sure if my soul is
as strong as the boy's," he said carefully. "You want more than a
driver, that's the way it seems to me. It wouldn't be fair to commit to a job
and then back out, so I need to know what it is I'm really dealing with."
She understood clearly the
"what" was referring to her.
"I'm a vampire," she
said simply. "You may not believe that. You may decide I'm a mentally
unstable person and make your polite though hasty farewells. But you asked for
honesty." She inclined her head. "I have enemies. Many. Which is why
I take so many precautions on my property and when I go beyond its boundaries.
As long as I appear ready for them, it's unlikely they'll ever attack. They
wait for the moment of weakness only. It is the way of our world. My enemies
also rarely target staff unless staff members get between them and me. I'll
never ask you to do that."
"That's gracious, ma'am.
But I'm not a coward. I'm also not so easy to kill." His dark eyes
glittered.
"I don't doubt your
courage, but they'd kill you with as much effort as swatting a fly and it
wouldn't even slow them down on their way to me," she said bluntly.
"Good staff is hard for a vampire to find, so we don't sacrifice them
frivolously. It's not unheard of for a vampire to slay another and then
promptly turn around and offer the dead vampire's staff positions in his own
household. After all, you've already worked for one, what's the difference in
working for another?" She lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug.
"Though I admit, some of them wouldn't give you a choice. There is some
danger involved."
The black man removed his cap,
scratched his head. There was gray in the close-cropped cotton of his hair.
"I suspect a person in your circumstances has to break a few laws to live
under the radar. So what I need to know, ma'am, is if you dishonor what I
consider one of the more important Commandments. Do you kill?"
At her ironic look, he set his
jaw. "I've broken it myself, when I served. Even had to do it once or
twice in this job. I know it's not something a person should break lightly,
which is why I'm asking."
Lyssa pursed her lips. "An
extraordinarily honest question. Are you asking to give yourself time to think
your way out of a crazy woman's house? Because if that's the case, the door is
there. Neither I nor my dogs will keep you from leaving, and I'll wish you no
ill will."
Ingram glanced at the door, then
at Jacob.
"He's not yet bound to my
service," she said in an even tone. "He's also still free to go. If I
decide to keep him, I'm sure I'll regret him for the nuisance he is."
Jacob wisely chose not to
comment on that. Ingram cleared his throat, met her gaze squarely. "I knew
when you got into my car tonight you weren't human, ma'am. I got a sense for
it. You're not the first of your kind I've driven."
That was a surprise.
"Indeed. Yet you drove me. Most wouldn't after recognizing it."
"I thought about driving
away. But when I say I'll do a job, I do it. Never left anybody who paid my
boss for a ride without one."
They studied each other for a
few minutes in silence. The night was waning. Lyssa wanted to go to bed. She
rarely let physical factors impair her judgment, but it was possible this was
one of those infrequent times. She'd made several very impetuous decisions
tonight. However, seeing Elijah Ingram's large hands turning his cap in that
methodical way as if it represented the cog of his mind, she knew her intuition
was sound. She just needed to speed up the interview process and hope the loss
of finesse wouldn't lose her the possibility of his service.
"All right then."
Perching on the stool at the end of the counter, she took the seat directly
across from him. "When I have a human servant, I take blood from him. If
he maintains his health and diet adequately, that sustains me and I don't crave
additional blood. If I'm somewhere he's not and I need it, I can seduce and
temporarily command the mind of a person to draw blood from him. Not in
as strong as the boy's," he said carefully. "You want more than a
driver, that's the way it seems to me. It wouldn't be fair to commit to a job
and then back out, so I need to know what it is I'm really dealing with."
She understood clearly the
"what" was referring to her.
"I'm a vampire," she
said simply. "You may not believe that. You may decide I'm a mentally
unstable person and make your polite though hasty farewells. But you asked for
honesty." She inclined her head. "I have enemies. Many. Which is why
I take so many precautions on my property and when I go beyond its boundaries.
As long as I appear ready for them, it's unlikely they'll ever attack. They
wait for the moment of weakness only. It is the way of our world. My enemies
also rarely target staff unless staff members get between them and me. I'll
never ask you to do that."
"That's gracious, ma'am.
But I'm not a coward. I'm also not so easy to kill." His dark eyes
glittered.
"I don't doubt your
courage, but they'd kill you with as much effort as swatting a fly and it
wouldn't even slow them down on their way to me," she said bluntly.
"Good staff is hard for a vampire to find, so we don't sacrifice them
frivolously. It's not unheard of for a vampire to slay another and then
promptly turn around and offer the dead vampire's staff positions in his own
household. After all, you've already worked for one, what's the difference in
working for another?" She lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug.
"Though I admit, some of them wouldn't give you a choice. There is some
danger involved."
The black man removed his cap,
scratched his head. There was gray in the close-cropped cotton of his hair.
"I suspect a person in your circumstances has to break a few laws to live
under the radar. So what I need to know, ma'am, is if you dishonor what I
consider one of the more important Commandments. Do you kill?"
At her ironic look, he set his
jaw. "I've broken it myself, when I served. Even had to do it once or
twice in this job. I know it's not something a person should break lightly,
which is why I'm asking."
Lyssa pursed her lips. "An
extraordinarily honest question. Are you asking to give yourself time to think
your way out of a crazy woman's house? Because if that's the case, the door is
there. Neither I nor my dogs will keep you from leaving, and I'll wish you no
ill will."
Ingram glanced at the door, then
at Jacob.
"He's not yet bound to my
service," she said in an even tone. "He's also still free to go. If I
decide to keep him, I'm sure I'll regret him for the nuisance he is."
Jacob wisely chose not to
comment on that. Ingram cleared his throat, met her gaze squarely. "I knew
when you got into my car tonight you weren't human, ma'am. I got a sense for
it. You're not the first of your kind I've driven."
That was a surprise.
"Indeed. Yet you drove me. Most wouldn't after recognizing it."
"I thought about driving
away. But when I say I'll do a job, I do it. Never left anybody who paid my
boss for a ride without one."
They studied each other for a
few minutes in silence. The night was waning. Lyssa wanted to go to bed. She
rarely let physical factors impair her judgment, but it was possible this was
one of those infrequent times. She'd made several very impetuous decisions
tonight. However, seeing Elijah Ingram's large hands turning his cap in that
methodical way as if it represented the cog of his mind, she knew her intuition
was sound. She just needed to speed up the interview process and hope the loss
of finesse wouldn't lose her the possibility of his service.
"All right then."
Perching on the stool at the end of the counter, she took the seat directly
across from him. "When I have a human servant, I take blood from him. If
he maintains his health and diet adequately, that sustains me and I don't crave
additional blood. If I'm somewhere he's not and I need it, I can seduce and
temporarily command the mind of a person to draw blood from him. Not in
Similar Books
