From what I could tell, she and Lysander were old friends. A loving smile stretched across his face as he and the strange woman talked. They spoke freely with one another, a drastic contrast to the anger and attitude Lysander had displayed with Edmond. A small pang of jealousy nagged me as I watched them interact.
“I understand you, too, have a new fledgling,” the strange woman said.
Lysander looked up, finally acknowledging me. He waved for me to come over and join the conversation. “Here she is now…” He pointed as the woman turned to greet me.
“This is Alyssa.”
The woman was beautiful, a brunette with milky white skin. Her gorgeous blue-gray eyes sparkled at me as she gave me a small, delighted smile.
“Pleasure to meet you, Alyssa.” Her voice was soft, carrying hints of a long-faded English ac-cent. “My name is Rozaline.” She held a hand out to me in greeting.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, a little too excitedly, while shaking her hand. It was so good to meet another friendly vampire after our previous encounter with Edmond.
“Rozaline is a member of the Peregrinus clan, and a longtime friend of mine.”
“The Peregrinus?” I asked. “Who are they?”
“Travelers,” said Rozaline. “Nomads, to put it simply. We are a family of wanderers.”
Lysander ushered us to the dining room table, continuing his chat with Rozaline as if I weren’t there.
It bothered me a little, watching Lysander pay attention to Rozaline. His focus was solely on her. He hung on her every word. There was respect there, a reverence of some kind. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was definitely a connection between these two. Jealousy threatened to flare up inside of me. I fought against the wicked sensation. The kiss still lingered in my mind. I needed to shut it out so I could pay attention to what was being said.
She told Lysander of her own encounters with Kallisto’s coven and her recent travels. I sat listening quietly, enthralled by the tales Rozaline told of her travels. We learned that Kallisto had only just arrived here, having moved from California a few months ago and set up her home in the newly built high-rise towers near the north end of the Strip. Her coven had grown to almost fifty, and she was busy sending her messengers all over the city to seek out local vampires and gain their allegiance.
“She can’t be serious. In this day and age … trying to control an entire city!” Lysander said.
“She is one of the oldest among us,” Rozaline replied.
“Yes, old,” Lysander snapped. “But not very smart if she thinks she can bully a city into following her.”
“She commands a large coven. Her strength is in her numbers, and I’m sure no one in this city wants to challenge her. Alone, she might be weak; but as it stands, she has too many backing her. And many lone vampires would rather join ranks with a coven of her caliber anyway.”
“Large covens don’t work, and taking over a city—that’s just ludicrous.” Lysander’s voice rose sharply. “We are not meant to be a communal people to that degree. The more we try to organize our kind, the more problems we create.”
He stood up, shaking his head, and paced around the table. “Look at what has happened every time a group has tried to control a city or grown too strong in ranks. Rome, Paris, London—none of these cities could ever support our kind in such large numbers. If we aren’t fighting amongst ourselves, we are drawing too much attention from the human population.”
I remembered Lysander’s story, and how his coven had split so many times due to internal conflicts.
He slammed his fist down on the table, causing me to jump in my seat. “And what of the Acta Sanctorum? An amassing of immortals like this in one place has to have alerted them!”
Rozaline sat stiffly in her seat. Lysander’s frustration, it seemed, put us all on edge. “The last I heard, they were recalled to Rome. The Saints haven’t been noticeably active lately. In fact, we haven’t heard news of any hunts at all this year.”
Lysander grimaced. He spoke through clenched teeth. “That only means they are planning their next attack.” He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “They have never been inactive for long without good reason, and I can guarantee, when they do finally attack, it will be big.”
“Let’s hope for your sake that Kallisto hasn’t brought too much attention to herself or this city,” said Rozaline. “You might be forced to move again.”
I eagerly listened to the back-and-forth between these two immortals, a little confused about the connection between Kallisto and the Acta Sanctorum.
“My apologies, Alyssa,” Rozaline said, halting her conversation with Lysander. “You are young. You probably have no idea what we are talking about. Do you know of the Saints?”
“Not really.” I shook my head. “Lysander’s only mentioned them briefly.”
“Well, to start,” Rozaline said, “they are a secret order of the Roman Catholic Church. They seek out and destroy anything that is deemed
Unnatural
. Their Church, as do most organized religions, feel we are all evil. They are ruthless and use any method possible to locate and destroy us.”
I shuddered. Her revelation was abrupt and shocking. Despite all of our strength, there was a group of humans out there that could destroy us. Lysander had made it sound like we were relatively safe from humans.
Rozaline leaned in close, crossing her legs under the table. “We think they started sometime around the 14th or 15th century. Rome’s Church started a crusade against the Unnatural, as they called us, and began forming groups to hunt us down. They quickly learned of our weakness to sunlight and fire, using those methods to destroy us. Our homes came under attack in the daylight. They set them ablaze in an effort to get rid of us. Eventually, they learned that fire alone wouldn’t kill us if we were able to put it out before it engulfed us. They began dismembering the remains of any bodies left over from the fires they set. They studied us to learn all they could about our kind.”
I cringed.
“Remember, we are considered monsters to them,” Lysander added as he sat back down. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back into the chair.
“And that’s not the end of it.” Rozaline’s voice became low and serious. “Rome realized long ago that in order to successfully fight a vampire, one must be a vampire. Our weaknesses are few and hard to exploit. Most mortals lack the strength and ability to subdue us. Those that manage to attack us do so with great skill, meticulously planning their strategies. But simply attacking our homes during the day isn’t always enough to get rid of us. Rome recognized quite a few centuries ago that to eradicate us, they needed to fight us on the same level.”
“But wait,” I held up a hand to stop her. “If immortal creatures are condemned by the church, how could they use them to fight us?”
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” Rozaline scoffed. “Rome makes its own rules. I’m sure those willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good are told they will be guaranteed pardons in heaven. So long as they do the Church’s bidding.”
“So there are vampires hunting vampires,” I said, shocked by the revelation.
“A few. Rome wouldn’t be stupid enough to have more than they could handle,” said Rozaline.
“But we kill to survive. The church couldn’t condone that,” I said.
“No doubt they starve themselves on the blood of animals until they catch one of us.” She pointed to herself. “We are their rewards for a job well done. They feast on immortal blood.”
The room fell silent. I bit my lip, almost piercing it with my fang. I realized that anyone could be my enemy; between vampire covens and Saints, I wasn’t sure who, if anyone, I should trust.
“Remember this, Alyssa,” Rozaline cautioned, breaking the silence. “If they don’t know you’re here, they won’t hunt you. Keep your profile low, and they will have no reason to attack.”
“If there were no covens, we would have less to worry about,” Lysander added. “It’s much harder to track down and destroy an individual immortal than it is a whole group of them, parading themselves around publicly like Kallisto’s group is doing. ”
“Speaking of groups, Lysander.” Rozaline spoke again with a hint of anxiety in her voice. “As I mentioned when I called earlier this week, the Peregrinus will only be in town for a short while, and we need shelter for a few days. Is it possible for us to stay with you?”
Her timing was terrible. All of this talk of not giving away your home location and keeping a low profile; now she’s asking to bring her whole group to stay with us?
“Of course,” Lysander said, without giving it a second thought. “I have two other bedrooms—although they are unfurnished—that are at your clan’s disposal.”
What? No. What if the Acta guys are following them?
I shot Lysander a worried look, but he paid me no attention. I couldn’t understand how he could just let some strange group of vampires stay here after the conversation we’d just had.
“What of the windows? Are they covered? Is there some form of light protection in there?”
Who cares about windows? What about the coven, Kallisto, and the Saints?
Lysander got up from the table. With a wave of his hand, he suggested we follow him to the hallway.
“Yes, all of my windows have UV tinting film on them and blackout curtains. You will be well protected from the sun’s light. Come and have a look.”
Rozaline followed, remaining close to him. I chose not to go with them as they disappeared into the spare bedrooms.
I didn’t like the idea of strangers in this house, and this woman was preparing to bring her whole clan here.
“This is a bad idea,” I said under my breath.
When they returned from their short tour of the house, Rozaline left us to gather her clan. “I’ll return with them before dawn.”
“Wonderful. That will give us time to hunt.” Lysander waved goodbye to Rozaline.
I saw this as a perfect opportunity to have some alone time for myself. “Why don’t I go out tonight… by myself? You can fix up the house for the clan’s arrival while I’m gone.” I was still a bit embarrassed about what happened earlier and didn’t want to be alone with Lysander.
“You’re not ready to hunt alone,” he said dismissively.
I sighed.
You have to let me off the leash sometime
. “I’m ready to hunt without someone looking over my shoulder.”
“We don’t have time to argue about this tonight. Rozaline and the rest of her clan will return soon. We can leave this fight for another time.”
“I don’t understand why you’re letting Rozaline’s whole group stay here. Didn’t you just say we have to keep a low profile? How are we supposed to do this with a huge group of vampires running in and out of this house?”
“Don’t worry about the Peregrinus. They will not be a problem.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Must you constantly question my judgment? I trust Rozaline. That is all you need to know.”
“But what about the rest of her group? Do you trust them too? How do you know one of them won’t do something stupid, or bring those Acting Sanctorum people here?”
“The Peregrinus and I have a longstanding history. And they would no sooner bring the Acta Sanctorum here than I would. I worry more about you alerting them than Rozaline and her family doing so.”
Heat rose to my face. This was clearly a losing battle. I groaned and threw my hands up in frustration.
Obviously, my opinion doesn’t matter here.
“I need some space, okay? Just let me hunt alone tonight.”
“Alyssa, I said no. Not tonight. You will either hunt with me, or you will starve. Make your choice.”
“Fine. Let’s go before they come back,” I grumbled
. I better not have to spend the rest of my immortality being treated like a child.
Reluctantly, I left with Lysander. I tried to focus my efforts on the hunt and use my new skills, but there were too many thoughts running through my mind. No matter how much I tried to shut it out, I kept thinking of the kiss.
Even though I was frustrated by how Lysander was treating me, there was still an attraction there. Every time I looked at him, I thought about the softness of his lips.
Needless to say, my hunting trip that night wasn’t much of a success.
We had only just arrived back at Lysander’s house when Rozaline returned with five others.
“Alyssa, allow me to introduce the Peregrinus to you,” she said happily.
They looked like a scruffy band of misfits. I wondered how long it had been since their last shower. They all were in need of serious grooming. They filed one by one out of a big, dirty RV, smiling and holding out a hand in friendship, and introducing themselves as they passed me.
Nicholas passed me first. He was a man of average height, perhaps no taller than five foot nine. Rozaline introduced him to me as her mate. He had a weathered, mountain man look to him; dark brown wavy hair —matted from lack of grooming. He had a prominent nose, and his chin was cleft and almost hidden by a permanent five o’clock shadow.
Lysander stepped out in front of me to greet him. “Old friend, how are you?” He embraced Nicholas, patting him hard on the back.
“Tired, and in need of a shower,” Nicholas said. “It’s been a long drive.”
“Yes, you could do with a shower,” Lysander joked, “but first let me introduce you to Alyssa.”
Nicholas looked to me with tired eyes.
“Nicholas is one of the founders of this clan,” Lysander said enthusiastically. It was the most excitement I had seen from Lysander since I’d met him. I guessed these two men were old buddies.
“Nice to meet you, Nick,” I said feigning interest. Lysander’s excitement wasn’t enough to change my mind. After all that I had heard about the Saints, from Rozaline, I didn’t want any of these strangers here.
“I prefer, Nicholas,” he said gruffly.
“Sorry, Nicholas.”
Great, he’s a jerk. I hope they don’t stay long.
“Don’t mind him,” Rozaline interrupted. “We haven’t hunted in a few days. His attitude will change once he is cleaned and has had a chance to feed.”
Nicholas shuffled past me into the house.