Page 18 of The Vampire Queen's Servant (Vampire Queen 1)

Chapter Fifteen

"Why would vampires want food? Or care about it at all?" Jacob asked.

The butcher-block kitchen table had more space than the center island, but Jacob discovered Bran tended to get bored and plant his huge front paws on the table's surface, dragging everything on it to the floor. He wondered if Lyssa had ever had the same urge he had, to tie the animal's ears in a painful knot. Or ended up as he had, in a wrestling match with Bran for one of the cookbooks, laughing at them both. It turned out the island was more comfortable for Jacob's long legs anyway, and easier to circle and examine the various items he'd spread out over the counter.

Catering catalogs, cookbooks, several legal pads and pens. When she'd joined him about an hour ago, he'd seen her glance over the three proposed menus he'd already laid out, including appetizers, salad, soup, main course, dessert, and wine selections. He'd made notes in the margins on other household issues. The dogs' schedule, where the switchboxes were, flashlights, a list of things he hadn't found he might have to get at the hardware store. He hadn't let her curt dismissal rattle him, hadn't spent his time sulking. He hoped that had impressed her. Or maybe annoyed her just a little bit. He couldn't tell, but it cheered him to imagine either one.

"Vampires like food, " she responded. "We can't digest it in great quantities, but we love the taste, the aroma. The main purpose of having a five-course meal is to delight them with different flavors and scents. "

"So why don't we choose a mixture of flavors they haven't experienced before, together with things they have, so they can enjoy the new and familiar together? Like fresh brownies, with a side of raspberry cream sauce. A salad made out of fresh produce from local farmers. Nothing smells as good as a garden tomato that's never seen the inside of a refrigerator. " He made a notation. In the corner of his eye, he noted she appeared fascinated by the way he held a pen. He was left-handed, so he had an awkward scribble barely legible to himself. "Will there be any politics to deal with?" he asked.

"Are we both breathing?"

Jacob glanced up in time to see a look of amusement cross her face. It helped ease the ball of apprehension he was carrying in his gut, anticipating that any moment she was going to do something else to test his limits. The way he felt around her was worse than it had been with his high school history teacher who'd loved surprise pop quizzes. In the microcosm of totalitarianism that could only exist in a classroom, to fail on even one of the tests would be 25 percent of the student's grade for the semester. A passing grade on the test was simply discarded, proof he was paying attention. He was finding some definite correlations between Lyssa and Mr. Winstead.

He'd had mixed feelings about the way she'd shut the door in his face. Thomas had helped her far more with her morning toilette than she'd allowed him to do this morning. Her dismissal rankled, but on the other hand, he was realizing how difficult it was to maintain self-control around a woman who kept him in a near constant state of wanting. She looked at him one moment with naked desire glittering in her eyes, her body trembling at his briefest touch. A blink later, she shoved him away, shut him out. Now here she was in a pair of tailored brown slacks and a soft cream sweater he supposed she thought of as simple and demure. Still, he longed to close his hands over the band of the sweater on her hips, pet the curve of her breasts. She'd pulled her dark, fine hair back with a barrette so it lay on her shoulder blades. Spun silk he'd had the pleasure of touching, so just looking at it made his fingers itch.

"The purpose of the dinner is to mark a new vampire for my Region. Thomas explained the structure of our holdings, I assume?"

He had. The vampire world was divided into Regions, groupings of territories won through battle or influence during the formation of the current vampire society, before the Council had been appointed. The heads of those Regions were known as Master vampires. A vampire who accumulated enough wealth and influence might be awarded an overlord title and a territory inside a Region by the Council, preferably with the consent of the Region Master. Vampires lacking the power or experience to be an overlord applied to reside in a territory. The overlord then put them in charge of different business interests. In return the vampires gave the overlord a percentage for his protection and backing. The overlords served the Region Master.

Jacob remembered asking Thomas if it was similar to racketeering. He'd earned an affectionate smack with the book the monk was reading, Thomas knowing when his student was yanking his chain. Understanding the class-conscious formality of vampire society,Jacob thought it made perfect sense they'd chosen a feudal structure.

She was the southern Master. The southern states were hers, everything from Virginia to Texas.

At Jacob's nod, Lyssa continued. "Brian Morris, my guest of honor, is a scientist. He's a born vampire who's petitioned his Regional Master, who also happens to be his natural father, to immigrate to the States to continue his research. The facility is in my Alabama territory. The overlord of that territory is actually a couple, Lady Tara and Lord Richard. They'll be invited to the dinner to witness the marking and accept responsibility for his protection. "

"What would have happened if he'd moved out of his territory without permission?"

She paged through one of the cookbooks, stopping on a lasagna dish. As she followed the lines of text with the unpolished finger, it reminded him he owed her a manicure.

"Well, since he's the Region Master's son, it would have been handled a bit differently. However, in a normal case, you either serve a vampire or you're a loner, and vampires don't tolerate a loner. The point of the system we have is to ensure protection, prosperity, secrecy and a support network for our activities. Any vampire in a territory may appeal a decision to the Region Master if they feel they're being treated unfairly by the overlord. There are different management styles, " she acknowledged with a tilt of her head. "Some are more brutal than others. If a vampire can't find resolution, he or she might seek refuge in another Region, but if that Master isn't willing to offer asylum, the vampire would be considered rogue. Welcome in no territory, his original Master or overlord would quickly catch up to him. The most common punishment is interring him in a sealed container as punishment or warning to others. "

"But you said you don't need air. "

She nodded. "A vampire can live that way for eternity, with great suffering. Most vampires have strengths of value, so the Master or overlord would likely only prolong the lesson a month or two. "

"Have you. . . " Jacob swallowed, wondering if he really wanted an answer to the question.

When she met his gaze, he noticed she'd chosen tiny gold hoop earrings and small diamond studs for her ears. With their healing abilities, vampires pierced their ears anew each time they chose to wear them. Other than his knowledge of that fact, to all appearances she could have been standing at the head of a board meeting, discussing a change in stock prices. "How would it make you feel about me? If those who have displeased me are screaming hopelessly underground for a release that will only come at my pleasure?"

Jacob sat back, crossed his arms. "You've never done it, my lady. Thomas would never have served you if you had such cruelty. "

"A lot can happen between two people on a journey through life together. " Her dark eyes dwelled on his face, intent and unwavering. "By the end, there were many things Thomas did without thought he wouldn't have considered before we met. In my world, it's a delicate balance, fear and respect, obedience and free will. No vampire respects compassion if he interprets it as weakness. If you find the right balance, you'll command the loyalty of those in your territory. If you're too brutal, you push them into hatred. That is not my way. "

Jacob wryly noticed it was not a direct yes or no, but something to help him sleep at night. Or day, as the case might be. Regardless, he'd no doubt she'd calculated her answer that way.

"You have the largest Region. But you're not part of the Council. Thomas said that was your choice. "

She nodded. "I have three hundred vampires in my area. I helped form the Council and the rules that govern our world, but I'm the last queen of the Far East clan. While that doesn't mean a great deal anymore, symbolically it means enough to tip the scales of power adversely if I sat on the Council. You'll get to meet them later this year. All the overlords and Masters meet once every five years to pay them our respects. What else did Thomas tell you about the vampires in my Region?"

Though her voice was flat, her eyes were still intently focused. He knew what she was asking as if it had been whispered in his ear. "That there are thirty-nine fugitives you've granted asylum. "

She studied him for a moment more. "There are fifty now. When a vampire is accepted into my Region, I mark him or her so I know their whereabouts at all times. That's what I'll be doing with Brian. With the fugitives, it also gives them a limited ability to let me know if they're in distress and who is causing that distress. I may not get there in time, but I will hunt down the perpetrator and make him regret his actions. As long as my reputation holds, they are safe here. "

A sixth of the vampires in her Region were fugitives and yet no overlord or Region Master dared challenge her asylum for them. Jacob was starting to pick up on the reason for her reticence about her illness. I cannot ever show weakness before my enemies, Jacob. It is the first rule of my world.

"Any new territory disputes I should be aware of?"

"None right now. When Rex died, I had to prove I could defend my Region alone. That process is never quite over, but I've had several decisive and somewhat brutal victories recently. " When she tilted her head, considering some dust on the light fixture, he saw the hint of red deep in her irises, like crimson silt at the bottom of an emerald sea. "It's been quiet, " she commented.

It stirred a memory Thomas had given him. Of a time when several vampires, including one of her own overlords, had trapped her in an alley. Or so they'd thought. Three bodies had been left behind, and hers had not been one of them. In fact, after making a brief stop to freshen up, she'd met Rex as planned for a theater production of Peter Pan and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the play.

"You've had a pretty big jump in fugitive numbers since Thomas left. So the conflict between the made and born vampires is getting worse?"

"You're paying attention, " she observed. "Yes. " She spread out her hands, the long nails making it a graceful motion, though it conveyed tension. "As Thomas probably told you, the number of born vampires has dwindled over the past several centuries. To balance that, the Council has allowed more vampires to be made. Unfortunately, these vampires often lack the perspective a born vampire has. They tend to be more resistant to our laws. It's not a popular opinion, but I believe that made vampires have genetic weaknesses, specifically poorer impulse control and a greater level of bloodlust, not a good combination. "

"Almost as though making a vampire is incestuous. "

"You also catch on quickly. " The compliment warmed him, but she didn't raise her attention from the cookbook she was studying again. "There are some, including myself, who have suggested it would be best to stop making vampires altogether until we can better understand why. " She snorted. "We are shouted down. It is apparently better to let rabid dogs loose on the populace than to be perceived as politically incorrect. Most of the Region Masters and not enough of the overlords understand the world works best if humans believe we're the product of overactive imaginations in filmmaking. Sometimes it seems the more 'civilized' we get, the more immature and childish we are. We think we are somehow owed whatever we wish, rather than needing to impose limits on our own behavior. The truth becomes relative to our own experience only. "

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