"Nyles' assets will be liquidated and handed over to the Council," Wlodek said after we finished talking. Merrill came in a little later to pick me up. Franklin was with him and they both hugged me. I was really glad to see both of them to be honest, and when we got home it felt like home. Franklin went off to bed when we got back but I asked Merrill if I could talk to him for a few minutes.
"Of course," he smiled, leading me toward his study.
"Merrill," I said, "I think there's something you should know. At first I thought all vampires could do this but now I'm not so sure."
"What is it, child?" He was sitting behind his desk while he watched me, his fingers steepled under his chin.
"Well," I began, "when I finally learned that Gavin's scent was the scent of a vampire, I was able to compare that to the scents of other vampires I met afterward. Will's isn't as heavy and exotic as Gavin's. Russell's is a bit spicier than Will's. When they took me into the Council chamber that night, I knew immediately, just from the scent, that Wlodek was the oldest vampire, there. Then the rest of the Council came, according to age, that is, except for Charles, of course, his was light. After the Council, Gavin's came next. I don't know exactly how old any of them truly are but I could line them up in descending order, according to their ages." I looked at Merrill, whose face was now unreadable.
"You can tell this? This is extraordinary," he dropped his hands and lifted his letter opener.
"Yes. I hope this doesn't result in my death," I said. "I know that you would be right behind Wlodek in the age thing. When Gavin and I walked into the bar two nights ago, I could smell Nyles and knew he was older than Gavin. That meant he might be able to place compulsion on Gavin. I tried to send mindspeech to Gavin to tell him, but I don't think he heard me."
One of Merrill's eyebrows was now quirked up as high as it would go. "Lissa, that talent might come in handy quite often," he said, smiling a little. "Vampires don't generally like telling their age and it's rude to ask. However, since you don't know the actual number, we'll leave it at that for now, shall we? I will have to inform Wlodek of this, but if he does as I think he'll do, he'll keep this to himself and only ask you to employ it when necessary. The fewer that know about this the better." I nodded in total agreement with that assessment.
"Now," Merrill said, "dawn will arrive soon. Go to bed, little Lissa and take tomorrow off. Read, watch television or do whatever you want."
"Can I borrow a computer? I want to order a swimsuit online. I don't have one and I'd like to sit in the hot tub or go swimming."
"You're welcome to go in nude," he said. "Although I think you might be too modest to do that. Feel free to use this computer anytime," he tapped the one on his desk. "I'll get an e-mail account set up for you if you want and you can exchange e-mails with Charles if you like." I left Merrill's study after that, heading off to my bedroom.
I had another bag waiting outside my door when I rose the following evening. Two swimsuits were inside—a one-piece and a bikini, both in the right size. There was a note inside from Merrill, saying he'd asked Lena to purchase something for me. That was really nice of him and Lena had done a good job. I borrowed Merrill's computer anyway, sent an e-mail to Charles and passed along a thank you note to Radomir through him. It was the right thing to do.
* * *
"Rad, she sent you a thank you note," Charles was turning his laptop around so Radomir could read the message from Lissa. Radomir sat down in front of Charles' desk to read.
"Radomir, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate what you did for Gavin and me," it read. "If you hadn't been there, I don't know what we would have done. Had I known something you might like, I would have sent it to show my gratitude. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for my thanks.
Lissa."
"I don't believe I have ever received a thank you note before," Radomir smiled. "Can we forward this to father?"
"Sure." Charles flipped the laptop around and did just that.
* * *
"She is sitting on the roof," Merrill said, five days later.
"She likes to do that," Gavin agreed.
"Can you get yourself up or do you need help?" Merrill asked, almost smiling.
"I can get myself up. The only thing not fully recovered is my hair."
"I can tell," Merrill wanted to snicker but didn't.
"I had to get my scalp shaved so it will grow out evenly," Gavin huffed.
"Of course," Merrill nodded agreeably.
* * *
I was sitting on Merrill's roof, staring out over the English countryside of Kent, which is quite beautiful, actually. I'd only seen pictures of what it looked like in the daytime, though. What surprised me was when Gavin floated up and landed on the roof. I had no idea he could do that. I almost slid off the roof, I was so surprised.
"What the hell was that? You can just float around?" I asked, dusting off the back of my jeans and climbing up again to sit down in my usual place.
"Some of the older ones can," he replied, sitting down next to me.
"Well, that explains how you got up and down those other times without making any noise," I grumbled.
"Yes. That explains it."
We sat there in silence for quite a while. Finally, he spoke again. "Lissa, I heard you."
"Gavin, you hear me all the time, whether you want to or not," I huffed.
"No, when you mindspoke me. I was so shocked I couldn't even think what to say and I really don't know how that happened."
"And yet you stood there like a dummy and let Nyles place compulsion," I said. "Doofus."
"Lissa, I got a little taste of my own medicine that night," Gavin told me. "I know now what it's like to stand there, facing your own death when you can't move a muscle."
"Welcome to the club," I grumbled. "At least yours lasted only a few seconds. Mine lasted days. You scared me, Gavin. You still scare me. When we're together, I keep reminding myself that you could place compulsion any time and I'd be forced to do whatever you said. Do you know how humiliating it is to have to wait for permission to blink? And you're never running a shower for me again, you jerk. That water was cold."
"I know I frightened you." He reached over and placed his fingers on the nape of my neck, massaging it a little. I drew my knees up to my chest.
"Don't, Lissa," he said, pulling me against him. "I know it's too much to ask for you to trust me. You may never trust me again and I can't say that I blame you. I should have asked Wlodek to send someone else to replace me, but I couldn't do it. I was torn between wanting to be with you as much as I could and jealousy if someone else came to replace me. And I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if someone else took your life and they were cruel about it. I wanted your death to be as swift and painless as I could make it, ma petite ange, if it came to that."