“Family is more like. They backed my plan to look for an active gate.”

“Why did you discuss it with me?”

“They realised how much you mean to me and reminded me that you’d be less than impressed if I just ran off on some adventure without discussing it with you?”

“That must have been Silver?”

The crossing sign lit up and they crossed in silence.

“Nope,” Clara answered.

“Who?”

“Ethereal… for both…”

“…great wisdom, but lacks delivery…” they said in unison.

“All fun aside,” Evelyn brought things back on track. “Marc confessed that your surprise threw him off.”

“Really? Him? Why?”

“We all have our inner-demons, but Clara can bring them out for the world to see,” Evelyn said while mimicking his disturbing cadence… The one that marches in time with a metronome…

“That’s eerie how you can do that,” Clara asked. “He should try living with them.”

They came to an intersection and caught sight of a couple of large flakes falling from the sky. While there was no traffic, they had to wait for lights to cycle through.

“There’s more to that meal than just meeting your …coworkers?” Evelyn said.

“We should all go for a night on the town!” Evelyn said. “Get a limousine, and hit a club or three.”

The idea had merit, but was just as likely to be fun as disastrous. Hecate would need to merge her three personas, otherwise people would react poorly to Sparky and Ethereal… unless…

“It would work well for Halloween.”

“Yes!” Evelyn said. “We could just be ourselves.”

“…and still end up losing the costume contest…”

“I guess I want a better understanding of what I’m dealing with,” Clara said.

“Ethereal is a poison pill,” Evelyn commented. “There’s wisdom in those words, but the delivery…”

“…is lacking?” Clara replied. “That’s brought about several long spats between the sisters.”

“Wait?” Evelyn said. “Can they hear us?”

“I can’t shut them out entirely. They did make a point of telling me they would give us some time alone. Hecate appeared to be grateful for the opportunity to interact with the world.”

“We should all go for a night on the town!” Evelyn said. “Get a limousine, and hit a club or three.”

“Ma chère, it was a pleasure to see such a delectable specimen smile.”

Clara took a half step, leading them to fall out of sync. Evelyn looked up, and saw those glassy eyes. She pulled down her scarf and with a hop kissed Clara on the cheek. The jolt of cold from those lips shocked her out of her trance.

“I only have eyes for you,” Evelyn said. “Being an artist, I can still see the… potential in others…”

“I’m sorry,” Clara confessed. “I was being—(selfish.)”

“Human?” Evelyn countered. “Yes you were. I felt the same when you went hunting with Julia.”

“Really? You?”

“That was wild!” Evelyn exclaimed through a thin scarf.

With every breath Clara pushed out a stream of fog, but Evelyn’s body temperature dropped fast to ambient temperature. Shortly after leaving the hotel, the fog disappeared entirely… She uses a scarf to conceal that…

“Which part?” Clara probed.

“Where do I begin?” Evelyn countered.

“Very true,” Clara replied. “Thank you for getting Artemis to open up.”

“Ma chère, it was a pleasure to see such a delectable specimen smile.”

“What did you think?” Clara asked.

They were walking along the quiet streets. It was past the witching hour on a weekday and this area of the city was asleep. On occasion, a car passed as though they were not there… just how I like it…

“That was wild!” Evelyn exclaimed through a thin scarf.

The vampire pulled Clara in closer so she could interlock arms. They gazed into one another’s eyes and both smiled.

While Clara could not see the result, the fabric brushing against those cheeks was all she needed. Winter was a dangerous time for vampires as they left telltale signs in their wake that they were not quite human.