“Do people who are related to each other smell alike?”
Sipping his coffee and looking out at the snow, Gene wasn’t going to turn his head to gauge Cesar’s reaction to his question. It should have had an easy, one-word response. Yes or no. If he didn’t get an answer like that, it was because the older vampire was trying to extract insight from the context of the question, and Gene refused to give him that satisfaction.
It was dark out. It had been dark out when he went to bed and it was dark out now. Theoretically, hours had passed between this point and that point, but if not for the clock on his cellphone, he never would have known it. It was perhaps slightly less dark than when they arrived. There was a halo of light on the horizon—little more than a smudge of lighter shadow the sun had left behind before it set. The sky overall was midnight blue, not black like it had been before he went to bed. Gene had never known a place that could get so dark.
“They can,” Cesar finally replied. “In the same way people related to each other can look alike.”
“Hm. Jefferson’s family didn’t.”
“That was his second cousin… once, twice, uh don’t know how many times removed. I think once? Their fathers are second cousins? Wait, maybe that makes them third cousins—whatever, point is, barely related. Were they not branches of a vampire family, they would probably not even be in contact with one another.”
“I can’t imagine knowing a third cousin,” Gene agreed. “So is it only close relatives, then?”
Cesar shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. “Whims of genetics. You’d notice it if you met Jefferson’s brothers, but then they look alike too.”
Gene sipped his coffee and tried not to think about the sweet, copper flavor it had. It had seemed a novelty when the waitress offered—coffee with a shot of blood in it. Leukoreduced and laced with an anticoagulant, it was like coffee creamer for the undead, he supposed. It didn’t taste bad exactly. He couldn’t decide what he thought.
Instead of continuing to discuss the ins and outs of the Black family tree, Gene shifted back to a topic more relevant, “Huhhhh… I guess I found Noah, then.”
“Noah?”
“Yeah … last night…” Damn, that wasn’t right, was it? He still wasn’t used to being nocturnal. How did vampires make sense of it when their language was still oriented towards marking beginnings at sunrise and endings at midnight? “This morning, I guess? There was a kid getting coffee. He smelled like … well, it doesn’t matter, I guess.”
Cesar looked delighted, which Gene supposed was predictable.
“Oh, interesting.”
“Not really.”
“No, what’s interesting is that I know everyone that you know in this world and I’m not sure who you could be talking about. Which suggests that you have met someone new … although I can’t think of how or when you would…”
He was clearly leaving a gap in the conversation with the hope that Gene might respond in detail. Gene shrugged and turned back to the window. The dining room of the resort had large glass windows with stunning views of the surrounding landscape. It was also almost empty. Lunch had been served hours ago, and dinner wasn’t yet ready. The darkness was disorienting. Gene couldn’t figure out where to expect people to be. In bed? Or out exploring the frozen wonderland?
A persistent and steadfast gossip, Cesar was not going to be discouraged by a non-committal grunt and some tasteful brooding. “Although, you did manage to score a connection to Ajaton so I suppose anything—”
Gene sucked on his teeth lightly, as if Cesar was the world’s greatest bore. “I told you we found that at Duty-Free.”
Don’t smile, Gene reminded himself. It would not be nearly as satisfying if he broke character. For either of them.
Sometimes stubbornness was a form of foreplay.
“Of course,” Cesar replied. “I forgot—Did you bring something nice for tonight?”
The schedule’s most mysterious item: Opening Ceremonies. Formal. A detailed dress code had been sent in advance and was reprinted in the welcome packet. That had been a trip to read. Gene really had to wonder what it said about a community when they needed to be reminded not to wear body armor of any kind.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“I suppose the timekeeper can be relied on to outfit you correctly. I’ve seen his wardrobe.”
Gene rolled his eyes. “It’s just a tuxedo. I did have one—”
“Before you started working for him?”
Damn it—“No.” Gene could feel a real scowl settle on his face. “But that’s not the point.”
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