Dead Matter

“Not that we mind,” Co

“As I said, we believe you are key to our future, Co

“Christ,” I said. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Do you know how many supposed ‘prophecies’ get reported in to the Department every week? In Other Division alone we’ve had six different chosen ones since last Tuesday. Believe me when I say Co

“Exactly,” Co

Brandon’s face darkened. His voice came out just as dark, sinister. “Believe me, gentlemen, if what we wanted was a bloodbath, we would surely have it.”

His tone and a sudden wave of his emotions hit me, sending a chill down my spine. I tried to shake it off as best I could. “Then what do you want?” I asked.

Brandon stood and turned to me.

“Long life,” he said, “is tiring. For far too long our people have fought your people.”

“So hold on,” Co

Brandon shook his head. “I didn’t say that,” he said. “What we really want is to be left alone.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Co

Brandon sighed, pausing before he started to speak. “When I turned him,” he said, “I took precautions to assure that Aidan’s mind would be free of his past, at least for the time being. The transition would be less painful for him that way and, selfishly, it served to keep him unaware of my purposes regarding our prophecy. It appears, however, my efforts were not as strong as I would have liked. You heard Aidan talking about the dreams he’s been having… Those are memories of his past, of you, manifesting themselves back into his consciousness, causing him to seek you without even knowing who you are. The fact that he hunted you out and stalked you, being driven only by his dreams, proves his value to my people. He’s quite a resourceful young vampire.”

Co

Brandon smiled at him.

“Whether you choose to believe in our prophecy or not, Co

Co

Brandon gave a tight-lipped smile as if he were showing restraint. “I know you mean that to be insulting,” Brandon said, “but from my perspective, I consider Aidan’s transformation an… upgrade of sorts. Nonetheless, I think it’s high time both our races start acting civilized toward each other. We live in delicate times, gentlemen. Like your ancestors of generations past, we are saying good-bye to the Old World, the old ways of doing things.”

Co

My biggest concern was what type of co

“So we make it fly,” I said. “Co

Co

I grabbed Co

Brandon coughed, a totally artificial gesture on his part. “He’s our family, too,” Brandon added, holding up a finger.

“I wouldn’t allow that.”

Co

Brandon looked surprised. “He did that to Beatriz?” he asked. “That’s rather harsh to be doing to his girlfriend, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “They’re a couple?”

“Fits my point exactly,” Co

Brandon looked at us like we were stupid. “Aidan doles out exactly what he knows our people can take when it comes to keeping the law around here. He’s one of my key enforcers. He can’t simply go easier on Beatriz, especially around the others. If he gave his girlfriend special treatment, what would the others think? It’s clan politics, and you can’t be too soft around that mentality. It simply wouldn’t do. It would be a show of weakness, and we can’t have that. Besides, he’s young.”

“He’s thirty-seven,” I said.

“Young by our standards,” Brandon corrected, “which explains some of his more interesting outbursts. He gets a bit irked when we’re all out socially. He always gets carded. You have to understand that for the vampire, the mind changes at a different rate, between immortality and the fact that the body never ages. All of us grow differently.”

“What?” I asked. “No finishing school for vampires?” This seemed to agitate Brandon and I could feel it radiating from him. His face was somber.

“We still have much to discuss,” Brandon said, “but that can wait till later. For now, I think it wise we all digest what has happened here today, on both sides.”

“So that’s it?” I asked. “You’re just going to let us walk out of here?”

Brandon looked a

“Walking out is just fine,” Co

“But I do need something from you,” Brandon said. “An assurance that you will approach this historic meeting with some delicacy when you talk to your superiors. This is history in the making, history we’ve waited on for a long time.”

“That’s awfully trusting,” I said. “What makes you think we’re not going to send in the troops on this?”

Brandon shrugged and tapped the side of his forehead. “Prophecy, remember?” He turned to Co

Co