The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,33

always fought for."

Drina shi ed uncomfortably. He'd seen her pre y clearly, and it made her feel naked. Trying to lighten the atmosphere, she teased, "Or perhaps I just secretly always wanted to be a prostitute."

"Did you?" he asked, surprised at the suggestion.

"No. I was well red of sex with mortals by then," she said on a chuckle, and smiled wryly. "You're probably right about my mo va ons, but even I didn't understand them then." She turned her wineglass on the table, and admi ed, "Originally, I tried to get them out of the business, but none of them were interested. They didn't see any other life for themselves." She sighed and shook her head, reexperiencing the confusion and frustra on she'd felt at the me. "Not one of those women had wanted to be pros tutes. Each had dreamed of a husband and family, a happy life. They were, every one of them, forced into it, a few by circumstance, but most by the man they had called their "protector." Once in that life, society considered them garbage, as if in a ma er of moments they'd somehow changed and become less."

"As happened with you when Rome invaded Egypt, and you were no longer allowed to run a business," he pointed out. "As if with the invasion, you had become less intelligent, or skilled, and were suddenly a child who needed a man to look out for her."

"I suppose," Drina admitted. "Though, as I say, I didn't see the correlation then. And I didn't suddenly feel less with the invasion, but they all seemed to feel they were all now less or damaged." She sighed.

"Anyway, when Beth gave me her li le talk, all I could do was reassure her that I wanted nothing and wouldn't suddenly abandon them. But, of course, her experiences in life didn't suggest that was likely. It didn't for any of them, and they were afraid and frustrated because of it. In their minds, there was nothing to stop me from simply pulling up stakes and leaving at any me. They didn't trust that I wouldn't, and the possibility left them constantly terrified. Once I realized that, I agreed to their offer."

"To feed from them?"

Drina nodded. "It turned out to be a good thing all the way around."

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"The women had always been on edge, fluctua ng between being overly nice and snapping at me and each other," she began, and then paused and wrinkled her nose. "Frankly, it was a bloody cathouse at mes. But once I agreed to feed from them, some sort of balance was restored. They felt everyone was ge ng something, so it would all be all right. They relaxed, the house gained a much more pleasant atmosphere, the women even became like family rather than figh ng all the me. It was nice," she said with a reminiscent smile. "And, of course, I didn't have to hunt at night anymore, which was handy. Everyone was happy."

"Everyone?" Harper queried, and she chuckled at his wry expression.

"Well, everyone but my family," she admitted on a laugh.

Harper nodded, not surprised. "I didn't think your brother would be pleased to have his sister running a brothel." He grinned and tilted his head, asking, "Did he call on Lucian for help with you again?"

"Of course," she said dryly. "When his many le ers and a personal visit to try to force me to sell the brothel and come home failed, Lucian was his next ploy. And Lucian even caught a ship and came all the way from the Americas, where he was living. He sailed into England to look into the matter."

"And?" Harper queried, leaning forward with interest.

"He read me, read my girls, and then turned to Stephano and surprised us all by announcing that I was old enough to make my own decisions. I wasn't doing anything wrong. He was proud of what I was doing for these women, and Stephano should be too, but whether he was or not, it was me he stopped interfering and let me be." Drina lowered her head to hide the tears that had swum into her eyes at the memory.

Bloody things, Drina thought. She didn't know why the memory of Lucian's approval made her teary. It was ridiculous really. She s lled when Harper covered her hand on the table and gave it a comfor ng squeeze.

"He was right."

Drina smiled faintly, and then sighed with disappointment when he withdrew his hand