Chapter 4 #3
Eli chuckled. "I don't have any baking powder.
Flour, I have. I have some sugar, but not a lot, and it's expensive.
They don't produce any sugar in Fisherman's Lake, so I have to order from Grave Ville.
The transportation is almost as expensive as the sugar itself.
" He ate another bite without tasting the egg.
"I don't have vanilla of any kind, but I think you can bake without it.
The sugar should make it sweet enough to taste good, and I remember Mom adding lemon zest for taste sometimes when she baked. "
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Thano watched Eli eat. Shouldn't a man like him eat more than two eggs? He didn't spend a lot of time with Romeo, but he believed he ate more despite being smaller. Eli was a big man, and in Thano's experience, the bigger you were, the more food you needed.
Maybe he was wrong.
"Your mother had lemon zest?" He didn't care, but the crows would be happy if they could make cupcakes for Romeo, and maybe Eli needed some variation. Two eggs with nothing else did not make Thano want to taste it. Cupcakes, however, were more interesting.
He didn't need solid food, and most often he didn't eat it, but sometimes Romeo made something that smelled good, and if he offered, Thano would eat. Emeric loved pancakes, and Thano could see the appeal, but he wasn't obsessed.
Eli gestured at the window sill. There were several small pots with plants in them and one big one with a miniature tree.
"Lemon tree. I have no idea how old it is.
One year, I believed I'd killed it. It dropped all its leaves, and I was terrified.
I have no idea where I'd be able to get hold of a new one, but it grew new leaves, and I've been tending to it vigorously since then. "
"How did you get it?" Could he find a lemon tree somewhere? Maybe he could send the crows out on a scouting mission. But lemon trees didn't grow here.
"I don't know. Mom got it somehow."
Eli finished his eggs, and Thano was convinced it was too little.
He still looked hungry, and it made Thano hungry.
He hadn't fed for several days. It would get harder now when he wasn't coming to town as often.
Vampires didn't need to feed every day like in one of the books Romeo had read to them, but a couple of times a week.
Normally, he grabbed someone who walked past him when he was in town for a meeting, bit them, and erased their memory.
They had no idea what had happened, but it was important not to be seen.
He looked at Eli. Maybe he could set up some sort of arrangement. Enyo had a female she traded with. She bit her twice a week and gave her some food in exchange. A vampire had no problem taking down an animal. Thano avoided it since he didn't like to get bloody, but he could.
"If I get baking powder, we can make cupcakes?"
Eli looked at him for a long time. "I don't know how. I only have a vague memory of the recipe."
Recipe. Maybe there was a recipe in one of Romeo's books. He should bring Eli to The Moonlight Ranch and ask Romeo if they could look at the non-fiction books. He was sure Romeo would be fine with it.
"When do you finish work tomorrow?"
Eli stared at him for several seconds. "I close at half past five to be sure I make it to the bank before they close at six. Weekends they're closed, both the shop and the bank."
"Great. I'll get you then. Do you have a car?"
A slow shake of his head. "No, no car."
"I'll ask Romeo if..." Thano didn't drive. Romeo often allowed them to borrow his car, but only a few had learned how to drive. Thano had never seen the point. "I'll ask Romeo if we can borrow his car, and if Conal or Tuur can drive."
Eli opened his mouth but no words came for several long seconds. "Where...eh...where are we going?"
"To The Moonlight Ranch. I want you to look at something."
Eli nodded, and Thano got up. It was time to head back. He wanted to stay, but it was getting late, and Eli had work in the morning.
"What...eh...is it?" Eli rubbed his neck, a look of uncertainty stealing over his face.
"Forbidden things." Thano grinned at him.
"Are you insane? What if we're caught?"
Thano didn't understand the fear. Romeo was the same way. They'd be at the ranch, Thano was the leader there. "Who's gonna punish you?"
"Eh...the sheriff or I guess the board now when there isn't a sheriff."
Thano waved a hand. "Not off the paved road. They suggested someone for the position."
"A sheriff?"
Thano walked to the door and put his hand on the door handle. "Yeah, I can't remember his name now, maybe they'll say it again tomorrow."
Eli nodded, and when Thano stepped out on the doorstep, he followed.
"See you at six." Then he gathered shadows around him and grinned at Eli's gasp.
Slowly, he reached out with one hand while clutching the door handle with his other.
Normally, Thano would step away or shadow walk out of reach, but he remained where he was.
Eli's fingertips brushed against his chest, and he gasped before yanking his hand away.
Thano chuckled but held on to the shadows.
"Have a lovely evening, Eli." Then he left.
* * * *