"Tommy," said Rachel in a small voice.
Naomi waved her hand dismissively. "Tommy was ill anyway." She looked at me. "When the fae came out, Stefan began to be concerned about the same things that caused the fae to reveal themselves. He told the seethe--and the ruling council of vampires--that they could no longer live as they were and expect to survive. He had already been maintaining a large menagerie because he didn't kill his people--he has a reputation for being softhearted. I'm told Marsilia thinks his concern for us is `cute.' " She gave me an ironic look.
"He began to experiment. To look for ways the vampire could benefit the human race. He found me dying of leukemia and offered me a chance at life."
I did some adding in my head and frowned at her. "Rachel said you were a professor and he found you about the time the fae came out. How old were you?" She smiled. "Forty-one." That would mean she was in her sixties now--she didn't look it. She didn't look much older than I did. "Stefan already knew that longevity was something he could offer: one of his bound children had belonged to him for over a century before another vampire killed her."
"How does feeding a vampire make you live longer?" I asked.
"It's the exchange of blood," said Rachel. She put a finger against her lips and licked it suggestively. "He takes and then gives a little back. Since I started feeding, I've been able to see in the dark--I can even bend a tire iron." She glanced at me from under her lashes to see how I took her revelation.
Ick, I thought hard and she frowned at me as if my reaction disappointed her. Maybe she expected me to be more horrified--or intrigued.
"And my leukemia has been in remission since 1981," Naomi added prosaically. "Joey said she was always a little psychic, but after she became Stefan's she could move things without touching them."
"Not much," said Rachel. "All she could do was wiggle a spoon across the table."
"So vampires can heal diseases?" I asked.
Naomi shook her head. "With blood-borne diseases the vampires help a lot, things like sickle-cell anemia and a host of lesser known stuff. Stefan had some success with some of the autoimmune diseases, like MS and HIV. Except for the leukemia, though, Stefan found that he couldn't help cancer patients--or full-blown AIDS patients like Tommy, either."
"So Stefan was trying to create a politically correct vampire?" I asked. The idea was mind boggling. "I can see the headlines, Maligned Vampire Only Wants to Save People. Or better yet, Vampire Estates-- Come to our modern community compound. We'll heal your ills, make you stronger, and give you eternal life!" "Join us for lunch," contributed Rachel with a toothy smile.
Naomi gave me a dry look. "He's not that ambitious, I don't think. And he's run into problems."
"Marsilia?"
"Mmm." Naomi looked thoughtful. "For a long time Marsilia was more of a figurehead than a leader. Stefan said she was pouting because she was exiled. After last winter, she began noticing more. He was hoping for her support in his efforts. Hoping she could push some of the others into more humane treatment of their menageries."
"But...?" I started.
"But there are a lot of problems with what Stefan is trying to do. First of all, not many vampires can afford to support as many people as he is--and any less than twelve of us and we start dying. And too, most vamps cannot control as many people as Stefan. There aren't many vampires who can make their sheep love them." She looked pointedly at Rachel as she said the last sentence.
"Stefan says that the biggest problem is self-control." Rachel said, ignoring Naomi. "Vampires are predators. They kill things."
Naomi nodded. "A lot of them choose not to control themselves, they say it ruins the enjoyment of their meal. But all of them lose control sometimes when they are feeding. Even Stefan." For a moment I caught a glimpse of horror in her eyes, but she lowered her eyelids and banished it. "The longer a person belongs to a vampire, the harder it is for the vampire to keep from killing him. Stefan says that with the bound ones the urge to kill is very, very strong--and it only gets worse with time. He used to send Joey off to her family in Reno for months on end. The urge affects all vampires, not just the one the person is bound to. That's why Stefan didn't kill Andre outright. Daniel was bound--it could have been accidental." "Andre's menageries don't last very long." Rachel told me. "He's never created a vampire except for Daniel because he kills them before their time."
I don't know what she saw in my face, only heard her start to speak quickly--something to the effect that Andre wasn't evil. "...not like Estelle or some of the others who like to play with their food."
But I wasn't listening to her, I was looking at Daniel's tear-streaked face. I'd only met him the once, and I recognized his scent more than his features. He was standing behind Rachel, looking at me and whispering. It took me a few seconds to realize that it had been him I'd seen curled up by the sink. I hadn't recognized his scent then, but the dead don't always appear to all my senses.
Then I realized what he was saying and stopped fretting about why I hadn't realized who he was the first time I'd seen him.
"He ate me," he whispered in a quietly frantic voice. "He ate me." Over and over.
"Where?" I asked coming to my feet. "Where is he, Daniel?"
But it was no use. Daniel was no Mrs. Hanna, who had died quietly and gone on with her usual routine. Some ghosts have urgent business to conduct--stopping over for a few minutes to leave a final message of love, or anger, with someone important. Some of them, especially the ones who died in traumatic ways, are caught in the moment of their death. Those are the most common kind--like Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, who runs screaming in the halls of the Tower of London.
"Daniel?" I asked, though his lack of reaction had robbed me of some of my urgency.
Rachel had quit speaking, hopped off her stool, and looked at Daniel. Naomi was just staring at me.
He faded after a moment more, and even after I couldn't see him anymore his voice lingered. "Did you see him?" whispered Rachel.
"That's a cruel trick to play," Naomi snapped at me.
I looked at her. "You live with vampires and don't believe in ghosts?" I asked.