Free The Rift Walker by Clay Griffith, Susan Griffith Page A

the roads.”
    The teacher tried to look calm. “No, no. There's no great hurry. We don't want to attract undue attention. But I don't want to be late. My colleague is expecting us.”
    “Sir Godfrey Randolph? Surely it can't be such an emergency for him to confer with me on vampire issues?”
    “No, but he's eager to speak with you. Your reports on the north have circulated throughout the Imperial Academy.”
    “Really?” Adele leaned forward with excitement. “I was wondering. I hadn't heard much since I wrote them.”
    “They've been read by serious scholars. Sir Godfrey is very interested.”
    Adele wondered at how best to approach her next observation. “Sir Godfrey has a reputation as…an odd duck.”
    Mamoru didn't remove his gaze from the distance. “How so?”
    “Well, he's a gifted surgeon. Wealthy. Respected. Then he became a vampirist and an occultist. Wrote several books, didn't he?”
    Mamoru nodded.
    Adele thought back to the book she'd seen in Greyfriar's possession months ago in France. It was Sir Godfrey's Treatise on Homo Nosferatii —a massive folio of plates depicting anatomized vampires. She had been eager to secure a copy upon her return so she could compare the anatomy of vampires to humans, and she found them quite similar in most ways, reassuringly so. She had wanted to meet Sir Godfrey since her return and tell him how his book was in the possession of the great Greyfriar, but she had decided to remain evasive on the swordsman whenever possible. The less said about her time with Greyfriar, the better. Lies had a way of unraveling.
    She said, “I know he's your colleague, but surely you've heard the stories of his decline in favor. They say his home is full of stuffed vampires posed in terrifying tableaux.”
    Mamoru glanced at her with an indulgent smile.
    “Does he have them?” Adele blurted.
    “Not that I've seen. But I haven't been in every room.”
    “Surely you've heard these things also. Everyone says he's something of a crackpot.”
    “That's what they say about me too,” Mamoru replied, and then he thought, And about you as well . “Sir Godfrey is a genius. He is the finest surgeon in Egypt. A man of vision.”
    Adele sat back, not wanting to offend. “Of course. You know how stories get started.”
    “I do. We're here.” Mamoru seized his walking stick and said, “Your veil, Highness.”
    Adele wore a traditional robe with a headscarf, which she draped across her lower face. It seemed odd, but no doubt Sir Godfrey desired discretion. The carriage rocked to a stop and sat humming as if impatient while the driver opened the door. Mamoru was quickly out and handing Adele down the kick step. He led her on his arm across the sidewalk, now cast in late-afternoon shadow, and up the steps to a townhouse stoop. He had barely reached to knock when the door swung open and a butler bowed them inside. From the way he looked at her, Adele could tell he knew her identity, but he didn't speak as he collected Mamoru's hat and stick.
    “Welcome! Welcome!” came a booming, jovial voice. A large, rotund, red-faced grandfather surged down the hall at them. He paused on the tile foyer and bowed deeply before Adele. “Your Highness, I am honored.”
    Adele removed her scarf and bid him rise. “Thank you for your invitation, Sir Godfrey. I'm delighted the Imperial Academy has taken an interest in my papers.”
    The bewhiskered doctor raised his eyebrows, eyeing Mamoru briefly. “Oh, indeed we have. You are now Equatoria's leading vampirist, Your Highness.”
    “After yourself, of course.”
    “You've surpassed me by a long shot. I've written a few books on the topic, but I've never traveled north of Alexandria, except for a brief jaunt to Cyprus on vacation. Have you ever been to Cyprus? It's quite lovely. I can recommend a nice restaurant, if it's still in business. I was there over twenty years ago.”
    Adele laughed as they entered a beautiful library with floor-to-ceiling