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It had to be one or the other.
Either way, it freaks me out.
Taking the Long View by Toni L. P. Kelner
“Do we have to go?” Mark asked, trying to make it a question instead of a whine.
“Yes.” Stella finished brushing her hair. “Ramon throws lovely parties.”
“With dribble glasses and whoopee cushions on every chair?” It was Ramon who’d told Mark that vampires had to sleep in the dirt of their native land, who’d talked him into drinking canine blood so he could tell everybody that Mark was sick as a dog. He’d nearly convinced Mark to cut off a finger by swearing on his own grave that it was painless and would grow back, but Stella had stopped him before he found out how much the regrowing process would hurt.
“Even Ramon wouldn’t make a mockery of his own sire’s a
“God forbid we should offend Vilmos,” Mark muttered. “Should I call him Grandfather or Granddaddy?” Since Stella was Mark’s dam, surely her sire deserved a title.
“I wouldn’t advise it.”
“Gramps? Grandpa?”
“Just Vilmos. He isn’t known for his sense of humor.”
“There’s a surprise.”
She cocked her head to look at him. “Are you jealous?”
“Just because we’re spending the weekend honoring the vampire with whom you spent decades traveling from one exotic hot spot to another? Why would I be jealous?”
“I have no interest in Vilmos.” She kissed him so thoroughly that he was forced to admit her sincerity.
“What about his interest in you?”
“He has none.”
He took in her curvaceous figure, currently enhanced by a perfectly fitted strapless red gown; the chestnut brown hair that just brushed her bare shoulders; and the lovely face that always seemed to have a secretive smile. “Why the hell not?”
She kissed him again, even more sincerely. “Please come to the gala with me?”
“Since you put it that way.” They took a moment to wipe off and reapply lipstick respectively, and he said, “What about Pop-Pop?”
She squeezed his arm affectionately, but hard enough to bruise a human.
“Vilmos it is,” he said as he opened the door.
Despite Ramon’s questionable taste in humor, Mark had to admit that he had superb taste in mansion decorating. Stella’s and his suite was as luxurious as the finest hotel, and some of the others made theirs look like a Motel 6. Vilmos had the best accommodations, but he was the birthday boy as well as one of the oldest vampires there.
A crowd of vampires was mingling in the ballroom when Mark and Stella made their appearance, plus a scattering of humans. Mark was surprised. He wasn’t used to humans socializing with vampires, but before he could ask Stella about them, Ramon bounded over.
With a name like that, he should have been swarthy and sleek, but like everything to do with Ramon, it was a joke. He was a bearded teddy bear with strawberry blond hair and deceptively i
“Stella, you look fabulous,” Ramon said, kissing her hand. “And Marcus, you’re perfectly adequate.”
“That’s one of us,” Mark said. He knew he looked damned good in his new tuxedo. With his dark hair and swimmer’s build, he was made for evening wear. Ramon, on the other hand, looked like a waiter. Maybe it was the cummerbund. Mark had never seen one decorated with happy faces before.
Ramon just gri
“Excited much?” Mark asked.
“It’s his first time hosting Vilmos’s gala. He wants everything to be perfect.”
“Then he should lose the cummerbund.”
A gaunt but elegant vampire waved them over to the couch where she lounged. “Stella, dearest!”
“Alexis,” Stella said as she went toward her. “How have you been?”
“Eternally bored,” she said, and gave Mark the once-over. “This must be your new protégé.”
“Alexis, this is Mark. Mark, Alexis.”
“It’s so brave of you to add to your line in these uncertain times, Stella.”
“I simply couldn’t resist him.”
“Has Vilmos seen him yet?”
“I haven’t had the pleasure,” Mark said for himself, “but if he’s as warm and welcoming as you, I can hardly wait.”
Alexis’s eyes narrowed for an instant, then she smiled. “I can see where you might be amusing. Come visit me in a few years, and we’ll talk.”
“I’ll count the days.”
“Well done,” Stella said as she and Mark moved away. “I haven’t seen Alexis smile in decades.”
“Really? I thought she was a hoot. What was that about your bravery?”
“Very few of us are offering the Choice these days, what with the economic downturn.”
The tradition was for a vampire sire or dam to settle a chunk of change on their undead offspring, which Stella had done for Mark, even though as a successful financial pla
“Does that mean that all the other vamps here tonight are older than I am?”
“Probably.”
“Great. I love being the low vampire on the totem pole.”
“No one cares about that.”
“Please. Every meeting between vampires is a pissing contest, and you know it.”
“Don’t be silly.”
Just then the guest of honor arrived. Mark had seen a portrait of Stella’s sire, but even without it he’d have known Vilmos the second he strode in. There was something about the way he chose which people to acknowledge, and how the other vampires almost wriggled in their eagerness to be noticed. It wasn’t his looks, though he was devastatingly distinguished-it was sheer force of charisma. Vilmos dominated the room.
“Don’t look now,” Mark whispered to Stella, “but I think he’s about to start marking his territory.”
Stella elbowed him, but was watching Vilmos as intently as everybody else. That initially included Mark, but when he made himself look away, he noticed another person who wasn’t watching. A gorgeous human woman with flaming red hair was pointedly looking at a statue in the corner of the room and, when Mark glanced back at Vilmos, he saw that the vampire was staring at her, as if he could make her look his way. Slowly, all the other people in the room, vampire and human, followed the direction of Vilmos’s eyes, and soon everyone was watching the sublimely oblivious woman.
It was Ramon who broke the spell by clapping his hands, and a moment later a crew of waiters began to circulate with toothsome morsels to tempt the palates of vampires who no longer needed anything but blood. Since Mark still had to eat at least one full meal a day, it was most welcome-he’d been afraid there’d be no solid food.
Unfortunately, that meant that his mouth was full when Vilmos sauntered in their direction, and he suspected that the older vampire had pla
“So,” he said, “this is the new member of our line. Tell me, Stella, is it true? What I’ve heard about his talents?”
Stella raised a delicate eyebrow in polite inquiry.
Vilmos laughed heartily. “I refer only to his financial acumen.”
“Mark is a genius,” she said simply.
Deciding that modesty wasn’t called for, Mark didn’t argue the point.
“Then perhaps I have work for him,” Vilmos said. “My own financial adviser has sadly passed away.”
Stella gave Mark a prompting look, so he said, “I would be happy to make some recommendations.”
“Splendid!” Vilmos said. “We shall talk later.” He embraced them both before moving on.
“Did I pass inspection?” Mark asked.
“Tentatively,” Stella said. “Just be warned that I heard that Vilmos’s previous adviser didn’t die of natural causes.”