"Like broccoli?" Ashe asked, schooling his face. He was astounded that Renegar and his race survived by absorbing energy.
"Broccoli being a much less acceptable food?"
"To some," Ashe ducked his head to hide the grin.
"Then any other energy source is broccoli. I will refer to it as such when we converse."
"Do you want to come in the house or not?" Ashe asked.
"Of course. Thank you for inviting me."
Ashe didn't point out that Renegar had come in the night before uninvited. That would be rude. He punched in the code outside the garage door. Renegar followed him inside while Ashe closed the wide, steel door before punching in the second code to let himself into the kitchen.
"Your father is vampire," Renegar nodded, examining the kitchen curiously. "Most vampires are quite wary and tend to place as many thick walls about them as they can. Steel and concrete are preferable, I've discovered."
"You've studied vampires?"
"I have been quite close to several, had they but known," Renegar smiled. "Please, go ahead and have a snack. You will not offend me."
Ashe dumped his backpack on the kitchen island and set about making a peanut butter sandwich. Renegar watched in fascination as Ashe spread peanut butter across bread before folding it in half and biting into it. While he chewed, Ashe poured out a glass of milk to go with his sandwich.
"You do not have to eliminate waste, do you?" Renegar asked after Ashe swallowed his first bite.
"Dad always said it was because I got more vampire in me than anyone thought," Ashe said. "Mom was happy because she didn't have to change diapers. Sali hates it because he isn't the same."
"Hmmm," Renegar examined Ashe closely. "I still cannot get a reading, so I have no way to determine the truth in this case. I may have a hypothesis, but that will remain with me at this time."
"What is it?"
"I cannot say. It could be construed as interference and I will certainly not do that."
"Then why bring it up?" Ashe took another bite of his sandwich.
"If it offends, I apologize. With the Larentii, no subject is taboo. Is that the term, taboo? Meaning unacceptable?"
"Yes." Ashe drank milk as he watched Renegar process the information. Renegar's blue skin resembled a sunny, cloudless day. His eyes were a brighter shade of blue and they were focused elsewhere for a moment.
"Where do you go when you do that?" Ashe asked curiously.
"I am mentally searching for information. Somewhat as you do with the Internet, only much more accurate," Renegar's smile was bright.
"That must be a big time-saver," Ashe teased.
"Most certainly," the teasing went right past Renegar for a few seconds. "Oh, I see. You are teasing me. That makes us more familiar. Like friends."
"Hey, I never said that. And it's just awkward, having you following me at school. It's like I'm under a microscope."
"You do not feel this way with Salidar? Your werewolf friend?"
"No, but we've known each other for a long time."
"If that engenders trust and will alleviate your distress, then I will continue to follow you as time allows so you will become adjusted to my presence and cease feeling discomfort."
"Dude," Ashe held up a hand.
"You call me dude? A slang term? Almost a gesture of friendship? This is indeed a good day. I have not had any friends among other races until now." Renegar smiled brightly.
"Dude," Ashe stomped a foot and lowered his shoulder helplessly. He felt obligated to befriend the tall Larentii child now. "Come on, let's go downstairs," Ashe sighed as he punched in the third door code to the underground portion of the Evans home.
"You play with this?" Renegar handled the lime-green Frisbee with care, touching Sali's teeth marks reverently.
"You should try it," Ashe said, pulling up information for his History final on the computer.
"Might we go outside, then?"
"I'm not supposed to—grounded, you know," Ashe muttered. The day had been nice earlier and he wouldn't mind throwing a Frisbee around.
"I can shield both of us," Renegar offered.
"Is there a name I can call you so we won't affect that nexus thing you talked about?"
"A nickname?" Renegar almost went into raptures, his blue eyes glowing brighter than they normally did.
"Can we shorten yours or should we do something else?" Ashe turned away from his desktop, History forgotten for the moment.
"Hmmm, that might work. Call me Ren. That sounds the same as the bird's name, does it not?"
"Yes. You can be Ren. Come on, Ren, and that shield better be good or I'll be grounded for another two weeks."
"Not to worry, friend," Ren was smiling again as he and Ashe rushed up the stairs and into a sunny afternoon.
* * *
"The fingerprint isn't in any database, Director." Vince Jordan handed the information on an electronic tablet to Bill Jennings.
"We don't have information on the killer in that way. Damn, this is frustrating," Bill muttered. "How are we going to tell if this man is after those kids? If it is a man. Do we have information on those Elemaiya, to see if their fingerprints are similar to those of humans?"
"The information is here," Vince tapped the tablet he'd set in front of the Director.
"You mean it's the same sort of lines and everything?" Bill shook his head at the information Vince had gathered. That information had been supplied, surprisingly, by one of their vampire agents, who'd gotten it from the Vampire Council.
"It appears to be so," Vince agreed. "But we know it isn't a vampire—one of the murders took place during the day, and the two werewolves who are assisting our investigators insist that the scent they got wasn't a werewolf's. They'd have recognized it right away."
"Do we know for sure that the perpetrator—that English teacher in Cloud Chief, was the one responsible for those murders last year?"
"He admitted it under compulsion, according to our vampire sources."
"Then this is someone new. Vince, I'm beginning to think we need a magic wand to sort this out. If two of my best agents with the help they've got in the field can't come up with something, we're screwed."
"Director, the children are still safe, are they not? Perhaps we should consider our small victories."
"Yeah. Maybe you're right, Vince." Bill went back to the information on the tablet.