develop a new conscience to suit? You make me sick! I’m no better off than them. Maybe I don’t wear your mark, but I can’t venture a foot from my doorstep without someone preying on me. You never told me I’d be your slave when you swore undying love.”
“You accepted me as your master.”
“I thought it was a goddamned metaphor!”
“You were aching for it.”
It was true. I wanted to be so thoroughly sexually dominated by this spectacular creature that I hadn’t questioned all this entailed. Submission in all other aspects grated.
“Where does this put you in relation to your master?”
Ethan flinched. “I have no master.”
“I’m not that naive. Someone’s always on top. Does Brovik top you?”
He raised his hand again, but I stared him down. He dropped it and then tore off his clothes to dive into the water, swimming very far out. I hesitated a moment but then tore off my own to join him… ”
Joe cleared his throat. “So— you called this Gaius an elder. This is how order is kept?”
“Elders are like feudal barons in their own little fiefdoms. There are thirteen houses in all. They fall over themselves to be hospitable should other Immortyls chance to visit. It’s very bad form not to. You know the old story about vampires not entering a house without invitation? Believe it, because they’re highly territorial sonsofbitches. You don’t just barge in without making the proper petition to the head of household, but on the other hand he’s honor bound to make you welcome. Elders handle problems in house whenever possible. Justice is swift and deadly. Each house is its own little world, each one more bizarre than the next. The elder sets the tone. There’s a body called the Grand Council, made up of elders of the houses, presided over by the oldest living Immortyl, Kalidasa. Major disputes are brought to the Chief. Otherwise the GC meets only at the turn of each century. Oh, by the way, slaves have almost no rights— cast-offs none.
It never really hit me until that moment that I was his virtual prisoner. After the incident on the beach I was always apprehensive when he left but he assured me that sewer rats would never invade the domicile of an alpha. But one night when I was alone, a car approached, from the whine of the engine, something small and sporty. It wasn’t Ethan’s. He preferred more substantial automobiles, always in discreet black.
I’d taken up drawing in pastels and was setting up a still life of a bottle of wine and fruit on the table, opulent oranges, grapes and pomegranates. I couldn’t stomach veggies anymore, but fruit had a pleasant scent, like flowers. Rare red meat I devoured with relish. Strangely enough, garlic, the traditional old bane of vampires, was entirely revolting to me. So much for my Italian ancestry.
As the car pulled into the drive, I peered out the window. It was the landlord and he’d brought Dirk, his young alpha in training, a thoroughly nasty creature who reminded me of a mortal child who pulled the wings off flies. This former SS thug was a hulking brute whose large hands hung down his sides, like he only recently learned to walk upright. I suppose some might call him handsome with his large nose, jutting jaw, yellowish eyes and blondish hair. Not my flavor by any means. But he liked me well enough.
I went to the door and opened it. Ethan told me not to let anyone in while he was out, however I wasn’t sure his eeriness, Gaius would appreciate being treated so rudely.
Gaius took me by the hands, kissing my cheeks. Dirk grinned at me. I ignored him.
“Ethan will be back soon. Please come in, my lord.”
Gaius’s unctuous smile flowed over his face. “If you insist. Dirk, come.”
Dirk leered as he walked by me and reached out, tugging playfully at my hair. I could have protested but saw no reason to make a scene over something so harmless.
“Won’t you sit down?” I motioned to the armchairs by the fireplace.
“Thank you,” Gaius answered, strolling over to the table to peruse my work. “Lovely.”
“It passes the considerable time.”
“Don’t let us interrupt you. Continue,” Gaius ordered. He wasn’t the type to just ask.
I sat down at my place to sketch again while Gaius stood at my shoulder observing. It was unnerving to feel those sharp black eyes on my neck, as if his fangs pierced the skin. “You must learn to paint in oils.