operations were relentless. We worked every angle, pressing to locate as many hidden pockets of voters as we could before the campaign came to a close.
I reported to the Council weekly, meeting Gabriel in the evenings at their offices to brief him and the rest of the team. He was pleased with the progress in our race, especially since many other campaigns across the country were faltering. It’s a volatile time in U.S. politics, with the economy sluggish and so many people out of work in many parts of the nation. Incumbents of both political parties are facing tough races. For many, their only shortcoming is being the current office holder, but when mass-group dynamics take over in a race, it can be very difficult to win.
In the midst of this frenetic schedule, Elsa moved out, taking with her the few possessions she had from my guest room. She gave no explanation, but I didn’t need one. It was obvious she and Aidan had become inseparable. After so many years of walking the planet alone, it was lovely to see that Elsa had found a mate. I didn’t pretend to understand how her penance worked or how much time she had left to fulfill her debt, but I assumed she knew. Or perhaps she and Aidan were simply happy to enjoy the time they had together.
By comparison, my love life was tepid most of the time, thanks to the campaign. Periodically, William accompanied me to my appointments for the day, but he had his own businesses to attend to. He continued to perform with his band at night, though I wasn’t often able to watch him play. JP and Halbert, meanwhile, kept their distance. I saw them both lurking together at a debate between Lacy and Levi sponsored by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, but neither of them approached me. JP limited his stories to current campaign events and seemed to prefer to call my staff to obtain a schedule or request a quote.
When William wasn’t spending the night, I would crawl into bed and pore through a stack of books I’d requested from the library. Lily, who delivered the books personally, would stay for a quick drink or meet me for dinner. She also was very busy at work, but we texted one another everyday, staying in touch as best we could.
When I was alone, I read for hours, reviewing the historical events leading up to the two world wars. It was both fascinating and frightening to see how the stage was set for World War II. Absorbed by the narratives of how world leaders had let Hitler get so far ahead of them, my curiosity kept me awake till dawn some nights. I read about the unbridled lust for power by Germany, the great ambivalence of the other powers when Poland and Czechoslovakia were invaded; and then finally, the world’s horror as France, too, was occupied and divided.
William and Josef were my connection to this history. Through my readings, I also began to understand why members of the Council seemed so deeply skeptical that society could manage its own affairs. The opportunity to upset the balance of power remains a constant, no matter the century. Even today, newspapers carry headlines of governments suspending constitutions or eliminating their judiciary. And too often the inexplicable fringe candidate surges suddenly to the forefront, running on a platform of paranoia and hatred.
And yet, as absorbed as I was with history, my training with Josef also became a source of fascination. William didn’t always accompany me, leaving me to work without his scrutiny, and perhaps also so that I might ask questions to feed my inquisitiveness. I made the most of my time when we were alone. Josef was intensely handsome, more so than William in some ways. Where one was fair, the other was swarthy. I had to remind myself that they were brothers through a vampire bond; two very different men bound to one another through a man, not a woman.
Unlike William, Josef was provocative, his motives complicated. I had no doubt of his loyalty to his brother, but I remembered what William said about “vampires coveting what the others have.” When Josef took my body through its paces, knocking me to the ground, using his arms and legs to block me, lust was left hanging in the air. I would be lying if I didn’t acknowledge some desire for him, too. I wondered if this, too, was a ploy