"Listen to them: children of the night! What music they make..."

William shifted in his seat. "If you like that sort of thing," he said.

It was drafty in this old castle and William was tired from the long coach ride, but there was no rushing the Countess, no matter how urgent business was. You had to let her make a show of everything. She stood at the castle window and listened to the howling for some minutes. "Don't you enjoy the company of wolves, Mr. Talbot?"

"I'm allergic."

"Ah. Humor." The Countess sat and crossed her legs. It was a nice view. Another woman, the Countess' only servant, hovered nearby. She was a quiet, haunted-looking thing whom the Countess called Helen. She served sherry and Talbot waited for the Countess to drop the old line about never drinking wine, but it didn't come. Instead she simply said, "So, we have a deal: You work for me now."

"For this one job, yes." A woman like this you couldn't give an inch, or else she'd hang you with it later. "If you meet my price."

"Which I will, if you find all three relics for me. You'll leave in the morning. I'm not a morning person, so I won't be there to see you off, but Helen will attend to all the details. You'll be my guest for tonight, of course."

"Not much of a choice, since there's no ride back to the village." He hated the crumbling old castle, the unholy Carpathian wilderness, and he wasn't terribly fond of the Countess herself for that matter, but she was the only person in the world who could give him the thing he wanted. That was worth anything, even this job...

"Helen can show you to the rooms we've prepared," The Countess said. "Unless you'd care to join me for a late evening?" She reclined in her chair, showing off her neckline, and even William had to pause. Tempting though the offer was, though, there was always some risk with such things...