"I do desperately need human intel," Lenore confirms, politely neglecting to confirm that she's definitely not relying on Gideon for tactical planning. "I have a couple of possibilities, but I'm still trying to think up something better, because neither one's likely to work unless we get lucky. And no, vampires don't have any particular powers of compulsion. There are spells for that, but they're all either temporary or have side effects. Not a good solution."

Sighing deeply, Lenore tilts her head back to look up at the gray sky. "Maybe we'll get really lucky and the miller will tell us how sympathetic and kind the mayor has been through the genuine problems of the area, and then we won't have to arrange a coup at all."

But she's not going to place any bets on that.