and he’d taken it personally when he’d found her crumpled over a desk in a lightly-secured area.
“We’ll figure things out as we go. Aaron got a copy of the packet your old Master sent to Kendra and Marco. I know that isn’t the norm, but Aaron specializes in information gathering. One of the many reasons he recruited you.”
Right, because moving to this Vampire Master’s territory had only happened because the Dragon King had taken an interest in her hacking abilities. The other Masters who’d agreed to take her on had stipulated she agree to be their sex slave, along with whatever job she was taking.
But she got it. Taking on the responsibility of a baby vampire is a huge liability. New vampires are kept away from society for decades. She’d proven trustworthy to walk among the humans at six years. Since doing so, she hadn’t had a single incident that attracted the attention of the Slayers or the Concilio. Still, most vampires stayed with their Maker for at least a century, and most often the first three centuries.
“I’m told Chattanooga has a Slayer assigned. Are things handled differently in the Americas?” she asked.
“Chattanooga has more power players than most large cities. The Dragon King, the King of the Lions, the Alpha Wolf over the entire Southeastern US, the bear considered to be the most powerful, and who happens to be married to a rabbit more powerful than the Rabbit King...” he shrugged. “There’s more, but you get the idea. The Slayer’s name is Ryan, and he isn’t a bad guy, as far as Slayers go. Helped us during the big battle. He seems to have made it a point to let all of us know he can get to us anytime he wants — shown up in our bedroom, or in some other space we consider safe. He’s not threatening about it, and always has some reason for showing up, but it gets his message across.”
“If you kill humans, the Slayer kills you.” Every vampire who’d helped teach her control had stressed this to her. If she killed humans, even if she managed to keep it from the other vampires, she would not keep it from the Slayers.
4
Fabio showered and put jeans on when Collosa called to let him know they were twenty minutes out. He even blow-dried his hair so it was going in mostly the right direction. It looked fine when he let it dry naturally, but it looked better if he took the time to do it right. His two housemates weren’t interested in feeding their new pet vampire, so he’d get her all to himself.
He’d seen pictures of her and talked to her over video once — she was a knockout, and she was intelligent. In his experience, too many women were one or the other.
Marco arrived five minutes before she was due to arrive, and Fabio let him in.
“Where’s Eunice?” Marco asked.
“Probably still asleep. He’s fine with her living here, but the fucker isn’t the welcome wagon sort.”
“Ah. Since he won’t be feeding her, I suppose that’s okay. You’ve fed Strigorii before?”
“Yeah. Dated a vampire for a few months. Best sex I ever had.” And he’d fed more than his fair share since. He wasn’t stupid about it, but when an opportunity arose, he often took it.
Marco gave him a steady look. “Kelsey’s a baby vampire, so she won’t know how to regulate her venom with the kind of accuracy older vampires can. Don’t get angry with her if she gets it a little wrong. Give yourself at least two hours after feeding her before you’ll need to drive a vehicle or handle weapons.”
Fabio nodded. “She warned me she’s still working on it, but said she hasn’t zoned anyone out in a few years. I take it that’s from giving too much venom to kill the pain?”
“It can be. I’m allowing her into the territory because she’ll be working for Aaron, and because she’ll be supervised by the three of you. If you have any reason to believe she might lose control, it’s imperative I’m immediately notified. The three of you have my private phone number. Normally, I wouldn’t take on a vampire who’s only been turned twelve years.”
Fabio crossed his arms and gave the vampire a measured look. It was probably a bad idea to call the vampire on his bullshit, but he was going to anyway.
“You’re gaining one of the top hackers on the planet by letting her in. Aaron Drake is making