My eyes narrowed. What a bunch of bullshit. I’d fought my entire life to have the same standing as a man in whatever path I chose to walk. More than ever I was glad to be outside their system. It sounded like I’d get myself in trouble with them sooner rather than later if they thought women the weaker sex in need of protecting.
The other man chuckled as he walked to stand next to us.
“How old are you?”
In vampire years or human? Given how Kat reacted to learning I’d only been a vampire for two years, I didn’t really feel like sharing any other personal information.
“Two years? You really are young. Most at your age would have torn the human limb from limb.” He flicked Kat a chiding look. She straightened and lifted her chin. “What were you thinking letting her through the door first? If she’d killed him, it would have been your fault.”
Mind reader. It was the only way he could have known my age when no one had spoken.
He gave me a sly smile. He was.
Lucky for me it wasn’t the first time I’d run into one of these. How did I shield my thoughts last time? I thought a moment. That’s right. I remembered now.
Closing my eyes, I visualized an old, great forest, full of towering oaks, redwoods, birches and spruces. A forest like the one I’d visited in Yellowstone when I was a child. My forest had twisting paths that winded back on themselves, creating a maze with no center. For added protection, I placed briars and underbrush beneath the trees. In my mind, my forest stretched for miles and miles in all directions. Even climbing the tallest tree wouldn’t show you the edge of it.
The first time I’d done this I’d pictured an impenetrable wall that the mind reader had no trouble breaching. Since he’d been one of my recurring customers, I’d gotten a lot of practice perfecting this method. For whatever reason, I’d found picturing something living and complex worked better than a structure. Over time, I kept adding on to the visualization until I achieved the current incarnation.
It had seemed to work with my customer, but I didn’t know if it would work now. I didn’t know why it worked or how, just that it did, and that was good enough for me.
Eventually I wouldn’t need to close my eyes to pull up my protection. It would just be there, a thought away. I’d been told that with practice I could keep my shield in place permanently.
“That’s an interesting trick,” the vampire said, his eyes distant as if his focus had turned inward. “It’s surprisingly effective. Completely unexpected.”
Something brushed against my mind, testing my invisible forest here and there for signs of weakness. It was uncomfortable. The other mind reader hadn’t been skilled enough to make any inroads into my forest. This one felt like he might be able to find the center if given enough time.
“Ah, I see. You’ve placed the trees to obscure line of sight. Very clever.”
His eyes fixed on me, a greediness entering them. It did not give me a good feeling.
“What is your name?”
I kept my thoughts as quiet and still as possible. It seemed like my shield was doing its job, but you could never be too careful. The vampire might be misleading me to get me to lower my guard.
“Ah. Lena.”
I started.
The vampire’s gaze turned to the woman next to me. “Your elder doesn’t have quite the same level of skill when it comes to guarding her thoughts.”
Kat looked rather displeased by his observation. It made me doubly glad I hadn’t given her my real name or any other information.
“Patriarch, as much as we’ve enjoyed your presence, I’m sure you did not come to supervise a yearling’s feeding. I’m sure my elders would be happy to host you and discuss what matters bring you to our club.”
I couldn’t help being a tad impressed at that eloquent dismissal. Perhaps Kat had a lot more backbone than I’d initially given her credit for.
“I find I am quite happy where I am,” the man said.
“Patriarch, this is an unusual request. I am sure you will be much more comfortable in one of our other rooms.”
I watched the back and forth, my gaze swinging between the two like it was a tennis match. I didn’t know who I wanted to win. The man—who hadn’t really done anything threatening yet—or the plucky underdog who was swimming in waters even I could tell were well above her head.
“I’ll stay and watch. I find I’m curious about the yearling and am contemplating putting in a claim.”
Kat went stock still. If I hadn’t seen the very faint rise of her chest, I would have thought she was a statue.
“You presume much, Patriarch. This is not your territory. Davinish would have priority in any claim on the yearling.”
