Read Online Blood on Silk by Marie Treanor - Free Book Online Page B

watched the farmhouse burn, he wore a serious frown that repelled discussion. And then, appearing to throw off his somber mood, he strode back through the trees in the direction of Bistriƫa with nothing more than the beauty of nature on his lips, whatever was in his head.
    “You don’t understand the modern world,” Dmitriu burst out. “It’s not a few thousand people now, under the thumbs of a handful of the powerful. This is an age of democracy and superpowers and money !”
    “It is fascinating,” Saloman agreed, gazing upward at the moon. “Do you know, when I was first reborn, I almost hated the moon? I felt I would gladly shoot it out of the sky just for a ray of warm, soothing sunshine. And yet now, after staring so long at a stone ceiling, making pictures in my head from every crack, counting the strands of cobwebs and grains of dust . . . I truly value the beauty of the night sky.”
    Dmitriu glanced at him uncertainly. His words struck a chord as well as a memory, and it was the first reference he’d made to his three-hundred-year “sleep.” On the other hand, Dmitriu refused to be manipulated away from his point.
    “You’re moving too fast—you can’t take over the world when you can’t even find your way up an escalator!”
    “What’s an escalator?”
    “See? It’s a moving staircase, powered by electricity. They’re all over shopping centers and airports. . . . You don’t know what they are either, do you?”
    “Large indoor markets, and ports for airplanes. You explained airplanes on our journey here—noisy but effective vehicles, though bad for the environment.”
    Dmitriu’s mouth fell open. In fact, he stopped in his tracks, and for a moment Saloman appeared to him as he would to any watching human—a patch of pale, glinting light flashing through the trees, almost like a sped-up film. He wouldn’t know what that was either, would he?
    He ran to catch up. “I suppose you know how airplanes are bad for the environment too?”
    “I picked up bits and pieces.” He spared Dmitriu a glance. “But you’re right. My knowledge is sketchy. I’ve collected books—this age has a truly impressive number, even in such a backwater—and newspapers, but I think I really need a television. And Internet access.” He smiled beatifically at Dmitriu’s expression. “Yes, I do know what that is. Amazing age for fun, isn’t it?”
    They were entering the town now. Quiet, suburban streets flashed past. One couldn’t even smell the smoke from the farmhouse here.
    “Yes,” Dmitriu snapped. “But you have to know what the hell you’re doing! And you obviously don’t! Allying with a mindless, untrustworthy thug like Zoltán? Can you really not see how far beneath you that is?”
    Saloman slowed to normal walking speed, watching with apparent admiration as a car drove past. “These are amazing,” he observed. “And so many of them, even here, and in the villages. How in Hades do they work?”
    “Internal combustion engine. Do you have any intention of answering my questions?”
    “Eventually.” Saloman glanced up at the sky again. “So much paler in the town. The stars fade from view. Street lighting is a mixed blessing.”
    “You should see Budapest. It glows at night, almost like the sun.”
    “I will,” Saloman promised. “I’m weak, Dmitriu.”
    It was so unexpected after the evasion of the last half hour that Dmitriu stumbled. Saloman smiled faintly. “But I can’t be still anymore—I need to move forward, even while I’m learning, even while I’m gaining strength. I need time, and alliance with Zoltán buys it for me. He won’t keep our agreement for long, and frankly, neither will I, but for now I have space to act without immediate threat.”
    Dmitriu swallowed. He couldn’t remember Saloman’s ever admitting vulnerability before. “Kill the Awakener,” he pleaded. “Let me find Karl and Lajos for you, even if Maximilian is lost. . . .”
    “I know where they