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Melissa raised her eyebrows, then shrugged. If Two didn t want to talk about it,
that was okay. She turned to leave.
Will I see you there, Melissa? Two did not turn to look, but her voice betrayed
more nerves, more fear, than perhaps she had intended.
Do you want me there, Two?
I m going to cry, when... I hate crying. Theroen s so old.
He s above it all. Melissa understood. Two could hear it in her voice.
Are you?
Nearly so, but I still remember. Two, I ll be there if you want me to be there.
Theroen s car won t fit us.
Melissa smiled. I ve cars of my own. A pretty little turquoise BMW, for one. I
know where you re going. She shrugged her shoulders. Is it hard for you to ask, Two?
Two nodded.
Then I ll ask. May I come with you, Two? I d like to be there, but I thought you
might want only Theroen.
Two turned to her, smiled, clearly fighting against tears. Yes. Thanks. I m
scared, Melissa.
It will be beautiful, Two. You ll understand soon. I ll see you in town.
It was only after Melissa had departed that Two thought again of that look of
melancholy, those tear tracks on her cheeks.
* * *
Theroen leaned against the edge of the Ferrari, staring out into the night beyond
the light spilling from the mansion s garage. On the perimeter of their land, a twelve-foot
wrought-iron fence served to dissuade most random visitors. The persistent few found the
yard patrolled, during daytime hours, by a pack of vicious rottweilers, mammoth dogs
with jaws capable of crushing human bones to powder. Those who chose to leap the
fence at night rarely made it to the front door before Tori found them.
The mansion was not without human visitors, though. Abraham maintained
contact with men in high places, mortal and immortal alike, though for those of the
former type he disguised his own nature with both costumes and hypnosis.
There were the servants, as well. Men and women who arrived once or twice a
week during daylight hours to clean the house and tend the grounds. The rottweilers
knew them, and allowed them entry. They were unaware of the nature of their employers,
and knew only that some rooms were off limits, locked to them. They were paid very
well for their discretion, and Theroen had never had any dealings with them that were not
pleasant. He met with them periodically, during the early morning hours, fighting off the
sleep and the pain of the sunlight, in order to read their minds and be certain of their
loyalty.
Some vampires kept servants -- slaves essentially -- in thrall to them, bound by
drops of blood and convinced that someday, if they behaved properly, they too could
become vampires. Absurd, of course. The vampires of all but the Burilgi line were very
picky in their choice of fledglings. To become a servant to another creature, in itself,
made these thralls the most unlikely choice for an heir.
Hypocrite. The tiniest whisper of his own voice, a bitter smile. Was he not a
servant to Abraham? Had Two not been a servant to her pimp. Was she not, now, his own
servant, dependent upon him for instruction and for blood?
This last he doubted, and this gave him satisfaction. Two had been the proper
choice. She was with him out of desire, not desperation, and would remain so for as long
as such desire continued. This might be a decade, might be a millennium. Regardless, it
was more pure than the bond which held him to Abraham.
He believe that, with luck, it might last half a millennium or more. Long enough,
perhaps, to finally bury Lisette.
* * *
The dresses had made Two aware of her own femininity. These clothes made her
aware again of the allure of her own body. Tight, slate colored jeans, a white baby-doll
midriff, a black leather jacket. She felt strong, comfortable, desirable. Theroen s double-
take as she entered the garage reinforced this.
Be still my heart, He commented as she slipped into the leather interior of the
Ferrari. Two smiled. He sat down beside her and started the car. Is Melissa coming?
Two nodded, then bit her lip. I asked her to. Or she asked me, but I wanted ...
I m scared, Theroen.
I understand. You need not fear though, Two. But, of course, this was absurd.
Of course she would fear this, willingly driving off to take a mortal life. Hadn t he
balked, screaming in terror and disgust on his first night, clawing at his new father as the
grinning demon forced the human upon him?
But that was so long ago, so far away. Lisette s screams seemed so much closer.
Two s newly enhanced senses were better able to cope with the speed of the
Ferrari, but still the world was a blur. The car glided along the dark roads, top down, the
sound of the wind like the crashing of a waterfall. Two s hair streamed out behind her.
She felt the big, stupid grin back on her face despite the evening s forthcoming events.
The car was simply too amazing not to appreciate.
Behind them, now and then, there was a flash of lights. Melissa s roadster could
not hope to compete with Theroen s, but it was by no means a slow car either, and she
drove it with an abandon that concerned even Theroen. At one point he slowed
somewhat, and she caught up with them immediately, pulling alongside, grinning wildly,
barely watching the road. Theroen stomped on the gas pedal, flying ahead of her, and
slowed again. Melissa pulled back to their side, middle finger extended, laughing.
His words, made audible by the force of his thought, cut through the wind.
Please do not feel we re making light of this, Two. It is just that we are both excited
nearly beyond containment. We cannot help being joyful. We know very well what you
are soon to experience.
Two, who felt that the closest Theroen might approach to excitement beyond
containment was mild enthusiasm, remained skeptical. She was not offended, though.
Quite the contrary, Theroen s games with Melissa helped to ease her mood. These beings
had been doing this thing for hundreds of years. If they could take it so lightly, perhaps
their words about the effect of the blood was true.
* * *
They covered the fifty miles to the small town in less than half an hour, came to a
stop in the parking lot of a small park just outside of its boundaries, shut off their engines,
got out of the cars. Melissa was giggling like a little girl, perched on the hood of her
BMW, looking at the two of them.
I love this century! We don t do that nearly enough, Theroen.
For his part, Theroen was smiling broadly. He nodded.
I don t know how the hell you guys do it. Two was also smiling. She felt out of
breath. I couldn t see a thing.
You will continue to change as the blood works on you body, Two. In a few
decades, you may be able to drive like Melissa.
No one drives like me! Melissa laughed, leapt to her feet, twirled circles on the
road in the moonlight, staring upward at the stars.
Well, perhaps not exactly like Melissa, Theroen conceded.
I m thirsty. Who s going first, here? Two? Theroen?
What about you, Melissa? Two questioned.
Nah. I ll wait and go into Manhattan. I might take an appetizer up here, but what
I really want is to find some cute little sixteen year old thing with big boobs and too much
makeup. I m going to get her all drunk and seduce her. Melissa s smile had a wicked [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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