"Lissa, you can't think about that," Charles admonished. Everybody else was reading my thoughts today, why not Charles?

"Why isn't Merrill on the Council?" That was another question I wanted answered. I had my doubts that it would be.

"He has refused several times. Any time there's a vacancy, they ask him. He turns them down every time."

"Do you know why?"

"Nobody does." Charles turned off the highway; we'd be driving over narrower roads as we made our way to Merrill's manor. I always liked this part of the trip—Charles drove slower and I was able to see the fields and small villages. "Wlodek gets investment advice from him too, although I'm not supposed to know that," Charles grinned. "If Merrill tells you to invest in something, that information is pure gold. And since I handle most of Wlodek's financials, I call his brokers to set things up. Then I make the same investments myself. I'm in really good shape, now."

"Cool," I said.

"You'll be a member of the Aristocracy, too, when you marry Gavin." Charles had gone back to a previous subject. "None of the human companions are allowed membership—it's against vampire law. They're not allowed inside the Council Chambers, either. If a male or female companion is questioned, only three Council members need to be present and it's usually done at a neutral site."

"That's not scary for them, I'm sure." My words made Charles clear his throat. He wasn't a member of the Council but it was a good bet he'd be at any questioning in order to take notes.

"Human companions are placed under compulsion," Charles admitted. "And they're instructed to tell the truth and not be afraid."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. "Why are they brought in?" I asked.

"Various reasons," he replied. "The worst ones are when their vampire has broken the law, or is suspected of breaking the law. The Enforcers go after the companion. They employ human investigators at times to capture the companion during the day. The human investigators turn those companions over to the Enforcers at night, just so testimony can be taken."

"So, even if the human loves the vampire and wouldn't normally testify against them, they have to?" I had mixed feelings over that information.

"Lissa, if there's nothing the vampire is guilty of, that comes out. The companion is released and sent back to their lover."

"What happens to the companion if the vampire is guilty?"

"The vampire is declared rogue and the companion is asked if they are involved with the crime or crimes, in any way. If they are, then they are executed, just as the vampire will be." Charles downshifted to turn a corner. He really liked driving his car, I could tell.

"So only vampires are allowed inside the Council Chambers?" It was a rhetorical question. At least I thought it was.

"There are other races," Charles said. If I'd been driving, that would have caused me to slam on the brakes. Charles was driving, however, so our trip was uninterrupted. My brain merely ceased to process information for a moment.

"What other races?" I asked breathlessly. "Werewolves?"

"Oh, a werewolf has never been inside the cave, either," Charles said. "I can't really talk about the others; some of them, it's impossible to talk about."

"Charles, I want to smack you for bringing this up," I said. "Now it'll bother me."

"What I can tell you is this—the last time someone of a different race was allowed inside the Council Chamber was four years ago." Charles smiled at the memory.

"Did they get out again? In one piece?" That worried me.

"Yeah," he replied. "They did."

* * *

"What did we buy for Franklin and Greg?" Merrill asked after Charles helped me unload everything and drove away.

"Look at this." I showed him the tablet, all the games I'd gotten, plus the recipe software. "I already had gift certificates to the bookstore, so they can buy what they want to read and I know that Greg and Franklin like to play scrabble," I showed Merrill the computer scrabble game. "And they talked about going to Las Vegas when I saw them in New York. They can use the video poker, blackjack and other stuff to sharpen their skills."

"This looks good," Merrill nodded at the pile of gifts.

"I'm going to leave it on the kitchen counter unless you want to do this some other way," I said.

"No, this is perfectly fine," Merrill smiled. "Your hair looks nice."

"Oh, thanks," I said, patting my hair a little. I'd nearly forgotten about the haircut.

* * *

"Keep both pairs," Greg was saying over Franklin's shoulder as I made my way into the kitchen the following evening. Both were leaning over the tablet. Well, somebody had downloaded a poker app, looked like.

"Little girl, I blame you for this," Franklin said, looking up at me and smiling.

"I'm innocent, as usual," I said, putting on my best, innocent-looking expression before getting a hug from him and Greg.

"Your hair looks good," Greg gave me a hug and a kiss.

"Yours, too," I patted his head. Thankfully, he hadn't lost anything to the chemo yet.

"Have you seen the news today?" Franklin hugged me hard before turning serious for a moment.

"No, honey." Bryan's remarks from the evening before came to mind and now I was worried, too.

"They're trashing all the flu vaccine and rushing to make more, but that could take four to six months," Greg said. "Merrill suggests we stay away from the general population during flu season since we may not be able to get vaccinated."

"I know that sounds confining, but it'll only be for a little while, I hope." I was wondering if Merrill told them the real reason the vaccine was being destroyed. "What are they saying caused all this?"

"Some sort of taint in the eggs used," Greg told me. "But Merrill gave us the real reason. He also told us who figured it out." Greg put his arm around me. "Lissa, while many people might die of the flu, many more might have died otherwise."

"It may turn out to be six of one, half a dozen of the other," I grumbled. "Either way, the bad guys win."

"Where do you think the bad guys are right now?" Franklin asked, pulling me away from Greg. I stood next to him; he was sitting on a barstool at the island. I put both arms around him and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Honey, I don't know. And I have to tell you, I killed four misters while I was in the U.S. Somebody knew what to look for when they were turning vampires."




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