Julien nods. "Definitely."
"Good," he says. "Consider this my gift for your new pet." He motions to Elaine. "Take her and help her change."
Elaine tilts her head to me and I look at Julien for some direction. He nods without meeting my eyes and so I follow Elaine into the other room.
"Here, sweetie," she says, her voice soft. "You put this on. I'll see what I can do about your hair."
I undress quickly, not wanting to argue with either Julien or Luke. The dress is a bit loose, but it fits as well as can be expected. Elaine pulls the laces in the back of the dress tightly and it fits more snugly. The bustier pushes my breasts up and the thin cut is still lined with dried blood, but it's no longer bleeding. Then she pulls my hair back, securing it with a series of clips, tendrils falling in long curls around my face. She turns me around.
"You look much better."
She reaches into a wardrobe and pulls out a pair of heels. "I think these will fit you well enough."
I try them on. Sure enough they fit. I look her over. She has several sets of bite marks on her neck and left breast.
"Are you all right?" I ask. "You look like you've lost too much blood."
"It's my week," she says, smiling. "My Lord's very experienced. He knows how much to take. He feeds me a bit of his blood each time so I'll be fine."
"Aren't you afraid you'll die one of these times?"
"Oh, no." She shakes her head. "I'm one of his favorites. He takes good care of us."
I sigh, unable to believe that a woman could be happy as part of a harem, for a vampire or mortal.
"Can I ask what you do when it's not your week?"
"Recover," she says brightly. "Eat really well, rest, sleep. Luke isn't really much for television so we tend to listen to music or I can read if I want to."
"You don't work?"
She laughs. "This is my work," she says and points to her wound.
"You know he called you his slave?"
She leads me out of the room. "I know. I don't really care what he calls me. He's one of the oldest vampires and is very powerful. More powerful than even Michel and Julien."
Than even Michel and Julien? I try to absorb this new information as we return to the room.
"Ah, there she is," Luke says. He stands with his arms crossed and looks me up and down. "Much better. Good enough to eat. I tell you, if you grow tired of her, you can always send her here."
"I'll keep it in mind if she becomes too bothersome." Julien glances at me briefly, but his face is unreadable. Luke goes to the door, one arm draped over Elaine's shoulders. "I'm so glad we had the chance to chat," he says to Julien. "And so glad Michel was able to get you out of your little predicament. Give him my regards."
"Luke," Julien says, bowing slightly. He turns to leave and motions to me with a quick wave of his hand. I follow him. When we get to the door, I frown.
"Wait," I say and it hits me. The sun's still out. "How can you go outside during the day?"
Julien opens the door for me.
"Need to know, Eve." He leads me down the stairs to the loading dock. "Everything's different now."
"What do you mean, everything?"
"I mean everything," he says, taking my arm. "I've been able for years, but I haven't been out, so to speak. This is the price Michel had to pay to resurrect me."
This sends a shock through me. Vampires can daywalk? The questions pour out of me.
"How many of you can do this? How is it possible? Why is Michel staying in Pittsburgh?"