Chapter 15

"So, why wasn't I offered his seat on the Council?"

"Because ... you're a Third. No Third has ever been strong enough to defeat a Council member, so we deemed it an accidental killing, which allowed for Johan's Second to take his place. I'm so sorry."

I waved away his apology. "So what am I if not a Council member? I mean, what will be my role in this … Vampire nation?"

Tony's eyes hooded. "The lowest ranked on the totem pole."

I frowned feeling slightly ill. "Tell me what it means to be the lowest on the totem pole, and please be completely honest."

"It would mean that you are the last to be considered and the first to be sacrificed. You have no voice in disputes. A Second will always be above you. You would be watched to make sure you don't mingle too closely with the humans because Thirds with no memories of our history are our biggest threat. Thirds handle all of our dirtiest jobs from killing humans who are undesirable to testing metal to see if it's silver. And being a Third means that you will never be more than the lowest on the totem pole."

That's some bullshit! I looked out the window.

Tony put his hand on my arm.

I slipped away from his touch. "And what are the fears of me being on the Council, other than the fact that no other Third Generation has ever been strong enough to do it?"

"My fear is that it was a fluke that you killed Johan and there is no way that you have the strength to control an entire sector. My fears are that the first time Johan's liege set eyes on you they will all plan your assassination! And I fear that you have no memories of your abilities and therefore have no possibility of succeeding as a leader."

My heart sank at his words. "So what was that shit you gave me about wanting me to thrive and not just survive? That was bullshit, wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't!" His eyes flashed at me. "I don't want you to have to take the Vampire scraps. You're mine."

My eyebrows rose.

He blinked. "Mine—my liege. I want you to be with me. At my side you will be my equal."

My mouth dropped open. The nerve! He thought I'd be okay being his possession? "Oh no you did not!" What in the fuck did he think I was, a fool? Be his plaything and flavor-of-the-month until he got tired of me? How many women gave up the panties and found themselves ass-out as soon as the man got his "taste"?

"Let me tell you something," I said. "I'm my own woman! I'm not going to align myself with you just so that I have someone to take care of me. I have never been like that. I will choose the man that I want!"

His eyes darkened. "I would have asked you to be in my bed if that's all I wanted. If that's all I wanted, then you would have been there last night! I said that I wanted you by my side as a partner, my equal."

"Until you find the next Kaniji? And then I'm three hundred years old and out on my ass?"

He shook his head. "I would never do that to you."

"I don't need the Council and I don't need to be a part of your Vampire nation. I will do this on my own!"

"Baby, it doesn't work like that."

I shook my head in dismissal.

"Listen to me! Thirds can't leave. As soon as you try you'll become a Rogue, and that's an instant death sentence. Remember how easy it was for me to find you? Imagine thousands of Vampires searching for you. You wouldn't be out there more than a day."

For the first time since the conversation started I got scared. I had to live under their rules? I couldn't be—or do—what I wanted? I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the seat.

I'm a slave.

"You understand now, don't you?"

I felt his hand tentatively on mine. I didn't have the strength to move it. Tony would be my master …

"I'm not going to let you get lost, Kim. You can be at my side ... my equal."

I turned away from him to face the window.

If I had tears I would have cried.

~*~

When we got back to Tony's house, I got out and headed toward the front door. Mei Wah hurried ahead of me to hold it open for me as I entered.

I went to the living room and folded myself into one of Tony's oversized wingchairs to wait for him. We hadn't spoken another word after I tried to cry but nothing came out of my dried-up tear ducts.

Tony entered the living room and sat opposite me in the matching chair.

I inhaled bitter air into my lifeless lungs. "What do I need to know to survive?"

"First you must die to your family."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because they'll know you're dead. That's why. They'll know."

My eyes flickered away but returned to him because he was telling the truth.

"I can handle that for you," Tony said. "Sooner than later is best."

I swallowed and nodded reluctantly. My thoughts about my mama, my brother, and sister, my friends... I think I'll keep them to myself. For once, since this entire thing began I bravely listened and began to accept my fate. Tony spoke to me in a soothing voice, unshrouding the mysteries of what it was to be a Vampire.

I learned that there is the world we know and another world alongside our own. That other world is the limbo we go to upon death if our soul doesn't go to its final resting place. It's the place of ghosts. Only Vampires have circumvented the law that keeps the human world separated from the spirit one.

No one knows for sure, but the accepted theory says Vampires are animated corpses possessed by something that has never walked the earth. What exactly animates the Vampires is something that even they do not know for sure.

Travel is done in two ways—using rapid motion or for long distances. Using nothing more than thought, a Vampire can travel wherever he or she can visibly imagine. And yes, a Vampire must be invited into a home before he or she can enter.

With the exception of the psychic link that masters share with their blood donors and among their lieges, Vampires cannot read minds. But because of their heightened senses, Vampires can read human emotions by the sound of their heartbeats.

Vampires can consume food and drink but at a cost. What goes in must come out. And because the intestines no longer process waste, it generally comes out in an "uncomfortable" way. Otherwise, food has little appeal to Vampires.

Vampires continue to crave sex and relationships.