"That depends who it belongs to," the cat replies archly. He pads around the vampire, keeping a wary distance, and jumps up on to a nearby crate. "The London property market moves fast these days. Your home could be rented out to any number of cash-strapped humans at an extortionate rate. It's quite the business here."

Whether or not she has a place here, he doesn't know. Some vampires become very wealthy simply by owning property through the centuries. Others lack that foresight.