“What are you doing, pup?” The vampire straightened slowly, cautiously, seeming to regard Lyle with just as much intensity as Lyle was giving him. “Are you getting ready to jump me? Because if that is the case, I would highly, oh so very highly recommend that you use whatever is left of the intelligence you normally have to reconsider.”
Lyle sidestepped, huffed a soft breath, and twitched his ears. The vampire’s tone, even heavily spiced with arrogance, was melodic.
“I know where I recognize that scent from. It’s not strong, though. Not strong at all. But it’s there.” The vampire paused, eying Lyle closer still. “Interesting. For decades, nothing. Then in a matter of…” The vampire stopped, as though to think. “Months? It couldn’t be years, could it? Surely not…It’s hard to say, though. T
