“Tell her or I will,” Jame rumbled.
Before Ben could say anything, Piper was back. “What can I get you gentlemen?” She set the lemonade and tomato juice down in front of them.
Jame ordered his steak and Ben asked for the fries with a side of Worcestershire sauce.
Piper didn’t even bother writing down the orders, but she did refill my coffee before saying she’d be back in a blink. Then she sashayed off.
“Tell me what?” I asked.
“Rossi makes every family member strip before he allows them to stay in town.”
He delivered it with the same kind of nonchalance one might expect to hear from someone saying shoes must be removed before one was allowed to board a plane. None of the vampires who came to Ordinary were young, either in mind or body, so it wasn’t like he was creeping on minors. Still, it bothered me.
“Why?”
“He doesn’t want to be surprised by anything.”
“Such as?”
“Messages. Things from the past—his past—that might put Ordinary, and all the rest of us in danger.”
“On bodies.” I still wasn’t sure why that was important.
“He...” Ben glanced over at Jame. Jame shifted so that his shoulder was pressed against Ben’s in support. “This isn’t something I’m really supposed to share outside the family.” Ben laughed a little at himself. “But we all know I’m not one to follow the rules.”
Jame’s arm moved and I knew he squeezed Ben’s leg under the table.
“Rossi doesn’t accept every vampire who wants to live in Ordinary. We have to prove ourselves. That we will follow his rules, your rules, and mortal rules. We have to swear loyalty to him, his laws. Things like no hands-on feeding, no kills, no wars. All disagreements are taken to him, and him alone. In return, he swears to keep us fed via blood drives and to protect us from anyone, anything that would want to do us harm.”
“Right,” I said. This was all stuff I knew.
“Have you ever asked yourself who he’s trying to protect us from?”
“Humans?”
His smile was wide and wicked. “Not a lot of humans think we exist.”
“Gods? Werewolves?”
He shook his head. “Gods treat us like any other creature—which is to say we’re basically below their notice. And yeah, there’s tension between weres and vamps. But it’s navigable.”
“Vampire hunters?”
He stilled and his eyes, for a moment went black. “Did he tell you about that?”
“I know they exist.”
“They do.” He licked his lower lip, a little more fang showing. “They’re...that’s not much of a concern to us.”
“All right. I give up. Who is Rossi trying to protect you from?”
“His past.”
“You already said that. Can you be specific?”
“Rossi was turned at the same time as another mortal. They fought in wars together. More than one, through the centuries. They were close. Brothers. Then they had a parting of ways. Rossi thinks he was killed. But there’s a reason Rossi is the prime of our clan. He is a jaded, suspicious old bastard. He never saw the body of his brother-in-arms. Won’t believe he’s dead, and therefore won’t believe he’s not a danger to him or us until he sees his rotting bones.”
“Rossi thinks Lavius is alive?”
