Changeless: The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Second by Gail Carriger Read Free Book Online Page B

attention to the business
     at hand. “Is there anything more powerful than a preternatural?”
    The not-vampire shook his head again. “Not in this particular way. Vampire edict tells us that soul-suckers are the second
     most deadly creatures on the planet. But it also says that the most deadly of all is no leech, but a different kind of parasite.
     This cannot be the work of one of them.”
    Lady Maccon scribbled this down in her book. She was intrigued and a little put out. “Worse than us soul-suckers? Is that
     possible? And here I was thinking myself a member of the most hated set. And what do you call
them
?”
    The potentate ignored this question. “That will teach you to get full of yourself.”
    Alexia would have pressed the issue but suspected that line of questioning would be ignored. “So this must be the result of
     a weapon, a scientific apparatus. That is the only possible explanation.”
    “Or we could take that ridiculous man Darwin’s theories to heart and postulate a newly evolved species of preternatural.”
    Alexia nodded. She had her reservations about Darwin and his prattle on origins, but there might be some little merit to his
     ideas.
    The dewan, however, pooh-poohed the idea. Werewolves were, largely, of a much less scientific bent than vampires, except where
     advances in weaponry were concerned. “I am more sympathetic to the muhjah on this point if nothing else. If she isn’t doing
     it herself, then it must be some newfangled contrivance of technical origin.”
    “We
are
living in the Age of Invention,” agreed the potentate.
    The dewan looked thoughtful. “The Templars have finally managed to unify Italy and declare themselves Infallible; perhaps
     they are turning their attention outward once more?”
    “You think this may herald a second Inquisition?” The potentate blanched. He could do that now.
    The dewan shrugged.
    “There is no point in wild speculation,” said the ever-practical Lady Maccon. “Nothing suggests that the Templars are involved.”
    “You are Italian,” grumbled the dewan.
    “Oh, fiddlesticks, is everything in this meeting going to come back around to my being my father’s daughter? My hair is curly
     too—could that somehow be involved? I am the product of my birth, and there is nothing I can change about that, or believe
     you me, I might have opted for a smaller nose. Let us simply agree that the most likely explanation for this kind of wide-scale
     preternatural effect is a weapon of some kind.” She turned to the potentate. “You are
positive
you have never heard of this kind of thing happening before?”
    He frowned and rubbed at the crease between his green eyes with the tip of one white finger. It was an oddly human gesture.
     “I will consult the edict keepers on the subject, but, no, I do not think so.”
    Alexia looked to the dewan. He shook his head.
    “So the question is, what could someone hope to gain by this?”
    Her supernatural colleagues looked at her blankly.
    A tap came on the closed door. The dewan went to answer it. He spoke softly for a moment through the crack and then returned
     with an expression transformed from scared to bemused.
    “The effects would appear to be negated just outside the afflicted zone we discussed earlier. Werewolves, at least, revert
     back to fully supernatural. The ghosts, of course, cannot relocate to take advantage of this fact. And I cannot speak for
     the vampires.”
    What he did not say was that what changed werewolves was also likely to change vampires—they were more alike than either race
     preferred to admit.
    “I shall look into this myself, personally, as soon as our meeting is concluded,” said the potentate, but he was clearly relieved.
     It had to be a product of his human condition; normally his emotions were not so obvious.
    The dewan sneered at him. “You will be able to move that endangered queen of yours, should you deem it necessary.”
    “Do we have any further business