The stranger's words are cryptic, but they do paint a picture. Arkady hasn't escaped many things, except the touch of a vampire and death. This man doesn't seem like a vampire. He has stepped into death's realm, and pulled himself out, waking up on a morgue before he could be processed.

Is that why Arkady has a hard time reading him? Is the reading he's getting off the stranger one of death?

"My family is not what it used to be. I'm the last of my line, and I saw no reason to hire new help." Arkady walks over so that he's in front of the stranger. "Who are you, really? Who sent you?"