"I agree with Rosa," said Hugo.

"I know you do," said Ranphoros.

"You know that you are too lax with her," said Hugo.

"She is an adult at this point. This is out of my hands. Besides, I don't think you should be debating my parenting skills at the moment."

There was a small moment of tension between Hugo and Ranphoros, a moment of tension that made Barmond feel like he was privy to something he was not supposed to see. They stared at each other, and both were frowning. It was Hugo that pulled his gaze away first and Barmond had the impression that he did so to de-escalate the situation.

"I took that liberty," said Hugo, "because Barmond is still very much concerned by Maggie's whims. We need to talk about that."

"Does it really matter?" said Ranphoros. "Do it if you wish, when I am gone. You and Rose really should mind your business when it comes to telling me how I should raise my daughter."

He then turned to Barmond and it was clear that he was changing his attitude when he did so: from tense he became more relaxed, opening his arms wide as a welcoming gesture.

"Forgive that interlude," he said. "As you might have guessed, I would like to hear your report on how things went down at Lamare. I've heard many things, you're the last one I am seeing on the matter, but I am certain that there is information you still have to say."

The main takeaway from this sentence for Barmond was that he was the last one. But that was fine, right? It could just be that they had waited that he was awake again.

"Jenever?" Ranphoros asked.

There was, indeed, an unmarked bottle on the table, with three glasses. Didn't the man drink anything else but that? Barmond had thought that such strong alcohol would at least be mixed with something to sweeten the taste. One of the glasses on the table had a slice of lemon in it, but something told Barmond that this was Hugo's.

"I'll take a little," Barmond said.

He was served a glass and invited to sit down on a chair, which he did. The last time he had come to this room to meet Ranphoros like that, it was to be told that he was to work with Hugo. And, well, things had certainly changed since then. For one, he had discovered that they worked great together.

Barmond wondered if Ranphoros knew. It would not have surprised him if he did, already. After all, Hugo and he were supposed to be working partners, those worked best when they told each other everything. Or at least that had been his experience from his time as a vampire hunter - those that liked to set off on their own never remained alive for long.

"So, we have much to discuss," said Ranphoros. He was making the liquid in his own glass swirl with a knowing smile. "But how about you tell it to me from the beginning?"

"Which beginning?"

"Let's say... the moment you arrived in Lamare."

Barmond shrugged. "A lot of uninteresting things happened. I'll skip to the moment where I went to inspect the nest for the first time, with Patricia."

"Patricia? Not Hugo?"

"I joined him later," said Hugo. "As you know."

"I want to know why," Ranphoros said.

Barmond hesitated. He remembered why he had done it, and it had been a petty, personal reason. He did not quite know how to say to Ranphoros that the reason he had not wanted to deal with Hugo was that he had been avoiding him. He had done that a lot.

"She was the first werewolf that I found that was available."

"Ah," Ranphoros said. His tone was so perfectly neutral that it was hard to know if he believed Barmond or not. "That is what it is. I see. And did you come to any sort of conclusions?"

"Strategy. That we needed to figure out their water source. And that they had an insomniac imp among them."

"Ah. That, Hugo mentioned. The vampire imp, I presume?"

"As it turned out to be, yes."

"Actually, let us skip to that. I am quite curious about how you dealt with it. You were the one handling that part from start to finish."

"If you wish," Barmond said.

Hugo was standing around the room, looking at some of the rather explicit paintings on the wall. That distracted Barmond but at least he could pretend that he was gathering his thoughts instead of making a conscious effort not to imagine himself doing those things with Hugo.

"I supposed that I can say that it started on that night," Barmond said, tearing his eyes off Hugo and turning to look at Ranphoros instead. "The fact that this imp was out and about in the middle of the night was strange to me. As far as I knew, harpy imps are diurnal creatures, they do not do well in the dark. And it was quite dark."

"Hmm," Ranphoros said, emptying his glass. "But that imp was flying. As if he could see in the dark."

"As if she could see perfectly in the dark."

"It was a she?"

"Aurora referred to her as a she," Barmond said. "But of course, that was a lot later. After the death of that imp, might I add."

"It does make sense," said Hugo. "Female imps tend to be bigger."

"So you've had your suspicions about that imp? How did you discover what she was?"

"By accident, actually," Barmond said. "My retainer was leaving the window of the inn room open to allow me to come back without breaking in, and the imp used that opportunity to prey on him. We set up a trap for what I thought would be a human-like vampire."

"But it wasn't," Ranphoros said.

"It wasn't, indeed. And I killed her on the spot."

"Why so?"

Because it had been approaching Yoven in his sleep. Because it had already hurt Yoven, because it was a beast that had been preying on his Yoven. Barmond recalled the anger that had boiled inside of him, how he had thrown himself at the creature because of it.

"Because I did not think that she could be reasoned with," Barmond said. "It was a moment's impulse. And self-defence."

"Hm. If you say so. It would have been interesting to get our hands on that creature as well, but I guess that this is not to be."

"That is also how I figured that there must be a vampire behind those affairs. When I discovered that there was vampirism involved, suddenly a lot of things made sense, like how the imps would capture live humans or how they got this organised in the first place."

Hugo sent Barmond a pointed look. He had noticed that Barmond had not mentioned how he had acquired more blood from killing the imp. Barmond pretended as if he did not understand what Hugo wanted, choosing to focus instead on the cup of alcohol he had in his hand and take a sip.

He wondered how Ranphoros could drink that as much as he did. He was serving himself a second cup, too.

"This really puts the power of a single vampire in perspective," Ranphoros said. "A full-blooded one, that is. Hugo said that you knew quite a lot about her line, as well."

"The Sleeping Beauty line?" Barmond said. "I've worked on tracking her when I was still a hunter. She got away then because she was smart. This time, it seemed that she had over-reached."

"I doubt that she is smart," Ranphoros said. "She was captured in a dead-end tunnel, by werewolves that had done nothing to be discreet. If she would have had an ounce of reasoning, she would have at least made sure that her activities were not gaining any attention. In fact, from what I can gather from the reports I've collected so far, her only strong point is her creativity - and I do not mean that as a good thing."

"She tends to... be creative, indeed," Barmond said. "Especially with the way she handles her victims."

He had a thought for said victims. He would be lying if he said that he did not feel bad that he had let her escape him. So much pain could have been avoided... if only he had been better. If only he had stopped that rookie from going out on that night.

He did not indulge often in self-pity and looking back at the past. This one time, however, he could look back and allow himself to feel a little regret. For a moment only.

"Is something the matter?" Hugo asked. "Barmond?"

"Hmm?" Barmond raised his head again. "Nothing. I was only thinking about when I was still a hunter. She was the last vampire that I ever tried to bring down. We've been enemies for a while. I am glad she is no longer roaming the world. I believe that you are keeping her where she won't be able to escape?"

"You doubt the security of my cells?" Ranphoros asked. And then, remembering that Barmond had escaped from said cells, added, "Do not worry. She is currently under the watchful eye of Shame, in my deepest dungeon. She won't be escaping for a while."

"Shame?"

"My executioner. It's a sad reality that I need one, but she is willing to take care of the things that no one else wishes to take care of."

She was the one that killed humans that had seen too much. Barmond remembered now. Indeed, she had executed that one beggar he had attacked, when he had tried to escape Hugo and his pack. And, if Ranphoros would have wished for that to happen, she would have been the one to shorten Barmond by a head, which was a chilling perspective in itself.

"Could you tell me, Barmond, how the encounter between you two went?"

Barmond did just that. He told Ranphoros about the people in the dark, how they appeared to Barmond, like ghosts standing there. He told Ranphoros of the conversation he had with Aurora, her nonchalance when faced with that situation, her willingness to toy with him. And, while he spoke, he watched Ranphoros take another glass of jenever and down it too, listening carefully to it all.

Once he was done with that account, he explained her powers in detail, telling them about the limits, the aura work, the metamorphosis, the classic four fangs that were found in some lines in the east and, in particular, the superior control over hypnosis. And, as he told Ranphoros about those things, he wondered if he had them already, if that is something he had access to, if only a little. He was suddenly tempted to go out there in the city and try it out, as well as some of the powers of the line of Otto - maybe now that he was a little more vampire... they would work. Finally. It would be a worthy trade-off for not being capable of magic, something closer to the original deal he had struck with Otto.

"I think that is all?" said Ranphoros. "Unless there is something else you wish to add."

"I believe that it is all there is to say," Barmond said.

"Barmond, isn't there something you would like to add regarding what you brought back from this mission?"

That was Hugo calling him out, plain and simple. Barmond froze for a second, before he forced himself to relax, hoping that it had not been too noticeable. Thankfully for him, Ranphoros did not seem as if he minded, turning his head to Barmond.

"What is the matter?" the incubus asked. "Something I should know?"

"Nothing much," Hugo said. "Just a little something that Barmond forgot to mention that I think is of interest."

"Oh," Ranphoros said. His eyes went from Hugo, to Barmond, to Hugo again. "You've discussed this already."

"We did, a little," Hugo said. "Maybe Barmond will tell you why that came up."

Barmond felt himself grow flustered. He remembered exactly why it had come up, and he was not quite confident with telling all about it to his boss, that also happened to be an incubus.

"Well?" asked Ranphoros. "What's the holdup?"

He was smiling knowingly. Either his incubus sex senses were telling him that it had something to do with good times, either he could read the smug smile on Hugo's face for what it was. Damn them. Barmond could see why they got along now, there wasn't one to save the other.

"Well, then, I am waiting," Ranphoros said. "I've got to go sleep at some point, I don't have all night as you do."

Barmond cleared his throat. First things first.

"Well, actually, when I found myself facing the imp," Barmond said, "it was a bit of a struggle. It was confusing, and, well, I ended up biting her. And draining her. Which means that I robbed her of her blood... until the last drop."

"And?" Ranphoros asked. "What happened then? What does that mean? I do not know what that stands for, I don't know vampires as you two do."

"That means that I stole her powers. The powers of a half-blood of the Sleeping Beauty line."

There was a short silence. It was nowhere near the silence that had followed Barmond's revelations during his very first interview, but it was more meditative.

"And how did you get to know that it was so?" Ranphoros asked Hugo. "You made it sound as if there was more to it."

"Well, Barmond did mention that the Sleeping Beauty vampiric line has four fangs, did he not?"

"Oh," Ranphoros said. Then, again, as his smile widened, "oh, oh my. Hugo. Barmond... Barmond. You are flustered again. Does that mean what I think it means?"

Barmond did his best to regain his composure but even he knew that it was a lost cause at this point. There was no way he was hiding those sort of things from an incubus like Ranphoros - he could not even hide them from Vanja.

He attempted to save face anyway.

"Yoven is still recovering from the vampire attack by the imp," he said. "Hugo offered to share some of his blood in the meantime."

"Ah. I see. And... nothing else happened?"

Barmond looked at Hugo. Hugo, curse him and his smugness, looked like the cat that had eaten the canary and did nothing to hide it. Oh, he was proud all right, proud that he had wormed himself into Barmond's pants.

"I see," Ranphoros said, even if no one had replied to him. "Wouldn't you know it. Seems like things have gone faster than even I expected."

"What things?" Barmond asked, as innocently as he could.

Ranphoros chuckled. "No need to pretend. It's quite all right. Right, Hugo?"

Hugo chuckled. He almost sounded a little sheepish. He was certainly a little red on the cheeks.

"As long as you enjoy each other," Ranphoros said, "and that it doesn't get in the way of your work. Or, at least, when it comes to that."

And, suddenly, Ranphoros was serious again.

"I'm not pleased with the fact that you tried to hide that from me, Barmond," he said.

Barmond gulped.

"And don't think that I will not keep an eye on you. I know how half-bloods are made. I know that, with you having more blood in your body, that you've become a bit more vampire and a bit less human, especially with those new powers of yours. What are their true extent now?"

"I..." Barmond breathed in deeply. "I don't know. I did not have the time to try them out and there is no one to teach me."

"Make sure to test them out and tell me their full extent soon. I'll be watching you, as well. I expect you to be on your best behaviour, or else. Understood?"

Ranphoros' gaze was cold, calculating, clear of any fumes from the alcohol. The change had been sudden and chilling. Barmond wondered if the "else" was a threat to send him to Shame. He did not want to ask or even find out.

"Understood."

"Remember that you are not among friends here," Ranphoros said. "Even if Hugo might have shown you some kindness, he knows where his loyalties lie. He always has in the past; don't flatter yourself by thinking that you would be his first dilemma."

Barmond looked at Hugo's face and found it closed, unreadable. He suddenly felt alone, very alone, to face Ranphoros.

"I understand perfectly," he said.

"Good," Ranphoros said. "Now that this is clear, I think that we are done here."

He stood up from his chair, graceful as always. His dark feathers were like a moving piece of night hooked to his shoulders as he moved across the room. But he stopped before going through the door.

"That does not mean that you should remain isolated as you have up to this point, Barmond," Ranphoros said. "I'd appreciate it if you tried to participate in the inner life of the nest. We will be having a celebration tomorrow evening. A feast. You should join us in the feast hall."

"A feast?"

"All sort of foods will be served. Maybe, if you are lucky, you'll get a little of your preferred diet." Ranphoros' sour mood was gone from his face as he looked over his shoulder, back at Barmond, with a coy smile. "It would be the occasion for you to prove that you are well-behaved, at least. I say that as someone that wants to believe that there is some hope for you."

"Thank you, sir," Barmond said.

He did not really mean it. Ranphoros' constant coming and going, his sudden moves, were disorienting, to say the least. Barmond certainly did not trust him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," said Ranphoros as he left.

And Barmond was left alone with Hugo.