the Roundtable of Kings directly for assistance. Therefore, until you were ready to ask for guidance, none would be offered. That is how it is."
"All right," Carlos said. "I'm asking, because knowledge is power, and I definitely gotta get my house in order."
"Good," Ausar said with a wide smile, his regal posture tall as he sat across from Carlos. "Then let me explain. Vampires have knowledge, but the wisdom aspect comes from the Light. The dark side, thus, uses power in heinous ways--no wisdom. You know of chakra alignment from your old experiences and have worked with this energy to imprint her only to you. But you did it from the wrong base."
The visible question in Carlos's eyes made Ausar laugh in a deep, resounding thunder. The tone wasn't malicious, just thoroughly amused.
"Young brother, you began at her base chakra, the one that glows red, the one that rules reproduction... the one between her legs." Ausar shook his head as Carlos lowered his gaze and took a sip of his drink. "Foolish. That only binds as long as you are there to keep it glowing."
"Yeah, so I've learned," Carlos muttered.
"You should have stared at her crown chakra, the one that opens to divine insight. Then, my brother, you work your way down to her inner vision of you--her third eye... then down to her throat chakra--"
"Naw, man, I worked da throat, okay?"
Ausar shook his head. "Her throat chakra. Her voice."
"Like I said," Carlos muttered, "I--"
"Never heard a thing the woman was saying to you."
Both men stared at each other.
"I have no doubt you could open her voice to glass-shattering deci-bels," Ausar said, pushing away from the bar to fold his arms. "You are one of us--a male Neteru," he said, sounding so indignant that it made Carlos sit up taller and nod. "There is no question of this capacity. We would have been ashamed otherwise."
"That's what I'm saying," Carlos said, pounding Ausar's fist.
"But," Ausar replied calmly, his tone low and controlled, "did you capture her voice, the things she has told you over the years, understand it, and hold the important energy of it such that you could articulate it back to her?" Again, Carlos couldn't answer the charge and the older male simply nodded.
"Her link to divine inspiration and insight comes through her voice, what she says... and if you truly hear what she says, you enter her heart chakra--the bridge. You guard that bridge with your life, not what's between her legs. Because once you have the bridge won, my brother, you have her mind, her dreams, her voice always speaking well of you, defending you to the world... then you have conquered any gall that may erupt in. the fifth chakra... did you feed her and work on her stomach?"
"Feed her?" Carlos pushed back and folded his arms over his chest. "I fed her as a vamp, I took her to dinner, I--"
"Did you feed her with spiritual food?"
Carlos stared at Ausar, unblinking.
"You have never taken that woman to dinner, then."
All facade crumbled as Carlos leaned forward eagerly trying to learn. "Aw'ight, aw'ight, like... I don't--"
Ausar closed his eyes and ran his palms down his face, annoyed. "No wonder Cain walked into your home and plundered it!" Ausar spoke with his head hung back. "Brother, brother, brother... did you feed her truth and honesty... a genuine appreciation for her gifts? Did you drizzle her mouth with the succulent fruit of a lover's pride in everything new that she learned, every achievement, every single win that she won all by herself?"
Ausar lifted his head and stared at Carlos when he looked away. "The woman was starving, brother. Just as in your old vampiric incarnation, your job as her man is to feed her!"
The statement was so basic and profound that Carlos was on his feet again, pacing. This time Ausar was up and following suit behind the bar, raking his locks.
"I cannot believe that you let a woman of this magnitude practically starve to death in your care because you resented her gifts. Now I am ashamed," Ausar said, shaking his head. He pointed at Carlos's back. "Have you ever made her dinner?"
"Yeah, man, plenty of times I brought in whatever she wanted to the lair, and--"
"No," Ausar said in a rumble so low that it made Carlos turn and face him. "Without magic. Without powers. Have you ever taken the time to bring her whatever her favorite fruit is to your bed, and feed her while you