I smirk at him over the rim of my glass. “Why,uncle. I didn’t know you cared.” My sire has been dead for ages—not by my hand, thank you very much—and he and Lucius were sired by the same vampire. My sire was several hundred years older than Lucius.
So, yeah. Technically, he is my uncle. I’m also not stupid enough to think Lucius truly gives a damn about my existence one way or another, as long as I’m not causing him trouble either way.
“I always did like you,” Lucius quietly says. “You have a backbone and integrity.”
“Plus, I’ve never tried to kill you.”
He returns my smile. “I will not deny that colors my opinion of you in a favorable direction.” He sounds like he just walked off a BBC soundstage, while I dropped my Scottish accent once I relocated to the States. I tend to sound like someone from the Midwest now. “You are one of the few I have known this long who have not tried to overthrow me.” A scowl flickers across his features. “Come to think of it, you are theonlyone I’ve known this long who has not tried to overthrow me.”
“How many others have you known as long as we’ve known each other, Lucius? There are few as old as we are.” I sometimes envy younger vampires’ ability to recite their exact date of birth…and rebirth.
Lucius and I come from a time well before calendars were rewritten around the birth and crucifixion of a Nazarene carpenter. In fact, I believe Lucius predates those events by a bit.
He smirks. “Well, there isthat. Still, the sentiment remains.”
“I have no interest in politics, and you know it. I never have.”
His lips curl in another smile. “Yet another reason I like you.”
“Politics is an unwinnable game. I prefer capitalism.” I sip my drink. “It’s far bloodier. And more profitable. It also neutralizes politics. With enough money, you can buy what and who you want.”
He actually snorts. I wasn’t even sure he was capable of humor like that.
Selene’s quiet voice draws my focus. “You’re notreallygoing to do that, are you? Meet the sun?” She was turned so recently she hasn’t yet lost her humanity, her empathy. Some vampires manage to hold on to a modicum of that—such as myself.
Others come to see humans as nothing more than food and prey, instead of living, breathing beings with lives and dreams.
Once again, I focus on the liquid in my glass, gently swirling it, so I can breathe in its scent. “I haven’t decided yet, quite honestly. It’s not exactly a new idea for me, but the notion hasn’t passed the way it usually does.”
“What youneedis a distraction,” Lucius insists. “Youmustcome to the club tomorrow night. Seems I remember you know how to wield a riding crop.” He smiles. “Paris, wasn’t it?”
“Milan.” I don’t need sex. Not to sound like an asshole, but I can get that whenever I want it. I have no desire to take it without consent, either. I outgrew that nonsense about the same time I was turned.
Without consent.
It was one of my younger “brothers” who killed our sire. My brother had also been turned without his consent, but his turning and weaning had been even more cruel than mine. It rendered him practically feral and barely coherent. Once he was strong enough, he killed our sire. Then he greeted the sun the next day because he’d been driven mad by both what he’d done to our sire, as well as by the effects of being turned.
Yes, I’m guilty of having stood by and watched it happen. Allowed it, even.
Fate in action.
Obviously, I’m far stronger than a human. Outwitting one, wooing one—those are pleasures I will never take without working for them. I won’t allow myself to violate consent for the average innocent.
“Why did you open a club, of all things?” I ask. “And whyhere, of all places? A vampire, in a desert?” In the short time it’s been open, Club Toxic has developed a rep among multiple species, but especially vampires.
Lucius smiles. “The cover makes sense, when you look at the larger picture. Besides, I like the area, and the situation in LA was no longer…tenable. On multiple fronts.”
“You’re surrounded by shifters.” I hold up a hand to Selene. “No offense intended. I have no issues with shifters.”
She smirks. “None taken, but only because you look like Ianto, and I loveTorchwood.”
Honestly? I couldn’t tell you what I look like. It’s been over two thousand years since I’ve seen my own reflection, and I’m not narcissistic enough to have my portrait painted.
Before I can ask what Selene means, Lucius speaks. “Nonsense. We’re not surrounded—it’s a target-rich environment.” He smiles. “We have an agreement, and we have been mutually beneficial to each other. We don’t hunt them, and they don’t hunt us. When a human accidentally discovers their secret, they have one of our kind wipe it from the human’s mind, meaning they don’t have to kill the human.
“There is also strength in numbers, even as diverse as we are. Working together has shown everyone that setting aside petty, past differences is a boon for both. Especially against common enemies. Tucson has a large enough population that it allows for ample, safe feeding for us. I keep my nest tightly in check and remind them it behooves them to keep the shifters happy, and we help the shifters keep their secrets. Likewise, they help us keep ours.”
“Are the shifters happy to have ‘leeches’ living in their midst?”
