"If you want a massage, your mate may give you one, but if you want something done by a trained therapist, you seek one out," he said, writing down more numbers. He wasn't looking at me while he said this.

"Are we talking massages, here?" I lifted an eyebrow.

"No, we are talking sex," he said.

"Just so we're clear," I returned. The corner of his mouth twitched a little. "And I wasn't looking for sex when I walked through the door. I was looking for you."

"Would that you were looking for both," he sighed. I snorted at his answer.

Briden returned, opening and closing the door softly. "Briden, will you bring Lissa when it is time?" Gabron asked, rising from his seat, lifting a nice jacket off the back of his chair and slipping it over his shoulders.

"Of course," Briden nodded at Gabron. Gabron left the office.

As soon as Gabron was out of hearing, Briden turned to me. "I've never seen a female vampire," he said softly. "Who turned you?" He sat down in the chair next to mine.

"He's dead," I said. "And he wasn't from here anyway."

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Briden was nearly aghast at the thought.

"No. I watched while he was executed, though. He didn't take responsibility for me and where I come from, that's a crime."

"Here, too," Briden muttered. "He wouldn't accept responsibility for you? In our culture, any number of experienced sires would have paid him if he agreed to hand you over to them. Any female turned would be a major gift to the race itself. Are females common on your world?"

"No, not common at all," I shook my head.

"Yet he refused to act as your sire?"

"It's a long story," I said.

"I would very much like to hear it, but we should go now," Briden said, rising from the chair beside me. I stood and followed him out the door. Briden led me through a locked door at the end of the hall and then down another, dimly lit hall toward a dead end. Jumping lightly as we reached the back wall, (he must have touched a button somewhere) the wall itself slid aside. After we walked through, the wall slid quickly back in place. Not as fast as the doors on some of those sci-fi movies, but I wasn't sure how they did that to begin with.

Steep steps led downward; it would take a vampire to manage those stairs. We were in total darkness the entire way and only a vampire would see the narrow steps or manage the leaps across strategically placed chasms. The place was deep, I knew that, and we reached a cave eventually. Wondering if vampires everywhere had a cave stashed away for meetings, I followed Briden inside it.

This cave blew me away. The Council's cave outside London was good sized, but this could hold a real crowd. It was built like the old Greek theatres, in a bowl-shape with stone seats circling around and chairs and a table on the round stage at the bottom. I imagined that the acoustics were very good, too, so I didn’t say anything as Briden led me inside. Heads turned and I heard gasps as he led me downward to one of the lower levels of seats.

Every vampire in the city had to be there, and there were many of them. I estimated at least a thousand. Were they all invited to the meetings? Our Council would have a conniption if somebody from the outside wanted in. We sat in the third row and the stage was still empty when we took our seats. Things quieted after a bit while eleven vampires made their way onto the round, stone stage and took their seats at the table. Gabron was last and he sat in the center. Figures. There were so many vampires around me that I'd have to get closer to the eleven sitting at the table to sort out scents. I already had Gabron's.

Two vampire assistants walked onto the dais and placed communication devices in front of the Council members. One assistant stepped forward and announced the first order of business to the crowd—an application for a vampire to marry a human. I was seeing something much like the companion vote on Earth, except these laws were a bit different. The vampire himself sat on the first row and he rose when asked.

"This is your third human marriage, is it not?" A Council member asked. Gabron seemed content to listen.

"Yes. My other two marriages have been successful; you should have the information there. My last wife died at the age of two hundred fourteen. Her death certificate, listing natural causes, is submitted."

"We see this; this was twenty-seven years ago, is that correct?"

"Yes. I have been in mourning for a while and at first did not think to take another wife."

"Did the last one ever ask you to attempt the turn?"

"No, Eminence. She did not wish it, as she knew what the results were likely to be."

The Council member merely nodded—nobody else asked any questions. "Have the records on the female been reviewed?" Gabron spoke now. The others all said yes. "Very well, the vote will be taken." A large screen lit up over the Council, each member tapped in a vote, and all of their votes were listed, right beside their names. That was different. They were all in favor, looked like. If Vilmos had been brought before the Council to give testimony on Earth regarding his companion, a lot of things might have been avoided, I think.

There was other business—fines were levied against one of the brothels because two of the girls decided to do a little work outside the walls, as the Council termed it. The girls had been fired and compulsion was laid. The one who'd laid the compulsions stood (he was also on the first row) and testified that the girls would not be releasing secrets. There were a few Refizani-owned brothels but I got the idea that they were not nearly as good as the ones the vamps had. I had three guesses as to what might have happened to the two girls if they hadn't had compulsion laid and two of those guesses wouldn't be needed.

A few other things were on the agenda—mostly things that didn't matter—and then the heavy stuff came. A vampire was led out in cuffs. No chains, just cuffs, and one of his two guards (they were huge) held a thin metal wand. The prisoner hissed at the Council so the wand was pointed, causing the cuffs to light up. The prisoner dropped to his knees, howling in pain. That made me wonder just what those cuffs might be and how they worked. The prisoner struggled to his feet afterward when commanded, choosing to stand quietly in a designated spot on the dais. I doubted he wanted more pain from the cuffs he wore. Auburn hair hung in thick ropes down his back while deep-set eyes stared angrily at the Council, his mouth set in a cruel sneer. Not the kind of guy you wanted to approach in a bar, that's for sure.

"Hartolz, you have been brought before us, accused of killing among the population as well as aiding Solar Red. This resulted in the deaths of three priests at our detector's hands so that our race might be protected—not just from the population but from the temple as well. How do you answer these charges? Remember to speak the truth." Gabron had stood for this one, placing compulsion. It reminded me a bit of what Merrill could do.




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