79

"That withered old mummy got the last laugh, didn't she?" Julian says. "I'm just glad you're not full of regret. Her Blood gave you strength, Cvjo—strength you needed to survive."

"To survive in exile, because anyone could have seen the stains on my soul," you say.

"But they've faded," Julian says. "And the power you took did not."

It's true. You can still feel Aila's stolen power. And sometimes, especially when the Hunger is upon you, you can still hear her thoughts, screaming through your withered veins.

"It's almost sunrise," Julian says, checking his phone again. "I'm late for prayer." He slips a business card out of his Glitch hoodie and says, "With my Usurper contact dead, my old Denver company, 2100X, is…on hiatus. But I'm still thinking about the future. The twenty-second century. Think about that, Cvjo—it's a sort of blank spot in our imagination. I mean, human imagination, too. We talked about the twenty-first century as kids. We can still, in a way, imagine the far future. But what's coming? What's it going to be like eighty or a hundred years from now? Because I plan to be there. And I want your help."

You're getting the impression that the Camarilla wants you. Maybe Prince Lettow just wants you as a patsy in case the Second Inquisition hits him like the fist of God, but he hasn't mistreated you yet. And you know that Kindred of the Camarilla do not serve two masters.