Geraint had a different mindset.  To him, everyone was meat.  Everything wore down over time.  Wasn't the world proof of that?  Wasn't the sky-high buildings brought to the ground proof, or the vast roadways that stretched beyond all horizons - now empty of all traffic - proof that nothing, no matter how glorious, would come to an end.  Blackvayne was powerful and old, which meant he was either very lucky, very powerful, or very cunning, and perhaps had some measure of all three, but in the end he was just meat.<br/><br/>"Or he could be shining us on, saying the things we want to hear to get us to do what he wants.  I know a little bit about lying and the best lies are the ones people need to believe.  Like, 'your parents are alive.'  And, 'you're a special person.'  Which doesn't mean he's lying.  Maybe he's telling the truth, or a form of the truth, but you'd better believe he's saying it best to influence him.  The only real influence he has over you is hope.  Did he offer you any proof that your parents are alive?  Or did he just say they were?  To get us into his power."<br/><br/>He sighed.  "If we want to be treated as his equals, we have to act that way.  Which puts your parents at risk.  Perhaps they are alive and it was all just an elaborate ploy to... to create sympathy between us.  Or maybe he's a fucking liar, and he expected us to stumble back to Chateau Blackvayne and get caught by his werewolves - except that didn't happen, so he cobbled together this little tale tale to recover the situation.  The first thing I would do is demand some sort of proof that your parents are alive.  If they're not alive, he has nothing on us, nothing to compel us.<br/><br/>"Though we should think about moving out of here.  It wouldn't be impossible for him to have sent his werewolves, even lesser vampires, against us.  He might know where we are, they might be on their way."