She stiffened against him, startled by the question. "Where did you hear about that?"
"Thomas said I should ask you, but I forgot at the time."
Lissianna was silent for a minute, then cleared her throat. "My mother has always said that each person has his or her own true life mate. It is supposed to be that mate meant for you."
"Your mother sounds like a romantic to me," he said with gentle amusement.
"Perhaps," Lissianna agreed.
Another silence closed in, then he asked, "Tell me about your uncle."
She blinked in surprise at the request, then leaned up to peer at his face, and ask, "Why?"
"Because you and every one of your cousins seem scared of him, and I want to know why."
Regretting the return to reality, Lissianna sighed and laid her head back down. She thought for a minute, then said, "He's old and cold, as Thomas puts it."
"Old and cold," Greg echoed dryly.
She nodded. "It's not that he's cruel or anything, it's just--" She struggled briefly, then said. "He's been alive a long time, Greg. Several millennia. He was a warrior in
Rome, a warrior in medieval England..." She shrugged. "He's a warrior. He's seen countless people born and die, and probably killed a good many in battle, too, over time. Now, he's on the council and does what has to be done to keep his people safe."
Greg was silent for a minute, then said, "I don't want to be a Renfield."
Lissianna ran her hand soothingly over his chest and promised, '"I won't let that happen."
"I know you'll try to make sure it doesn't happen," he said. "But if your uncle did try to wipe my memory at your mother's house this morning and couldn't do it as you all suspect, he'll want to do that 'council of three' thing to me, won't he?"
Lissianna was silent, but she didn't have to answer. She'd already explained enough to him that he would know it was the case. And she didn't want it to happen either. The idea of their breaking Greg's mind was too painful even to contemplate. His mind was one of the things she liked best about him. Although, she acknowledged, his body wasn't bad either.
"What are my chances of getting away without them turning my brain to mush?"
"Don't think about it, Greg." she said. "I won't let it happen."
"How can you slop it? This council rules your people, right? They are like the police for your people."
"Yes," she acknowledged.
"And I'm guessing, since you avoided answering, that my chances are pretty slim of avoiding the council." He shifted under her slightly, almost impatiently. "I mean if they can control anyone, they can probably walk into any office or bank and find out what information they need to track me down."
"Yes." She sighed.
They were both silent for a moment, then he asked, "What will they do to you for sneaking me out?"
Lissianna shrugged. "There is nothing they can do. Mom can yell at me, but the council can't punish me since I didn't speak to my uncle, so didn't know they--"
"That's a technicality, and while it might work in a human court of law, I suspect it wouldn't work with the council. Especially if your uncle can read your mind and find out that you basically did know what they would want to do."
Unable to argue the point, Lissianna remained silent.
"So, if we try to run, they'll probably find us and make me a Renfield, then do God knows what to you."
"Maybe," she acknowledged, and laid her head on his chest again. They were both silent, then Lissianna said, "There may be a way to protect you though."
"What? A sex change and a move to Timbuktu?" he asked with wry amusement, and moved his hand to her hair to run his fingers lightly through the long, soft tresses.
"I'm afraid that wouldn't do it," she said with a twist to her lips. "They'd find you."