‘Screw him,’ she thought. ‘This is his fault, so he doesn’t get a break.’ She threw a punch as his too-damn-pretty-anyway face, but she missed by a country mile. He had moved so quickly that it was as if she had swung at him in deep water. Her next swing missed as well, as did her attempt to kick him in the knee.
“Fight me damn it,” Shamira growled when she realized that Shane wouldn’t fight back. She stood there for a moment, wanting badly for him to swing. She wanted him to hit her so hard that she didn’t wake up again. She wanted anything but to feel the way that she did at that moment. “You should have just let me die. Why couldn’t you just let me die?”
He sighed. “Because I saw someone I thought would be worth saving. I don’t regret it. You saved an innocent life tonight. Doesn’t that count in your mind?”
“I killed someone!” she hissed violently. “I don’t even know what the hell I am. I don’t get any of this, and I just was in a house full of people who are mourning MY death!” She thought she should be crying by now, but no actual tears fell. She sat down on a neighbor’s front wall. “How am I supposed to feel when I want to comfort my sister who cried herself to sleep because she saw them put me in the ground? I couldn’t let her see me like this. I’m a fucking monster!”
Shane stared at her. “You’re a vampire,” he replied. “You’re no more or less a monster than you were a week ago. ‘Monster’ is a state of mind, not of body.”
“Don’t give me this philosophical bullshit,” she said, putting her hands in front of her face. “You had no right to interfere.”
“Did you?” he asked softly. “You died not because of me, but because you were shot.”
“I was doing my damn job!”
“As am I. I am responsible for the Atlanta area and its magical community. Part of that responsibility is building a brood that can keep the peace, people that can enforce OUR laws, to keep us and the mortals around us safe from the real monsters.” He sat on the wall next to her.
“I had a large family myself, you know. I was just a tavern owner back then. I did well, but I was never rich. I was never able to turn away a traveler, even if they didn’t have the coin for a bed. One night, I entertained some guests who were more than they seemed. They saw that I took in anyone who needed a warm place to stay. One of them, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, seemed interested in me after that. She arranged to stay a while longer while her companions moved on.”
“I’m assuming they were vampires?”
“Oh yes. Actually, they were the vampiric members of the Tribunal, the council of all creatures mystical. The most powerful undead in the world had been sitting in my humble inn. Had I known, I might not have watered the drinks so much.”
Despite everything, Shamira laughed at that. “I guess they got over it. What was the woman’s name?”
“I can’t say. The names of the Tribunal’s members are known only to . . . well, I guess you could say the ‘elite’ of the mystical world. Suffice to say, she and I enjoyed each other’s company for a month or so.”
“Did she . . . I mean, was it like at your House? With Renata?” Her dead heart beat once in her chest. Why had she asked that?
“Oh yes. Even then, I knew where my tastes lied, and she was a most compliant submissive.”
“Wait, she’s on this Tribunal, right? That means she’s really damn old.”
“About nine hundred years now.”
“And you were able to make her bow and scrape and . . . what’s so funny?”
“Make her?” Shane let out a loud laugh, and it took him a moment to compose himself. “I didn’t ‘make’ her do anything. I had only played with prostitutes and such up until that point, and the idea of being with a woman like that terrified me. She was rather insistent.” He was staring off into space, but he seemed to have an air of contentment and fondness about his face.
“And she was a magnificent teacher. A true dom learns from his sub as much as he teaches them. She had needs, and I met them. She came back several times over the years. She told me what she was . . . a vampire . . . and helped me understand what that meant. I’m sorry that I was unable to prepare you in such a way.” His face darkened. “A plague came to our town, and it ran upon four legs and howled at the moon.”
“Werewolves? Like Monique?”
“Werewolves yes, but not like Monique. Their alpha male was rabid. Yes, wolves can carry rabies, though it is exceedingly rare. The leader had gone mad, and every wolf that he created shared that madness. My inn was the only place of refuge for the surrounding villagers, so I let them in. I didn’t know what I was dealing with. I knew what werewolves were of course, but not what a mad pack was capable of. They came and they killed everyone they could outside, then tried to come in. We fought them off with fire and pitchforks, but they were too strong and too numerous.”
“Then one night, they simply vanished. I went out to look for them, but there was nothing left of them but tufts of fur and pools of blood. It seemed that my Lady had heard of this blight on the earth and had hurried to my aid. Our aid. It was so good for me to see her, but I was so angry. I hated feeling helpless in the face of that evil. She understood, and made me an offer.”
“She was your . . . uhm . . . sire?” Shamira was still struggling a bit with the undead lingo.
“She brought me over, yes. I made an excuse for why I would have to be gone for a few days, and she took me to a secluded place and made me a vampire. I returned to my inn after that and went back to work. Over the years, I saw all those around me grow old, weak, sick, and finally die. This included every member of my family.”
“Fledglings and shadows are unable to bring over new vampires, something about mother nature preventing us from getting all these shiny new powers and then immediately giving them to all of our friends. And I didn’t age a day. The descendants of those villagers I had offered safe harbor to decided that I was the spawn of evil, and burned my inn to the ground.”
“Fucktards!”
Shane grinned. “I’ve never heard that expression before.”
“Try playing Halo 3 online.”
“Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. “Not another one. “Reaper plays that game all the time, and I never quite got the hang of it.”
“Reaper? That assassin guy? I wonder what his gamertag is. I may have played him.”
Shane actually looked incredibly embarrassed. “Evil Fluffy Kitten.”
Shamira’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding?”
“No. He finds it amusing.”
“He doesn’t look like he has a sense of humor.”
“Oh, he might surprise you about that.” Shane noticed the girl seemed more comfortable. “So, what are you going to do now?” He looked towards the house. “You can tell them. But in our world, mortal ties can be used against us. Sometimes we do it, but –”
“But you put them at risk.”
“Why did you live at home, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“My dad has a heart condition, and my mother isn’t really good at saying no to him. So he ignores his diet and doctor’s warnings and she enables him. My brother wasn’t responsible enough to look after anyone, and my sister is kind of busy.” Thoughts of her sister brought back the ache in her soul. “She’s fifty yards away, but I miss her so much.”
“I’m sorry. It’s unfair to spring all this on you with so little warning. I’m sorry that your coming over happened in such a way that prevents you from having more ‘free’ time with them. But they would have lost you that night, regardless of my interference. Now, you can look out for them forever. Them, their children, grandchildren, as long as you live. You must change your identity so that your enemies, and you will make them, can’t connect you to them. No, I’m not saying that you’re unlikable. Quite the contrary. It’s just that ours is a brutal and treacherous world at times, and the good guys don’t always win.”
“Why are you doing this? Why are you so patient with me?”
“Because I’m still not good at turning away a beautiful woman who needs a safe place to lay her head.”
Shamira blushed a little, or at least felt like she should be blushing. “I’m not beautiful.”
“I, and every member of my house, beg to differ.”
“Your house,” she muttered. “I . . . I know what you guys like. I can’t do that. I’m not like that.”
He sighed again. “Shamira, I really hate to do this seeing as you just got calmed down, but I think you’re more ‘like that’ than you’ll admit.” He waved off her forthcoming objection. “When I brought you over, I shared my blood and power with you. But for a moment, I also saw you . . . the real you. I saw all the compassion and pride and dedication I had already assumed. But I saw your desire as well. I saw a desire and passion so deep that you were almost drowning in it.”