“And you just happened to have those facts on the tip of your tongue? Including dates?”
He shrugged. “Photographic memory.” He handed her a little, soft cover book with a yellowish tan cover marbled like parchment. The title was in bold, black print. The Order of the Black Swan Field Training Manual. “This is available on electronic tablet of course, but I like to do some things the old fashioned way.”
She opened to the first page. Near the top an italicized item caught her attention. The plural of vampire is vampire.
“Why have you given me this?”
“Because you have passed my test and are granted freedom of the building and grounds on a probationary basis. Since you are now able to wander the facility at will, I think it’s important that you understand the nature of the work we are doing.” Elora practically leaped from her chair, but he held up a hand in a gesture to ‘wait’. “There is a condition.” She narrowed her eyes. “I would like to monitor your psychological adjustment to your new situation with one hour sessions two times a week.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “Psychotherapy?”
“Yes,” he said flatly and without apology.
She looked wary. “Are you bound by confidentiality?”
“Yes.”
“Agreed.”
“Very well. You will be moved to one of the apartments this very day if you are ready to leave your nest at the infirmary. I know they will be sorry to see you go.”
“Quite humorous,” she said as she was moving toward the door. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks, the elated mood gone as quickly as it had arrived. She turned toward Monq. “Those boys I saw, in the infirmary, the ones who were covered with blood. They’re vampire hunters?”
Monq rested a solemn gaze on her and nodded. “It’s dangerous work.”
“And Storm is one of them?”
“No. He’s not one of them. He and his team are the best there is.”
***
CHAPTER 6
BLACK SWAN FIELD TRAINING MANUAL Section I: Chapter 10, #27
Vampire are usually attractive because they were young, healthy adults at the time the disease was contracted. They were essentially frozen in their current physical state for the remainder of their lives. When selectivity is not an option, a depleted vampire will attack a person of any age, sex, or condition. If the body of that person survives, it will not continue to age or develop, but will maintain itself in a state of stasis so long as it is fed sufficient amounts of blood.
Not much packing was required to get Elora ready to move. Almost all her clothes were already hanging on the rolling rack. Storm was able to carry the four crates all at once, which meant the two of them were able to make the move in one trip. Elora said goodbye to the staff on duty, accepted hugs and graciously thanked them for their care and patience.
Down one long hallway, turn right, and up the elevator three floors. She made a conscientious effort to remember the way. The apartment had last belonged to a knight who was no longer in service at this unit. There was a faded rectangle on the door where the name plate used to be. She didn’t ask too many questions, because she didn’t want to take the chance that answers might take some of the exhilaration out of the moment. Storm had made a point of saying these quarters were just temporary until they sorted out the best solution. She didn’t care if she had to pitch a tent every night. She was just glad to be out of the infirmary holding pen.
The apartment had ten foot ceilings which made it feel expansive. After months of confinement in a small room, she needed all the feeling of spaciousness she could get.
The galley kitchen had a pass-through bar featuring a fully stocked wine cooler. Beyond that was a small dining area with glass top table and good view of the courtpark. One wall of the living room was glass with double doors opening onto a balcony. Another wall featured a gas fireplace, recessed with bookcases on both sides and a big screen TV monitor.
No one would accuse the former resident of exploring his feminine side in any significant way. The décor featured minimal lines, function and efficiency with colors mostly in mahogany, black, stainless steel, and shades of green varying from forest to sage. But no expense had been spared and the result was an overall sense of quiet luxury.
The bedroom mirrored the living space and shared a chimney with the living room so that both featured a gas fireplace with everything else reversed.
The floors and walls of the bath were covered in multicolored slate to compliment the large, black, whirlpool bath at the ready to soothe the sore muscles of a tall person. The sport style shower was large enough so as not to require either a door or curtain to contain water spray. Most amazing was the generous expanse of mirror which had a TV monitor embedded within. When turned on, the TV program seemed to appear within the mirror like magic.
She opened the double doors to the balcony and stepped out into the open air. The fact that she could open her front door and walk out into the hallway anytime was a privilege she would never take for granted again. The fact that she could be alone, unobserved, was heaven.
As soon as Storm had set the crates down on the closet floor, she hustled him out, wanting to unpack and get ready for her big night out. Storm allowed her to give him the bum’s rush. He helped her program a personal code into the keytouch lock, gave her a small, thin phone, showed her how his personal number had been programmed in, and promised to be back at 8:00 o’clock.
As he turned to go, a very big guy with impossibly orange hair walked up and nodded at Storm as he was punching his code into the lock on the door across the hall. Over his shoulder he said, “Hey, Storm. Somebody moving into Lan’s place?” He opened his door and turned back for an answer. That was when he saw Elora in the doorway. He gave Storm a questioning look with eyes as big as golf balls.
“Not much.” Storm shrugged like nothing was out of the ordinary and walked away, leaving the guy standing there gaping at Elora. She gave him a big smile and a little wave, stepped back, and closed the door.