Free Blood & Spirits by Dennis Sharpe Page A

them just as much as their thirst for blood, and I was literally no relation. They would hear me out, because most of them owed me favors, however, none of them would put themselves at any risk for me. I’m crazy, not stupid.
    “I believe there is, or has been, another of our kind in the city. One I don’t know.” Watching their faces, reading their emotions, they are all looking to Jacobi for an opinion and he is a stone.
    I continue undaunted, explaining. “Calvin Hocker is a criminal who recently tried to burn down my house. When I went to question him and probe his mind for motives, I found that it was missing. His active mind and memories were entirely gone. Now, whatever did that was definitely not a breather. I believe this was done by another of our kind. One I’ve never met. To have the power over the mind that has been displayed would take some training and suggest age. I felt that was an important matter for the Council. Further, I strongly believe that Hocker, before his encounter with the creature I’ve discussed, may have been working with a large alliance of ghosts toward some greater end. I don’t know what it is, but it worries me. I know from my contacts among the spirits that there is a larger than normal amount of activity from unquiet spirits in the area; they are working in larger numbers and are more organized. These are things I’ve discovered or have been brought to my attention. I believe they might all be connected. I felt it was my duty to inform the Council.”
    I look at the grandfather clock behind Jacobi when I’ve finished and realize I’ve kept them all quiet and seated for far longer than I had intended. There is an uneasy lull while they all look at one another and to their eldest for his thoughts.
    Finally, Learner has had enough and he stands to face me, saying, “And why are we even sitting and wasting the time to listen to your ridiculous speech? It’s nothing more than a request for our help, right? You come here with a hand held out to us asking for us to clean up a mess for you? Spirits are after you? Criminals are trying to burn down your house, and so you scramble their brains and don’t want to be held responsible if we find out? If there really is something going on, how do we know you didn’t cause it? Why don’t we just order you to investigate these matters further and solve your own problem?” Learner blurts it out without considering his own contradiction, or the company he’s in.
    He has got to be a disappointment to his uncle. He lacks his family’s rapier wit, common sense, and worst of all by choice, their education. It’s all I can do to hold back a laugh.
    “Nephew, you speak out of turn.” His words are soft, but forceful.
    “But uncle, this snotty little bitch is probably lying just to set us up, or trick us. She openly admits to consorting with spirits. I’m not going to just be lead around by…”
    “Silence!” Jacobi shouts, interrupting his tirade. “I don’t ask that you like what I say. I simply require that you do as I tell you.”
    Serena stands and waits to be recognized. When she is she addresses the room, but doesn’t take her eyes off Learner, who is clearly uncomfortable in her gaze. “As much as I don’t want to, I agree slightly with Marcus. She isn’t a part of any of our families. Plotting against us isn’t so ludicrous an idea. However, I too, have noticed oddities of late. Word has been brought to me by the spirits I choose to consort with that leads me to believe there are strange and perhaps dangerous things afoot. I believe looking into these parts of her claims is not without merit.”
    Glances are shared around the room and it would seem that about half of them still agreed with Learner. This is why I don’t spend a lot of time around my own kind. At least now, though, I knew they were divided on it. Now I knew that they had heard what was going on, and I wouldn’t be put to death later for withholding