Episode 24: Real Lessons

Lia headed for The Strip flying low over the building toward the Stratosphere Hotel’s tower. She’d been there only once or twice since she’d run off in the night looking for Lex.

She knew that he’d probably had to move on. He’d been running. Both of them had been running. And to a certain extent she wanted to go back to running again, leave Mohan’s pack and go back to the “good old days” when it was just her and Lex.

In the books that she’d read with Annabelle, when someone did what Lex did, you swore vengeance against them. It was one of the reasons that she thought Lex was so sad.

But he’d never hurt her. In fact, he’d done everything that he could to make sure that she was okay and if she found him she’d do everything in her power to make sure that she was okay. He’d been working so hard to support them before she’d run away.

If she had too she could challenge Mohan and force him to let her bring Lex back to the pack compound. She could buy him some real clothes instead of the ratty jeans and jacket he always wore and he wouldn’t have to worry about food or money ever again.

And if anyone so much as hinted at trying to bite him she would rip out their throats with her bare human hands. It wasn’t like he wasn’t unusual for a human. Lia was sure that Lex could have contributed significantly to the pack if they would let him.

She just wanted to see him happy and not worried anymore. There had to be something that she could do to make that happen, something that she could say that would make him understand that she didn’t hate him for what he’d done but that she loved him for caring about what it meant to her.

She flew into the MGM amusement park and settled behind a trellis and next to one of the outer walls and resumed human form. No fuss, no feathers. No nudity. She was often thankful that was one of her gifts.

She didn’t have any money. Annabelle or Miss Chi-Wong always paid for everything and since she wasn’t supposed to be out by herself anyway they wouldn’t bother giving her an allowance. She probably could have tried to picked pockets or something but she really didn’t want to get caught. She’d have to call Miss Chi-Wong to come get her out of trouble and even the thought of that made her wince.

So she wandered to the exit and found a daily ride pass armband from a family that was about to leave which was good enough. She just wanted to ride the rides and remember the day that Lex had brought her here.

She went on a few roller coasters and even though she could fly now it was still surprisingly fun. Lex had always smiled on the steepest hills and now she threw up her hands and screamed with the rest of the passengers when they took a quick turn.

It was another evening so she didn’t have to wait long between rides. Even though the sun set it didn’t deter her from the roller coasters. She could see almost as well in the dark as most people could in the day.

It started to cool down but she didn’t want to leave yet. She was just hungry. She could shift into her raven form and then come back but decided to see if she could figure out some way to get food from one of the food courts.

She took a seat at one of the tables with a bored expression on her face and looked around. There a few groups of boys a few tables over and they weren’t bad looking. She pointedly made a point of not looking or talking to them.

Despite eying her for a few minutes, it wasn’t any of the groups of boys that approached her but a guy.

He was tall pale and blond and gorgeous. He was wearing a tight black shirt and jeans and looked like he was about twenty four. He was also incredibly familiar looking.

“Can I join you?”

Over the smell of grease and broiling cheese came another set of smells. The strongest one was . . . aftershave? An expensive one she would have guessed, because the guy smelled something like Mr. Mohan. It was covering something else.

The smell of carrion and rot.

The blond guy was a vampire.

She stiffened for a moment. “Aren’t you a little old to be hitting on teenagers?” she said.

He politely laughed and then sat down anyway. “Oh, I doubt you have any idea. I’m just a little curious what a werewolf is doing alone in the middle of this tent after dark.”

Well, crap. “I’m not—,” she started, but he interrupted.

“Let’s not pretend. You can probably smell me just as easily as I tell what you are. What exactly are you doing here? This area is most definitely off limits to Mohan’s activities. Whatever business you’re conducting here, you didn’t check with your pack leader or he would have told you that.” His incredibly pretty blue eyes were trying to bore into her and he was doing something to try to make her speak.

“I’m not here on business,” she said, genuinely surprised now, and looked directly into his eyes. “It’s . . . my day off. I came here to relax,” she lied.

There was a sea of old power behind those blue eyes but Mr. Mohan could pull the same trick. Lia had long ago learned to resist him and suspected that the vampire didn’t realize that could push him off so easily.

At her answer it was vampire’s turn to look surprised. “Relax?” he asked and she watched his face for some sign that he didn’t believe her.

“It’s an amusement park,” she said. “I’ve been riding the roller coasters.”

He blinked, as though he hadn’t realized that and glanced around. “Uh, well, what are you doing just sitting here then? It looked like you were waiting for someone.”

She sighed. “Actually, I don’t have any money and I was going to try to get one of those guys over there to buy me dinner.” She looked at the vampire and realized that he seemed familiar. “Which they won’t do now that they’ve seen me talking with you,” she added.

The vampire looked at the group of guys that was now studiously avoiding her.

“Oh. Look, I’m sorry for that. If you want, I can buy you something to eat.”

She hesitated wondering if he was lying to her the same way that she’d lied to him. “I’m not going to let you bite me,” she said and wondered if vampires could fly.

“Uhg. Bite you? No thanks. No offense, but you all taste like wet fur to me.”

He thought she was a wolf then. He could tell that she was a werecreature, but he couldn’t tell what kind. She wondered if feathers tasted better to him than wet fur.

A guy was approaching their table. He was wearing a security guard uniform. “Everything all right?” he asked Lia.

“Sure,” she said. “He’s my uncle.”

“I just saw her as I was passing through and thought I’d say hi,” the vampire added easily.

The security guard looked at her and then at the vampire. She was small and had dark skin and hair. He was tall, pale and blond. The security guard and the vampire’s eyes met for a moment and the security guard smiled. “Of course. Sorry to bother you.”

From the outside it was a little more impressive than it had been when he’d been focusing the same powers on her. She could do that to other lycanthropes but didn’t know if she could do it to a human. The vampire had stopped trying to coerce her after she’d told him she’d been riding the roller coasters and she supposed it would be rude now that he was trying to be nice.

He stuck out his hand. “I’m Edward.”

She reached out. “I’m Lia.”

As they shook his eyes widened. “I didn’t recognize you,” he said, “without the made up hair and the dress.”

“You were at the meeting,” Lia realized. “With Lo. You had a computer.”

Edward nodded.

“You look a lot different without a suit on,” Lia said. He looked like a clothing store model actually. Not her type at all but still very handsome.

“Thanks,” he laughed.

“No, er, that was supposed to be a compliment,” she said, and then looked back at the stalls that lined the food court. “Er, about dinner . . . ?” she prompted him.

“Yeah, sure, what do you want?”

She ordered a burger with everything on it, a giant soda and reveled in the first real fast food that she’d had in ages. Mohan’s chefs were more likely to serve her veal than a simple burger. The food was good but sometimes she missed the junk food.

She offered some of the curly fries to Edward, but he thanked her politely and sat without eating.

“You guys don’t eat a lot, do you?”

Edward shook his head. “We don’t need to eat. Well, burgers and that sort of stuff.”

“But you drink blood.”

“I’m sort surprised that you’re not grossed out by that.”

She rolled her eyes. “You should see some of the things that I’ve eaten when I’m . . . not human. It’s hard to be grossed out after your first few mice.”

He nodded understandingly. “I can understand that. You just don’t look like the kind of girl that doesn’t get grossed out by drinking blood or eating small animals.”

She looked down at her flowery jeans and shrugged. “I guess so.”

Lia ate for a while in silence until Edward asked, “You don’t get out much, do you?”

She examined him again, and then shook her head.

“The reason that you didn’t know that this was technically our territory was because you didn’t tell anyone where you were going?”

Lia nodded, and sighed as she swallowed. “I think the correct term is “run away,” she said, miming one of Annabelle’s most common phrases.

“I’d heard one or two things about that, now that I think back,” Edward told her. “Why do you run away?”

Lia looked at him and shrugged.

“Do they not feed you or something? From the way that you’re eating it looks like they haven’t given you food in years.”

“No . . . they treat me fine. I mean, I have private chefs and they have tutors and stuff. I just don’t necessarily feel comfortable there.”

“What about Mohan?”

She looked at Edward, confused.

“How do you feel about him?”

“He’s just . . . Mohan. He’s okay I guess.”

“You aren’t part of his pack, are you?”

She shrugged, not sure what he meant by that. She was part of the pack. She lived with them, after all, but she suspected that Edward meant something else.

“See, that’s an answer by itself. You don’t feel much loyalty to him. If you’d been a member of Mohan’s pack you would. You wouldn’t run away. You resisted me earlier, when you lied about coming here to relax.”

Lia thought about shifting and flying away but Edward had been friendly to her so far but she couldn’t stop herself from reflexively tensing a bit.

Edward caught her wrist but made it look like he was just laying his hand on hers. Even with time slowed for her she hadn’t seen him move. His skin was cold and she tried to lift her hand but without even appearing to tense a muscle Edward kept her wrist glued to the table.

“I don’t know why he’s allowing it, but Mohan isn’t the kind of guy to be tested forever. You may have been his pet for two years but sooner or later he’s going to get annoyed and he’s going to add you to his pack by force. You’re strong, you resisted me, but Mohan is an Alpha wereborn. He was born to lead a pack and if you throw your will up against his, you won’t be able to resist him. It doesn’t seem like you want him to do that.”

She slowly shook her head. He looked around and when she looked back she winced.

“Do you know why he’s keeping you?”

She shook her head.

“The witches, they don’t like wereravens. I thought you were just a wolf until you introduced yourself but if I was a witch I would have attacked you outright. The raven is sacred to them and they say that wereravens are a defilement.”

He gave her a look. “That’s what they say, but the real reason is that you terrify them. You have a lot to fear from Mohan, but at least he’ll keep you safe. If the witches find you they’ll kill you without hesitation and if you’ve been going around Las Vegas like this then you’ve been extremely lucky so far.”

He let go of her hand and she immediately stood. He hadn’t hurt her and he’d just told her stuff that she hadn’t known.

Carefully, she picked up the last few bites of the burger and bit into it. The entire time she kept her eyes glued to Edwards.

“For a teenager,” he said after a moment, “you do have a few surprises.”

She finished the burger.

“What do you suggest then?” she asked after a sip of her soda.

“Don’t piss off Mohan. If you keep on ticking him off, he’ll eventually crush you like a bug.”

“I don’t like being kept locked up.”

“Nobody does,” Edward said vaguely and Lia could see that there was something in his eyes when he said that. “But sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do to get what you want.”

“What do you think I want?”

Edward focused back on her. “I’m sure I have no idea, just as you have no idea what I want. But if you want to avoid waking up one day and wanting to do everything in your power to serve Mohan, I would learn from him. He’s a powerful guy and no matter how much you dislike him you could learn a lot from him.”

Lia sat in silence for a moment considering his words.

“Thanks for dinner,” she finally said.

“No problem,” Edward said.

He walked her to the gate. She walked a few more blocks alone before she shifted and made her way back to the compound.

Slipping back into the compound was surprisingly difficult. She’d never done it before on her own.

The clock read midnight before Annabelle entered the room and found her reading her math textbook.

“I thought I’d get a jump on tomorrow’s lessons,” Lia said.

Annabelle said nothing but before she turned and stalked out of the room her face had turned the color of a fresh salmon sushi.

Episode 18: Three Factions

They held the memorial on the third day, appropriate for someone that had risen to the rank of Matron in such a powerful Coven.

Bliss, as usual, refused to oversee the ceremony, which meant it was up to the Maiden, Belle Aldecott, to run things.

Belle was relatively new to the coven though, just having moved from Boston, and her training was mostly theoretical. She had to read the memorial and the spirit convocation from a book, and didn't add a personalized epigraph to it. Several of the other coven members looked uncomfortable with the formality of the ceremony when this was a woman that they'd known for years.

Bliss smiled as she stood just outside of the glade. It wasn't any personal resentment against Bybreak for dying, Bliss always smiled.

Mistress Greenwood approached her glaring fiercely, but not doing a very good job. Bliss was substantially more threatening than the thin, bitter looking Greenwood could ever hope to be, and she would smile the entire time.

"There was nothing that you could have done?" Greenwood hissed. She wasn't the first to ask, but she would likely be the last. There were few others in the Coven that could stand up to Bliss, even if she wasn't actively trying to be threatening.

Bliss shook her head.

"Say it."

"There was nothing more I could have done to save Bybreak from herself," Bliss said happily.

Greenwood tilted her head, tasting the words, trying to find a lie but there was nothing there to find.

"And the boy."

Bliss turned her attention full onto Greenwood, who shrank back suddenly, as though Bliss' big white teeth in her toothy smile sent forth a chill.

"What about the boy?" Bliss inquired.

Greenwood opened her mouth, closed it, and finally asked, "Are we going to search for him?"

There was a long pause.

"No," Bliss said. "We're going to use him for bait."

-*-*-*-*-

Mr. Lo sat quietly in the shadows of the hotel lobby. In Las Vegas so many people lived in artificially lit Casinos nearly all of the time that it was easy to forget that there was daylight just beyond the thick walls. Inside, day and night meant close to nothing.

It was so easy for vampires to blend in, to sit and gamble with their heightened senses in the false twilight. To enjoy a floor show and then vanish into the tunnels that connected the various hotel properties to each other and several of the vampire's holdings.

Lo liked to sit and watch the people come and go. A few were happy, having just won money or attended a wedding, and some were saddened by losses at the tables or waking up to find that they'd enjoyed too many free drinks the night before.

He wore a suit but people's vision slid right over him. If he was important, he wouldn't be sitting in the lobby of a hotel by himself and he certainly wouldn't be relaxing and reading a paper. The few people that could recognize him would not disturb him unless it was vitally important.

So when his secretary Miriam appeared, he put down his paper at once.

Miriam was tall and blond and wearing a silvery evening gown even though it was just past eleven a.m. She looked remarkably beautiful, even compared to the usual Las Vegas girls, and men's heads turned as she walked along. She was young though, only about fifty years dead, and she still had something of the predator to her. The men looked, but discreetly, and no one dared to approach her.

"Sir," she said softly as she approached, and then sat delicately on the chair beside him. "I got a report from . . ." She looked around. "From our friend with the Ladies."

"About the death of their Matron?"

She nodded. "A name came up. One that I think you might recognize." She took a slip of paper from her slim valise, and held it out.

Lo looked at it and frowned. That was deeply disturbing.

"The wolves haven't reported seeing him in the area that they're patrolling for us," he said.

"It happened to the West, in the Executive Airport annex. He's on the move, obviously, but he seems to be out of our area for the time being."

"Sue said that he was last seen in the presence of One of the Five."

"Ah," said Miriam. "I have more on that as well. Our same friend says that the incident that happened at the Coven house on the 26th involved both that one and also him," she said as she gestured with the slip of paper.

Lo tried not to let his surprise show. "I thought that one of the two attackers died in that incident. And if the boy killed their Matron he must have been the one that survived the attack."

Miriam nodded slowly as Lo's undead mind churned.

"Soraperion was not the weakest of the five," he said at last, softly. "And so far the boy has survived encounters with two full vampires and Mistress Bliss twice. And he killed the Matron of the Coven during one of those encounters."

"Do you think that the boy is a trap?" Miriam asked.

"For whom? Me? Bliss? The Ladies in general? The only faction left unaffected is the Wolves, who seem to have had remarkable luck avoiding such a problematic person so far. If you'll remember what happened at our last meeting, it would seem that William is already trying to bait the Ladies on one front. Why not another?"

"Should we let this take its course then?"

Lo shook his head. "Not necessarily. The Ladies have uncommon influence in this dark city. If we have judged the game correctly we may be able to turn these machinations to our advantage in the long run." He thought for a moment. "Cancel the Wolves' patrol of our area, but double the lookout of our own thralls around the Southwest section. Call for a Family conference, in the usual place, for the day after tomorrow."

He picked up his paper again and Miriam, always so good at reading people, took her clue to leave, followed by the adoring stares of several men.

-*-*-*-*-

Mohan woke late, rolled out of his elaborate bed, and slipped on his calf skin slippers.

Michael was outside the door, waiting for him. He'd slept through his alarm: he knew that, but he hadn't expected Michael to be here already.

There were no clocks, mechanical or electric, inside of his bedroom. The buzzing of electric devices sometimes bothered his sensitive hearing.

He dressed quickly, stepped outside, and took the proffered watch, wallet and cell phone from Michael. He checked the time and found that he was indeed quite late.

"Breakfast with the Marcandos?"

"I delayed it until tomorrow."

"The business reports?"

"I have them."

They made their way downstairs. Miss Chi-Wong was waiting patiently in the limo. As always, she looked absolutely flawless and completely unflustered by Mohan's late appearance. Sometimes Mohan suspected that she wore her makeup and a suit to bed.

"There has been a delay in the most recent cocaine shipment, of course," she said. "And the witches are already looking for a replacement for Bybreak."

"Wonderful," Mr. Mohan responded. "Have we heard anything else?"

Chi-Wong shook her head.

"That is interesting," Mr. Mohan said. "Bybreak was definitely a calming influence on the Coven, especially with Bliss running roughshod over the rest of them."

"They'll come, eventually." Michael mumbled.

"But when?" Mr. Mohan said. "That's the question. We have a deadline, after all."

Episode 12: On Display

Lia knew that Annabelle was approaching before she knocked on the door. She could smell the lavender perfume and the faint scent of her conditioner from down the hallway now.

Annabelle would come in the morning, make sure that she was dressed and cleaned up, and then they would do lessons, like a private school just for Lia. In the evenings, Mr. Mohan would often come by her room. He would sit down across the table from Lia and ask her how she was. They would talk for a few moments, and then Mr. Mohan would look into her eyes, say a few words, and leave.

What the words were depended on the day. "Remember," was common, but so were "Learn" and "See." Often, when he would speak, she felt a rush of something indescribable, and afterward she would feel extremely powerful, like she didn't have to be afraid of anything.

Her ability to smell other people had developed a few weeks back. She's mentioned it to Annabelle, and she suspected that Annabelle had told Mr. Mohan, although he'd never mentioned it directly.

It was nearly time for Mr. Mohan to come home, but some of the smells were wrong. The cooks hadn't come in, and they weren't preparing dinner yet, which they always did for Mr. Mohan.

Annabelle entered. Lia was sitting at the desk with a paper and a box of crayons. She'd never had one with all of the colors before, and it was her favorite thing in the room, even more than the dresses, even though she knew that was probably sort of childish. Today she was drawing a thin figure in a black and red jacket. He was smiling, but not big like Annabelle or Mr. Mohan smiled. It was a thin smile, and even though she'd only seen it once or twice she could clearly remember it.

"Who are you drawing?" Annabelle asked, politely. She looked. "Your friend again?"

Lia nodded.

"Well, we still haven't found him, but don't worry, I talked with Michael and his people are out still looking. I'm sure we'll find him." Her voice was soothing, but they hadn't found him yet.

Lia put the crayon back in the box, careful to make sure that it went in the right spot. Annabelle had showed her how to open all of the drawers, and Lia opened the top one and put the drawing of Lex with all of the others featuring him.

"Mr. Mohan would like you to accompany him to dinner tonight. Would you like to do that?"

"Sure."

"You're going to be going to a very nice restaurant, so you'll want to be on your best behavior. Mr. Mohan asked that you wear something blue, and I thought of that new light blue dress that we bought the other day."

Annabelle went to the closet and Lia followed her.

About twenty minutes later, Lia was read to go. This light blue dress wasn't as fancy as the dress she'd worn the first day, but it was softer and there was beautiful dark blue stitching around the edges. Annabelle had tied up Lia's hair and put some dark red chopsticks with blue birds to hold it together. When she looked in the mirror, Lia thought she looked like a movie star.

Annabelle brought her downstairs, and then helped her into Mr. Mohan's limo, but didn't get in herself.

"Aren't you coming?" Lia asked, surprised. Annabelle seemed to be with her all the time.

"No, not tonight. But Miss Chi-Wong will be there tonight. She'll take care of you."

Annabelle closed the door and the limo set off.

Inside the limo, there were all sorts of cool things. There was a sunroof that opened, although Lia was barely tall enough to see the tops of buildings as they went passed. There was a television, and there was also a phone, and a box of cold bottles of water.

Lia flipped through television channels until they reached one of Mr. Mohan's offices, not one that Lia had seen before. As soon as they pulled up, the door opened, and Miss Chi-Wong slid inside, followed shortly by Michael and several of his men, and then finally Mr. Mohan. As they entered, Lia scooted toward the front of the vehicle, until she was pressed up against the glass window to the driver.

All of them were dressed very nicely. Michael and his men wore tuxedos, Mr. Mohan wore a heavy black coat that looked very expensive and Miss Chi-Wong was wearing a blue-green dress that looked beautiful on her, but looked strange with the briefcase that she was carrying.

Miss Chi-Wong looked at the dress and pressed her lips together, but she didn't say anything at first.

"What did Annabelle say about tonight?"

"She said that Mr. Mohan wanted me to come to dinner."

"This is an important dinner. There will be a lot of very important people there. You're quiet, which is good, but if you talk, always say sir or ma'am."

"Okay."

Miss Chi-Wong frowned.

"Yes, ma'am," Lia tried again.

Mr. Mohan's assistant nodded grudgingly.

Instead of pulling up on a street to let them out, the limo turned into a garage. The driver rolled down his window and talked to a man at a booth, and then they drove through a darkened set of corridors until they reached a place where the room widened and there were pale yellow lights.

When they stopped, all of them got out of the car.

Two of Michael's men went ahead, followed by Mr. Mohan and Michael, then Miss Chi-Wong, and Lia, and finally Michael's last two men. They swept through the glass doors so quickly that Lia was just on the verge of having to run to keep up.

Inside the building, it was like a palace. The floors glittered like black glass, and the walls were marble and gold. There were huge paintings on the walls. Some of the paintings were just shapes and colors, but others had people, some wearing costumes that made them look very old and some that were naked.

Lia's nose got a hint of several strange smells, like oil and eggshells, coming from the paintings. She wondered if they were worth a lot of money. They certainly looked like they were.

Through the grand hall they arrived at a stairway. Michael's men started right up, as though they knew the way, and again all of them followed.

There were men in tuxedos standing at the top of the stairs who hauled open two large metal doors. Beyond, there were lots of tables, filled with people wearing tuxedos and fancy dresses. As the eight people in Lia's group marched by, the people in the restaurant stared at them and some of them whispered to each other.

Only a few of the people looked at Lia, frowning and looking generally unfriendly. Most of them watched Mr. Mohan. Lia felt like she wanted to melt into the floor but Miss Chi-Wong reached out and took her hand and Lia felt a little better, as though she didn't have to worry about the people looking at her. Miss Chi-Wong could handle them.

They came to the far side of the restaurant, and this time there was a golden door that glowed in the yellowish lights. Mr. Mohan gestured, and two of his men opened the door. The two men behind Lia also fell away, and only four of them entered the room; Mr. Mohan, Michael, Miss Chi-Wong and Lia.

There was a huge table in the room, much to large to have fit through the doors. Lia wondered how they'd gotten it in, but she realized that it might have been built for this room. It wasn't quite round, it had three sides, each of which looked like it could fit ten or twelve people. There were only three people sitting on each side though, both with a larger figure standing behind them.

The three seated on the left were all women, wearing robes and covered with colored shawls. The closest woman was wearing a bright yellow over her squat frame, and she seemed lost in thought. The middle woman wearing red was extraordinarily average looking. She would have been right at home in a school or a library except for the fancy clothes. The furthest woman from her was thin and wearing a bluish shawl, much darker than Lia's dress. She seemed very familiar but Lia couldn't remember where she'd seen her before. Behind them there was a huge man. He looked like an Indian guide from old western movies but there were patterns tattooed all over his skin. As Lia looked at the tattoos they seemed to shift and change and Lia could almost smell a fifth person under the musk of the man's scent.

On the other side, to the right of the seats that looked like they were for Mr. Mohan and Miss Chi-Wong, two men and a woman were sitting. The man in the center was middle aged and Asian and very good looking and the woman that hung onto his arm was beautiful and blonde. The other man sitting at their side of the table was younger and white, and there was a slim computer in front of him, and he was typing away. Behind them was a large white guy wearing sunglasses. Lia barely had looked at them when the smell of rotting flesh filled her nostrils. She almost gagged, but managed to restrain herself.

Mr. Mohan seemed to have smelled it as well. He turned back, and ushered Lia forward. She came forward, her eyes watering, but when she touched Mr. Mohan's hand the smell suddenly reduced to a manageable level, as though his presence had pushed it away.

He gestured for her to come up and sit at his right had side, even holding the chair for her. Miss Chi-Wong sat on Mr. Mohan's other side and like the man sitting with the pale people she pulled out a computer and set it on the table in front of her and set to typing.

"Mr. Mohan," said the woman sitting in the middle to the left as she looked at Lia, "who is this?"

"This is Lia," Mr. Mohan said. "She is under my protection."

The Asian man chuckled. "Have you got yourself a toy, William?"

Mr. Mohan smiled. "I'm not nearly as twisted as your associates, Lo. Lia is an heir, actually."

The woman in red exchanged looks with the woman in blue, and looked back at Lia. "An heir? May I inquire as to what her totem animal is?"

"Lia is a were-raven."

There was a creaking scrape as the woman wearing the blue shawl stood up. She was looking intently at Lia, and there was a buzz. Lia looked into her eyes and found herself starring into two fiery yellow orbs.

The fire stretched out between them for a moment, washing over Lia and reminding her of where she'd seen the woman before, in the empty parking lot. She remembered flying and the blood on the woman's face as her claws tore into her.

This time though, there was no love to save her. Instead, something inside Lia struggled to burst out through her skin. She felt feathers everywhere.

I can eat you, Lia thought to herself desperately. I can claw your eyes out.

Then she was back in herself. Nearly everyone was standing, except for Miss Chi-Wong and the dead boy with the other computer. The woman in blue rocked back as though she'd been struck, nearly collapsing into her seat. Behind her, Lia could smell fur. Michael had probably changed partway.

"ENOUGH," Mr. Mohan said before anyone else could move. He looked at the woman in red. "Control your sister, Mistress Bybreak."

The woman in red looked at the woman in blue, who's eyes were still narrowed and looking at Lia. "Belle, stop," she said softly, and the blue woman tore her gaze away from Lia and nodded momentarily. She sat down, and kept her eyes down on the black wood of the table.

Lia realized that she was standing too. She sat back down in her big wooden chair, and Michael stepped forward to push it back in. Mr. Mohan sat down next, followed by the dead people and then the women in red and yellow.

"I'd heard rumors that you were looking for an heir," said the woman in red. "A bird, barely a predator at that, is an odd choice. Not one of your spawn, Mr. Mohan?" She sounded polite, but there was something about the way that she said 'spawn' that Lia didn't like.

He shook his head. "Lia is wereborn."

The Asian man chuckled again, but didn't say anything.

"She's young though. How old are you, Lia?"

Lia looked up at the woman in red, who was trying to conceal her interest. "I'm thirteen, ma'am," she said, trying to sound the same as the woman in red.

The woman in yellow smiled. "She looks younger," she said to no one in particular, but she said it in such a pleasant fashion that Lia smiled momentarily. "And so polite for a young one."

"I think that's enough introductions for today," Mr. Mohan said. "It's time we got down to business."

The woman in red and the Asian man nodded.

Miss Chi-Wong stood. "This meeting is called to order. The Vampires have called this meeting, and control the agenda, but is there any other pressing matter first?"

"No," said the woman in red.

Miss Chi-Wong nodded, made a note, and then said, "Mr. Lo."

As she sat, the Asian man stood. "I'm sure that you're aware through your own channels that the plague has reached North America." Mr. Lo nearly spat the word. "As such, there will be major movements of our people in and out of this area for the next month."

"If I recall correctly," the woman in red said, "the last time we sat here you assured us that the Europeans would be the last group of vampires to arrive in the city for some time. I'm beginning to feel nervous about having so many of your people here, Mr. Lo."

"We have followed the proper--," the blond woman started to say, but Mr. Lo gestured for her to be silent, cutting her off.

"I understand your concern," Mr. Lo said. "By way of apology I've arranged for the western District's contract to be offered to the Capriesi family at fifty on the dollar."

The woman in red paused as though she was thinking, and then nodded.

"And for us?" Mr. Mohan asked.

"I have a slightly more . . . long term contract that I wish to negotiate with you. I'd like to send Chris to your office, and let him work out the details with Ming some time this week."

The woman wearing yellow spoke up suddenly. "Uh, uh, uh," she said happily, wagging her finger. "That's within the scope of this meeting. Fess up."

Mr. Lo frowned, but nodded. "I need to hire a team of your boys to patrol a section of my area."

"Which area?"

"Between the airport and 515."

Mr. Mohan looked at Miss Chi-Wong. "We have two teams available," she whispered, although not softly enough to keep the other two groups from hearing her.

Mr. Mohan nodded at Mr. Lo. "Double standard rate."

Mr. Lo frowned, and then nodded. The blonde woman didn't look happy, either, but the other boy didn't say anything, he just typed away at his computer.

Miss Chi-Wong stood up again. "Any further business?"

"I have one thing," said the woman in red.

Miss Chi-Wong made another note, and then said, "Mistress Bybreak?"

The woman in red stood and looked around. "Prices are increasing on all markets by five percent."

Mr. Lo looked extremely annoyed and even Mr. Mohan looked upset.

"Why?" Mr. Mohan asked.

"The price of oil is going up."

"And that results in a five percent increase?"

"It does when your entire product is being flown in private jets."

"All of it?" Miss Chi-Wong said. "How is that even feasible?"

"The road blocks by the police on I-40 are causing this, aren't they" said Mr. Lo.

The woman in red nodded at Lo, and then turned to Miss Chi-Wong. "Bribing people at the Executive Airport is more expensive than at LSV, but it's safer for the families at the moment."

Mr. Lo sat back, but Mr. Mohan leaned forward. "Fuel has increased by three percent this quarter. I think that we would all find that a fair compromise."

The woman in red shook her head. "I think you should check your numbers again, Will."

"Three and five."

"For both of you?"

Mr. Mohan looked at Mr. Lo, and then nodded.

"Three and seven, then."

Mr. Mohan leaned back. "Done."

Mr. Lo winced. "We could make arrangements for I-40--."

Mr. Mohan looked at him, and shook his head, and Mr. Lo stopped talking.

The woman in red sat, and Miss Chi-Wong stood. "Are we finished?"

Both Mr. Lo and the woman in red said yes.

"Then this meeting is closed," Miss Chi-Wong said.

"Quick as usual," Mr. Lo said as he raised his glass, and suddenly the doors opened. There were people with food all around them. "You're all welcome to stay for dinner, of course." Except Lia noticed that nothing was offered to the dead people except a bottle of something dark that was set in front of the Asian man. Whatever was in the bottle smelled wrong, not like wine at all. It took her a moment to recognize it: Blood.

The three women stood. "Thank you, Lo, but I'm afraid we have other business."

The woman in blue, deprived of the table, kept looking quickly at Lia and then looking away, making Lia uncomfortable, but the woman in yellow smiled at her. "We'll meet again later, dear," she said and they swept out the door.

"Can you stand the smell?" Mr. Mohan whispered to her.

She nodded.

"Then we shall stay for dinner. I'll have someone find you a menu, and if there's anything at all that you want, just tell the waiters."

She nodded, and looked at Mr. Lo. He was sipping his glass of blood, but his eyes were fixed on her. This night had been about her, she was sure of it, but she still couldn't understand why.

Episode 7: Loss

Sexual Content Warning, if you care about stuff like that.

Alex carefully watched Lia, and when he was sure that she was asleep, he put on his jacket and slipped out of the building.

“The drag” was between rows of warehouses. A set of streetlights ran down the center of the unfinished median, so that customers could see the merchandise along the edges, and then retreat into the darkened side streets for the transactions.

It had just been chance, that the apartment that he had found was so close to the drag. Or at least this version of the drag. There was another one for the female hookers, and there was another area for more “exotic” tastes.

Alex had been nervous all day, but for the last few days he hadn’t even managed to get someone to listen seriously to him, and the money was running out. Rent was due again in only a few days, and he needed more time to find a job. There had to be something out there to do.

He licked his lips as he saw the lights of the drag, and then he turned the corner.

There were a few guys standing around, some of them in the light, and some standing in the shadows of the buildings. There were a few cars, trolling back and forth, stopping beside one of the boys. They would talk for a few moments, and then the kid would either get into the car, or the driver would move on, looking for something more his tastes.

Alex hadn’t worried about what to wear. The t-shirt and the jeans were all that he had. Some of the boys wore tighter pants, but Alex realized that he didn’t look entirely out of place. The only thing was, they moved differently than he did. Alex noticed things like that, after the years on his own. To them, it was no big thing anymore. This was their workday.

Alex moved into the light, and started walking along the alley, and tried not to think about what he was doing. If it was daytime, and he was walking home to Lia, everything would be okay. All he had to do was pretend that nothing was going to happen.

With his hands in his pockets, he pulled the jacket tighter, trying to pretend that he was cold.

The guys walking the drag looked up at them as he passed. Some of them looked really young, babies compared to him. The youngest ones, the ones that were fourteen or fifteen, were the ones wearing the most colorful outfits, and Alex couldn’t look them in the eyes. They were Lia’s age.

Two of the older guys stepped out of the shadows. The first one was nothing special. He might have been around Alex’s age, or maybe a year or two older. He was thin, with blondish hair.

The other guy was out of place. He was Hispanic, with slick back hair, wearing a thin black wife beater, showing off a set of arms as big around as Lia’s waist. He looked like he spent all day in a gym.

Alex’s eyes flickered around. The other guys trying to work the strip were looking away, and some had stepped back into the shadows.

“Who are you?” the big guy asked.

“Lex.”

The big guy reached out as he approached, and gave Alex a shove, sending him sprawling backward in the street.

“You’re on our turf,” the thin one said. “You can’t work the drag without permission. Can he, Cali?”

“Nope,” the big guy said, and kicked him in the side. Alex gasped, and curled up into a ball.

“Stop!” he shouted as Cali drew his leg back again. The kick never came. “How do I get permission?”

“We’ve got a smart one here,” the thin one said. “You want to talk with Martin.” He pronounced it “Marteen.”

“Are you Martin?”

The thin one laughed. “I’m Crazy K. But you look like Martin’s type.”

Cali grabbed his jacket and pulled him to his feet. Alex’s eyes were still watering with pain.

Crazy K pointed, and when Alex didn’t step forward right away Cali bent his wrist and forced Alex forward.

There was a light in this alley, and Crazy K knocked a few times on the door, and then opened it. Cali pushed Alex again, making him stumble over the step into the room.

Alex had expected a warehouse with boxes, but he found himself in a red office.

Everything was crimson. The large desk to his right was stained a brilliant ochre, and the walls were hung with a blood red fabric that gleamed like velvet. Aside from the desk, there were couches, three of them in varying cherry hues, and a few chairs.

There was a kid on the couch closest to Alex. He was on the younger side, and he had dark hair. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open slightly, and his arm dangled down to the floor. He looked almost like he was asleep. Alex noted that his pants were unbuttoned and felt his stomach tighten.

“Who is this?” a voice like butter said. Alex’s attention shifted up and he found himself looking at a man, dressed entirely in red and black. The clothing looked old, like he’d stepped out of a history book or a costume party. He had long hair, pulled back in a ponytail, and pale skin.

“I’m Lex,” he bit out. This was Martin, it had to be. And Martin had the most interesting eyes that Lex had ever seen. You kept eye contact on the street to challenge, but looking into Martin’s eyes he couldn’t look away. Martin was so perfect looking, so powerful, that Alex just needed to look at him.

“He wanted to work the street,” Crazy K said.

Martin flicked his wrist, and Crazy K was suddenly gone, leaving Martin, Alex, and the unconscious boy on the couch alone.

“You a runaway, Lex?” Martin asked. He had an accent, but Alex didn’t know it.

“Yeah,” he said, and it was the truth.

“You need money?”

“Yeah.”

“And so you came out to the drag? Why did you come all of the way out there?”

“I couldn’t find another job, and the rent is due in a few days.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” Martin said, and Alex felt so embarrassed. He’d resorted to selling himself to make the rent. Martin must think that he was such a pathetic failure. He lowered his eyes, tearing up.

“Don’t cry!” Martin said, and he reached out, raising Alex’s chin. His skin was cold to the touch, as though he’d been outside only moments before. “Don’t cry little brother. You can work for me. Wouldn’t you like that?”

Alex nodded. Working for Martin would be so wonderful, and he could keep his apartment and protect Lia, and everything would work out.

“Let me see you, little brother,” said Martin and his fingered Alex’s coat.

“You want me to . . . get naked? In here?”

“Don’t you want to let me see you, Lex?”

Alex did. He unzipped the coat, Martin pointed to one of the empty couches, and Alex let it drop. He pulled off the t-shirt, underneath, and for the first time realized how warm it was in the office. He let that fall on the couch as well. He kicked off his sneakers, and then peeled off his socks, scrunched them up, and stuffed them in his sneakers.

He reached for the button of his jeans, and stopped, frozen. Martin had taken a step back, but his eyes seemed to be everywhere.

“Are you nervous, little brother?”

Alex nodded. He wanted to say something, but his teeth were so tightly pressed together he thought his jaw would break.

“Don’t be nervous, little brother. After all, if you want work for me, you’ll have to do more than this.”

Alex took a deep breath, and undid the button. With one motion he pulled down his pants, and the shorts underneath, and then stepped out of them, leaving himself naked in the middle of the room.

Martin released his breath, almost like a sigh. “See, that’s not bad, is it Lex?”

Lex shook his head.

Martin moved forward slowly, and caressed Alex’s cheek with his hand, and Alex shivered.

“What do you want to do, Alex?”

“I . . . want to please you.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. And what would you do to please me?”

“Anything.”

Martin’s hands slid down his sides, still as cold as ice. Alex wanted them to warm up soon, but he couldn’t say anything. Martin wanted Alex to please him.

“Anything?”

Alex struggled to agree, but again he felt himself at a loss for words.

“Lie on the couch.”

Alex walked to the couch, feeling his body flaunt itself in Martin’s vision, and lay down in it. It was so soft, and upholstered in velvet, just like the walls. Martin walked with him, keeping his hand gently on Alex’s skin the entire time, and kept their eyes locked together.

“I’m so hungry,” Martin whispered to him. “So hungry.”

He ran his cold hands up and down Alex and Alex shivered again. Then he smiled, and there was something wrong with his teeth. He bent down as though he was going to kiss Alex, but his face slid past Alex’s.

There was a sharp pain in Alex’s neck.

And then a blistering realization hit him. He was lying naked in this sicko’s office and the guy was biting his neck.

Martin’s hand was still running over Lex’s body, and Lex caught it in his and twisted it as hard as he could. Martin pulled away, surprised, and Lex pushed him back as hard as he could.

Martin stumbled back and Lex sat up, furious. Martin’s eyes were wide with shock, and down somewhere deep inside Lex felt something bubble up, some desire for Martin even now. He was so beautiful . . .

No. His teeth were fangs. He was a vampire. Lex had seen enough bad horror movies to know that. Lex shook his head, and forced the emotions down. Martin gasped. “Lex!”

The wooden desk rose off the floor. Martin looked at it, and then back at Lex. “You want to please me!” Martin said, almost desperately.

Lex frowned, biting his lip. It wasn’t just Martin in his head, and that made him even angrier. The desk rocketed forward, snapping computer cables like they were threads and slamming directly into Martin, crashing into the wall.

Lex held the desk there for a moment, then pulled it back and slammed it forward again, and the desk splintered. Then he let it fall to the floor and Martin slumped forward over it, bloody.

Papers thrown from the desk were still settling when there was a knock on the door. Cali poked his head in. His eyes widened as he saw the mess and Martin, and he pushed the door all of the way open and rushed forward. Lex’s first instinct was to cover himself, causing him to flinch away from the charging guard.

Less that a step from Lex, Cali was caught back, like he’d been caught by an invisible net. He rose onto his tip toes, gasping for breath, and stood there for a moment before being thrown backward.

He fell to the left of the door, knocking his head against the wall where the desk had been only moments before, and slumped to the floor unconsciousness.

Lex turned and saw Crazy K standing in the door, his face white. Lex raised his hand, but Crazy turned at ran before he could do anything.

Then he was alone again. He waited, but none of the other boys came to find out what was going on, so he slipped forward and slammed the door shut.

Where Martin had bitten him was bleeding slightly, but Alex ignored that. He quickly pulled his clothes back on, tied his shoes up, and then ran from the building.

The lights running up and down the drag were still lit, and now Alex could see that the full moon had risen in the sky. There was no one in sight. All of the boys had scattered, and the drivers had vanished with them.

Again, Alex found himself running home in the middle of the night.

This time there was no pretense of silence. He took the stairs two at a time, and clattered through the door, and then slammed it shut behind him, terrified. He leaned against it, like someone was going to come bursting in behind him, and quickly slid the locks into place.

He was gasping for breath, but stood there, leaning against the door until he was sure that there was no one behind him.

He slumped down on the couch, but he didn’t undress. Instead he took his thin blanket and wrapped it around his clothed form as tightly as he could.

It wasn’t until the next morning that he discovered that Lia was gone.