"I thought he was going to crush the table in his fingers when he saw you cry," Charles said. I wasn't sure what to do with that information, so I kept quiet. Charles likes to talk and he adores information of any kind. He kept up a constant conversation all the way home.
* * *
"Charles and I have gone through the records and there isn't another one anywhere," Wlodek looked across his desk at the vampire who sat there. "You need to teach this one carefully, as her abilities might be more than useful. She must be brought to the idea of working for the Council in a gentle manner. The possibilities are almost endless if she does so willingly."
"I hope you do not intend to send her out as a prostitute." The voice was chilling.
"This one would never consent to that," Wlodek said. "And it would be distasteful in the extreme to do that to her. Wait until you see her; she is quite lovely."
"I have no interest in that."
"I know. I hope you do not treat her indifferently, however. She needs someone to genuinely care for her."
"I will do my best. I will certainly not mistreat her."
"Good. Here are the financial holdings," Wlodek handed over a thick folder. "The building in London needs renovation. I don't believe Sergio used it for the past fifty years."
"I'll see to it. Anything else?"
"Let her stay here, tonight. I'll send her over tomorrow."
"All right." The vampire sighed as he rose, nodding to Wlodek on his way out.
* * *
"I have found someone who has agreed to act as your surrogate sire," Wlodek informed me as I sat in the same chair I'd taken two nights before. The information caused me to draw in a shaky breath. "He has several turns to his credit and every one of them has had much success. Unfortunately, he lost two of them, three years ago. I think he still feels the loss so do not vex him overmuch."
"All right." I knew about loss. No way was I going to rip into those wounds if I could help it.
"Charles will drive you over tomorrow. Your new sire's home here in England is about twenty miles away. He owns property in New York and other locations as well. I can only imagine that he might take you traveling with him at times."
I could only nod. My life was about to take another turn and I wasn't sure I was ready for it. "Pack up your things except for what you need tonight and tomorrow. Charles will drive you to your new home as soon as you are ready tomorrow evening." Wlodek turned back to a stack of papers on his desk. I'd been dismissed. I wanted to ask questions. He hadn't given me the vampire's name or any other information about him. This was worse than a blind date. What if he was another version of Gavin? That would be untenable and there wasn't any way I could ask for a different sire if I didn't like this one. My legs were a little unsteady, I think, when I rose from my chair, mumbled my thanks to Wlodek and left his study.
"I think you'll like this," Charles said as he drove me the following evening. I'd dressed in slacks and a new top that was a cranberry color, leaving my hair loose. I didn't know what else to do. I had four suitcases, now; Charles had dug up some expensive stuff from the basement. That's what he'd called it. I didn't realize that Wlodek had a basement, but it made sense. Vampires needed those things to survive most of the time.
Charles helped me unload everything on the wide porch of my new home. It was another three-story, I saw, but it looked newer than Wlodek's. A maid answered the door and she was human, I could tell right away by the scent. We carried the bags in and left them in the entry hall. There was a single, wide set of steps leading up to the next floor in this one.
"Hopefully he'll let you have a cell phone," Charles said when it came time to say goodbye. "Here's my number, this'll get you right to me," he handed a slip of paper over. I tucked the number inside the pocket of my slacks. Charles shocked me by giving me a quick hug and a kiss before taking off, and the maid closed the door behind him.
"The master is out at the moment but he'll return after a bit," she said. She was short and perky, probably in her late thirties with light brown hair and blue eyes.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Lena," she said. "Actually, it's Lenora, but I prefer Lena."
"Then Lena it is," I agreed. She showed me upstairs to a bedroom, and its windows were closed off in a similar fashion to the ones at Wlodek's place. This bedroom was more modern with a nice comforter on the bed, lots of pillows and shams, a sitting area, dressers and an armoire, plus a walk-in closet to die for. The bath was Italian marble in a light sandstone color with a tub and separate shower. Did all vampires have money running out their ears? This place had to cost a fortune. I also found myself wondering as I took two bags up at a time, if Wlodek was going to come over and remove his compulsion after a while or if he intended to leave it in place and my sire (yes, I was having trouble with that word) would place a second one. The brief period that I'd had both Gavin's and Wlodek's compulsion wasn't the most comfortable I'd ever been.
"Come downstairs and meet Franklin," Lena said after I'd dumped my second set of bags in the bedroom.
"All right," I said, following her down the stairs. Franklin was human as well—I could tell that right away. He was cutting up fruit for a fruit salad when I walked in. His thumb was bandaged, and the wound was making it difficult to use a knife. Franklin was tall, with a bit of gray hair running through dark brown. He also had a nice face, although it was lined a bit with age. I estimated him to be in his early sixties.
"Here, let me do that for you," I said, walking over to him and taking the knife. "I'm Lissa," I extended my right hand.
"I know, we're expecting you," he held out his hand and I shook it. He handed the knife over with a smile, so I started slicing up apples, pineapple and peaches. Franklin sat down while I washed the grapes and strawberries and added them to the glass bowl. "Are you ready to eat this now or are you going to serve it later?" I asked. You never add bananas until the last minute; they look terrible after a while.
"Lena and I are about to eat," Franklin grinned.
"All righty, then," I said and cut up the bananas.
Franklin asked me questions while he and Lena ate. He asked me where I was from and then said he'd never been to Oklahoma.
"You know, I get that a lot," I said. "It's just like anywhere else. It has its share of really nice people."
"Do people actually have oil wells in their yards?" That was Lena. "I saw a movie once where these people had an oil well in their yard."