I stirred my coffee. “Remember the undines said there were two ghouls in the boat that dumped the body? One male and one female? Apparently, she’s Ray D’s lady love. Something none of your fellows have seen fit to divulge thus far.”

Something subtle altered in his expression. “He’s in love with another ghoul?”

“So it seems,” I said. “Does it matter?”

“It changes things.” Following my lead, Stefan stirred creamer into his coffee, frowning. “Two ghouls, as you call us, two of our kind cannot sustain each other. For both to attempt to feed on each other, it creates . . .” He gestured absently with his plastic stir stick. “I believe the term your modern science accords it is a closed feedback loop. Call it emotional cannibalism if you like. Ultimately, it is an unsustainable system.”

Okay, now we were getting somewhere. “So what’s the fix?” I asked him. “An outside source, right?”

“Yes.”

“Like killing a mortal boy?”

Stefan shook his head. “I told you before, Daisy. There is no sustenance to be gained from the dead. A pair of ghouls in love would require a sustainable source of emotion.”

“Like what? Some kind of hostage?”

“Possibly,” he admitted. “Have there been reports of missing persons in recent months?”

“No.” I blew out my breath. “Okay, how about Dr. Midnight’s Traveling Sideshow. Ever heard of it?”

His face was blank and innocent. “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

I studied him. “Okay, here’s an easy one for you. I get the impression ghoul isn’t exactly a polite term. So what should I call you?”

It startled a faint smile from him. “Over the ages, there have been many names for our kind. Ghoul is among the less flattering, but it is the term that has endured. In truth, there are far too many of those among us deserving of the name. You may as well continue to use it.”

“What do you call yourself?” I pressed him.

Avoiding my gaze, Stefan pondered the depths of his coffee mug. His black hair was no longer bound in a clasp, and it swung forward to obscure his features with a perfection an anime illustrator would have envied. “Outcast,” he murmured. “I number myself among the Outcast.”