Page 64 of Tell Me Why
Patience.
She would trust him.
For at least another few minutes.
“So where would you stay, if you got to pick a place in town?” Tina asked, and Isabella smiled, distant.
“There isn’t much,” she said. “The humans do well there, but this part of the world is not commonly host to vampires, so they don’t have the facilities that you can find… almost anywhere else. You’veonlybeen to London. There is so muchchoice, when you travel the continent. Asia is very hospitable, as well, if you know which cities to pick from. Here is just…” She shook her head. “It’s all so very provincial.”
“And yet, you chose it,” Tina said. “Must have something going for it.”
“Oh, it has many things going for it,” Isabella answered. “Just very little by way of comfort.”
Fair enough, actually. Tina had the impression that much of the infrastructure Tell or Hunter stayed in was self-built, everywhere she’d been with them. Maybe it was the same here.
“Is vampire tourism a thing?” Tina asked, and Isabella laughed.
“We used to call ittravel,” she said, “but, yes, we often travel extensively.”
“Just not in the states,” Tina said, and Isabella nodded.
“Yes.”
She was going to cook, in the apartment, wasn’t she?
That was what Isabella was warning her about.
The house had been nice, as it went.
It was hard to make a call, though, between being able to rest during the day and being able to talk to Tell at night without someone listening in.
If she gotneither?
Maybe this was pointless.
No.
This had been Tell’s idea, presumably, which meant that he had a purpose in mind. Tina just had to make sure she found someplace that lent itself to that purpose, whatever it was.
Why had he sent her out here on her own without telling her what the point was?
Because hecouldn’ttell heranything.
It was maddening, and Tina wanted to demand that Isabella fill in the blanks - certainly the woman would have had a better guess than Tina - but Isabella remained unhelpful as they made the rest of the journey in closer to the city.
They arrived at a building with an underground garage - good start - and Isabella walked upstairs with Tina, leaving the two men at the car.
“What am I looking for?” Tina asked once she thought they were out of earshot. A man was standing in the lobby expectantly, and Isabella shook her hair off her shoulders, putting on a brilliant smile as she approached.
“Mister Prust,” she said, shaking his hand. “I’m Crissy, and this is Tina. She’s the one who wants to look at the property.”
“Good evening,” the man said, getting out a key. “Welcome to The Timberland. I’m happy to show you around. We have two units available, though I suspect that you’re more interested in The Mountain Breeze. This way?”
Tina and Isabella followed the man to the elevators and he pushed the button for the top floor.
“Just moving into town?” he asked.
“Not sure how long we’re going to be staying, but we need something longer-term than a hotel,” Tina said, and the man nodded.
