Slowly, the tension in Nathanial's arm relaxed. I glanced up and was relieved to see his fangs had disappeared; his face once again possessed by the passive mask of which he was fond. When he saw me studying him, his eyes narrowed. His arm fell from my waist like he'd forgotten he was clutching me.

I stepped away but didn't have anywhere to go. I felt eyes on me, but everywhere I looked vampires appeared to be deeply involved in what they were doing. Still, the feeling didn't resolve. Great. How did I get into situations like this?

Samantha waved for me to join her and the other woman on the couch again. Apparently I was supposed to forgive and forget I'd been attacked moments before. Either that or hide behind Nathanial. I might have, if I hadn't been a shifter before Nathanial turned me. My instincts wouldn't let me show fear. Fear betrayed prey—meat. I didn't like being meat.

I lifted my chin, flashing teeth.

Samantha smiled as I sat down, the vampire I didn't know scooting over so I could sit between them. I could pretend for a little while that these women hadn't looked at me like a prize to be won.

"Kita, this is Magritte,” Samantha said, casually laying a hand on my shoulder.

I looked at Magritte, and her smile widened. With her bright blue eyes and blond hair she looked more like a beauty contestant than a vampire. I could easily imagine her with a gaudy tiara on her head saying all she wanted was world peace. I'd seen her with her fangs out, so the illusion wasn't as perfect as it would be for the uninitiated.

"Wonderful to meet you, lovey,” she said, and reached out to grab a lock of my hair. “Beautiful job with this. Unusual. I bet you're glad you had it touched up recently. Wouldn't want to go through eternity with your roots showing.” Her hand fell from my hair to rest on my knee.

These vampires touched entirely too much.

Would it cause another scene to tell them to back off? Probably. I crossed my legs then reached down to tug on the cuff of my jeans. The movement effectively dislodged both women's hands in what I hoped was a tactful way. I looked up at Nathanial, expecting a look of approval, or displeasure if I hadn't succeeded as well as I thought. He stared blankly in another direction. Why did that disappoint me?

My willingness to ignore the undercurrents in the room faded, curiosity pushing through.

"So, what just happened?” I asked.

Both women's smiles failed. Samantha recovered first.

"It isn't the wisest idea to disclaim your master, especially when you are still fresh enough to have sun on your nose,” she said in a tight voice.

"Would he have killed me?” I nodded to indicate the hidden door and the man who'd gone through it.

"Kill you? No. He planned to bind you to him,” Magritte said. I waited for her to explain, but apparently she thought I should know what she meant.

"Bind me?"

Eyes were on me again, making my skin crawl. I ignored them.

"Of course. You can't go walking around without a master, now can you?” Samantha sounded bored, and yet anxiety laced her words.

The upstairs door clicked open, and then slammed shut. No footfalls sounded on the stairs. I turned as a woman stumbled silently into the room. I recognized her immediately. It was the vampire I'd seen drink from her lover.

"Lookie! New gurl,” she said when she saw me. Heat crawled to my face, and I looked away. She didn't take the hint. Instead she swayed across the room and plopped down on the couch beside me. “Saw you upstairs. Cutie, aren't you."

I tensed as she reached out to touch my face. She missed and poked Magritte in the eye.

"Ow!” Magritte batted the vampire's hand away. “How much have you had tonight, Jezebel?"

"Not enough,” Jezebel slurred out.

I looked between the three women, and then up at Nathanial.

"We can drink?"

He shook his head, and Jezebel gave out a little drunken giggle.

"Nah, I have to filter my alcohol through someone else's bloodstream now. Makes for too much blood in my alcohol system, but it's better than being dry.” She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and nuzzled her forehead into my neck. I stiffened, but short of ripping her arms away, I didn't know how to make her stop.

"You still smell like the sunshine,” she told my shoulder.

I looked at Nathanial for help, but it was Samantha who came to my rescue.

"Come over here, Jezey dear. I think you're scaring Kita.” She pulled the drunken vampire off me.

"You look so drained, kiddo,” Jezebel said, and this time when she reached out she managed to grab a lock of my hair, twirling it between her fingers. “Once the council gives you hunting rights, you should come upstairs and feed."

"I don't think I could be a part of.... “I didn't know what to say without being offensive, so I made a wide gesture to include the upstairs area.

"Oh, you will get over that soon enough,” Samantha said. “You have to feed to survive. It's safer here than on the streets, and the humans wake up thinking they had a good night but with a huge hangover."

"And great sex, don't forget that.” Jezebel tucked my hair behind my ear. “They wake up remembering great sex."

"Not all of us sleep with our food,” Magritte whispered.

Jezebel ignored her.

The door on the right side of the room opened, and everyone fell silent. All the vampires held their unnecessary breaths. For my own part, I responded to the abrupt tension in the room with relief. Anaya waltzed out. Her eyes searched the room until they landed on Nathanial. She smiled, and the expression reminded me of a happy crocodile. Clive followed her, looking smug. They didn't say anything, but both sneered at Nathanial before heading up the stairs.

I glanced at Nathanial, but his expression told me nothing. The other vampires looked at each other, and then back at the door. The room's mood hung a moment in uncertain silence. I wasn't sure why everyone else was here. Nathanial and I were obviously in some sort of trouble, but I doubted the others were here for grins and giggles. There was too much apprehension in the room for a social gathering.

Jezebel laughed, breaking the tension. I suspected dear Jezey was frequently in trouble.

The door opened again.

In the hallway beyond stood a tall woman with skin so pale it glowed, even when compared to her white dress. In contrast, her dark hair spread around her like a void absorbing the light. Her eyes were little more than black orbs floating in the pearlescent glow, and her lips a slash of painted red across her face. In a way, she was beautiful, but more than anything, she looked like a specter drawn in black and white with a touch of blood on her mouth. Her dark gaze swept over the room, landing on Nathanial. She nodded, then turned and let the drapes fall back over the doorway.

Nathanial didn't say anything. He came to me, dropped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. The smallest tremble passed from his fingers into my skin. I swallowed hard. Still, he didn't say anything; he just turned and walked to the door. If he was trying to reassure me, he'd failed. Was he trying to brace me for what was to come or to buck me up in his absence?

I really didn't want to be locked in a room with all these vampires.

I stood and fell in step behind him.

He hesitated before pulling the drapes aside. “Kita, please behave in here,” he whispered so faintly I scarcely believed I heard him. I thought I'd been behaving rather well so far, all things considered, but I held my tongue and practiced being insignificant.

* * * *

The woman led us down a long hallway. We might as well have been following a ghost, for all the sound she made. I felt loud and clumsy as my footsteps echoed in the stone space. There wasn't a single lighting fixture in the entire corridor. Didn't vampires know that light prompted the brain to produce happy chemicals? On the heels of that thought I considered the possibility that these vampires knew exactly how walking this hallway affected a person, and that anything I saw or experienced from this moment forward was carefully crafted and not at all left to chance. We rounded a corner, and our guide paused in front of two large double doors.

"The council will see you in a moment,” she said. Then she waited.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd been before the elders in Firth twice, and it wasn't something I would want to do often. The first time I saw the elders in council was during a pan-clan meeting. Most of the clans’ Torins and Stregas, witches, had gathered at the elders’ request, an event that occurred once a decade. As Dyre, theoretically the future Torin for my clan, my father had taken me along, but I was mostly ignored. The second time I journeyed to the elders mountain had been with Bobby, but I addressed the elders alone. That had been for Bobby's necklace. I'd been very lucky. My actions had inspired everything from anger to amusement among the elders, but in the end, I won his right to a necklace.

Today's wait felt a lot like those two visits to the elders. I watched our guide but never saw or heard the signal for her to admit us. She simply opened the door in that spooky, ghost-vampire style.

"Council will meet with you now,” she said, and stepped aside to let us pass.

My steps were heavy as I followed Nathanial into the room, butterflies lifting my stomach until it pressed against my lungs. Seven or eight men and woman stood along the wall to my left, including the vampire who had attacked me earlier. I assumed they were all vampires. They studied us with looks ranging from uncertain curiosity to cautious disdain. I frowned at them as a whole, then let my gaze sweep over the rest of the room. At least there was light, though it came from a dozen or more candelabras located around the room. Like the outer waiting room, the walls were draped with layers of fabric that could have concealed anything.

Four vampires seated around an ornate dark wood table studied us from the very center of the room. Presumably they were the council. Their location screamed dominance. I was surprised to see Mama Neda seated on the right side of the table, her hair looking just as disheveled as the first time I'd met her. She still wore the hideous bracelet Nathanial had given her. Her bloodless lips cracked into a smile when she saw me looking at her, and she fingered one of the orange beads. The man sitting beside her was a couple years past his prime, with thinning red hair combed over his balding crown. He wore a terrible tweed jacket, but at least he looked saner than Mama Neda.