to stay focused on the page in front of her. Her gaze drifted over the rest of the room, taking in the bookshelves, the scattered crystal and porcelain figurines on the dresser, the overabundance of stuffed animals and frilly pillows on the bed and covering the loveseat against the far wall. Her bedroom was as feminine and inviting as her living room was austere and threatening. The utilitarian purpose for having so many weapons readily at hand had to do with being the last line of defense before any invading force might take the upper floors. If necessary, she could hold the hall single-handed against an army of invaders long enough for backup to come from upstairs and take up arms as well. While the main room of her home was a “public” portion of the building, set up for the overall good of the inhabitants, her bedroom was sacrosanct and filled with enough hidden weaponry to put what was visible on the walls outside to shame.
Her last roommate, Ari, was one of the first vampires Alec had turned. Alec had met Ari in Cairo when he was traveling on business, and subsequently bonded, then later turned him. Ari had stayed by Royce’s side faithfully for six centuries, helping him build and hold his own territories and wealth, but eventually wanted to return to Egypt. Alec had let him go, and Ari sporadically travelled back and forth from Europe to Africa and back as he started building up his own interests and bloodline.
He hadn’t settled in Luxor until the mid-1800’s, and helped build up the tourist trade with money from his investments in his interests throughout Greece, Rome, Spain, England, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Sudan. He still paid tribute to his sire, supplementing Royce’s already considerable fortune as Royce, in turn, did the same with his own sire.
Ari had returned to Royce’s side for some time to recoup his losses when another elder forced him out, killing Ari’s minions and usurping his rule of Luxor. Royce had offered to aid him take back his city, but Ari had wanted to do it himself. The usurper had taken it through trickery, making his move while Ari was away on a business trip. Royce’s prodigy took some time to formulate an appropriate counterattack and left as soon as he was ready. Mouse had regretted his leaving, for he was a powerful ally.
She didn’t hold it against him for wanting to retake his city. She was not fool enough to think she had yet accumulated the wealth, the contacts, or the stability to hold one of her own. She was older than Royce’s second, but the damage done to her physically and mentally by Max might prevent her from ever having the will or desire to hold a city herself or even act as a master vampire’s second. For now, she was content, and would be so as long as she felt she could flee to Royce for protection if ever her maker, Max Carlyle, tried to take her back.
She looked at the fuzzy teddy bear with the button eyes and lush, soft fur that Ari had given her. He’d told her to hold it close when she took her day-sleep so that she might have something to remember him by until the day he returned. They both knew he might not ever come back, but the ancient elder had been one of the few to ever see her bedroom and the softer things she privately allowed herself. Even her personally selected donors never came to her bed; the most they saw of her apartment was the living room outside.
The bear was the only doll she rested with. She put the book down and reached for it, tugging the plush toy close. It still had a trace of his scent, fading, but there. With a long-suffering sigh, heard only as a hissed exhalation of air, she slowly rose from the bed and trudged out of the room.
She paused when she reached Ari’s—no, Analie’s—bedroom, listening for any signs that the girl was up and about. The salt from her tears was still on the air.
Mouse looked down at the bear dangling from her hand. The button eyes gleamed up at her, simple smile made of yarn curved serenely under the nose of soft felt mocking in its simplicity.
She bared her fangs for a moment, a touch of anger glittering in her eyes. With a low hiss, she dropped the bear before the door, tapping