Thomas nodded. "It was a combination of earthquake and a volcanic eruption or something. Atlantis fell into the sea, I think. Anyway, most if not all of the mortals were killed in the fall, and even some immortals, but some managed to escape and survive.

They spread out over the face of the earth, but what they found was that while their society had been sheltered by the mountains surrounding it and their people had advanced, the rest of the world was way behind them technologically. Primitive even." He cleared his throat, and added, "This was around 1500... BC."

Her eyes widened incredulously. "What?"

When he simply nodded solemnly, Inez frowned in response. "But that means they were worlds ahead of the rest of the world.

Why? How?"

Thomas shrugged. "They stuck to their own and didn't share their technology."

"But why?" she repeated. "Why stay so isolated? Why did they never travel beyond the mountains surrounding them? If they were as advanced as that, surely they had the ability."

"I'm sure they did," Thomas agreed and then shrugged. "But I don't know why they remained so isolated. My cousin once said something about an age-old feud with a neighboring clan and a peace treaty guaranteeing that neither people would cross the border of the mountains separating them."

"But they did when Atlantis fell?" she murmured and he nodded.

Inez considered that and then asked, "How did they survive when they suddenly found themselves without the blood banks and so on?"

Thomas saw the realization on her face even as she asked the question, but answered anyway, "At first it was bad. They needed blood, but had no way to get it. There were no blood banks outside Atlantis. But the nano's job was to do what was necessary to repair and regenerate the body and they needed blood to do it." He shrugged. "Their response was to make the teeth come on, I guess. Plus, the survivors also became faster, and stronger, and able to see better in the dark."

"Why the dark?" Inez asked at once. "If you aren't cursed and soulless, why can you not walk in sunlight?"

"They can," Thomas said, as he glanced nervously around to be sure none of their flight mates were paying attention. "They can walk in sunlight, but sunlight does the worst damage to the body, which means they have to consume more blood. They avoid sunlight to avoid the necessity of feeding more often."

When she frowned, he added, "Mortals weren't too happy to be considered cattle by immortals. Many Atlanteans were killed or at least injured horribly when they were discovered feeding on mortals. It was better for them to avoid sunlight as much as possible and live, sleep, and hunt under cover of night. Of course, the other abilities help with that."

"Being faster, stronger, and having night vision?"

"That and the ability to read and control the minds of mortals, as well as erase their memories so that they don't feel the pain of the feeding or recall it afterward. If not for that, it would be impossible to hide their existence. They would be hunted and eventually eradicated," he said quietly and then pointed out, "Mortals could defeat us-I mean, them, by sheer number alone."

She frowned, opened her mouth, then closed it and leaned forward to whisper, "But you didn't erase my memory."

"No," Thomas agreed quietly. He could see the question in her eyes, but shook his head. He wasn't explaining that to her here. He wasn't at all sure how she'd take the news that she was his lifemate and he didn't want her freaking out on the plane. Trying to steer her away from that subject, he said, "The older ones prefer being called immortals to vampire, though they aren't completely immortal. They can die, but not from illness, and not even by most injuries."

"How?" she asked.

Thomas hesitated. What she was asking was a dangerous question to answer. If she decided she didn't think mortals should have to suffer immortals living amongst them, she could use this information to hurt them. Unfortunately, he couldn't read her mind, so couldn't gauge how she was accepting this information. She didn't look as afraid as she had. In fact, if anything, Inez appeared more fascinated than anything else... Still...

"Is it the stake in the heart like the mythological vampire?" she asked abruptly.

"That can stop the heart," he admitted carefully.

Her eyebrows drew together. "But it won't kill them."

"Not if it is removed quickly enough," he admitted.

"Then, how-"

"The only thing you need to know is that now that there are blood banks again, they do not need to hunt to feed," he said quietly.

"But you bit me."

Thomas glanced around again. No one seemed to be paying attention, but as he turned back toward Inez he glimpsed the woman in the seat in front of Inez through the slight gap between the two seats before them. The woman's head was turned sideways, her ear close to the gap. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on her thoughts, relieved to be able to read them until he realized she had indeed been listening avidly. And she suspected it wasn't just a story he was telling Inez. Thomas immediately began erasing her memories, replacing them with the thought that she'd slept through the whole flight. He then took a moment to put her to sleep for the rest of the flight before turning back to Inez.

She was glancing between him and the seats before them with suspicion. "What did you just do?"

"I bit you because the cooler of blood Bastien was having sent to me at the Dorchester hadn't yet arrived," he said in a near whisper, ignoring her question. "I was distracted by my worry for Aunt Marguerite on the flight to England yesterday and only had one bag of blood. Bastien was concerned about my getting on the flight hungry and possibly being tempted to feed from someone at the airport or on the plane and being discovered."

"How much blood do you normally have to have a day?" Inez asked in a whisper, a frown on her face.

"Three or four bags as a rule," he admitted reluctantly.

"Three or four bags?" she asked with amazement. "That's like what? Three or four pints?"

"Something like that," he muttered with a shrug.

"You had one bag yesterday and none today, so you were about seven pints low when you bit me?" she asked.

"Something like that," Thomas repeated uncomfortably.

Inez stared at him for a minute and then said with certainty, "You didn't take that much from me. The human body only holds something like eight pints of blood, doesn't it?"

"No, I didn't take that much from you," he agreed. He had no idea how much blood the average person had in them. It wasn't something he normally considered.

"What happens when you don't get enough blood?"

Thomas hesitated and then admitted, "The nanos will leave the blood stream and go into the organs and skin in search of more blood to fuel them.""Is it painful?" she asked, her expression solemn.

"Like acid traveling through your body," he muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Afraid of misjudging and taking too much blood after so long without feeding off the hoof, Thomas hadn't taken much blood from Inez at all... just enough to soothe the worst of the cramps at the time. It hadn't taken long for his body to run through the small amount he'd consumed and the pain and cramps of hunger had quickly returned. They'd grown more unbearable with the pa.s.sing time, but he'd mostly managed to ignore it by distracting himself with the sights and sounds around them. However, now that they were discussing the subject, he was having trouble ignoring the pain. It would be a great relief when they reached the hotel in Amsterdam and he could raid the cooler of blood Bastien had promised to have waiting there.

Inez worried her lip as she peered at Thomas, her feelings pitched somewhere between relief and worry. She was very relieved to know that he wasn't some soulless, dead, bloodsucker like the fictional Dracula and his cohorts. That would have been a nightmare. She couldn't have accepted that even to keep her job. But the rosy cheeks she'd noted after he'd bitten her had been a temporary state. Staring at him as she had in the taxi, Inez had actually been able to see the pink glow fade from his cheeks during the hour-long ride to Gatwick Airport. By the time they'd arrived and checked in at the terminal, there was no glow left and he'd been terribly pale... unhealthily so.

Inez hadn't been too concerned at the time, but now that she understood just what he was she was beginning to be concerned.

From what he'd explained, it seemed obvious that Thomas was really not much different than herself and other mortals... except that he had a certain longevity. He did have some special abilities that most humans didn't have; the added strength and speed he'd spoken of, the ability to see better in the dark, and the fangs of course. But he also had some rather terrible weaknesses, even afflictions. The man couldn't survive long without blood without suffering terrible pain. She could see the lines of pain gathering around his mouth and eyes. The first of those lines had begun to appear shortly after they'd arrived at the airport and had become more obvious by the time they'd boarded the plane.

Much to her shame, they hadn't concerned her overly much at the time. She'd rather thought it served him right since her neck was still a bit tender to the touch, but now that he'd explained how he was the way he was...

Inez stared at him silently, fighting the urge to offer to let him bite her again. Had it been a wholly altruistic urge, she might not have fought it so hard. She did hate to see others in pain, and really now that he'd explained, she wasn't so angry about his biting her.

She didn't care for the idea of being "cattle" for an immortal as he'd put it, but it was really no different than donating blood to the blood bank, or for a friend. Except for the delivery of it... and therein lay the problem and the reason she was struggling with the offer. It wasn't wholly altruistic. Inez had enjoyed the experience; his kisses, his touch, his scent, the pa.s.sion that had flooded her, and part of her was eager to experience it all again.

If this was how she was going to react to the man biting her, she really needed to work on getting herself a social life, Inez thought with self-disgust. Obviously her lack of one had made her desperate if she was willing to be bitten just to enjoy the pa.s.sion that went along with it.

She heard Thomas take in a deep breath and glanced his way to see that he was letting it out slowly through his nose. Inez recognized at once that it was an effort to ease the pain he was suffering and opened her mouth, the offer to let him bite her again trembling on her tongue when the seat belt sign suddenly came back on.

"We're losing alt.i.tude," Thomas said as he did up his seat belt. "We'll be landing soon."

Inez closed her mouth on the offer she'd been about to make and quickly ducked her head to peer around for her seat belt. There was no need to make the offer if they were nearly there. Part of her was relieved. Another part was disappointed indeed.

Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam was just as busy as Gatwick had been, but Thomas had less patience for it. The crowds shifting around him ramped up the cramps he was suffering. Eager to escape the press of bodies, he rushed Inez through the airport to platform one, relieved when he saw that a train was pulling in. Pausing at a ticket machine, he waited impatiently for the young man already there to finish his purchase, then bought their tickets and hurried Inez onto the train, boarding just before the doors closed. The main floor was three-quarters full, crowded to Thomas in his state of mind. When Inez moved toward a pair of empty seats along one wall, he urged her past them and to a set of stairs leading to the second level. As he'd hoped, the upper compartment was much less busy. Thomas steered Inez to an empty table for two and dropped his knapsack on the floor by his feet as he sat down.

"I'm surprised Bastien didn't arrange for a car to collect us," Inez said with a breathless laugh as she dropped into her own seat.

"He offered to," Thomas admitted. "But the train is probably faster. Besides there isn't a lot of car traffic in Amsterdam. Most people walk or travel by bike. We'll take the train into the city, and then catch a tram to the hotel."

Inez nodded, her gaze sliding out the window to watch the pa.s.sing scenery as they moved out of the train station. There wasn't much to see. It was night, and dark with a scattering of lights. That was all. Apparently no more enchanted by the sight than he'd expect her to be, she turned back to glance at him and asked curiously, "Have you been to Amsterdam before?"

Thomas nodded. "Many times. You?"

The way she quickly shook her head made him smile and he suggested, "Scared off by its reputation?"

Inez smiled wryly and nodded.

"It isn't what it's famous for," Thomas told her quietly.

Inez tilted her head and raised her eyebrows dubiously. "Pot isn't legal here and there is no red light district?"

"Well, yes, and yes," he admitted with a grin. "But that's just one aspect of the city. It's really a lovely place. There aren't a lot of cars in the city. Most people walk or bike around, and then there are the trams and buses. The lack of cars keep the pollution down and the buildings are older than you'll find in London, very picturesque. I think you'll like it."

"We'll see," she said noncommittally.

Thomas nodded and glanced out the window, then back to her to say, "Bastien was having some clothes and necessities delivered to the hotel for you."

When her eyebrows rose, he shrugged. "I reminded him that you would be flying without luggage."

"That was thoughtful," she said quietly, her expression solemn.

Thomas waved the compliment away and said lightly, "I'm a thoughtful guy."

"Yes, you are," she agreed and he was made uncomfortable by how seriously she said so. He was made even more uncomfortable when she asked, "How old are you?"

Thomas grimaced. Because of the way Bastien and Lucern always treated him, he usually felt like the baby in the family even though his sister Jeanne Louise was younger. Now, however, knowing that Inez couldn't be more than thirty, he was embarra.s.sed by how old he was. Finally, he simply said, "I'm old."

"How old?" Inez persisted and then grinned and explained, "I only ask because they say men become more considerate as they get older and you're very considerate."

"No more than most men," he argued, and she snorted with derision at the words.

"Thomas, you are definitely much more considerate than every other man I've met in my life." When he opened his mouth to argue, she began counting facts off on her fingers. "First you drew me that bath and ordered me tea and breakfast when you found out I had rushed out to collect you without, and now you've seen to it that I am not without clothes while here in Amsterdam. You always take my arm to walk me about, open doors for me, and-aside from the jog through Schiphol airport-generally measure your stride to mine," she pointed out and then arched one eyebrow and said, "If consideration in men is commensurate with age, that must mean you're at least a thousand years old."

Thomas smiled at her teasing. "I was raised by my Aunt Marguerite. Her daughter, Lissianna, and I are only four years apart. They taught me consideration."

"How old?" she insisted.

He frowned, briefly searching for a way to change the subject without answering, and then realized that if she was going to be his lifemate, he'd have to fess up to his age at some point and reluctantly admitted, "I was born in 1794."

Inez blinked at this news, stared at him for a moment, and then blinked again before finally asking with disbelief, "Seventeen?

Seventeen hundred and ninety-four? You're over two hundred years old?"

"Old, huh?" he asked apologetically.

Inez was silent for a moment and then sat back in her seat and tried for a nonchalant shrug and simply said, "Well, two hundred is better than six hundred."

"That would be my cousin, Lucern," Thomas said, glancing out the window again as the lights outside began to grow in number.

"Your cousin is six hundred?" Inez asked with disbelief.

Thomas smiled at her horror and nodded, then collected his bag and stood up. "Come on, we're here."

He led her off the train and to the ticket and info office to buy them both pa.s.ses for Amsterdam's public transport.

Once they were on the bus headed for the Amstel Hotel, Thomas pulled out his cell phone to call Herb. He planned to check in to the hotel, down two or three bags of blood, and then head right out to try to find Aunt Marguerite. To do so, he'd need the coordinates for where she was. He hoped if he called Herb now, by the time they'd checked in and he'd fed, Herb would have Marguerite's present coordinates for him.

Thomas watched Inez as he waited for his call to be answered. She was busy taking in everything, her eyes flying over the older buildings and the walking people, and he wished he could read her mind to see what she was thinking. Amsterdam was one of his favorite cities in the world, and he was curious to see if she would like it.

He let his curiosity go and turned his attention to his phone as his call was answered. Inez seemed enraptured by the pa.s.sing scenery, so he was taken by surprise when he finished his call and hung up and she suddenly turned back to him and asked, "Who is Herb?"

"He's a friend," he answered as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "He's the one who tracked Aunt Marguerite's cell phone here to Amsterdam."

"And he's tracking it again now?" Inez asked.

"Yes. I want to head out and look for her as soon as we're checked in. It takes a few minutes to track the cell, so I thought if I had him start on it now, he'd have the new coordinates when I'm ready."

Inez accepted that with a nod and then asked, "Why couldn't you read my mind or erase my memory?"

Wholly unprepared for the question, Thomas found his tongue suddenly glued to the roof of his mouth.

"You said that the nanos allowed you to read the minds of others, control them and even wipe away the memory of what had occurred, but at the hotel you said you couldn't erase my memories," she pointed out. "Why?"Thomas let his breath out slowly. He hadn't expected this to become an issue so soon. He'd hoped to have a little time to woo her before approaching the subject of lifemates and so on. He somehow didn't think Inez was ready for that discussion.

Immortals quickly accepted that the person they couldn't read was their lifemate and acted accordingly. Mortals, on the other hand, were a bit trickier. Some accepted the idea of being a lifemate without difficulty, others didn't seem to trust the idea and needed a long courtship, while still others simply wanted nothing to do with immortals or being one of them. He couldn't just announce that they were lifemates and expect her to go along with it. Thomas wasn't yet sure the news would be well received, and would rather avoid the conversation until he had some idea how she would take it. Would she be horrified by the very thought of being his mate? He, himself, rather liked the idea that she was his mate and found himself warming to it more with every pa.s.sing moment they spent together, but how would she feel about it? She was no longer staring at him as if he was the Devil's sp.a.w.n, but that didn't mean she would agree to settle down and play house with him... for the next several centuries.

"Thomas?" she asked insistently.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't think of a thing to say to change the subject. His gaze slid desperately out the window and his breath whooshed out with relief as a bell rang. "We're here."

Standing abruptly as the bus slowed to a stop, he hurried off the vehicle, for once not taking her arm to usher her along. She was right behind him, however, and he almost laughed out loud when she muttered, "Saved by the bell," in sour tones.

Schooling his features into a suitably innocent expression, Thomas took her arm to lead her into the hotel. She walked along docilely enough until they stepped through the front doors. Then she came to an abrupt halt and simply stared around the huge lobby. Despite having been there before, Thomas paused and peered around with her.

Built in 1867, the hotel was stately and elegant. It had a large white lobby, the center stretching up two floors with a carved wooden staircase leading up to the secondfloor balcony with its arches, columns, and carved railings. It was all quite impressive, Thomas thought as he took Inez's arm to lead her to reception. He checked them in, politely refused help with his bag, and then led her to the elevator.

"So?" Inez said as soon as the doors closed on them.

"Why couldn't you read me or erase my memories?"

"Who says I couldn't" Thomas muttered evasively dismayed by her persistence. "Maybe I just didn't want to."