Teclos and Serenna returned to the Black Thread cellar after nightfall.
Harven was still awake.
He sat behind the central table with three ledgers open around him and a cup of tea gone cold beside his elbow. Maela stood near the map, sorting reports into piles.
Both looked up when Teclos entered.
Harven's eyes moved over the blood on his coat, then to Serenna.
"How bad?"
"Three vampires," Teclos said.
Maela stopped sorting.
"All dead?"
"Yes."
Harven closed the nearest ledger.
"That sounds like the kind of answer that creates more work."
"It does."
Teclos removed the coded message and placed it on the table. Serenna leaned against the wall while Harven read.
"House Drennar," he said. "I've heard the name from merchants, but not often."
"They keep a residence near Sorn," Teclos said. "Messages pass through the old tax office."
Maela looked at Serenna. "You know them?"
"I know of them."
"What does that mean?"
