Sasha sighed, hesitating in place for a moment after Alice’s repeated, pleading question. She had agreed to nothing. Offered nothing. Not cooperation, not obedience, not even an apology for her obstinance. Still, the fragile glisten in her eye and the fear frozen on her expression conveyed that she had heard Sasha’s every word.

He only wanted to compel her assistance. Not break her. If he pushed too hard, he might damage her irreparably. Even if she was only human, she was still Alasdair’s descendent. Sasha could feel him scowling from his crypt.

After a long moment of consideration, the vampire stepped away from the deliveryman, releasing him. The man lay there for another half minute, afraid to move. He had all of the survival instincts of a turnip.

“Go?” Sasha dismissed him with a half-hearted wave. “And for god’s sake, tuck in your shirt.”

“Y-yes sir!” The deliveryman rolled to his feet, then scrambled to run away. He tripped over his own feet and nearly fell again as he struggled to tuck in his shirt while running back to his scooter.

Alice and the vampire stood there in the calm rain in the middle of the road, while the other man scuttled off, his footsteps fading away. Although cars continued to pass on the streets beyond this one, somehow none of them found reason to turn down this lane. Sasha and Alice were left alone to contend with one another.

It was as much a part of Newcastle’s downtown as any other lane, so this seemed to make little sense. There [i]were[/i] shops down here. No one even stepped outside. Could it be coincidence? Or did Sasha’s presence somehow have an unconscious effect on the surrounding area?

“Satisfied?” Sasha asked finally. “Fine, I confess it. I am more bark than bite. It wasn’t always this way, but times are different. Humankind is more civilized, for the most part. Thus, so are we.”

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“For the most part.”

Sasha dropped his arms.

“Come with me, Alice. We’ll bring your projects. You’ll make your calls. Do what you must. But we [i]must[/i] reach France with all due haste before those who kill my kind see to it that master’s remains are irrevocably destroyed.”