Then again, it could feel like forever if you found yourself tied to the wrong person.
Simone had never married. She hadn’t even been tempted. Nor had she ever enjoyed a child. That latter one she felt regret over. She thought she might be missing out on something there. But having a child out of wedlock was seriously frowned upon in their society, even in these modern times, and she had simply never found anyone she had been willing to spend at least ten years with…not to mention being connected with that person forever through that child.
Perhaps that made her a selfish creature. Her career had always meant more to her than anything else. At least, it had until recently. She was engaged in her third term as queen of the vampires and she wasn’t certain she wanted a fourth. There were no term limits as far as re-election was concerned. Once a decade, on the anniversary of that decade, a vote was called for and held. Every vampire had a voice. One vampire, one vote…clean and simple. Even more so now with electronic voting methods.
Anyway, she had run away with the vote for all three of her elections. Twenty-five years of service and she was still as popular now as she had been in the beginning. As far as many vampires were concerned she should be queen for the remainder of her life on this planet. She thanked them and was flattered, but she couldn’t imagine doing this for hundreds of years on into the future. The idea of it weighed her down, dragged her under and had her gasping for breath.
Now she wondered if it wasn't time for her to put herself before her people. She had neglected herself for so long she didn’t know if she even knew how to care for her own needs. She didn’t know how to be selfish.
She looked down at the handsome face that was looking off into the distance and not at the camera. It was only a profile shot, but it was enough. She supposed he had no problems taking care of himself, and as she read the file she was assured of that fact. He was, of course, the top of his field, an authoritarian for her cousin, the prince of London, Leopold. That put him high in her favor because she trusted Leopold with her life. He would only send her the best, even if it cost him, and clearly that was what he was doing here. He was sending his best man to her. His very own left-hand man. It was a favor she wouldn’t forget, and she figured Leopold was counting on that fact. He may be her cousin, but he had the concerns of his people to look out for as well and it was a pretty decent marker to have the queen owe you a favor.
That was true of almost all of the offerings before her. These princes had sent her their very best in the hopes of currying favor…and as planting a direct line of information into her inner circle. She would doubt the loyalty of anyone she chose at first. Again, trust would take time and effort. Still, she might never really know if her selection was serving her wholeheartedly or serving the prince that had sent them.
She turned her attention to Marcus’s history. There wasn't much on paper about him. He had been born and raised in London. He hadn’t explored the world much in his life except when his prince did. He had earned his position as Leopold’s man at a young age and had served him faithfully for four decades…even before Leopold had made it into office. Leopold’s reign was exactly as long as Simone’s was. They had been voted in at the same time. Marcus had been Leopold’s companion from before his elevation to prince and had simply followed Leopold when he had been promoted. Leopold had assigned him his position even before he had chosen any other cabinet members. That said something about their relationship and Leopold’s faith in the man. As head of the London authoritarians, Marcus ran a tight ship. He brooked very little in the way of insubordination. On paper he was really quite exemplary.
But so were all of the other candidates. The only thing that set him apart was her infinite trust in her cousin. Her cousin wouldn’t try to plant a spy in her organization. Her cousin knew she was transparent with him. He was the closest thing she had to a brother and their relationship was very much more like brother and sister than it was cousin to cousin.
She wished she could say the same for her other cousin. Sensha, the current prince of Brazil, envied Simone so obviously it was scandalous. She imagined herself next in line to the throne of queen, even though it was far more likely that Leopold would follow in her footsteps…if he so chose. Leo liked running his little principality…if it could be called little. It was the third largest collection of vampires in the world, next to New York, which was her seat and number one in population, and Los Angeles, which was Henry’s seat. There were other princes in California…San Diego and San Francisco, but mostly the vampire population was in L.A. just like it was here in New York City. A building in the heart of the city that housed vampires that chose to live out there and their west coast businesses were run from it as well.
Thinking of L.A. and San Diego made her frown a little. In the past the close city-states had displayed animosity toward one another, competing with each other for God knew what reasons. Each believed they were better than the other; each prince believed there was no need for two princes in such close proximity to each other. Each believed the other should be dissolved.
She had entertained the idea on more than one occasion, but the small gathering of vampires in San Diego deserved a voice of their own. They weren't as large as the L.A. stronghold, but they were large enough to require true representation.
Luckily there were no other states in the United States, other than New York and Texas who had more than one principality within its borders. Texas had Houston and Dallas. New York had the city and Buffalo. Unlike the rivalries between Houston and Dallas, and L.A. and San Diego, New York City had no squabbles with Buffalo. Indeed they were barely big enough to be considered their own principality, so they were of little threat to her. Not that she should feel threatened even if it were otherwise. They were all vampires. Petty bickering did not flatter them and it did not get them anywhere. They should work with one another instead of against each other.
At least the problems between vampire principalities in the states were all bickering. There were those in other countries that had dissolved into all out wars for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was religious matters. Most Vampires were atheistic. They knew too much about what was beyond the world to believe in an all-powerful god that controlled their fate or punished or forgave them. But some had come with a strong belief system that had suited the religions of earth, allowing them to pick and choose what they believed as humans chose what they believed. This meant conflicting religions and beliefs. It meant holy wars. It meant brother alien against brother alien. The only thing that saved them was their universal obedience to their political system, their obedience to their princes and their queen. It had allowed them to come to the table and sign the treaty she had worked so hard on that brought peace to warring factions at long last, turning their focus to the sycophant problem rather than their differences of opinion and belief with each other.
Simone sighed and closed the dossier on the table. All of the candidates were viable. Some appealed to her more than others on paper, but she would have to wait and see about them when she met them in person over the next two days. There was nothing more that could be done by sitting there reading what had already been read. It was her third time going through them and a fourth wasn't going to reveal anything more. She sat back and rubbed her weary eyes. It was time for a hunt. If not tonight than definitely tomorrow night. The idea of going out in the cold of the night made her shiver and she decided to put it off. She would get some sleep, rest her mind, and then she would worry about a hunt.
For now, she finished eating and then headed straight into the shower and into bed.
Chapter Three
Marcus Alliene was next on her schedule of interviews and Simone found herself looking forward to it with genuine curiosity…which was odd because after an entire evening of interviews after putting in a full day of work, she would think she would be tired of the interview process by now. She really was, for the most part, but she trudged on…until she got to Marcus.<
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She was holding the interviews in the informal setting of her living room, judging and contemplating each man or woman based on how they reacted to their environment and their queen; the way they moved, the way they spoke, the things they said.
So far none had struck that special chord within her that told her she could develop the bond necessary for them to work together in close quarters, to develop the trust necessary to the job.
She had high hopes for Marcus. Her cousin’s man. Leopold knew her, knew what she needed and liked. He was bound to have sent a biddable candidate.
She nodded her head to Rafe, indicating she was ready for the next interview. She rose to her feet, although by virtue of her position she shouldn’t have to show that deference to someone who was essentially beneath her. However, she had never been pompous or overly fixated on the regal state of self-importance that other queens and kings had had. She believed in respect. She didn’t deem herself to be so much better than others were. Yet she was aware of her skills, her importance and aware of her strengths and power. She would never forget how much strength she had to offer, and if she ever did forget she had Rafe and Danton to remind her.
No. Not Danton. Not any longer. He had not left yet, he would not leave until his replacement was installed, but the dynamic of their relationship had changed. It wasn't that she loved him any less…or that she didn’t trust him. He would always be the best man for the job as far as she was concerned.
But he had hurt her. He had wounded her by wanting to be somewhere else rather than in her presence. Maybe that was arrogance or conceit, but she felt it all the same. She would allow herself to sulk for a little while, to grieve her loss of his constant presence in her life, but then she would forgive him and move on. She wasn't the sort to hold a grudge.
The foyer door opened and in walked Marcus Alliene.
Immediately she was aware of the fact that his picture had not done him justice, nor had it prepared her for his height and resonant personal presence. He had to be at least six four, which was oddly comforting to a woman of five feet ten inches, give or take a couple of inches depending on the heels she wore. It was nice to have someone to look up to for some reason, she thought as she extended her hand to him. First, he bowed to her, a slow act of deference, then he took her hand in his and, in an unexpected and very old world gesture, he kissed the ring of her office that she wore on her right hand ring finger. All the while he seemed to look at her with amusement dancing in his eyes. They were a clear, beautiful green, like looking through glass, the striae within them just darker shades of green, rather than the gold or brown flecks on might expect in someone with his color.
He had jet black hair, except for a unique silver streak that ran through his forelock. He kept his hair just long enough that it was a pronounced wave that for some reason had her itching to run the anomaly through her fingers. It wasn't as though he aged. Why would he have silver hair? And he was considerably younger than she was and she showed no such signs of age. Perhaps he had human DNA in his history. Sometimes if that was the case offspring aged. Not the way a normal mortal did, the process taking considerably longer than the average mortal’s life even so, but still they aged unlike a normal vampire.
For some reason this distressed her. This meant he had the potential of aging to death. There were indeed aged vampires, although it was extremely rare because an offspring that showed normal human tendencies tended to not show any vampire traits. But after so many generations of potential interbreeding, there was no telling what could be produced.
She wished she had read more about his lineage. She had dismissed the information, deeming it unimportant. His lineage, in her opinion, had nothing to do with the job he was there to perform, so she had ignored it.
“A pleasure to meet you, your grace,” he greeted her then, his voice gravelly and erotically rough. He also had a sophisticated English accent. She didn’t know why it appealed to her, but it seemed to seek out her libido and she reacted very strongly to it. She frowned. This was a bad beginning. She couldn’t have someone that close to her if she was going to be attracted to him.
“Please. Call me Simone,” she offered.
“I think not,” he returned. “It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“I insist,” she said, taking in his insistent deference. “Did you call Leopold ‘your grace’?”
“I did…although like you he wanted me to use his first name.”
“Are you in the habit of ignoring your leader’s desires?”
He cocked his head. “I never looked at it like that before. I simply could not bring myself to be so disrespectful of his hard-earned title. Very well, Simone it is.”
“Thank you. Please, have a seat.” She indicated the couches near her. She sat on one facing him as he sat down on another. She opened his dossier in her lap. She did it more for comfort than anything. She already knew what was in it. But she seemed to need grounding and a place to look away from those riveting eyes.
“Tell me about yourself,” she said, going straight for what was important. She judged a lot from how someone answered that request. Some talked about the personal. Some the professional. She suspected which way he would go…considering how formal he was.
“I doubt there is anything I can tell you that you don’t already know from that file,” he said, amusement in his eyes.
“This file tells me about you in cold, informal ways. I should like to know you better than that if you are to spend a great deal of time in my company. Also, your opinions and perspectives are important to me and to the other members of the committee on which you will also be serving.
“Yes. Of course,” he said, looking somewhat chastised. “I’m sorry. I’m not comfortable talking about myself. Or I should say…I’m not used to it. It takes some time for me to trust someone with the intimacies of my life.”
“I am not asking for a personal exposé. Merely your perspective on who you are.”
“Well…in that case…I am a staunch purist. In spite of the fact that I have human lineage, I believe vampires should mate only with vampires and the human exposure should be kept to nil wherever possible. I realize that it will be part of my job to judge whether humans have what it takes to be brought into the fold, but I should warn you that it would be hard to convince me of it…although I will listen and take each individual case seriously and as being unique.”
“That is a very important detail for me to know that your file does not tell me,” she said, giving him a smile. He smiled back and she was immediately charmed. He had a disarming smile; an easy way of making her feel relaxed. She took a breath and released it slowly and inaudibly, steadying herself.
“I also very much believe in the sanctity of your position. You have been brought to your exalted position by the will of the people. You have been judged to be worthy of being above all others and should be treated as such. I will never do anything to disrespect that position.”
That pleased her. Settled her. It told her that, though she was attracted to him, he would never let it advance beyond that light attraction. Besides, it was very likely one sided. And if he could have that much self-control so could she.
“I would respect you as well,” she told him. “I respect anyone I come in contact with until they give me a reason not to.”
“I feel the same way. I should warn you…I would take a great deal of care with your person.”
“My person?”
“Your safety. I would see you were assigned the proper security forces. I was in control of that with Leopold. I insisted. That would be especially true for you. Not only because you are precious to the people, but because I have heard that recently there was an incursion onto this property that resulted in damage. A bomb. It could easily have been left somewhere that could have harmed you. That is unacceptable. Your security is clearly lax. And considering the power of your enemies, that simply will not do.”
“I do not like being curtailed,” she
said with a frown. “I hunt alone. I live alone save for Darcy my assistant and housekeeper.”
“Does she have any defense training?”
“Well…no.”
“She should. She should be prepared to protect you at any given moment.”
Simone thought about this. She already expected too much from Darcy. She couldn’t possibly expect anything more of her.
“How can I ask that of her? She already does so much,” she said with a slight frown.
“It is for her benefit as well. Considering that someone close to you has recently been kidnapped and an attempt was made to turn that person, she should be trained in how to protect herself as well as you.”
He had a point. A very good point. One that she had not considered and one that made her feel a sudden sense of dread for Darcy’s sake. The idea of someone using her to get to her was almost unbearable. It had been different when it had been Halo. Halo could take care of himself and had. He had escaped relatively unscathed. But it had been a close call. A very close call.
“I cannot argue with that,” she said softly. “It is sound logic and something I had not considered.”
“You should not be required to think of these things. These things should be being anticipated by others close to you…mainly, me. I would keep very much on my toes for you when it comes to your safety and protection.”
He slid forward until he was perched on the very edge of his seat.
“That will be my mission in life,” he said. “Seeing to your protection and comfort. Seeing to it your laws are upheld and carried out. Seeing to it those who break those laws are punished so they can never darken the name of energy vampires everywhere. As I said, I believe in the purity of this race, and that includes the fact that I feel we should be held to a higher and harder standard than humans are. Even the smallest infraction could destroy the fabric of our society. It cannot be allowed.”