"What the fuck is wrong with you, lady?" Asa chokes out. "Let me down!"
I drop him back to the floor, but it's not all that far because he's taller than me to begin with.
"Asa, this is the moment you've read about in history books."
He's rubbing his neck and glaring at me. Like I care. The finger marks heal before my eyes. I knew they wouldn't last long.
"What have I done? What brought this on?" His righteous indignation comes through with every crisp word.
"Nothing, darling. Did you really think I'd let you into every aspect of my security on Cy's say so?" I begin to pace around him, forcing him to turn and face me or risk having me at his back.
"I thought Cy was your friend?" His voice sounds a little squeaky. "I'm not sure what the hell is going on. What books are you talking about?"
Do young people today not read about vassals swearing fealty to a lord? Idiots. I finish the first circle and start again. I forgot how much fun it could be to mess with someone. Energy pulses under my skin and the tiny hairs lift on my nape. "He is my friend. I hold friends at arm's length, at best. I haven't lived this long by being stupid."
"I'm not here trying to insult your intelligence," he says. "I'm here to help solve a murder!"
Good, he's starting to sound ruffled. Which is exactly what I want.
"Are you so ignorant that you have not learned the ways of our world when going from one powerful vampire master to another?"
"What?!" He stops for a second and his eyes roll around the room before he responds, with a slightly calmer voice, "No, I guess I haven't."
"You are here, within my walls and you want to know my secrets."
Honestly, I am being a bit of a bitch here. Until I realized I had to show him all aspects of our security and the property, it hadn't occurred to me that there was no going back. Now I'm messing with him because the decision has been made.
"I come with the best of intentions," he says. "What do I need to do to prove it?"
"Did Cy release you from your bond before you got on the plane?"
"Yes! It was a precaution he said...in case..." The light dawns in his eyes and I can see he gets it.
Rafe interrupts in my mind. Dria! Is this what you truly want?
We passed the point of no return when he got off that plane. Sorry, darling, he's just too damn smart and observant. Are you okay with it?
You know this was what I wanted. You should know the answer.
I return to Asa's question on what he needs to do to prove his intentions, but I'm sure it is not what he thought he'd hear so early on in his stay. "You need to answer formally to my next question. And think carefully before you respond."
I take a deep breath, stop my circular pacing, and pull myself up to my full height.
My power pushes out from my inner cage and knocks the unsuspecting young vampire back on his heels. It wraps around his body and then straightens him up, against his will. His voice screeches out in a high-pitched whine of fear.
"Fucking A! What the hell is that? Is that you?"
It's kind of funny to see this muscle-bound, shaved head, badass-military guy getting flustered. Damn, wish I had more time to play. Did Asa know what Cy got him into when he got on that plane? Poor thing, I doubt it. Best to make the most of it now.
Rafe, come down to witness, please.
I hear a clattering of steps on the floor above. Rafe comes leaping down the steps and skitters to a halt a few feet from us.
"Didn't miss the good part yet, did I?" He has a gleam in his eye.
Damn him, he's enjoying this too. More vampires mean a safer seethe, and Rafe will sleep better at night knowing these vamps have our back.
"No," I reply. "The good part is coming up." I flex my power and Asa's body twitches forward.
"Will you give your life to serve and protect your new Vampire Master, Vivian Alexandria Ceara McAndrews, and place the needs of the seethe above your own?" I wait a moment to let that dramatic bit seep in.
I stand square, with my hands at my sides. Exerting more power, I force the young vampire to his knees. Is this display really necessary? I think so and I'm not willing to take any chances. Revealing my true age shows him the scope of my power, but not the deadly one of vampire mind control that I always hide. I think it's a safe compromise for now.
Stepping forward, I extend my left arm out and the nails of my right hand come to rest on my wrist. I lock gazes with Asa and raise an eyebrow. "Do you not know what comes next, my dear?"
Asa swallows, shifts his eyes to my wrist. "Just like this? You're willing to take me in already?" He starts to stammer. "I...I'm confused. I thought it would take longer."
"I'm sorry, but you really left me no option when you wanted to stay at the main building. I knew that in order for you to help solve the murder you would need to know everything. Staying here, as opposed to one of the cabins, meant you would need to know all our secrets built into this hotel. If you knew them all, I can't allow you to leave."
The truth of my words sinks in. I can tell he's mulling the prospect over in his mind. "What if I say no?" he inquires.
Little bugger is testing me now. If he says no, I really only have two options-kill him or wipe his mind and send him back to Cy. But he doesn't know that last one is a possibility.
"If you say no, I ask you to leave. After all, you haven't seen anything yet. Just a door in a basement."
I know what he wants, deep inside. My touch in the grotto revealed all. He's wondering about my motives. Too damn bad. I don't need to explain myself to the likes of him.
"How old are you?" His voice is calmer now, more controlled.
"Answer my question first, and no more dilly-dallying."
He bows his head, and his body loses the tension he had when I first unleashed my aura. He appears more accepting and certain about his choice. I rein my power back in and free him from my hold. He remains on his knees of his own free will, looking up at me a bit with his head still angled downward.
"I am honored to give my life for yours. I gladly accept the offer to enter the McAndrews seethe. I understand that one may only leave by death or by leave from the master. I am bound to you by blood and dishonored with penalty of death if I fail in my duty to protect."
I rip my nails down across my wrist, thrusting the arm forward as I do so. I state the expected archaic response: "Drink the rewards of your place within the seethe. Take some of my power to increase your own."
My blood wells up in the gash I've made, holding at the torn edges, but refusing to spill and drip to the ground. The air fills with the strong scent of my powerful blood. Asa's head comes up, quick as a wink, and his eyes go black with need.
I move closer so my wrist will be at his mouth, while signaling with my eyes that it's okay to drink. He reaches out and grasps my forearm to hold me in place, lowering his mouth to the jagged wound.
Rafe's voice cuts across the tension of the moment. "I hereby bear witness to the newest addition of the seethe and will report it to the tribunal record keeper."
Asa's lips lock onto my wrist, drawing in with a healthy pull of force. He coaxes out as much blood as he can before the cut heals. I feel his teeth nibble slightly at the flesh, trying to get out more before I refuse. These young ones are always so damn greedy.
Guessing he's had about an ounce or so, I pull my half-healed wrist away from his mouth. He looks longingly at the skin as it knits back together, and he lets out a sigh as it closes. "That was unbelievable. I still have no idea how old you are, but I do know you're the oldest I have met."
I rub at the skin in an offhanded manner. It freaks me out a little to have someone other than Rafe bite me. Good God, it's been so long, I forgot this part. Damned if I'm going to have to do this every month. Sheesh, a part of me thinks it would be easier to kill him when this is all said and done.
I look over at Rafe, who's smiling from ear to ear. He knows exactly what I'm thinking, but he's so darn happy he got his way that he isn't saying a word.
Rafe strides forward and smacks a palm on the back of Asa's shoulder. "Welcome to the family. Ready for that tour yet?"
His shit-eating grin makes me want to smack him, but I manage to hold back.
The full force of my blood works its way into Asa's system and he looks like a giddy school-boy.
"This is so fucking cool, man, I haven't felt anything like this since I smoked some hash in Amsterdam once when I was on leave." He jumps up from the basement floor in one swift movement. "Wow, I feel... feel... so ALIVE." He rushes forward and wraps me up in a big ol' bear hug, lifting my feet off the floor. "Damn, you're the best!"
His body is hard, all of it, every long inch. Yikes. The energy rolls off him in waves, the feel of his cheek on mine, it is all rather disconcerting. He brushes up against my ear, "It's you're turn now, right?"
Asa tilts his head and exposes his neck to me. I will not exchange blood with him. Guess I should have clarified that part first. He needs to redirect this rush of power, but not at me.
"Down, boy." My tone is firm, but he doesn't move. "Seriously, put me down. Now."
Asa lowers me to the concrete and takes a step back, confusion clear on his features. "I don't understand. Don't you want to seal the bond?"
"I do not require you to give me your blood." My voice comes out cool.
"Why not?"
"I refuse to take your will and make you my servant. I do not need to compel you to serve and protect. You will do so purely for the strength you gain in having my blood."
"I'm not sure I understand."
Ah, he's so young. The fool, he's lucky he made it out of the Middle East alive and not serving the vampire who turned him for all eternity.
"Do you know what a servant is, Asa?"
"You mean when a human and vampire exchange blood? Yes, of course I do."
"The bond compels the human to want to protect and serve the vampire." He's looking at me with his eyebrows raised. I don't think he gets it. "The human has no inner desire to kill the vampire because of this bond."
"Yeah, so?"
"When a young vampire exchanges blood with a master vampire, he or she becomes their servant. It's a life insurance policy to ensure as you gain in power, you don't try to usurp the throne, so to speak."
"Is that what you meant by 'take my will'?" I nod. "Does it have any other effect?"
Rafe snorts, "Don't you think that 'protect and serve' covers enough?"
I have a flash of insight. "Cy didn't drink from you did he?"
"No, but I wouldn't have hurt him."
Rafe shakes his head and heads for the stairs. "You're his wife's nephew. He knew that, you dumbass." My lover tosses over his shoulder to me as he takes the steps three at a time, "I'll let you finish down here and I'll get back to doing the bills."
I head over to the workbench, leaning back against it again. Examining Asa from head to toe, I'm glad to see his erection is gone. Although it's a normal response to ingesting old vampire blood, it's best not to dwell on it too much. I'll pretend I never knew it was there to begin with. "How are you feeling with the blood?"
"Like I could fly! It's fucking extraordinary, you should bottle that shit."
Thinking of the half dozen vials already bottled and chilling in the mini-fridge on the third floor, I smile. "Yeah, good idea."
The intelligence I saw in this young vampire's face earlier in the lobby creeps back in and his look becomes shrewd. "I've asked three times now, are you going to tell me how old you are?"
"I'm over five hundred and fifty years old, but my exact age doesn't matter that much." I don't bother to mention that my power feels much, much older. It's a result of all the vampires I drained as an enforcer and the darker time before that as well. I'm not really sure how old I actually "feel" to one who can read power well. Perhaps well over a thousand years, though I've never asked anyone.
"Criminy, you look damn good for your age." He tosses a cute grin my way. Crap. I had hoped we could ignore the arousal part.
"Well, I'm married, and that is that. Nothing will ever come of our bond, so look elsewhere, capisce?"
He steps back a bit, like he's surprised. "Little full of yourself, eh? I was just saying you look good. I wasn't inviting a roll in the hay."
I can't help it-I toss my head back and laugh. The sound peals from my throat in a lyrical rush. God, I needed that. He wants to salvage his pride over the raging boner, and that's fine by me. I've got no issue with playing it that way.
I collect my decorum once more and wipe the tears from my eyes. "So sorry about that. Want to see the rest of the basement now? You can drill me for info as we go, 'kay?"
Walking off in the direction of the open wall, I don't bother to wait for confirmation. I hear his heavy, booted feet march behind me. I hit the lights as I enter through the opening and wait for the reaction I know is soon to follow.
"Holy shit! This basement runs under the entire first floor?" His voice sounds incredulous and I sneak a look back at him. Yup, his face mirrors it.
"Yes, it does. The north wing too. You just can't see that angle from here."
The space opens up before us, interspersed with support columns every twenty feet or so. Asa walks past me to move further into the basement under the hotel. "Why haven't you divided it up into rooms?"
"My blood has made you stronger for now, and maybe a little less sensitive, but it is below grade down here. That would be a bitch to keep heated. And besides, we have storage rooms. There is no need to keep things down here. This area is unknown to all except Rafe, Jonathan, myself...and now you."
I wait for a response but Asa wanders further in as though oblivious. He spots the first ladder descending from the ceiling and looks from it to the one past it, about twenty-five feet down, and then to the next. "Where do these ladders go?"
"They are escape routes. Every room has an access door in a closet, linked to the one above it on the next floor. All come straight down to here." I'm quite pleased with the design, but he seems unimpressed. Maybe it is all a bit much to take in at once.
I've got a lot to cover, so I continue on. "There are tunnels leading from this foundation to other locations on the property." I walk over to one of the access doors spaced between the first and second ladder. "Six in all. This one leads to cabin one. I've got a map of the resort for you upstairs. I recommend you walk around later and explore the outside before you venture through the tunnels. Safer that way, so you know where you are when you come up."
Asa takes it all in, resting his hand on the first ladder and looking around at the vast space. It goes on and on for several hundred feet.
"How? How did the workers do all of this?"
"Dynamite, fires, drilling machinery, and back-breaking work. You name it, they probably used it."
"The time it must have taken..." His voice holds a note of awe and he has a shell-shocked look to him.
Ah, now I see where we're going with this. He's still so young and has only been undead for a year. It must be a bit hard to grasp when you haven't been around something of this magnitude before.
"Yes, it took over a decade just to get the foundation done," I tell him. "Building this place took longer than any of my previous resorts, but it's a lot larger too. This one was meant to last."
Asa nods his head as he walks into the middle of the wide foundation and stands near a thick support beam. "This is where I'd like to build a command center."
"Excuse me, a what?" He's switched gears so fast I don't know where this last statement came from.
He starts to walk off and pace the area available, turning in sharp angles every now and then, and gesturing with his arms. "Here, down in the basement. I told you I wanted to be in this main building and when we beef up the security, this is where it will all be linked."
"Umm... I don't recall offering this space."
He flashes me a toothy smile. "Would you rather have it up in one of the guest rooms? Or we take out the dojo? Doesn't look like there are a lot of options."
Damn, he's right. I still don't appreciate the high-handedness he's showing. I never designed a security system into the plans, yes, that's true. They weren't popular in the eighties when I got the ball rolling on this place. We added on the observation rooms in the nineties and until now, with the murder, extra security hasn't seemed necessary.
"We'll talk about it." He says.
Oh good, another person with whom I have to "clear" things. It took so long to get things right with Rafe, I don't relish the thought of having to discuss logistics with yet another person.
I check my watch. "It's close to ten-fifteen and I've got to meet with someone at eleven. Let me give you a quick walk-through of the second floor and then you can take the map and explore on your own."
I'm not looking forward to tea with Olivia. I wish I had kept my mouth shut on an invite. Teaching her how to attract a vampire and become his servant? What the hell was I thinking?