Page 59 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

Titus was trying not to smirk, but failing miserably. “Children, can we get back on track?” He shook his head and eyed me seriously. “Are you sure you aren’t being held against your will? Because I can’t imagine why anyone else would want to keep these two in the same room on a regular basis,” he sighed. “Blink twice if you need help.”

I actually giggled. Shit, this was going so badly. Nico cleared his throat. “Can we move onto Raine’s problem?”

Titus nodded, all mirth slipping from his face. “Raine Baxter? I’d like you to join the Convocation as the Representative of the Succubi.”

What in the freshly fucked fingerbun did he just say?

Chapter Thirty-Two

“What did she just say?” Titus looked somewhere between amused and horrified, and I realized I’d said that last part out loud.

X was belly laughing, and Nico grinned. “It's part of her charm.”

I put up a hand. “I need you to hold up and just go back a step. You want me to... what?”

The slight smile didn’t leave Titus’ face and he looked between Lucius and Nico. “I see what you like about her.” He turned back to me, his face turning serious. “Nico is right. The threat against you is real. You live in this Utopia of my brother’s making, but vampires on the outside aren’t restricted by the rules and morality that keep the townspeople of Dark River in check. They could steal you and keep you chained up in some dank basement as a blood slave for eternity and they’d get no recourse from the Convocation.”

I frowned. That was fucking bullshit. Surely he knew that, right? Just in case he didn’t, I told him. “That’s fucking bullshit. What are we, animals?”

Titus looked solemn. “Some of us are very close to it. The senile mania is a very real problem in vampiric society. Lucius, pre meeting you of course, was a prime example. He had lost sight of what made him human. He became a slave to his baser instincts. Blood, death, sex, sometimes all three at once. He was not always like that, but it was a spiral he started getting pulled into a century or so ago. And Lucius is a very old vampire. Soon, we will see more heading that way unless we can come up with a real solution. So far, you are the best we have, Raine Baxter. If we had known, the succubi may not have been exterminated with quite so much ferocity.”

I snorted. “Really shot yourself in the foot with that one.”

Titus inclined his head. “You’re correct. But it wasn’t just us. No creature likes to be a slave. The succubi of old were not like you, Raine. They were goddesses of pleasure and pain. They ruled over nations, legions of mortals and immortals alike. They took what they pleased and there were never any consequences. To even look at a full blooded succubus was to be in her thrall. The world would have a very different landscape had their race thrived.”

Well, I guess he made a good point. “But back to my point. The vampires will never stop coming, because for some, you represent the final hope. And the number will grow and grow. So I am willing to offer you a seat on the Convocation in order to protect what remains of the succubi, no matter how weak in the blood you may be.” I wasn’t even going to take that as an insult. “You would be untouchable. To harm a member of the Convocation is considered treason of the highest order. As you are mostly vampiric, I will give you a small detail of Enforcers as further protection.”

My mom had always said that if an offer seemed too good to be true, someone was probably trying to rob you blind while they flashed you their fake gold. “What do you want in return?”

He grinned, and his giant fangs glinted in the overhead lights. Seriously. Huge. “You are clever as well. I would like your cooperation in creating a cure by harvesting some of your blood and, uh, other secretions.”

X growled. “No one will be collecting any of her bodily fluids.”

I looked at Nico, who was frowning but not protesting. “How?”

“Witches would regularly return and collect, uh, samples of your blood, and we would try and replicate the chemical balance that helps even out the mania of the ancient vampires.”

“Nico said that giving blood to witches was dangerous because they could do all sorts of rituals with it. I’m not sure that's a good idea?”

Titus nodded. “It would be a witch I trusted implicitly. Even the Representative for the Witches owes me a favor. His magic is strong and powerful.”

Lucius slammed his hand down on the table. “Wilde goes nowhere near her blood,” he hissed. Well, I guess that was a no on that front.

“What about Miranda? I trust her.” Miranda had already had my blood. What was a little bit more?

Titus raised his eyebrows. His blue tattoos were darker, more prominent than his brothers. “The Witch Miranda? She is young, but powerful. Possibly the most powerful the Witches have seen since Wilde himself. I agree to this.”

I shook my head. “What would I have to do as, uh, Representative for the Succubi?”

“Come to Convocation Sittings. Vote on matters. Make rulings regarding your race.”

Well that shouldn’t be hard seeing how there was a whole one of me. “How did you pass this by the rest of the, uh, Representatives?”

Titus shrugged. “I’ve lived a long time and I am owed a lot of favors. This is an easy way to expunge some of them for the other Representatives, especially seeing as the Succubi always had a seat on the Convocation, historically speaking.”

Fat lot of good it did them though. Genocide could be a real bitch like that. “And I could stay in Dark River?”

Titus nodded. “It’s not like you have any pressing racial issues.” He smirked and then sighed. “Life would essentially not change that much for you. You would have a few more bodyguards, and have to make a trip to Roswell a few times a year. Otherwise, there is nothing pressing to undertake.”

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