The vampire known as Quicksilver threw a knife high into the smoke-clogged air of the tavern. Those around him watched with beady-eyed, bloodthirsty fascination as he held his head back, opened his mouth wide and waited for the knife to drop. A few people shrieked, but Quicksilver didnât flinch, expertly tracking the flight of the dagger. At precisely the right moment he clenched his teeth together and caught the blade two inches past the tip. As the handle quivered, he turned slowly, so that everyone in the room could see. Pulling out the knife, he threw it into the wood of the table â it drove in all the way to the hilt â and took a bow.
As the crowd went wild with applause, Quicksilver grinned and slumped into a chair close to another vampire and a gaggle of admiring young ladies. âThere,â he beamed. âI told you I could do it.â
âOne of these nights,â the other bloodsucker said, âyouâll time that wrong and end up with a knife through the back of your throat.â
âDonât be such an old woman, Wester,â Quicksilver laughed. âYouâll scare these lovely creatures and I would hate to send them to bed with nightmares.â
âIt will take more than your dull tales to scare us,â one of the ladies snorted, but they were undeniably impressed.
âWhatâs your real name?â another lady asked, cuddling up to the man with the odd, orange hair, immaculate grey suit and dazzling smile.
âI only reveal that to my very special friends,â Quicksilver murmured. Then, as she blushed, he whispered in her ear, âLarten Crepsley.â After that he called for more wine and the rest of the night passed most pleasantly.
A groggy Wester rose before Larten and stumbled to the window of the inn where they had bedded for the day. He peered through the curtains at the sunlight, hissed and let them swish shut. It would be another couple of hours before they could go out. The sun wouldnât kill the vampires instantly, but theyâd start to redden within minutes and would be in agony in less than an hour. If they were exposed to its rays for two or three hours, there would be nothing left of them except for charred bones.
Wester washed in a basin of water and studied his beard in the mirror above it. Shaving was a complicated business for vampires. Normal razors were useless on their tough hair. He and Larten had picked up specially hardened blades a couple of years ago, but Wester had lost his in the course of their travels. Heâd asked to borrow Lartenâs, but the slightly older vampire had said it was time Wester learnt to take better care of his possessions. Larten had just been teasing him, but Wester didnât want to give his friend the satisfaction of seeing him plead, so heâd grown a beard since then.
âMy head,â Larten groaned, sitting up, then flopping back again. âWhat time is it?â
âToo early to be getting up,â Wester grunted.
âHow much did we drink last night?â
âI donât want to think about it.â
Vampires could consume a lot more alcohol than humans and it was difficult for them to get drunk. But Wester and Larten had been managing to defy the physical odds most nights.
âThey were nice ladies,â Larten chuckled. âThey loved my knife trick.â
âYou should try it at the Cirque Du Freak,â Wester said drily. âIt would go down a treat there.â
The pair had bumped into their old ally, Mr Tall, a while ago. Theyâd spent a fun few nights with the circus crew and Larten had performed some of his old magic routines in the show. He had been rusty to begin with, but adjusted swiftly. He had an incredibly fast hand, even for a vampire. It was how heâd earned his nickname â one of their friends had once said his fingers moved as if made of quicksilver.
Larten and Wester had been travelling the world for almost twenty years since their first time at Council. Both had learned a lot, not just about the ways of vampires, but about ladies too. Larten had been a slow starter, but was making up for lost time, dazzling maidens with his smile, confidence and agility wherever he went.