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“This city has more connections than an inbred tiger enclave. I mean, we knew it on an intellectual level, but tying everyone together as I meet them sometimes has my head swimming. The young human interior decorator has been a fount of knowledge. I encourage you to peruse my memories of our conversations at your leisure.”
Patience had, once upon a time, been my vampire wife. Now we’re friends, and she helps me run my life. Officially, she’s my personal assistant. What no one understands, however, is that she’d been a whore in her human life, not because she needed the money, but because she craved the sex. As a vampire, she goes out of control with sexual need if she goes without an orgasm for more than a couple of hours — unless I’m around to drain off her excess sexual energy.
But a few decades earlier, Patience had asked me to bite and turn a human she liked. He was completely devoted to her, so I’d acquiesced. Unfortunately, it was taking longer than it should for the submissive man to gain control of his inner vampire. However, Patience keeps her submissive little vampire on a leash most of the time, so he’s never out without her overseeing him. She mostly denies him permission to drink blood and only gives him approval to eat her lust, which keeps it leached off. It’s also likely one of the reasons he has such a hard time controlling his hungers, but it seems to be working for the two of them. This means that, for the first time in centuries, Patience doesn’t have to be close enough to me at all times — or at least once every three or four hours — so I can constantly drain off her excess sexual energy.
“This will be the first time we’ve lived in separate homes since we met,” I told her.
“I should probably say I’ll miss you, but the truth is, I think some distance might be healthy. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me, but we were over long ago.”
“We were, and yet, you’re a good friend. I agree, some distance will likely be healthy, but not too much.”
She nodded and looked to the laptop’s screen. “Your vehicles have all arrived and are parked in your personal garage on the mountain. Your Levante is parked in the garage here, as requested.”
Changing identities meant selling all my vehicles and purchasing new. I knew vampires who held onto antique vehicles through multiple identities, usually through a corporation, but I wouldn’t risk having the same assets tied to my different noms de guerre. All the world is a stage, and vampires become different characters every couple of decades.
In this one, I’d have brown hair instead of black, still short, but stylish rather than precise. My suits had gone from staid and boring to stylish with an understated flair, but I’d still be in suits. “Everything I asked for has been delivered? I thought the G-Class was backordered?”
“It is, with an expected delivery date six months out. I procured a used model through an Atlanta dealer and it arrived this morning. Low mileage, three years old. Once you’ve seen it, you can decide whether to keep the new model on order or cancel it.”
“You are a jewel.”
She sighed. “Have you considered who should begin training to do my job? I’ll stay in Chattanooga at least two years to help you get established, but then it’ll be time for me to find another Master.”
We’d talked about this and I knew it was coming, but I wasn’t looking forward to replacing her. “Six months, and then we’ll look to that. You’ve been by my side so long, just the idea of you leaving will be enough to upset the applecart.”
She looked back to the screen. “Agreed, and thank you. Your first appointment is at one, so you can spend the evening with Cora. I have you with Moira and her menagerie first, visiting them in their home. You need to get to know her three men. They have a cat. A pet. I have a catnip toy for you to give it. Their youngest member is a wolf, a former slave. The bear is a college professor, and her vampire lover is currently mostly-managing the Hamilton Place TBR location at night. You need these three men to feel as if you’ve taken the time to get to know them.”
Or, more accurately, I needed Moira to feel as if I’d taken the time to get to know her men. I’d read the dossier on them back when Abbott had given her permission to remain in his territory, which had been a surprise. At any rate, I knew all this, but the summary reminder was appreciated.
Patience looked from the laptop back to me. “You need to find a way to spend some time with the bikers, but I haven’t figured that out yet. Calling them here to a meeting will put them on edge, and you can’t demand they host you, either. We’re using the president’s wife as our Realtor, and Venom is boarding his horses with the VP’s ol’lady, who is a relatively new werewolf. The sexy human interior decorator is associated with them, and I’ve arranged for another of the human ol’ladies to come to our in-house salon in a few weeks to work on some of us. She’s scheduled for four hours now and I expect that will more than double, so we’ll need her to come multiple nights. Etta assumed we’d bring her girl up, but it’s more important for us to establish political connections, at this time.”
“Etta will understand. The local bikers own a restaurant, and it looks nice enough, based on pictures. Let’s see if we can rent it out one night after they close. Arrange for a burger bar or buffet or whatever. The buns and patties available with all the accoutrements, so people can build their own. Fries on the end of the bar. Free food always brings people. We’ll have a mixer — the local wolves, lions, and other assorted animal groups. It’ll give me a reason to meet with the bikers, and a way for us to work together while we set it up, to take a measure of each other.”
“We’re fortunate that the three wolf packs in the metro area get along with each other, so you’ll be able to invite all three. The lions should be fine to invite as well. The problem is that the restaurant isn’t big enough to host just those four groups, much less others, and you need to be inclusive on this, not exclusive.”
“Then we’ll find a more suitable location and pay the bikers to cater the food. I was thinking their restaurant would be seen as more or less neutral ground, and their reputation for not allowing conflict in their places of business would keep all the animals on their best behavior.”
“If we can plan it on a nice night, we can have people park in the bike shop’s parking lot, and we can have the gathering spill out onto the restaurant’s parking lot. I’ve seen pictures of their parties, and they have tables they can set up outdoors.”
“Let’s tentatively plan for that. I’ll talk to them about renting some kind of tent structure to go over the parking lot if it looks as if it might rain. I’ll pay to rent it up front, but we won’t bother taking delivery unless the forecast looks iffy.” I sat back in my chair. “I have the beginnings of a promise of mutual aid with Nathan, but he wouldn’t iron out the details until I was actually living here. That will be handled a few nights from now, at Homewood. Cora and I are still figuring out how much we can promise without weakening the other, but she’s arranged meetings with the two local alphas under her in the coming week, so I can work something out with both, personally. This party will be about facilitating friendship between our coterie and the established supernatural citizenry. Besides the three packs, it’ll be important we make sure the bikers and their mates feel welcome, also, anyone working for Drake Security who knows The Secret. Who am I missing?”
“A few smaller bird groups. I can take care of that. Our own security people who aren’t on duty, of course. You should make sure the Amakhosi knows you’re inviting all the cats in town, not just his lions. Talk to the bikers about your idea to spill out into the parking lot, and make sure they think the space can handle everyone you plan to invite. If not, ask them for input on another venue.”
I nodded. The more we talked, the more I doubted the MC’s restaurant could handle this crowd. I also wondered if I should divide this up into four or five gatherings.
“Would it make more sense to do the wolves one night, the cats the next, everyone else the next?”
“Possibly. Talk it over with Cora, and perhaps Nathan? Josef will likely be able to give better input as well.”
“I want it done sooner rather than later. If someone is going to attack, they’ll do it before I have a chance to get established.”
At least, that’s what I’d do, if I wanted to overthrow me, or if I didn’t like the idea of a vampire/werewolf power couple.
Chapter 2
Cora
Marco had the right idea, and he’d spared no expense. The bikers had recommended a venue just over the line into Georgia, farmers who’d turned their picturesque property into a wedding venue, complete with a gorgeous barn, and a meadow with a charming pond. They’d had tents to set up if it looked like there was a chance of rain, but the forecast was clear, so it wasn’t necessary.
