"But what about the shipment-"

"Go. Now," I ordered, setting their minds on fire with fear. "And don't come back here, ever." They scrambled toward their transportation. One briefly considered digging out a weapon but I chased that notion out of his head with a grisly vision of spurting blood...from his own neck. The sudden roar of the engines was annoying on such a peaceful evening, but necessary. In a short time they had faded into the distance.

I returned to Eleanor. She was standing behind the man who was to be her first victim. Her hand pushed possessively through his hair as one might pet a large dog.

"He's all yours," I said. She didn't move right away. "I remember watching Olivia...in my dungeon," she said, then licked her lips. Seeing her warming to the kill made me understand why a mortal could not deny her anything. "She tied hers up and f.u.c.ked him."

I experienced a tiny shiver of jealousy, but it pa.s.sed. As far as f.u.c.king went, she knew what she was about. It was her former business, after all. On this first kill, I would not deny her any business, or any pleasure. "Do you wish to tie him?"

Lids half closed, she stared down at her prize. "No." She brought her gaze to mine. "I want you to hold him."

Instead of angering me, the pure s.e.xual tug of the image she 'd placed in my mind caused my c.o.c.k to twitch. "Whatever you wish." I took the unfortunate's arm and raised him to his feet.

"Take this off," she ordered, pushing at the jacket he wore. He made one feeble effort to pull away; but then Eleanor began charming him, whispering how much she wanted him. She flung the jacket away. He followed in a daze as I brought him to the nearest tree. With his back to the bark, I drew his arms around the trunk so that I could hold his wrists with one hand.

Eleanor's smile was aimed at me rather than the man between us. She pulled his shirt free, baring his chest. A low moan rose from him and he began to tremble as Eleanor paused to delicately sniff his neck.

"I smell a woman on you," she said. "You've already had some fun tonight." She closed her eyes as though meditating or, heaven forbid, saying grace before a meal. Then she tsked.

Just when I thought she'd chosen a new kind of exquisite torture for us both, she surprised me.

"And you hurt her, didn't you? Like you always do." She opened her eyes, a hardness in her gaze. Her newly minted fangs were extending as she added, "So sad. But I don't believe she'll miss your...attentions."

Then she bit him.

The smell of hot blood and the strangled sounds of struggle tightened my jaw, teasing my own fangs into extending. I could hear the man's panicked heartbeat, feel his muscles straining. Hear the sucking...

After a good long drink, Eleanor drew back, her beautiful face and chest spattered with blood, strands of her hair stuck to her skin. Then, pressing herself forward, she pulled my face down into a sloppy, blood-filled kiss. I sucked at her mouth, catching the fervor of her bloodl.u.s.t. She brought us both back to his neck and I bit down for a deeper taste.

We both sucked until the frantically beating heart under his skin began to slow. I drew back.

"I thought you wanted to f.u.c.k him?" I asked, breathing hard, taking the moment to regain my composure.

She ran a hand down my belly to ma.s.sage the hardness I made no attempt to hide. With a b.l.o.o.d.y smile she said, "I'd rather f.u.c.k you." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Since the first night we met there's only been you."

Although I'd never admit it, her words produced a gratifying flush of possession in my bloodl.u.s.t. "Finish it then."

Eleanor shrugged out of her gossamer blouse and unfastened the soft skirt she was wearing, not stopping until she was naked in the firelight. The victim was too far gone to care. This show was purely for me. Humming with pleasure, she leaned into her meal again and I took the opportunity to use my free hand to arouse her further. So the running blood wouldn't go to waste, I rubbed the wetness on her nipples and between her legs. I would have sucked it off her skin if I hadn't been a.s.signed to hold the body upright.

She didn't need sucking just then, only my hands and my will. Her first o.r.g.a.s.m of the evening coincided with the final few heartbeats of her kill.

Letter from Eleanor, a Vampire Life is a b.i.t.c.h, and then you die-especially if you're unlucky enough to be born female. I'd learned that lesson early on from the men in my life-from my father, who thought his sons were masters of the universe and that daughters were useful around the house as long as they were quiet and pretty, from my first boyfriend, whom I stupidly married to get away from my father. The two of them had done their d.a.m.nedest to convince me that women were second-rate and not worth the bother. So I'd worked to help put my husband through college, not even taking the time to dream of earning my own degree. One night my prince charming came home and demanded s.e.x. When I said no, that I wasn't interested in going to bed with a sloppy drunk, he locked me in the bedroom and proceeded to show me the difference between a sloppy drunk and a mean drunk.

Screw that. While I was packing to leave the next day, I received a dozen roses and a note that said Sorry. I shoved the roses one by one down the garbage disposal, picked up my bags, and left.

My ex and my father predicted I'd come running back in a few weeks. I ran, all right, but in the opposite direction. Screw that became my motto. I already knew how to finance an education, so I chose a university and put myself through school working as a bartender with occasional extracurricular activities. I determined early on that I could trade s.e.xual tutoring with selected professors for a more "in-depth" education. One of those professors jokingly suggested I should use my MBA to run my own "tutoring"

business, and so a madam was born. To be precise, a mistress. Most people who consider themselves normal would be amazed at how many of their friends and family are willing to pay good money for a little pain. Or a lot of pain.

Most life coaches tell people to choose what they love and make it their business, and I have to agree. I found that I love serving up pain to men who go home and pretend they are the masters of their universe. And now I'm mistress of my own universe.

Four.

Jack I was in the garage kitchen, pouring myself a second cup of coffee, when my cell phone rang. I knew it was William before I unholstered it. d.a.m.n. If we talked he'd hear in my voice that I was hiding something, and then he'd use his mental mojo before I had a chance to tell him in my own way. I let it ring and waited a few minutes to see if he left a message.

"Pick up Werm and come to the house at midnight," his voice message demanded, and with that, he hung up.

I swore and snapped the lid closed on the flip phone. Had he read my mind remotely? Nah. I hollered over to Rennie that I had to go out and might not be back before closing. He waved from under the hood of a Buick, and I hopped in my Corvette.

Whatever William wanted, I hoped I could get it out of the way and get on with the nasty business of telling him how his life was about to get a whole lot more complicated. I couldn't stand the burden of the awful truth much longer. I just hoped he wouldn't decide to bite the messenger.

"I'm here for what, now?" Werm took a seat on the leather couch in William's den. I handed him a blood c.o.c.ktail in a highball gla.s.s.

"Voodoo lessons," I said. "Just watch and listen. Remember what I was telling you the other day? " I sat beside him and stretched my legs. "We've got these special powers because of the mambo blood. Powers other vampires don't have. Even William doesn't know everything we can do, and it's about time we all found out."

"In case the big, bad European vampires come for Reedrek," Werm clarified.

"Yeah. We're going to need every tool in the shed."

"What about all those other vamps coming for the big meeting? Do they have special powers, too?"

"William gave them only a little voodoo blood when they came over, and it was diluted. They 're some stronger than your average Eurovamp, but not a lot. Not like us." I could tell Werm was getting all excited about the big vampire powwow. Making the arrangements was such a big to-do that we had to round up all the help we could get. Every last one of William's employees, from the boys at the warehouse to the staff at the plantation, were helping with travel and accommodations.

Melaphia had put Werm in charge of just enough to make him feel important, and he was chomping at the bit to meet more of "his own kind," as he put it. I hated to burst his bubble, but if those high-falutin' yankee vamps looked down on Werm as much as they did me, he was going to be made to feel like a third-cla.s.s denizen of the dark-kinda like the folks in steerage on the t.i.tanic.

And with that weird getup of his, it was a lead-pipe cinch they would do just that.

Eleanor sat opposite us on a love seat. Deylaud lounged in his oh-so-lean-and-elegant human skin at her side. She sipped at a drink, her other arm draped lightly across Deylaud's back. Her long, slender fingers stroked his shoulder absently. Deylaud looked as if he was in heaven itself and didn't take his eyes off her face. He had scooted so close to her, you could barely pa.s.s a penny between them. I half wondered if he would jump onto her lap, as he sometimes did with his favorite humans, when he was in a playful, doggy mood. That would be quite a sight.

Werm propped his black leather boots on the coffee table and I gave his legs a backhanded swat. He put his feet back down on the floor.

"Were you born in a barn? I can't believe your society mama didn't teach you any manners."

"That's all she ever taught me," Werm complained. "We're vampires, for cripes sake," he said, pouting. "We're tough guys, bada.s.ses. Who needs manners?"

"We're gentlemen," William said suddenly. He swept into the room with Melaphia following close behind. William scowled when he saw Deylaud hip-to-thigh with Eleanor. "Out," he said, inclining his head toward the door.

Deylaud stood up and slowly walked out of the den. If he'd had a tail in human form, it would have been between his legs. He gave a final, mournful look in Eleanor's direction before disappearing around the corner.

Turning his attention back to Werm, William said, "Just because we're blood drinkers doesn't mean we're animals. We're an ancient, n.o.ble race. There are those of us who choose to live no better than four-footed carnivores, but that doesn't mean that we must."

"You mean like Reedrek?" Werm asked.

"Him and his ilk, yes." William crossed to the bar and poured himself a gla.s.s of blood out of the decanter. In his black turtleneck and sport coat, if the man had had a martini in his hand he could've stepped right out of a d.a.m.ned James Bond movie. "We will behave like well-bred southern gentlemen."

I thought about the dream I'd had the other night. The guy I fought was no well -bred gentleman blood drinker. I thought about telling the others about the guy, but why bother? It was only a dream, and my dreams never came true.

"Gentleman vampires?" Werm said. He drained his drink and sprang to his feet. He wore his favorite goth getup-black leather everything, rows of silver earrings in both ears, severe-tire-damage hairdo. "This is just the kind of bourgeois bulls.h.i.t I wanted to get away from when I begged you guys to make me a vampire! I want to kick some a.s.s!"

Eleanor arched a black brow. "You need someone to keep you in line."

Werm looked like he didn't know whether to get a hard-on or run for his life. "And she's just the one who can do it, son," I said.

William took a drink and pinched the bridge of his nose. If he'd had any notions of building a refined southern "family," his efforts weren't getting off to a good start.

"Don't forget your place," I said to Werm. "Now pay attention. You might learn something that could save your hide."

"I should go hang out with my real friends," he muttered. "There's a new guy who hangs out at the club and he's way cooler than you, Jack."

"Does he have a set of these?" I said, and thrust out my fangs. Werm's own fangs hadn't finished growing in yet. They were what we call baby fangs.

"Well, no," he admitted.

"Then he's not cooler than me." Werm was cowed and looked ready to do whatever I said. When we'd all settled back down, William said, "Werm-" he paused. "Lamar. You're in a unique position. As a fledgling vampire you have a chance to learn from a master vampire and a mambo priestess. If you only knew how rare an opportunity that is, perhaps you would appreciate it more. Now, if you want to be civilized, you may stay and learn. If you want to be feral, then go out on the streets and do the best you can. Until I come for you."

"I-I want to stay," Werm said, and meekly added, "Sir."

William smiled benevolently and turned to confer with Melaphia-I suppose about what they were going to teach us.

I couldn't believe how patient William was being. On the rare instances when I sa.s.sed him as a fledgling, he opened a can of whup-a.s.s on me until I learned my place. I knew what had caused his leniency. He 'd gone all "love is in the air" because of Eleanor. William finally had a mate, a companion, a true intimate, and his att.i.tude had changed for the better, even though he was still under stress because of his new political responsibilities.

Ordinarily, I'd be as pleased as a dead pig in the sunshine for the guy. But William's newfound happiness only made what I had to do that much harder. I squirmed in my seat, thinking about his potential reaction when I told him that Olivia had informed me that Diana was still alive. Talk about opening a can-what a can of worms this would be. He had just what he needed in Eleanor-a woman vampire who fascinated him, challenged him...and loved him. At last he had someone to share eternity with, someone who made him want to continue to exist when just a few months ago he was ready to pack it in for good and all.

I agreed with Olivia on one thing. I didn't have any doubt that William would drop everything he was trying to build, both with Eleanor and with the Bonaventure organization, and go to find Diana, even if he had to run off to the ends of the earth to do it.

Poor Eleanor. She'd given up her very life for him. I thought about that old saying: h.e.l.l hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Along with that heapin' helpin' of scorn, toss a fledgling vampire who didn 't know her own strength or how to wield her considerable unholy power into the Mixmaster. Lord have mercy on us all.

I had to get William aside as soon as possible, as far from Eleanor as I could get him. They'd been joined at the hip since he'd made her, and I briefly thought about asking Melaphia to help me tell him. But she and I were already b.u.t.ting heads over Connie.

Better to poke my own head into the fire.

"As you know-" William began.

"Jack can fly," Werm blurted.

William froze in midsentence. He, Melaphia, and Eleanor looked at me as if I'd grown a second head.

"What?" William said finally.

"Only a little," I said.

"I saw him!" Werm was on the edge of his seat. "He hovered over the river and fell in."

"What?" William asked again.

"I thought about what you said that night you were making Eleanor," I said. "Werm and me were talking about how some movie vampires can fly."

"Like Anne Rice's vampires," Eleanor pointed out. She seemed to be getting kind of excited about the idea, too.

Werm got a mushy look on his face. "I just looove Anne Rice."

"Me too," Eleanor gushed. "And many of my clients really love her work. I mean, a lot. And not just the vampire stuff, but, you know, her other work." I leaned forward. "Tell me more."

"Focus, people!" William closed his eyes and sighed. "What happened. Exactly."

"Like I said, I told Werm about you saying we need to explore our abilities. And then we were talking about what vampires in the books and movies can do, like fly, for example. So I figured I would try it. I mean, you don't know if you don't try, right?"

"Right," William agreed, watching me now.

"So I climbed onto the roof of the boathouse and jumped off. And, you know, concentrated, sort of. And I hovered for a few seconds. And then Werm yelled or something and it broke my concentration."

William rubbed his chin. "Continue."

"And then I fell into the river."

"You are the man, Jack," Eleanor remarked.

"I told him he should practice," Werm put in. "Who knows how good he could get if he worked at it?"

William thought for a moment. "Werm's right. You should try to develop that skill. You two are on the right track. We need to discover our strengths. And weaknesses."

When William said the word weaknesses, all eyes turned to Werm.

"Why's everybody looking at me?" he asked defensively.

Melaphia's nose twitched. "What about you, Lamar? Have you discovered any special talents of your own?" she asked.

"Yeah, how's that X-ray vision?" I chuckled. "Were you able to see through any T-shirts on Tybee, lover boy?"

If Werm had still been human, I think he would have blushed, but it 's hard for vampires to blush. Blushing is just not an undead thing. Werm did something a lot more interesting than that.

He turned transparent.

It was a lot like how Shari had looked when she'd appeared in the vault after Eleanor was made. Kind of smoky and filmy.

Insubstantial, you might say. "That's a pretty good trick right there," I said.

"What?" Werm asked.