Eternal Seduction (Darkness Within #1)

She laughed rather loud. “Yeah, he’s never been fond of my love affair with chemicals, either. I’ll keep you away from that end of things until you tell me you’re ready. What about the rest?”

“Skin doesn’t bother me. Neither do kinky people, as long as they keep their hands to themselves. What kind of work will I be doing? You’re not going to turn me into a call girl, are you?”

Her nose scrunched up. “No offense, but you aren’t really the call girl type. Granted, you’ve got the legs for it, but the kind of high class girls I run all have…shall we say ‘certain qualities’, none of which you possess.”

Logan arched a brow. Not that she wanted to be a prostitute, but she had to know. “Like what? Vouclade gave me an ass again.”

“There’s a lot more to selling yourself than having a great body, Logan. You have to be willing to do things most women aren’t, and you also have to be a great actress. I just don’t see you keeping your mouth shut if some three hundred pound business man tells you to bend over and take it like a good little girl.”

Logan could almost see the comical scene unfold in her mind. “Uh, no. That’s not me. I’d most likely hogtie him with the bed sheets and steal his wallet. Then I might even be inclined to call his wife to come pick him up.”

“You’re so mean.” She kicked her feet back up on the coffee table. “And that’s exactly why I think you’d be better off starting out in one of my clubs as an assistant manager. Vouclade’s working with a Tech to get all your official documents together.” She ticked her fingers off as she said, “Social security card, birth certificate, driver’s license. I need to get you back on the map before I can do anything with you. It’s important you have all the necessary documents while you’re still within your human lifespan.”

Logan rubbed a hand across her forehead. Sometimes she felt like these vampires were the ones talking in a foreign language. “Vouclade’s working with a Tech? What’s that?”

Trinity smiled at her and blew out a breath. “I’m not going to drown you with a bunch of history right now because that’s something we can talk about later, but I’ll give you a quick overview.

“In the beginning, there were six Original vampires. They, for whatever reason, shared their blood with humans and created Children, and then their Children made more Children and so on and so forth. But all vampires come from a bloodline spawned from one of the Originals, each with their own special magics. Since you’ll be around mainly Fledglings and Servios, memorize these slang terms: Trumps, Thugs, Witches, Techs, Shades and Dolls. Those are the six lines. Fledglings toss the names around the same way they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s Logan, she’s an Ellis’.”

Logan repeated the words in her head then nodded. “So which one are you?”

“I can’t tell you yet.”

“Why?”

“Because Nelek decorum states you have to be in service for a year before you’re trusted with that knowledge.”

She grumbled. “Great. More rules.”

Trinity kicked her head back and laughed. “Get used to it. This life comes with a lot of rules and restrictions. And being a Nelek comes with even more.”

“Okay. So what do the words represent? Is a Tech good with technology?”

She nodded. “Yes. Think of them as high school stereotypes. Techs are computer geeks. Trumps are preps. Witches are Goths. Thugs are jocks. Dolls are burnouts. Shades are…the only ones who don’t fit into a typical stereotype. The Gianni’s across the street are Shades. Believe it or not, you shouldn’t run into many. Of all the lines, they have the smallest numbers but tend to be the most dangerous.”

“Don’t mess with Shades, got it. So a computer geek is helping Vouclade get all the papers I left at home or didn’t have?”

“Yes. Truthfully, it will take hours to explain the lines and reasons behind the names. And get this, the Elders and Ancients use different names for each line. It can be a lot to digest. Not to mention going into Werewolves and Paladins and Harbingers and Celestials. There’s a lot more to the world than just vampires. But luckily for you, I’m old and have a good hold on the world around me. Imagine being a Fledgling who’s Sire is only a hundred years old and doesn’t know the history past the age he lives in.”

Logan folded her arms over her chest. Between what Vouclade had said earlier and what Trinity was saying now, it sounded like Fledglings really got the shit end of the deal. “I think I’m starting to feel sorry for younger vampires.”

“Don’t.” She raised a hand and shook her head. “Once I get you trained and send you off on your own for a few days, you’ll understand why I say that. Every now and then there’s a diamond in the rough, but most of the time they think they’re God’s gift to humanity. I don’t expect you to understand right now, but I promise you will in a few weeks.”

Logan smiled. Part of her was actually looking forward to having a reason to be out on the streets, even if it was only to do someone else’s dirty work. Which reminded her, “Will I be back out living on the streets or will I be staying with Kerestyan?”

“Your days of living on the streets and picking through the trash are over. I’ll be providing you a fully furnished apartment in Soho. If you choose to spend your nights at Kerestyan’s or vice versa, that’s entirely between the two of you. I won’t get involved there unless it interferes with what I need you to take care of or accomplish.” She smiled wide. “If you’re supposed to be running money and instead you spend the night riding Kerestyan, don’t expect me to be pleased. Besides, he’s still the Lord of New York. He has a lot of things he needs to be doing, too. He has to attend court, monitor his city and his Fledglings, and keep the Veil. Had he not been keeping a personal eye on three of his biggest trouble makers three nights ago, which he doesn’t do often at all, you’d have never met him.”

Wow. Logan slowly shook her head. It was wild to think if she’d gone another way or been ten minutes earlier or later, she wouldn’t be sitting here right now. She’d be shivering in a wet, dilapidated building or walking the streets scoping out trashcans.

What a difference a few minutes made.

She stood up and stretched out her legs. “It’s weird to think this all happened by chance. I mean, what are the odds I’d be in the same alley as Kerestyan, especially with how many there are in that part of Brooklyn.”

“Yeah,” Trinity laughed. “What are the chances?” Her voice wavered, as if it’d shifted an octave higher.

Logan straightened and stared at her soon to be Master. “Why did you say it like that?”

Trinity looked all around the room. “Say what like what?”

“You said ‘what are the chances’ like you know something.” She glared when Trinity lowered her eyes. “Do you know something, Trinity? Was there more at work than just chance? Did Kerestyan know I’d be in that alley?”

Trinity quickly made eye contact again. “Of course not. Kerestyan wouldn’t do anything like that, it’s not his style. I’m sure he was just as surprised to find you in that alley as you were him. In fact, I’m willing to put money on it.”

Logan leaned back against the window ledge. Something still didn’t sit right, but she chose to let it go for the moment. It wasn’t as though she could force Trinity to talk, at least, not yet. “When are we going to do this Servio thing?”

“Tomorrow night. Father asked you be given a night and day to peruse the castle as a human. It’s not something that happens often. I think he’s interested in how you see it. I can’t remember the last time we had a human running around.” She tipped her head to the side. “Actually, I don’t remember ever having a human running around.”

“Really?”

She smiled again. “We’ve had werewolves and ghosts, but not a regular human. I guess you’re a first.” Her smile faded into a snarl as she smacked a hand against her ear. “Okay, you have to leave.” She motioned to the wall and a door appeared. “If Kerestyan screams in my mind one more time, I’m going to kill him.”

Logan opened her mouth to ask, but stopped when she remembered Vouclade mentioning telepathy. “What’s he yelling about?”

“You! He wants me to let you out. He says I’ve kept you to myself long enough and he needs to make sure you’re alive. He needs to see you with his own eyes. Of course, he doesn’t know what Vouclade did to your sexy little ass.” Her covetous grin returned as her eyes moved over Logan’s body. “I bet you a grand he pops a serious hard on as soon as you step through that door. And I bet you ten, he tries to screw you against the wall.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t have any money. Besides, something tells me you have an inside line on this one.”

Trinity stood, and with both arms made a grand sweeping motion towards the door. “Go! Make him scream out loud so he stops bothering me. Consider it your first real test as my Servio. Don’t let me down!”