With utmost restraint, Mayerling winces the moment the noise is made but stills his face by the time she glares at him. How wonderful it is for a glare not to come in fear or in the sort of anger that is followed by an attack on his life. An irritated glare!

That fades out to listening to conversation that could mean many things, few of them good. They remind Mayerling of vampire "purists" wanting to cull humans and treat them like livestock. Those words are the kind that come with killing. Mayerling smells Sleeper blood and corruption. The people that come into view are not ones he's seen before, not only in the sense of these exact individuals but distinctive patterns and characteristics not commonly seen in Trench.

Are they no longer in Trench? Surely, if another city or large settlement exists, people would be aware of it. Mayerling cannot jump to conclusions. He looks back across at Sharon and raises an eyebrow instead of sending a telepathic message. Does she know more? Does she recognize what is going on?