"I'll feel better when we're out of here," Tyler said. We were locking up the villa when I felt a familiar tingling on the back of my neck."Shit," Tyler said. She had felt it, too.My first thought was Athena, but it was a masculine voice that spoke. "Leaving so soon?" It was the heavily accented voice of Marcelle.We spun around to see not only Marcelle and his second in command Paolo, but five other Vampires as well.I studied Marcelle. "As I said, my time here is limited."Marcelle smiled. "You look lovely this evening. Do my eyes deceive me or is your skin healed of its burns?"I smiled slightly. "Thank you for noticing. You are correct. My burns have been healed.""And if you don't mind me asking, how did you achieve such a feat?" Marcelle asked."Well now, a lady can't reveal all of her beauty secrets."His smile grew even broader. "Of course, forgive me." He looked around. "I seem to always catch you at a bad time, when you're on your way to someplace else. However,

"Well, if you are not going to let us go, then ask your questions," I said."Did Alexis ask you to come to Epic Cu?" Esmeralda asked."No."They waited for me to expand. I didn't."Why did you come?" Esmeralda asked."Curiosity." And that wasn't lying. I was curious about Alexis. Even the weakest Vampire could smell a lie, so I knew that they would know if I lied. My answer wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie."Did you come to break Alexis out of his prison?" Esmeralda asked.I narrowed my eyes. "You're awfully curious about Alexis? Why?"As is so often the case with Elders, Esmeralda struck fast. I didn't see her flinch, but I felt as if someone had hit me with a baseball bat! She smacked me, but it wasn't a human smack. She hadn't used her hand. Her power smacked me, and I felt my head snap back as I went flying out of the wingchair. I found myself kneeling on all fours on the floor with blood dripping out of my nose. When I tried to raise my head, a sharp pain stabbe

Awareness dawned on me quickly. I was sucking on Tyler's neck like a dog working a bone! She was moaning low in her throat. I pulled back carefully. How much blood had I taken?I belched and was appalled at my gluttony.Julie released my wrist when she saw that I was back to myself. What I was doing with that hand before Julie grasped it is cloudy, but I didn't mind it staying that way.Tyler rolled her head from side to side with her eyes still closed. "Damn, Kim …" she whispered. "You and Alexis would make Deep Throat look like a Disney movie." Oh my God! She could see us? Tyler smiled. "That was so good." "Sorry about that," I said. "I'm no." Tyler squinted at me while lazing against the seat. "Anytime you want to invite me to join in one of your sessions, just let me know. Now I understand why you'd travel halfway around the world to see Alexis."I turned to look at him. He eyed me hungrily but didn't touch me.~*~We got to the airstrip about an hour before daw

For instance, a month ago we received a report that a Master Vampire had enslaved a human as his sexual servant. When we found the woman, we discovered that she had been imprisoned by this bastard for close to seventy years. She'd had children with him! A Vampire had impregnated a human? How the hell was that possible? When I asked Tony about it, he shrugged and said that it wasn't common but it could happen. Nobody seemed to think that was mind-blowing news. The offspring were always human until they reached adulthood. Then the Vampire would kick in, and they would become impervious to death unless it was a Vampire's death. The children—now adult Vampires—and their mother had been forced to live with him in some quasi-medieval love thing. We didn't kill him although the Council banished him from the States for one hundred years. He was forced to give her half of all of his assets, and surprisingly, he didn't argue.And what about what happened in Epic Cu? Who knew witches were real

"I wasn't aware that there was a Council meeting tonight—and in my home." They stared at me, stared at my lack of scars, stared at my exposed flesh.Cyrene broke the silence. "We were informed by the Barcelona Council of an altercation that happened last night."I gestured for them to follow me into the newly redecorated living room. Bastards hadn't wasted any time telling on me!When I went to close the door after them, I saw Monica watching from the other room so I decided to keep it open. There would be no secrets between us concerning this matter.I reentered the room and sat in a new wingchair upholstered in a mellow mustard fabric. A rich brown silk pillow offset it and my outfit perfectly. "Make yourselves comfortable," I said.Kaniji chose the sofa, and Frank sat near her. Keada chose an oversized leather chair, and Cyrene sat in the matching chair opposite her. Tony remained standing, watching me. I met his eyes even though I wanted to ignore him. I needed to gauge hi