“How is your shoulder?” Shamira felt incredibly callous at not having asked earlier. Renata had risked her life going into a burning building to save her and had gotten cut and burned in the process.
“It finished healing up a few days ago.” Renata cut off phrases like “no big deal” or “we heal quickly.” These probably weren’t wise things to say to a woman in a wheelchair.
Shamira wiped her eyes, making sure that she hadn’t bled tears again. Every moment of her life still seemed so painful. If Clara had not bonded their fates together for another several weeks, Shamira probably would have killed herself within days. Now, she knew she wouldn’t go through with it. But that didn’t mean that she was enthusiastic about her existence. “Let’s go get this over with. I’ve never broken up with anyone before.”
‘Then don’t do it now,’ Renata thought. She walked a step beside her friend, making sure the chair did not snag on anything. The house had not exactly been designed to be handicapped accessible, but it was roomy enough that there had not been any incidents. When Shamira got to the greeting area, Arthur and Kira were already there, deep in conversation with Shane. Clara was nearby, looking incredibly uncomfortable, and she shot Shamira an apologetic look.
‘Don’t you dare,’ she thought. ‘Don’t you dare have told them –‘ But Shamira’s thoughts were cut short when she saw the looks on her donors’ faces. Outrage and anguish each had claim to their visages. It was odd, but Shamira thought that even as upset as they were, both of them looked amazing. She had only been with them a couple of times, but both carried themselves much more proudly than the two HIV-infectees that she had first met. Kira broke from the conversation she was having and rushed to Shamira’s side, embracing the vampire so tightly that Shamira feared the human woman might hurt herself.
“Just tell me what I can do to get the bastards that did this,” she hissed. Shamira had not heard the woman angry before.
“You can’t,” Shamira said, trying to strike a more conversational tone and act like she was not in a deep-seated mental agony. “I already eviscerated the guy who did this. The rest of them will be taken care of soon enough. They have too many enemies.” She ran her hand up Kira’s arm in a comforting motion. She did not want anyone else getting distressed over her condition. “You look good, by the way. Have you been working out?”
“Don’t change the subject. I want to hurt someone for this and Lord Stapleton told me I could.”
Shamira glowered. “I don’t want them getting hurt. You had no right –”
“Shamira,” Shane interrupted calmly, “shut the hell up.”
Everyone just stopped and stared at him. Clara was looking around for another lamp to throw at her boss’s head, and Shamira’s jaw was just hanging open.
Shane was not done. “Shamira, I love you as much as the day I brought you over, and I will do everything in my power to make you better. I have not always handled you the way that I should have, and I will probably screw up again.” People looked even more surprised, since a Lord publicly admitting an inadequacy violated certain social rules.
“You died protecting me, you risked your life protecting innocents from the Dark Pools, you risked my wrath again by breaking ranks and helping that were family, and then you rescued a young werebear from death with no regard for yourself. And this is in less than three months! Just once, you’re going to have to let US look after YOU. With Kira’s access to certain financial information and Pierre’s hacking skills, we can cut off what little resources that Lacroix has left. If necessary, I will personally go down to Savannah and drag Jonas kicking and screaming all the way back up to my threshold and exact my pound of flesh. And I will want you there to remind him of exactly why he is suffering and to show the world that no one and I mean NO ONE does what he has done to you or to anyone.”
Shamira noticed that her sire was practically bristling with energy. He was beyond angry. This constituted a full-fledged display of the sin of Wrath . . . capitalized and all and straight out of the Seven Deadlies. Part of her hungered for the revenge he promised, but part of her —
“We can’t,” she said. “How can we show that what they did was wrong by doing something worse?” Not that she could think of anything worse.
Shane looked stunned. “You don’t want revenge?”
“Oh, I want it. I just . . . No one should go through what they did to me. Not even them. You want to kill them, fine. Roughing them up first works too, but . . . not this. I’m still trying to figure out how to live with myself. Don’t make it harder.” Shamira felt soft hands wielding incredibly power kneading her shoulders.
Alessandra was smiling. “I thought I would never feel so much pride in one of my offspring as when Shane took control of Atlanta. Until now. You are what the future of our race needs to be.” She lifted Shamira’s chin. “Unfailing compassion and a sense of justice.”
“Shane told us that you were going to see if another vampire would take us,” Arthur said. “As donors. We don’t want anyone else . . . no offense,” he added quickly looking at all the other tantalizing options in the room. “You looked at us like we meant something to you, and that means you mean something to us.”
“I’ve got nothing left to offer,” Shamira muttered. ‘What do they expect from me?’ she wondered.
“I completely disagree,” Kira replied. “You’ve got . . . well, you. And that’s a hell of a lot as far as we’re concerned. Since we first met you, we’ve felt more alive than . . . well, forever. And it wasn’t just the sex. You treated us like friends and you even let us taste your blood, really treating us like one of you.”
“Uhm, what was that?” Shane asked. “That last part?”
“She treats us like one of you?” Arthur asked. He was obviously confused.
“Before that. Shamira shared blood with you?”
Shamira felt a little defensive. “Clara said it couldn’t hurt and –”
“It shouldn’t,” he interrupted, cautiously moving back into range where she could hit him. He knew that she might still be holding a grudge for his interference in her life. “But you say you’ve both felt more energized since?”
“An interesting coincidence, don’t you think?” the Representative murmured. “Come here,” she requested of the two humans. Kira and Arthur obeyed instantly. That was the kind of stroke that the ancient vampire commanded. She looked into each of their eyes, stroking them sensuously along the cheek. Their bodies reacted out of instinct, though Kira glanced back at Shamira as if she felt guilty about being aroused by another vamp. For a moment, it made Shamira grin. Monogamy was not exactly a problem around here in any respect.
“They are Renfields,” the Representative whispered, her eyes glowing with curiosity. “But that should not be possible.”
“Renfields?” Arthur asked. “You mean like the book?”
Shane sat down rapidly, his mind racing. “But how . . . Never mind. This is Shamira, and she seems to obey no rules of logic that I can fathom.”
“Hey!” Shamira said, forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to be feeling sorry for herself. “What did I do? And would someone fill me in on what the hell you’re talking about?”
The Representative pulled up a chair next to Shamira and sat down. “Renfields have been around since vampires came into existence, but adopted that particular moniker after Bram Stoker wrote his famous book. Before that, they were simply called shades. It appears that name may be more apt for servants of the queen of shadows. A Renfield is a human that has shared the blood of a vampire and through such transfer has gained some power, though this power tends to come with an above-average loyalty to the vampire.”
“Wait! So I brain-washed them?”
“No. Such a gift is usually only given to those the vampire trusts and is fond of and those feelings are reciprocated. They just tend to be stronger than normal. The problem is, you are supposed to be a full vampire before you can even attempt such a thing, much like gaining the ability to bring a human over into our world. Banshee should be able to do it in a few years, but not every vampire has the ability. YOU should not even be able to attempt it for two centuries.”
Shamira was feeling dizzy. “So what does that mean? Are they going to be okay?”
“It means that, if true, they will gain some abilities related to the power of their vampire lord,” Shane replied.
Clara stepped forward. “Does that mean . . . do you think that Shamira could create new vampires?”
Shane and Alessandra looked at each other. “It is a possibility,” the elder vampire replied.
“What kind of powers?” Arthur asked. “We haven’t learned to fly or anything. Or whatever vampires do.” He blushed a bit with embarrassment. “We didn’t take much blood.”
“Shamira has great power, so not much was needed, or so it would appear.” Shane looked deep in thought for a moment. “You may have developed some of her healing abilities. She is . . . an exceptional healer from most things.” He looked pained now, as his eyes and thoughts were drawn back to Shamira’s conditions.
“They do sleep in a really dark room,” Shamira said. “Maybe . . . wait, this isn’t right. How can I . . . damn it, it’s because of HIM, isn’t it?” She felt her anger rising.
“Calm down, love,” Clara whispered, kissing her on the cheek.
“HIM who?” Kira asked.
Shane sighed, then looked at Shamira. She nodded reluctantly, so he continued. “Shamira seems destined to become the living incarnation of an ancient and very powerful dragon who grants his power to vampires every now and again when the world is in a time of great peril. That person inevitably faces severe trials before they come into their full potential, but even a little of the Shadow Wing’s power is beyond most peoples’ comprehension.”
Arthur’s jaw was moving but no sound was coming out, so his wife was the one who asked, “So Shamira is a . . . a dragon?”
“Not yet, but she might be.”
Shamira was getting angry. “We don’t know –”
“Love, you have four of the five Aspects. You even just blamed Shadow Wing for all of this.” Clara held Shamira close. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Shamira let out a barking, humorless laugh. “Well, time I’ve got plenty of.”
Shane shook his head and decided to change subjects. This one was going nowhere. He looked at Arthur and Kira and asked, “Would you consent to having our house doctor have a look at both of you? It might help us find out what enhancements you have acquired.”
Arthur nodded around the same time as his wife. “Sure.” He looked at Shamira, then, “Whatever happens, we don’t want another vampire to be donors for. You picked us, so you’re stuck with us.” He kissed one cheek, Kira kissed the other, then they vlet Renata lead them to Tabitha’s office.
Shane stared after them. “Representative, what if Shamira has come into full vampire powers already? Does she gain the right to make her own children?”