SNAP: New Talent Read Online Free Page A

to Markov in some language I didn’t recognize.  When we were seated, he turned to me. “Markov is from the former USSR, actually Ukraine.  It’s so difficult to keep all these silly political divisions straight.  This part of Central Europe has changed names and allegiances so much over the years that I’m surprised the languages are still being spoken.”
    I looked at Jean-Louis.  His glimmer was increasing and his eyes held the message “don’t ask me any questions right now”.  Well, okay, I was too spooked to even figure out a question to ask.  He’d told me enough about Markov that I was warned.  Markov predated the Soviet era, but how far back he went I had no idea and his politics were unknown.
    Dinner passed uneventfully.  Most of the conversation was in Hungarian and what I was now recognizing as Russian.  Jean-Louis leaned over a couple of times to translate a remark for me, but the context seemed to be the difference in the East bloc since the USSR collapsed.  Much of the Soviet-styled building that happened after WWII was being demolished and cities were beginning to have an overlay of modern glass skyscrapers abutting 18 th and 19 th century municipal offices.  Marble and stone, blackened by years of coal smoke and left to squalor in the Soviet era were being steam-cleaned and the result was a whiteness that hurt the eyes.
    This was all very interesting, but didn’t have any bearing on why the Huszars were here and what they were going to meet about later.
    The Baron finally stood.  “I think we’ll have our coffee in the screening room and tonight we have a special treat for Maxie.”  He raised his wine glass, with a trace of the Bull’s Blood they all drank, lying pinkish in the bottom.  I raised my eyebrows and Jean-Louis raised his glass to me.   “We’re watching last night’s U.S. show on tape delay.”
    This was a change.  We usually watched one of the European versions, with only an hour or two difference.
    “Thank you.  Why are you doing this?”  These vampires didn’t just go out of their way, or change their customs, on a whim.
    “We thought Alessandr and Markov should see a U.S. version.  This is where we started and it’s still the version that’s seen by most people around the world.  And it’s the model for all the other versions.”  With that, Stefan held out his arm for Penelope, Jean-Louis rose and gave me his hand and we led Milos and Bela the other two Kandeskys, along with the two Huszars, into the screening room.
     Coffee and tea had already been set up on the side buffet.   We chose places and settled in to watch last night’s episode of “SNAP”.  The music came up and the anchor, a young, blond woman whom Jazz detested, welcomed viewers in a perky voice.  I slid my eyes to Alessandr and Markov.  They were fixated on the blond, but I wasn’t sure if it was her pale skin or tight dress that attracted them most.  They might be vampires, but they were also guys.
    When it was over, there was a babble of Russian and Hungarian as they shifted their chairs to gather around a small conference table.  I raised my eyebrows at Jean-Louis and he turned to Stefan.
    “I need to talk to Maxie for a minute, first.  Start without me and I’ll catch up,” he said in English, then added a sentence in Hungarian that caused Stefan to purse his lips.
    Now what?  Did the Baron regard me as a pain-in-the-ass hanger-on?  I knew the Huszars were interested in me.  They had, in fact, tried to kidnap me a few times, which is how I ended up living at the castle with round-the-clock demons watching me. Was something new happening?  Had I shifted from the whiz-bang guru of the print product to “Oh, that’s Jean-Louis’ new fling?”
    I stalked out of the screening room ahead of Jean-Louis and turned toward the library, half hoping he wouldn’t follow.  That would give me a lot of psychic chips to use in this game, but he was right there, reaching