But information was always a good thing. Winter undoubtedly had some fabulous sources, but they weren’t the only sources. Rafe’s network of underground vampires had proved to be useful on more than one occasion.
“What kind of information are you looking for?” Edgar slowly asked.
Rafe fought the wide grin trying to bust free. He had him.
“Nothing too terrible. I’d love a little rundown on the major clans in the area and when they arrived. Any other troublemakers in the area I should be aware of,” Rafe said casually.
“And the favor?”
Rafe shrugged. “I’d say it’s fairly wide open so long as it doesn’t endanger the Variks.”
“Money. I want money.”
Rafe straightened at Edgar’s harsh tone as he barked out the words. That was the last thing he’d been expecting, considering the way he chose to live.
“Tired of living in…” Rafe’s question drifted off as he looked around the tiny apartment with worn carpet and stained walls. He couldn’t even find a semi-polite way of describing the place.
“The money isn’t for me. I’ve…” Edgar stopped and chewed on his bottom lip, looking down at the thin blanket he clutched in both hands. He suddenly reminded Rafe too much of Ethan and how he nervously clutched the throw pillows on Marcus’s sofa. He didn’t want to see those similarities, didn’t want to soften toward this creature. “I’ve got a great-granddaughter. She’s going to college and working two jobs. I want to give her some money to help her.”
“How much?”
Edgar’s look of stunned surprise dissolved into a new frown as if he hadn’t considered that Rafe would take his demand seriously. “I-I don’t know. I want enough that she doesn’t have to worry about paying for college.”
“How many years of college does she have left?”
“She’s in her second year of undergraduate.”
Rafe nodded. “I’ll arrange it. I’ll pay for this year of college and her other two remaining years.”
Edgar lurched up to his feet, a mix of joy and panic on his face. “She can’t know about us. About me.”
Rafe stared at Edgar for a second, at his outstretched hands that weren’t touching Rafe just yet. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Lola had left her spot on the wall and was now close enough to grab Edgar before he could lay one finger on Rafe. Holding up one hand, Rafe kept Lola at bay. Edgar wasn’t a danger to him. Just a little excited and desperate.
“She doesn’t know you’re…”
“No.” Edgar shuddered and stepped back. He seemed to sink in on himself. His thin shoulder drew in and his body shrank in stature as he dropped on the pallet. “No, my family thinks I died years ago.”
The hazy picture of Edgar was becoming frighteningly clear. He’d likely been a married man with children when he’d been snatched up and turned into a vampire. Changed into a monster, he knew he couldn’t go home again, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t watch silently from a distance as each generation was born, grew up, and died.
It was very clear why he refused to move from Hartford, why he stayed hidden. He wanted to remain close to his family, where he could help and protect them.
“My lawyers will arrange it. They’ll make it look like she’s won a scholarship.”
Edgar released a heavy breath and nodded. “Yes. Good. Thank you.”
“But you’ve got to give me something worth thousands of dollars,” Rafe warned.
Edgar licked his lips, his eyes darting briefly around the room as if he was searching for secrets to share. “Th-the Arsenault clan arrived at roughly the same time as the Variks. I haven’t heard much about them. Barely even whispers. They mostly keep to themselves.”
“Mostly? Who have they been seen with?”
“You. One of the Arsenaults has been seen with you,” Edgar quickly replied. He flashed Rafe a smile, but it faded when Rafe didn’t return it. “The MacPherson clan. They’re the other clan in town. They’ve been here for a bit. Six, seven years. But then, they’ve got branches everywhere along the East Coast.”
“What do you mean they’ve got branches?” Lola snapped. She stepped up so that she was now standing right beside Rafe as she loomed over Edgar. The vampire shrank back even farther, his nervous eyes jumping over to Rafe, but he wasn’t going to save him. Rafe had the same question as Lola.
“Branches. Subsects. The MacPherson clan is huge. Too big to have them all in one city, so they have to spread out. Hartford is the center of the clan with the clan leader. A vampire called Nolan.”
“Any other clans?” Rafe asked. He’d known the clan was large, but the idea of them being spread out across the country was horrific.
“Moon and Novik clans are here as well. Novik is small. Fewer than a dozen of them. Been here about a year. Moon showed up a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think there are a lot of them. Too soon to see if they plan to be troublemakers.”