The dark court is wary of Mira

—Mira

I loved the way he treated me with things like dressing me. It was like a steady fuel of mental strength that helped me think enough to stay myself and not lose myself like I had the night before.

I shivered just to think of the way there had been nothing left of me. Every thought had been scattered and broken, every idea fractured like so many crushed snowflakes.

There had been nothing but the sight of blood and the need for more, the need to spread corruption in the form of that black smoke.

Concentrating that smoke had been hard, too, something that I thankfully wouldn't be able to do very often.

It had taken a lot of magic from the well inside of me and when Master took me to dress for guests, I tried to hide how much emptiness I felt, but his nostrils twitched as he lightly took in the scent and he took me to the bed first.

"My little succubus exhausted herself with that foray, I think. Let's get you fed before our company gets here." His hand was patient and gentle when he pressed me forward over my bed and commanded me to open up for him.

He stroked my back and pressed inside of me, humming that hypnotic song he had. "Good girl."

He didn't play or spank me that time, but he made up for it by standing me in front of the mirror and pulling different dresses over my head, flitting from closet to closet with an air of irritation.

"It has to be perfect. You're a kind of royalty in our world. Most of these guests are friends, but we were seen last night as well, so if someone unexpected shows up, then we want to be ready for it. You'll find that vampires are all about presentation."

He would stroke his hands over my breasts as if studying the sight of them, and he would toy with my hair as if I were an object.

And I knew this treatment was on purpose to fuel me with a little bit of wicked behavior. "Pretty girl."

He cooed it when he settled on a black dress and fixed my hair with a tiara, obsessing over the most minuscule details. I grinned, though, because I liked it.

And while I looked at myself in the mirror, he suddenly turned. "Levi, Sadra, and Vika are here. Come on, little one, and let's introduce you to them. I could use some help in figuring out if there are others like you."

He touched my nose and was gone in a flash, but I didn't immediately follow, even though the compulsion would make me do so eventually.

I stared into the mirror worriedly and looked myself over, feeling a kind of nervousness I didn't fully understand.

It had been just the two of us for the start of what I could remember of my life, and now that was about to change. What if his friends didn't like me?

"Mira," I heard him call from the foyer.

"Come here, baby." And I could hear two other voices, one a sing-song female voice that reminded me of the moments when my thoughts were so fractured and unfocused.

But there were two other seemingly sane male voices, and I flinched while I was forced to obey.

I was slow about it, walking down the circular stairs at a human pace, and then I froze entirely when I met the eyes of one of the male vampires.

His widened in horror and fear, and I flinched back, fighting to keep my thoughts in a coherent string.

"Ah, Lucius. What - what exactly happened?" His voice was thick with many accents and their influences.

Master was studying him with interest.

"I'll be honest, my money was on Sadra having knowledge of her before you would. What happened was I made a newborn and you three are the only three who I've told my secret to, so that's why I asked you for help. Come here, little one."

He gestured to me, and I went to the safety of his side, quiet and nervous.

"This is Vika."

He pointed to the female, who giggled and waved happily. And I smiled back because she scared me the least of the three.

Her eyes were unfocused, and she had little black dancing lights around her. Not many, but they were there, and they let me know she was a friend.

He pointed to the next one, the one who merely looked at me with curiosity.

"This is Sadra."

Like the female, he had bronzed skin and dark hair, and I could get used to him.

"And this is Levi."

And Levi was different. His skin was darkened as well, but not quite in the same way as the other two, and his features had a different nationality behind them.

"Hello." I said it politely, evenly, and was glad when it came out sane. "My name is Mira."

Levi's expression turned all the more wary. "She seems more coherent than I've ever seen."

Master smiled politely, soothing my shoulders. "Why don't we go to the sitting room together? I'd like to hear what you know if you're willing to give or trade the information."

Levi followed with Sadra by his side, and he shook his head with a laugh, seeming to grow a little more relaxed with my Master's suggestion.

"Always so proper, Lucius. You know better. Whatever information I have, it's yours. Anything at all you need is always yours after you raise me as your own like you did."

Master grimaced. "Arguably, it was my fault you were orphaned for killing our Sire."

Levi grinned and sat down in one of the chairs, while my Master curled me under his arm in the love seat.

"Arguably back, that Sire needed to be killed, and you had Sadra waiting for me as a companion." He winked at the other vampire.

"Even if he is a bloody Luskalith, he's still a scholar who wanted the Gift and had a wealth of magical knowledge."

Sadra laughed. "You left me with a sporadic Sire."

My Master was happy seeing them, I realized. I could tell by his scent, by the way the demon inside him seemed to settle in his blood instead of boiling to the surface of his flesh.

He petted my hair with affection and then turned to Levi. "I would hear what you know, then."

Levi nodded, playful expression fading for something a little more serious. When his gaze turned to me, his eyes were still wary.

"Is she safe? I mean..." He swallowed. "I've seen what they can do, how they can get people to behave."

Master considered him for a moment, and when he spoke next, his voice made me cringe, made me curl closer to him so that he wouldn't speak to me with such coldness.

"I can keep my newborn under control, regardless of what special manner she came to be, Levi. Do you suppose I would allow harm to come to you when I've invited you into my home?"

The other vampire shuddered, and it was Sadra who answered, with a soft, peacekeeper's voice.

"I think he only worried, Lucius. She doesn't seem to be a creature he's used to, unlike Vika. Speaking of which, where is she?"

My Master waved his hand. "In the garden. Let her wander as she likes. She'll find it peaceful there." I wished I was there with her in the garden, so I could tell her about the fairies. She seemed like she would like them so very much...

No. Focus.

You want to know what you are.

I had to work to keep the train of thought. Master considered Levi and nodded. "Perhaps you're right, Sadra. The answer is that you're safe and she can listen. Tell what you know."

***