With a shrug, Jorick took her arm and led her to the smaller dining room. Several pitchers of blood were arranged on a sideboard with trays of crystal glasses and bowls of spices. Katelina skipped them, but a vampire behind her liberally sprinkled cinnamon in his glass before he poured his blood in.

"Vampires can't have food," Katelina commented as they moved to a spot near the wall. "But they don't get sick from spices?"

"If they ate the whole bowl they might, but ...