Alex listened while Vesa gave the shelter the few warning signs they had actually observed.
A clear answer did not mean everyone beside that person was well. The woman under the pump room had needed help keeping her wound closed, and Thepes's first attempt had moved her arm against her will.
Vesa did not pretend those few observations explained every possible change.
The shelter's older speaker repeated the signs and said they would watch the injured man with them. Then he withdrew from the conversation, leaving a way to answer again if the condition changed.
Alex left that response quiet. The shelter had its own injured man to look after now.
Dorian returned with the first local arrivals.
The man leading them was lean and gray-haired, with a weapon at his waist and a coat kept carefully closed despite the warmth in the ruined street. Behind him, several vampires pushed a cart loaded with water containers, folded cloth, and pieces of a dismantled bed frame.
