78

Gerard nods to himself and looks up from the notebook. "I was able to track down the most likely source of the explosives used during the Blood Hunt at your request. It's a company named Waterloo Ordnance Works, and a shipment was sent to Ottawa less than a week ago." He frowns suddenly, almost embarrassed. "I've been getting push-back from sources I know work for members of the Camarilla. That's concerning in its own right, but I'm starting to get the impression that the purchaser of these explosives might be someone close to you. If you'd like me to dig a little deeper on this, I think it may take at least one more day. But it's dangerous. I can't stress that enough."

"That can be arranged, ma'am. Now, if I may be so bold, you should probably sleep. It's nearly sun-up."

Gerard is right and you can feel it—as you were talking, you began to feel a great weight on your shoulders. You may be shielded from the sun inside your haven, but daytime brings a weariness to even the most powerful vampires. You dismiss your servant and slink to your bed. Darkness washes over you almost immediately as you recline and slip into sweet oblivion.

Dark Dreams

You're swimming through the ether, chasing glimmering motes in an endless sea of black. You catch a brief vision of a hacker in the glacial reflection, a momentary glimpse of a past left behind forever. You push the memory back into your subconscious where it belongs. Better to harvest from more profitable memories and draw strength that will aid you in the coming nights.

While your first year of training under Corliss's watchful eye was almost unbearably cruel, your skill and survival impressed your sire to the extent that she allowed you more time to pursue your own interests and learn mostly on your own. Many of those early lessons had been forgotten in the years of relative leisure the Ivory Tower afforded you, but the tumultuous events of recent nights have brought your training back into sharper focus.