Jonathan Harker was gone.

“Where is he?” Senka gripped the mace. “He should be here! I wanted to bite him, Vasilja. You said I could. You both said so. Why isn’t he here?”

“I don’t know, Senka,” Vasilja said. She didn’t look very concerned, though she made a show of examining the broken hinge on the door. “I put him in our best chains and everything.”

“He’s more resourceful than he looked,” Hailwic said.

“I don’t want him to be resourceful,” Senka hissed. “I want him to be here!”

Vasilja nodded. “Well, he’s not. And I think he probably ran away very fast. He might have made it to the village by now. And if he got himself a horse, he could be anywhere.”

“Who would sell him a horse? If anyone tried to sell him a horse, they know we’d bite them for it! They’d have to be stupid.”

“If Mister Harker had money in his pockets, Senka, he’d get himself a horse. Maybe not a good one, of course, but it would still be a horse. He might even have stolen one, I suppose.”

Senka reeled. “Well, let’s go get him. He can’t have got far.”

“We don’t know which direction he’s going.” Vasilja tapped on the broken hinge. “Do you know, I think he managed to kick it open. He must have been very desperate. I think I’ll need to speak to the blacksmith. And the carpenter. We’ll need them to fix it and make sure it never happens again. It’s not very nice when people run away like this, is it?”

“If you don’t want to look for him, I will!”

“We’re not looking for him now,” Hailwic said. “He’s most likely too far ahead of us. Let him go, Senka. Let’s not waste time.”

Small voice. “But I really wanted to bite him.”

“And if we see him again, you shall. But tonight, there’s more important things to worry about than that particular worm.”

“He really was a worm,” Vasilja said. “I don’t think he would have tasted very nice. I think he’d have tasted like a stableboy.”

“You don’t know that,” Senka growled. “I almost bit him. And I would have killed him, too. But Dracula stopped me. Why did he stop me if he never meant to have Jonathan for himself? I could have bitten him and then we could have all gone away together instead of Dracula sneaking off on his own like that. Now they’ve both gone and I’ve got no one to bite…”

“I think he wanted something from Mister Harker,” Vasilja. “Somewhere in the worm’s cunning little mind was something Dracula wanted very much to know. That’s why he didn’t want you to bite him. Because he hadn’t got what he wanted yet. Now he has. Which is why he left him for us.”

Senka frowned, trying to work it out.

Hailwic nodded. “Did he tell you why Harker was here?”

“No, Hailwic,” Vasilja said. “I thought he would have told you, though. He trusts you the most.”

“He didn’t say anything to me.”

“He’s not very good at sharing secrets, is he?”

“Which is why we need to be better in digging them out.”

Senka planted her feet at last. Lifted the mace and brought it crashing down onto the bars of the door. “That’s what I wanted to do! Dig them out! With my teeth. With my fingers. I’d have dug out all his little secrets and piled them by the door. But you wouldn’t let me! Why won’t anyone let me bite?”

Vasilja put her arms around her sister. Pulled her tight. “Don’t cry, Senka. It’s useless to try. You don’t have tears anymore, remember? All it does is make your eyes feel uncomfortable and gives you a headache.” She hugged the vampire. “Listen, we promise next time you can bite. Don’t we, Hailwic? Next time, you can bite as much as you like, and we won’t stop you. How does that sound?”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Hailwic shrugged. “Well, I suppose my way didn’t achieve anything. Perhaps biting a bit more might be more effective.”

Senka wiped at her dry eyes, more out of instinct than anything. “You promise? You’re not just saying it?”

“Of course not.” Vasilja smiled wider and stepped away. “Now, I think you should let out some of your frustration on the door again. You’ll like that, won’t you? Hit it with your thing there and I’m sure you’ll feel much better.”

“I’m hungry.”

“We’ll go find something soon, I promise.” She pointed delicately at the bars. “Go on. Hit it.”

Senka tapped the iron with the mace.

“Tsk, Senka. That’s not nearly hard enough. How’s that supposed to make you feel better? Hit it harder.”

Senka howled her fury and beat at the iron bars with her mace.

Again.

And again.

The clang of metal echoed in her frenzied shrieks.

Vasilja and Hailwic left her there. Threaded their way into the courtyard and stood in the chill wind. Pale white dresses still stained from their feast the night before.

There had been no time yet to change.

“She’s still a child,” Vasilja said. “He took her too young. Don’t you think so?”

Hailwic snorted. “She was older than you were.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say, Hailwic. You know what I meant. I was not as young up here.” Tapped her forehead.

“She’s full of passion. That’s all. It’s what drew him to her.”

“That’s a very pretty way of saying she’s impulsive and immature. I don’t understand it sometimes, Hailwic. I can see what he liked in Senka. But what was it he loved about me? He picked you because you were strong. And he likes you. You spend more time in his rooms than any of us. And lately, you always come out with a swollen neck. Sometimes he doesn’t even look at me for weeks. It’s almost like he doesn’t know I’m here.”

“He once told me he loved your sense of humour.”

“That’s very flattering.” She didn’t sound flattered. If anything, she sounded disappointed. She sighed. “Well, if Mister Harker can’t give us answers, how do we know where he’s going?”

“I believe Harker had something our Master wanted very much. Whether Harker shared his secrets or not, Dracula discovered something worth leaving the castle for. Do you remember where he was from?”

“Harker? I’m not sure. He sounded English. But everyone speaking English always sounds English to me. I’m not sure if he came from England at all. He might as well be Belgian for all I know. Or Sardinian.”

“He can’t be that. It’s called Italy now.”

“Is it? When did that happen?”

“I don’t know exactly. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it happened. You know about it already because I’ve told you before.”

“I don’t think you have. And besides, I think it does matter. I mean just because someone stops calling your home by its name doesn’t mean it’s not yours anymore. You should know this better than anyone, Hailwic.” She pursed her lips. “I suppose you’re right. It’s not very important right now. I mean, I don’t think Jonathan Harker is a Sardinian name, anyway. It doesn’t even sound very pretty when you say it. And Sardinian names always sound pretty, don’t they? They’re very musical. That’s why I like Sardinians so much. They’re very musical. That and they taste as delightful as they sound. Don’t look at me like that, Hailwic. Oh, very well, I will call them Italian if I must. Honestly, you’re so silly about these things sometimes. Anyway, I suppose Mister Harker could have come from Munich. Do you remember we had to go to Munich before he arrived? We had to rescue him, didn’t we? Dracula didn’t want poor old mad Elizabeth to bite him first. Terribly selfish of him.”

“Are you trying to say you want to go to Munich?”

“Well, it’s a place to start. But I think I’d prefer to go to Italy now. It sounds much more exciting. And Senka would like it, too. Although, I do think she’d prefer it when it was Sardinia. It sounds nicer.”

“Munich,” Hailwic said. A decision made.

“And Munich is so very close to Prague.” Vasilja’s tone was only slightly mocking.

“I have no interest in Prague.”

“I don’t believe you. You can lie to Dracula, Hailwic, but please don’t lie to me.” She prodded Hailwic’s arm. “You lived in Prague for such a long time. It was almost like home to you. It’s normal to miss your home. I shan’t tell him if you say it, you know.”

“This is home.” Back rigid, but her eyes slid away.

“You know what I mean. We all miss parts of our lives, even if we can’t recall why. It’s why Senka talks too much of Belgrade. Belgrade this. Belgrade that. As if it’s the only city in the world.”

“It’s the only one she knew.”

“That’s what I was trying to say earlier.” Vasilja’s eyes glinted momentarily. A small triumph. “He took her too young.”

“We took her.”

“We didn’t have a choice.”

“In this, we have more than you think.”

“Munich, then?”

“It will be nice this time of year.”

“It will be cold. There’ll be little fun to be had on the streets. I can’t think there will be more than a few lost drunks or stray dogs. And they smell. I would need to wash much too often. That’s assuming we get to bite at all.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage to keep us fed.”

“I have always tried my best. But how will I keep Senka entertained? She needs entertaining, Hailwic. If we don’t entertain her, she’ll be intolerable. You know what she’s like when she’s bored.”

“You’ll think of something, Vasilja. You always do.” She looked again to the doorway where Senka’s howls were finally subduing. “When she’s finished, set her to work packing. We’ll need to leave quickly.”

“And you?”

“I’ll arrange our wagons.”

“Why don’t we take a train? It would be faster, you know. And I always wanted to travel on one.”

“I don’t trust trains.” Grunt. “I should be back before dawn.”

“Well.” Crooked smile and show of fang. “At least you know when that happens.”