“Useful?” Eliot responded with a slight stammer as Hollister moved closer.

“Oh yes. Much more so than any other servant. So, stay a while, won’t you?” Hollister smiled as he placed an arm around Eliot’s shoulders.

Using every bit of willpower to resist the urge to please someone who was also even harder to oppose than Sean and Claire, Eliot made himself speak again, “I c—can’t.”

“Pardon?” Hollister asked as he moved back, giving Eliot a look of surprise.

Eliot took a breath as he tried to find some way to explain the situation he was now in, “I went through years, and years, of hell to try and save someone I love. I can’t abandon them now.”

“Someone?” Hollister questioned knowingly.

“Yes, Claire. But like I said, I’ve already been forced to be away from her for so long already. Now I’m finally back, and I have to help her. I have to make all that time apart worth it,” Eliot told him urgently.

Hollister looked around pointedly before centering his dark eyes back on Eliot, “And how is being an entire ocean away from her actually helping her, or making up for lost time?” he questioned pointedly.

Eliot let out another heavy sigh, “That’s the reason I came here. To find out if I can be near her again, so I can help her, when I need to.”

“Not sure I follow. So please explain how it is that you need to deny me your help in order to help my great grandchilde, instead,” Hollister stated coolly.

Eliot shook his head at the implication of Hollister’s words and tone, before finally speaking again, “I wanted it to be Nicolas, but I suppose it can be you. At least then you’ll know why I can’t stay here.”

“Meaning?” Hollister stated with furrowed brow.

“I’m amazed you haven’t done it already,” Eliot sighed again. “But, go ahead, look into my mind, and you’ll understand why I came this far looking for help, myself.”

It took only a few moments of exploring Eliot’s amazing mind before Hollister was caught up on the long, sad story. He sighed as he inspected the marble floors below their feet, pondering all that he had just learned.

After another long moment, Hollister spoke again, “Fine, as much as I would like you to stay here and serve me, I wish no ill will on Claire. But I will require you to return here once the danger is passed for her.”

“So, you’re letting me go back?”

“I may be a monarch, but I’m not a monster, Eliot. But do not make me regret my patience. I do expect you to return once you have helped save her from that dark fate the Malkavian foresaw,” Hollister assured.

Eliot let out an only slightly relieved sigh before he had to make himself speak again, “And you know the reason I came here tonight, too?”

“Oh yes, you want to know if I could see past that mental wall you’ve built to hide the future from even yourself?”

“Yes,” Eliot confirmed, though the word was barely a whisper.

“Amazingly, I somehow could not. Which makes me even more eager to put your abilities to use myself. Having someone who can block secrets from being revealed, to even a Kindred as old as myself? That is very valuable indeed. And I’m sure it’s only a portion of what you can actually do,” a pause. “So I will most assuredly expect your prompt return, as soon as you’ve saved your lady love, of course.”

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When Summer next visited the Prince’s estate, she was wearing her usual smile, as well as an air of nearly tangible anticipation. Sean turned from where he and Claire had been speaking quietly near the bottom of the stairs, and adopted the smile he usually graced the young woman with.

“Did you think up another way to be ever so helpful tonight dear?” he asked as she moved into the room.

“Just maybe,” she said with another pleasant smile as she and Sean looked over one another with a mutually appreciative gaze. “Actually, I do have a bit of helpful information.”

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“Please, enlighten me,” Sean said as he also took a step toward her.

“Well, according to the note he left, it seems Eliot may have finally found a way to take care of that little issue with knowing way too much for his own good,” Summer stated with a pleased expression.

“He did?” Claire was the one who spoke first, even though she and Summer had barely conversed on the young woman’s first visit.

“Yes,” Summer answered a little more quietly before offering any more information. “But he had to go to England first, apparently?” she added with a slight shrug.

“England?” Claire gasped, she and Sean both looking a bit thrown by that information.

“Seems so,” Summer replied with an attempt at a sympathetic smile toward Claire, rather than the usual type of smiles she always showered on Sean.

“But he just...” Claire’s voice trailed off, looking down to hide her upset over that bit of ‘helpful’ information. “Thank you, Summer,” she nearly whispered before heading for the foyer, seemingly to go and get more information from Eliot himself.

“He already...” Summer called after her, though Claire was already through the doors and on her way.

Sean gave a slightly concerned look at the door Claire had just rushed through, before turning back to Summer. “He already what?”

“Already left,” Summer finished with a soft sigh, “but I suppose she’ll figure that out as soon as she gets to the house, anyway. Sorry,” she made herself add as more of an afterthought.

Sean allowed a small sigh of his own before reacquiring his smile. “Is that the only reason you came to my home again tonight?”

That was when Summer’s grin turned slightly mischievous as she moved close to him once more, “You tell me.”

Sean chuckled slightly as she boldly wrapped her arms around his waist, just as she had done when the two shared that kiss on her last visit. “I still can’t believe you actually enjoy the fact that I can read your every thought and desire.”

“My every thought and what?” Summer asked playfully as she continued looking up at him, pressing even closer to him then.

“Indeed,” Sean smiled down at her again. He then placed a small kiss on her forehead before speaking again, “Well, you’ve already seen the grounds. Care for a tour of the rest of the house?”

“Sounds delightful, indeed,” Summer agreed with a bit of giddiness before he took her hand and began leading her up the stairs with him.

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It didn’t take long for Claire to arrive at the street Douglas’ old house was located on, thanks to the relatively new streetcars that now populated the unpaved streets right along side horse drawn carriages and even bicycles these days. Looking up at the myriad electric wires and poles that dotted those streets, Claire allowed a moment to take it all in. The city had progressed by leaps and bounds in the direction of the civilization that Claire and Sean hadn’t seen much of at all since their days overseas, followed of course by the dark days of the gold rush once they were back home again. But it was now the turn of the century indeed.

Once the house came into view, Claire adjusted her vision and immediately knew that there was no one inside. She sadly sighed as she turned to the driver. “It appears no one is home, after all,” she informed him sadly.

“Shall I take you back home, Madame?” he asked.

Claire thought on his question a moment, turning her eyes back toward where the roof of her own home could just barely be seen above the other multitude of buildings that had sprung up all around them in recent decades.

“No, I think I’ll see if another friend might be still awake. Head north, please,” she instructed softly. He gave her a curious look, as it was still rather odd for a woman to be traveling the streets alone after dark. But she was paying for his services, and she was indeed one of the wealthiest women in the city, so he was not going to question it, and started moving down those unpaved streets once more.

Claire was still a bit wary of this place, considering this is where not only Kristofer, but also his wife, had met their end on the very ground right outside the door that now bore another doctor’s name. Claire gathered her composure before knocking on the door as she was hit with memories of that terrifying moment when she had first come to this place, thinking that her ever so long life was about to be ended in a flurry of teeth, claws and blood.

Lucian came to the door looking more than a little taken aback by her appearance there that night. “Can’t say I was expecting this visit,” he stated as he stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind him.

Claire gave him a questioning look before returning his greeting, “Is it a bad time?” Lucian seemed to need a moment before answering, which was a moment long enough to cause Claire’s panic to set in. “She’s not here is she?” she asked the first thing that invaded her already rather melancholy thoughts that night.

“She?” Lucian repeated, caught again by that question.

But Claire had already adjusted her vision once more to answer that question for herself. She then stammered, “I was worried that Awsha might have come to harass you again, but...”

“Awsha?” he nearly spat the name from his lips. “The only time she was ever here was when she was too much of a coward to appear in the flesh. Much to my chagrin, as I had tried to stake her that very night.”

Almost seeming as though she hadn’t even heard Lucian’s response, Claire’s eyes were still locked on the house behind him. “Who is inside then?” she looked up at him with further puzzlement.

“Who?”

“One thing I learned about myself, from Eliot of all people, is that when someone doesn’t know how to answer, they tend to just repeat the question. What’s going on here Lucian?” she asked him worriedly.

But before he could give an answer himself, that answer was already supplied as the sound of a tiny baby crying came from inside.