Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (12 page)

Reid
placed the laptop on the coffee table and waved his hand noncommittally before powering it up. “It’s nothing at all. We aren’t booked to capacity until next week. The majority of the spring breakers don’t arrive until mid-March. After that this place will be a madhouse.” He typed something on the keys, then smiled warmly. “Well…I’d like to begin by welcoming you both. I expect the two of you have plenty of questions and I’m fully prepared to answer them for you. But for the time being, why don’t we start with the basics. I’d like to get a little information from you if you don’t mind. We’ll start with you, sir. May I have your full name, please?”

“Julian Radley Winter.” Julian rested his arm on the back of the sofa behind Eva.

“Did you say
Bradley?
”

“Radley. No ‘
B
’.”

“Is this your given name?”

“I have no aliases, if that’s what you want to know.”

Reid entered
this information. “Age of rebirth?”

“Twenty-three.”

“And how many years have you been in your present condition?”

“Thirty.”

“Oh yes, that’s right. Kendall told me that. Let’s see…I already have your address…I think that’s all I need for now, thank you. Now you, miss.”

“Evangeline Rowan Spencer, age twenty.”

“Twenty. Damn, such a young age.” He typed as he spoke. “I personally was twenty-nine. You know, you’re the third youngest in our group in terms of human years.”

“Am I?” She wasn’t sure what to say to that. Was it a compliment, a chastisement or simply a statement of fact?

“Marco is nineteen and the Szapiro girl - oh hell, what is her name - Halina, that’s it…she’s only fifteen. Not a good age for the transformation, but she hasn’t caused any trouble, so…” He shrugged.

“What makes you think she would cause trouble?” Eva wanted to know.

“Inexperience, in a nutshell. Someone her age normally wouldn’t exercise proper restraint, or possess the ability to hunt undetected. Fortunately the Fieldings offered to take her in. That arrangement has worked out so far. The Fieldings, by the way, are currently our only married couple. I understand the two of you are engaged?”

“We are,” Julian replied coolly. His expression was unreadable.

“May I offer my congratulations. Are you planning on remaining in Oregon?”

“For as long as possible, yes.”

“Nice area, Mount Hood. Little too much snow for my taste though. I prefer the sun. Well, how about one more question and then quid pro quo. Do either of you possess any special skills or talents?”

“Like what?” Eva glanced at Julian, wondering why he was so quiet.

“Any unique abilities.”

Julian hesitated for a moment
, then apparently seeing no harm in disclosing this particular information informed him, “I have dominion over animals.”

Reid seemed
interested. “All of them?”

“All that I’ve come in contact with thus far.”

“Fascinating. So you’re saying then, if you were to step out on the balcony right now you could persuade one of the gulls to come to you?”

“I could. As could you.”

“Me?”

“Of course. All you need is a piece of bread.”

Mortified, Eva bit her lip to stifle a nervous giggle. What on earth had gotten into Jules? She was used to his dry humor, but this stranger could get the wrong idea and think he was trying to be a smartass. And who knew - maybe he was. She’d never seen him behave so rudely.

But Reid seemed to take it all in stride, merely
smiling mildly. “Good point.” He turned his attention to Eva. “And you, young lady?”

She flushed, feeling suddenly inadequate. “Not that I know of.”

“Well, it’s still early in the game for you. And it’s really a moot point,” he assured her. “Just something I like to keep track of. You never know when one of these skills might render itself useful.”

“What about you?” she couldn’t help asking, curiosity getting the better of her. “Can you do anything unique?”

He closed the laptop. “I am quite the master of illusion, if you’ll forgive my immodesty.”

Flummoxed, she caught Julian’s eye and he
shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t have a clue either.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

The broad grin was back, and as she sat there waiting to hear his explanation she suddenly found herself gazing not at the dark-haired vampire, but at Julian instead. Startled, she whipped her head sideways to see Jules still beside her, a look of shock on his normally inscrutable face.

There were two of him!

“Holy shit,” she breathed, awestruck.

In an instant, Reid had reappeared and his
azure eyes glittered with amused self-satisfaction.

She felt
Julian’s arm tighten protectively around her. “Don’t do that again,” he said sharply.

“I apologize if I offended you. But the lady wanted a demonstration and being a true southern gentleman, I was obliged to comply.” His voice was smooth as melted butter, but there was a challenge in the saccharine tone that Eva knew wouldn’t
go unnoticed. She squirmed uncomfortably, searching for something to say.

“That
was…creepy,” was all she come up with.

“I find it comes in handy.” He and Julian were
locked eye to eye.

Change the subject.
“Tell us about the others,” she proposed.

Her request
served its purpose. Distracted, Reid focused on her once again. “There are thirty-two in our circle now, yourselves included. Twenty-seven males and five females.”

“
Thirty-two? That’s
it?
” This was a little surprising. Somehow she’d expected more - a lot more.

“We’re a very select group. You should count yoursel
ves fortunate to have joined our ranks.”

“Well…will we be meeting the others?”

“No, not unless a situation comes up where I find it necessary.” He drummed his fingers on the laptop. “You see, as the elder it’s my responsibility to ensure that we remain undetected, not just with the humans but with each other. Kendall and I are the only ones who have access to the names and locations of each individual in our group. You won’t be given any information regarding the others, and in turn your privacy will be respected as well.”

That
sounded odd. “But how come? I mean, why would it matter?”

Reid stroked his lips with an index finger. His eyes wandered down the length of her body, then back up to her face. “Well, young miss, we tend not to get along. As your
elementary school teacher might say, we don’t play well with others.” He glanced at Julian, then returned his attention to her. “Male vampires are not only extremely aggressive but territorial as well. I’m afraid we have a tendency to fight amongst ourselves, barbaric as it seems. It’s simply in our nature.”

“Tristan didn’t seem very confrontational,” she
pointed out, and was startled by his contemptuous burst of laughter.

“Tristan Kendall is a rare exception. He’s
in what you might call a…class of his own.”

“How so?”

“Couldn’t you tell?” Shaking his head at her confused expression, he revealed, “He’s gay. Queer as a three dollar bill. You didn’t pick up on that?”

“U
m…oh.” Eva stared down at her knees, embarrassed.

“
I’ve known him for a long time…guess I just assumed it was obvious to everyone else. Maybe it isn’t, I don’t know. Anyway, makes no difference to me.”

Julian suddenly spoke, his voice quiet but authoritative. “You’ve
stated that you’re the eldest among us. May I ask just how old you are?”

“I was born in 1897. My father and I were actually bootleggers in this area
back in the twenties, before my transformation in ’26.” There was pride in his admission.

“
1926? And you’re telling me there are none older than you?” The disbelief in Julian’s tone was evident. “Our legends date back countless years…how can you
possibly
be the oldest living vampire?”

“As I stated before, we don’t get along well with one another. Simply put, we fight. As uncivilized as it may be, that’s what happened to the majority.
This is why I prefer to keep everyone spread out. And then, of course, there are the others…those who become so disillusioned with endless life that they choose to end it.”

“How could they possibly do that?” Eva wondered.

“Well, they can’t, not alone. A suicidal fanger has to recruit the assistance of another. Given our violent nature, it’s not a request that’s usually denied.”

She pondered this. Personally she felt no antagonism whatsoever toward
s the man before her. Julian, on the other hand, seemed particularly defensive. Her mind wandered to the ancient dagger. Without it, could she have managed to destroy Edan? “How is it done?”

“
Decapitation, of course. Surely your fiancé was already aware of that.”

Then the dagger wasn’t the only means of destruction, after all.
“This aggressive nature…is it limited to males?”

“It does appear to be,” Reid confirmed. “Over the years I’ve learned to control my hostility. In my position, it’s imperative that I remain diplomatic.” His gaze traveled to Julian. “Perhaps now would be a good time to review the laws.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed.

“There must be
regulation,” Reid explained, looking apologetic. “Believe me, these laws aren’t put in place as some tyrannical way of asserting my dominance. They’re for the common good, and we all must abide by them.”

Julian conceded, nodding.

“There are only two. But please, if you listen to nothing else I say you should remember this. Disregard for either of these two laws demands the severest penalty. Now, first and foremost…secrecy. This is sacrosanct. At no time and under no circumstances will any of us reveal ourselves to any human - friend, relative or otherwise - unless, of course, you plan on disposing of them. In which case it doesn’t matter.” He gave each of them a probing look. “I assume this won’t be a problem?”

“No problem,” Julian said, conspicuously keeping his eyes from meeting Eva’s. She thought of Lainie, but kept quiet.

“I can’t stress this enough to you. Obviously you, Winter, having lived with this for thirty years, you’ve managed to keep yourself out of the public eye. This might prove somewhat more difficult for you, Miss Spencer. You no doubt have living relatives and the temptation might arise. Do not give in to it.” His warning was stern. “The repercussions would be most unpleasant.”

She nodded,
wetting her lips nervously.

“Second item…population control. We need to keep our numbers down, for obvious reasons. It is absolutely forbidden to induct a new member into our circle without my
personal permission.” His gaze fell again on Julian. “Of course, you wouldn’t have known that when you brought this lovely young lady over. So we’ll let this one slide.”

“It wasn’t
his
fault,” Eva blurted. “I mean…it was an accident.”

Reid
studied her with interest. “Is that right?”

Desperately she looked over at Jules, wondering if she’d said the wrong thing.

“My blood saved her,” he explained calmly. “She was murdered, but not by my hand.”

“I see.” His probing eyes once again fell on
Julian, and the curiosity in them was apparent. “Let me ask you something, Winter. Kendall mentioned that the one who created you was no longer around. Just what became of him…or her?”

Julian wordlessly drew a finger across his throat.

“Fair enough. Well…as far as statutes go, that’s just about the extent of it. I do request that you let me know before relocating, but you’re free to live anyplace that suits you. Most of us reside within the United States, though not all. Feel free to travel abroad as much as you like. Hell, I encourage it - especially if you prefer to kill your prey after feeding. I have no problem with that so long as you clean up after yourselves. Humans are here for our personal enjoyment, after all. Do with them what you will…just be discreet.”

Humans are here for our personal enjoyment?
Eva couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had he forgotten that he was once human himself? The careless way he spoke about murder was chilling. She was grimly reminded of Julian’s behavior, not so long ago.

Reid was reaching into the back pocket of his khakis. “
Did Kendall already give you one of my cards?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Producing one from his wallet, he handed it to Julian. “If you ever have need of new documents - birth certificates, social security cards, medical records, et cetera, just let one of us know and we’ll hook you up. Call me anytime. I’m at your disposal.”

“Thank you.”

“Do either of you have any more questions?”