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“My blood is very old and very powerful,” she explained. “The sun no longer has any effect on me, and since my blood now runs in your veins, you are able to be active during the day. In a year or two, the sun will have no power over you at all.”
Vince felt a rush of excitement. If what she said was true, someday in the near future he would be able to return to his family and resume his old lifestyle. “What is it about thresholds? What power do they hold?”
She shrugged. “They have a built-in power all their own. Every home that has not been defiled is protected by that innate magic.”
“Defiled how?”
“Homes where there has been foul play, murder, incest, or any kind of depravity. Such acts destroy the threshold, rendering it powerless.”
Vince nodded. It made sense in an otherworldly sort of way. “How long have you been a vampire?”
“I was made when Cleopatra ruled Egypt.” Seeing his frown, she added, “Sometime in 51 BC.”
Vince swore in astonishment. These days, most people lived to be seventy-five or eighty. A few lived to be over a hundred. But to live for thousands of years…he shook his head. It was incredible. “Is the vampire who made you still living?”
“No.”
“Am I the only vampire you’ve made?”
“No. There were five before you.”
“Are they still alive?”
She made a vague gesture with her hand. “I don’t know. I don’t care.”
“Then what are you doing here? I mean, if you didn’t give a damn about them…”
She laughed softly. “Why do I care about you?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. That’s why I came.” She frowned thoughtfully. “The woman inside. Cara. What is she to you?”
“How do you know her name?”
“I read it in her mind. She’s in love with you. Are you in love with her?”
“Why ask? Can’t you just read my thoughts?”
“If I wish, but conversation is more stimulating.”
“Yes,” he said. “I love her. Have you ever been in love?”
“Many times,” she replied, her expression wistful. “But it never lasts. Mortals are such fragile creatures, and they live such a short time.”
“The ones you made, were you in love with them?”
“No.”
“Why did you bring them across?”
She shrugged. “It’s been so long, I don’t recall. Curiosity, I suppose. Or maybe boredom.”
“Is that why you brought me across?” he asked bitterly. “Because you were bored?”
She laughed again, the sound soft and musical, like the chiming of silver bells on a summer day. “I’m afraid so.”
Vince muttered an oath.
“You’re not happy with your new state of being?”
Vince frowned into the distance. Was he happy as a vampire? There were things about his new lifestyle that he liked, but until she had told him he would soon be able to go out in the sun, he would have said that, all things considered, he would rather be mortal.
Out of curiosity, he asked, “Can you undo what you’ve done?”
“No. Only death can free you.” She studied him dispassionately for a moment. “Would you like me to release you?”
“You’d destroy me?” he exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. “Just like that?”
“If you wish.”
“Damn, woman, you’re one heartless…” He let the thought die, unfinished, at the warning look in her eyes.
“I don’t want you to be unhappy,” she said. “I’m not sure why. Come, spend the night with me.”
“Is that a command?”
“Are you refusing me?” She looked suddenly like a child whose stocking was empty on Christmas morning.
“I’m sorry, but…”
“Your little mortal wouldn’t like it.” She finished his thought for him as she caressed his cheek. “Perhaps it was that streak of honor that first attracted me to you. Ah, well, I’ll see you again,” she said, and vanished from his sight.
Vince shook his head. If there was one thing he didn’t need, it was another woman in his life.
Mara watched her fledgling get into his sleek black car and drive away. Sometimes she longed for the old days. Life had been simpler then, slower. There had been a charm and beauty to life in the long ago time that was missing today. She had seen so many changes in the eons since she had been made. Occasionally, when the rush and noise of the world grew too great, she sought shelter in the arms of the earth. There, lost in the quiet darkness, she sometimes slept for hundreds of years. Each time, she emerged regenerated, only to find a new world awaiting her.
So many changes. Kingdoms rose and fell. New discoveries were made in the earth and in the heavens. There were always wars in distant lands. Cures were found for old diseases while new ailments were constantly being discovered. Earthquakes, tidal waves, tornadoes, and floods reminded humanity of how frail and precarious their existence was. Airplanes flew higher, cars went faster. Mankind was constantly inventing new and better ways to destroy itself. Sometimes she wondered how mortals slept at night when their lives were in constant peril.
She shook her head. The only constant was change.
Her fledgling had changed, as well. Until Vince, she had not made a new vampire in over a thousand years. She was surprised at how powerful he had become in such a short time. Did he have any idea of just how invincible he was?
She thought of the young female inside the house and experienced a rush of unexpected jealousy. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of destroying the female. It would be all too easy. She could do it from here with no more than a thought, but to what end? Mortals lived such a short time, there was little satisfaction in depriving them of the few years they had.
Perhaps hunting for prey would dispel her melancholia. It had been years since she had needed to feed, but she was suddenly overcome with the urge to hunt, to hold a mortal in thrall, to feel the rapid beating of a fearful heart, to savor the warm sweet taste of life’s elixir.
Leaving that part of the city, she sought a place to hunt. Though she had no fear of recriminations, old habits died hard. It had ever been her wont to find her prey among the poor and downtrodden. Should she decide to drain her victims dry, there would be no one to mourn their passing, no one to comment on their absence.
She had just turned down a seedy looking street when she realized there was another vampire nearby.
