in the booth. They were much older, in their fifties. Davette thought immediately of her friends' fathers, and though the older men's appearance was pleasant enough, the whole idea, the concept of it all, seemed incestuous. One of them was tall, even seated, with white hair at his temples and a lovely dark suit that seemed to glow in the candlelight. He was thin and erect and rather aloof. The second man was shorter, not much taller than she, Davette guessed. He was beginning to lose hair on top and gain weight in his middle but he had a warm ready smile and a friendly look. He wore a sportcoat instead of a suit but it was of the same high quality as his companion's attire.
Not for me, she thought.
But then Ross began to purr once more, purr with that Voice, and every single thought would seem to resonate their marrow.
"No, they're not as young as you would like. They are not what you would choose. Is that not what makes it so thrilling? Is it not decadent? These old men, old enough to be your fathers, can take you in their hands and make you sing. You cannot resist it. After a while you will not want to. And you know that. You know that. You will tremble and shake in their gaze. You will find yourselves doing things you cannot believe you are doing. But you will still do them. You will obey their every command. And, worse, you will enjoy it. You will see yourselves doing these wicked things - as if from afar - and you will be appalled and embarrassed... but also the carnal joys will jolt through you because you really are doing them! You! Ladies! Proper young ladies rolling wanton in their arms... My goodness, you think, if those people I grew up with should see me doing this! They wouldn't believe their eyes! The shame! The shame!
"And yet... Yes! Let them see me! I want them to see me, wallowing whore and free at last!"
Davette stopped speaking and her head went down and the motel room became quiet. Then, head still down, she tried to explain.
She tried to explain that vampires tell the truth. And she knew she had said all this before and all but she... just... wanted... everyone... to... understand. It wasn't the Truth. It was only a piece of it - a small piece, really, but... But people are like a spectrum, you know? They have all the colors and some have more of one shade than others but everybody has some of any shade and Ross, the vampire, could make that shade seem brighter and stronger than any of the others and... And, yes, it was there! He did have something to work with. But that didn't mean I'm really... Or anybody is really...
And she drifted off to silent tears until she felt a finger under her chin, gently raising her head up. She lifted her head and Felix was there, smiling at her.
"We know," he said softly. Tenderly. "We know. We understand."
And she knew he meant it. His eyes were so pleasant and sweet. She followed the gesture of his head, next, to the faces of the others in the room, to the rest of the Team, and the glow was still there. Smiling, understanding faces. Misty faces, small tears hidden in the corners of understanding eyes.
All of you act so hard and tough, she thought, gazing gratefully at them. Is that so no one will know about you?
"So," Felix continued gently, "you and your friend Kitty slept with those two men."
She could only nod, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"It wasn't fair! He made us helpless! And then he told them!"
Of course Ross had known the men. Of course he had told them to be there. Of course they stopped by the booth to say hello. And then they were following the limo to her Aunt Vicky's house and then they were all having a drink on the terrace and then, somehow, she was alone with one of them in the library, the short, fat, balding one who owned her, and abruptly he stopped being sweet. He put down his drink and leaned forward on the leather sofa and told her to take off her dress.
She wept and said, "Please don't make me do this!"
Even as she rose and exposed herself to him.
She did see it as if from afar. As if from the top of Uncle