, if I remember correctly. And I should clarify that it didn't set me to investigate the death; I was already doing that on my own. It just pointed me towards you, and Cavalieri, and a few others." He hesitated, then asked: "It said it would 'watch over me' while I did this. How much should I be reassured or worried by that?"

"Very much," said Malachi. "If I said those words, I would be promising my protection--" He gestured around. "--such as it is, but I would also be signaling that I might be interested in bringing you into our world. The older ones in particular... they don't ask permission before doing that. Not usually." He paused, tilting his head thoughtfully, then added: "I am Caitiff, clanless. I would not do such a thing myself; I'm not well-enough established for that. But an older Tremere would offer you more protection, and be better able to bargain with the Prince for permission to turn you."

Edhem felt a little ripple of horror go through him, and tried not to show it. "Your turn," he said quietly.

"Why would one of our elders choose you for this?" asked Malachi.

Edhem sighed. "...Because I arrived on the balcony of Jack and Valeria's most recent apartment in the form of an owl, walked into the darkness without needing much light, and promptly sat down to use my dead master's deck of cards to learn more about what had happened to Jack and Valeria. The elder interrupted the reading to question me, and then tried make me do his will... and failed."

"Yet here you are, doing his will regardless."

Edhem tilted his head. "That wasn't a question, and it wasn't your turn anyway. How much of a problem is it that Valeria was taken away by someone named Grand, who was a Toreador?"

Malachi was still human enough to suck in a breath before answering. "Jack Grey, as you've surmised, was one of the Tremere. Valeria, in addition to being his wife and assistant on stage, was his ghoul -- as Shannon is mine. That means that Jack was giving her some of his blood, to increase her abilities without fully turning her from the light. It made her a powerful protector for him, but more importantly it linked her to the Tremere clan. To have her taken in -- or kidnapped -- by the Toreadors after his death? That's a great insult to the Tremere, almost a challenge. But Grand, like most Toreadors, has always been melodramatic. Rescuing the widow of someone who'd died in her service, or even her presence, would have been nearly irresistible for her. It will be worse if Grand turns Valeria; the Tremere will never forgive that." He yawned. "And now, I have pushed my sleep off as far as I comfortably may. I have no more questions for you, mageling."

Edhem nodded and rose, bowed. "I do have one more for you," he said, "but it's a matter of permission, not information."

"Oh?" asked Malachi. "Pray tell."

"May I date your ghoul?"

Malachi laughed and turned to Shannon. "If Shannon agrees, of course. And with the understanding that if this Tremere elder turns you, you will not attempt to turn her. She would be killed out of hand, even if she survived the process."

That consideration hadn't even occurred to Edhem, but he fixed it firmly in his mind. "M'lady, would you indulge me while we have some daylight yet?"

Shannon glanced at Malachi, who had already vanished, and then looked back at Edhem and grinned. "We're both going to do tests," she said, "and if we're both negative then yes. And I have to warn you, I put out on the second date -- which this would be -- and I expect you to, too."