Blood Bound

"Stefan says that the biggest problem is self-control." Rachel said, ignoring Naomi. "Vampires are predators. They kill things."

Naomi nodded. "A lot of them choose not to control themselves, they say it ruins the enjoyment of their meal. But all of them lose control sometimes when they are feeding. Even Stefan." For a moment I caught a glimpse of horror in her eyes, but she lowered her eyelids and banished it. "The longer a person belongs to a vampire, the harder it is for the vampire to keep from killing him. Stefan says that with the bound ones the urge to kill is very, very strong-and it only gets worse with time. He used to send Joey off to her family in Reno for months on end. The urge affects all vampires, not just the one the person is bound to. That's why Stefan didn't kill Andre outright. Daniel was bound-it could have been accidental."

"Andre's menageries don't last very long." Rachel told me. "He's never created a vampire except for Daniel because he kills them before their time."

I don't know what she saw in my face, only heard her start to speak quickly-something to the effect that Andre wasn't evil. "…not like Estelle or some of the others who like to play with their food."

But I wasn't listening to her, I was looking at Daniel's tear-streaked face. I'd only met him the once, and I recognized his scent more than his features. He was standing behind Rachel, looking at me and whispering. It took me a few seconds to realize that it had been him I'd seen curled up by the sink. I hadn't recognized his scent then, but the dead don't always appear to all my senses.

Then I realized what he was saying and stopped fretting about why I hadn't realized who he was the first time I'd seen him.

"He ate me," he whispered in a quietly frantic voice. "He ate me." Over and over.

"Where?" I asked coming to my feet. "Where is he, Daniel?"

But it was no use. Daniel was no Mrs. Ha

"Daniel?" I asked, though his lack of reaction had robbed me of some of my urgency.

Rachel had quit speaking, hopped off her stool, and looked at Daniel. Naomi was just staring at me.

He faded after a moment more, and even after I couldn't see him anymore his voice lingered.

"Did you see him?" whispered Rachel.

"That's a cruel trick to play," Naomi snapped at me.

I looked at her. "You live with vampires and don't believe in ghosts?" I asked.

"Daniel's dead," Rachel whispered.

I nodded. I wondered how a vampire could be a ghost-weren't they already dead? I was starting to get punchy from lack of sleep.

Naomi turned to the girl, "Rachel-"

"I saw him, too," she said hollowly. "Just for a moment, but it was him. If Daniel's dead… Stefan wouldn't let anything happen to him, not if he were alive." She looked around a little wildly and then left the room. I heard her quick footsteps up the stairs.

"What did he tell you?" I couldn't tell by her words if Naomi believed me or not, but it didn't really matter.

"Nothing." I decided not to share what he had said. It wouldn't help anyone here, and it didn't sound as if Rachel had heard him. I got up and opened cupboards at random until I found a glass. I filled it with water and drank, pretending my throat was dry because I was thirsty, not because I was scared. Had the sorcerer really eaten Daniel?

Unwelcome, the memory of Littleton killing the woman at the hotel hit me as a full-throttle flashback: sight, smell, and sound. Just for a moment, but for that moment I was back in the hotel room. I must not have acted strangely, because when I turned back to Naomi she wasn't looking at me like she'd have stared at someone who'd screamed. I set the glass carefully down on the counter.

"If vampires live in their menageries," I said, proud of my steady tone, "who lives in the seethe?"

"Only the strongest vampires can live on their own and survive purely on human blood. All the others live in the seethe. They are the Mistress's menagerie," Naomi told me after a moment.

I worked it out. "She feeds on the vampires?"

Naomi nodded. "And gives them a little, very little, blood in return. Without that blood, the weaker vampires would die-and only the Mistress is allowed to feed other vampires and feed from them. She keeps humans there, to nourish them all, but without her, the lesser vampires would die."

"Allowed to feed?" I asked. "If there is a rule against it, that must mean that she gains something from feeding off vampires."

"Yes. I'm not sure what-strength and power, I think. And the ability to limit the actions even of those vampires she didn't directly beget. She made Stefan, and, I think Andre. But Estelle and most of the others aren't hers. When she quit paying attention to the seethe, Stefan and Andre ran things for her. But some of the older vampires became unruly."

"Estelle and Bernard," I suggested remembering the man in the dapper suit.

Naomi nodded. "The four of them, Stefan, Andre, Estelle, and Bernard are the only vampires strong enough to live outside the seethe. Stefan says that once they can live without feeding from the Mistress, vampires start to get territorial, so they're sent out to gain their own menageries." She paused. "Five, actually. The Wizard lives on his own."

"The Wizard?" I asked.

She nodded her head. " Wulfe. You've seen him because Stefan said he was present at the trial. He looks younger than Daniel and has white blond hair."

The boy who'd worked the magic on the chair.

"While Marsilia wasn't paying attention, Estelle and Bernard managed to make a few new vampires and kept them to themselves."

"They're feeding off the new vamps," I said, following her story. "That makes them more powerful than they otherwise would be."

"Right. This part I'm not certain of."

"Okay."

"There's some reason that Marsilia can't take the new vampires from them. I think it's because once the new vampires have exchanged blood with their maker a few times, they'll sicken and maybe die without the blood of that particular vampire. Vampires reproduce very slowly so they are very careful with new ones-even if it means that Bernard and Estelle gain power that Marsilia ca

"So," Naomi continued, "there's dissension in the ranks. Stefan believed that Marsilia is losing her grip on the seethe. No one is in outright rebellion, but the Mistress is not in absolute control either."

"What does the addition of the sorcerer do to her position?" I asked, and she smiled at me like a student who'd come to the right conclusion.

"A vampire is in town causing trouble," she said. "It's a matter for Marsilia to handle-but this one has proven stronger than Stefan. Vampires… the older they get the more afraid they are of death. Stefan told me that he thought the reason she sent only him out after the sorcerer wasn't to punish him-but because she could send no one else because they wouldn't go. Of the five most powerful vampires, only Stefan and Andre are truly hers."

So she really had been desperate when she came to me.

"Why doesn't Marsilia go after him herself. She's the Mistress and the most powerful of them all."

Naomi pursed her lips. "Would your Alpha go after such a dangerous creature when he had warriors to fight in his stead?"

"He already has," I told her. "An Alpha who counts on others to fight his battles doesn't stay Alpha long."