"He almost didn't. His entire family was ga.s.sed at Auschwitz. You disturbed a major demon. You know who he was?"

"No."

"A child prodigy, a celebrated pianist."

"I see." Remembering Jean's advice, he took a deep breath and did an unaccustomed thing. "Listen. I'm sorry if I was less than sympathetic last time we met. I'm an insensitive b.o.o.b sometimes- a lot of the time. You've taken great risks in coming here and I understand that this work is very important to you. I hope we can continue."

For a split second her mouth dropped open and eyes widened in surprise, then just as rapidly, she shrugged it off and took her place. "It's ok. Let's go."

He pulled out his notes. "You left off where Ethan made you a vampire. What happened after that?"

"Well, the first year was kind of a training period for me. We lived in Ethan's home in Virginia. It was a large, red brick house built along graceful Georgian lines. I'd spent my life in small apartments and now he brought me to this mansion. By day, I'm sure it was lovely, surrounded by huge old oaks and a vast green lawn, but that first night the shadows lent a gothic aspect to the place, making me uneasy, like some Bronte heroine.

This sudden urge to flee overtook me, and I might have if Ethan hadn't held his arm firmly about me. If you could say anything for Ethan, he inspired confidence. As situations go, it was very bizarre. Here I was with a man sprung from my dreams, who vowed to love me for eternity, but it still wasn't quite quite all I'd dreamt of. One teensy little fact I couldn't get past; he was one hundred and twenty, and drank blood to survive. No s.h.i.t, I shivered standing in front of my new home. all I'd dreamt of. One teensy little fact I couldn't get past; he was one hundred and twenty, and drank blood to survive. No s.h.i.t, I shivered standing in front of my new home.

He sensed my apprehension. "It's very strange to be uprooted from the only life and place you've ever known. It'll seem so for a time. Once I teach you what you need to know, we may mingle more freely in human society, and you'll appreciate the world far more than you did before. I will always be at your side to protect you."

Again, I asked myself- from from what what?

The finality gave me that queasy Jane Eyre-ish feeling in the gut again. I depended now on his sufferance for my very survival. No longer part of the mortal world, I'd no earthly, or should I say unearthly, idea of what the vampiric one would bring. Clutching him tightly, I burst into tears.

Ethan, extremely moved, comforted me. "Hush now. Let's see the house, shall we?"

He unlocked the front door and switched on the lights. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was still the twentieth century.

He toured me about the house, pointing out works of art and architectural features with great pride as I clung nervously to his arm.

"Gee whiz, I'll never get used to the fact that you're over a century old!"

Ethan smiled at that. "Wait until you meet one from another millennium."

Now I was truly appalled. Creatures from societies that burned people alive, sacrificed virgins and kept slaves? Slavery? Slavery? Oh boy, I hadn't even considered this question. Obviously, it was part of Ethan's past. Oh boy, I hadn't even considered this question. Obviously, it was part of Ethan's past.

"What about the vampire who- I didn't know the lingo yet- did this to you?"

He kind of snapped at me, "We call ourselves Immortyls Immortyls. Vampire is a vulgar term."

"Sorry. So who did it?"

His face tensed. "I really don't wish to discuss it."

I quickly changed the subject as we entered another room. "Wow, what's this place?"

"The drawing room."

"Oh Ethan it's so pretty!"

Delicate furnishings were swathed in bright silks and tapestry. Richly patterned rugs of blue and yellow wool covered gleaming wood floors. A huge chandelier sparkled overhead. My breath caught in wonder at the glitter, like the stars, like Ethan.

"I could stay here forever!"

The most splendiferous object was pleased, lifting and twirling me around. I laughed, the glittering lights and motion making me giddy. Little did I know when I spotted the notice for the play that I was to glimpse a world about to dawn!

He set me down and pulled something sparkling from his pocket, an art nouveau b.u.t.terfly pendant set with star sapphires and tiny diamonds. "To commemorate your emergence from the chrysalis." He did the clasp around my neck. "Your journey is just beginning, my b.u.t.terfly."

Just where would it take me? To the end of the earth and back- this particular act, I was confined to the Old Dominion- a Bird of Prey in a gilded cage, if you will.

Well, it all took some getting used to. Not just the liquid diet, the whole darn shebang. The lack of sunlight really got to me. The sun was in my blood and I'd always found the winter depressing. I was used to New York crowds and my raucous theatre chums. Ethan's house, however, was isolated from the rest of the world and I had no human contact. Even the two elderly servants worked while we slept and then went home.

I was also curious about everything having to do with my lover, but Ethan wasn't exactly forthcoming with information. As loquacious as he could be, there were periods of brooding silence that went on and on, when he would peevishly wave me away. I'd back off, hurt and bewildered, but the night my fangs finally came in, he demanded we share essence immediately. And I learned a curious thing.

I eagerly tore into his throat for the first time, embracing the glowing pulse of his heart within my own. Then the screen lit up inside me, and I saw the tall blond man of my nightmare, his long hair blowing in the wind, standing in a snowy landscape with arms outstretched. A searing climax rocked us both, as if this person willed it. I tried to probe Ethan's memory deeper and find out who this man was, but my lover abruptly pulled away and the vision vanished. We lay there panting and gasping for breath.

"Ethan, can we read minds?"

He pulled himself over me, eager for round two. "Really Mia."

I opened my thighs to admit him. Every evening started this way, not that I objected. I was more than happy to oblige him.

"I sense things about you sometimes... "

He didn't miss a stroke. "You're simply reading the language of the body, the timbre of the voice. Trust me, the less hocus pocus you believe the better. It clouds the mind."

"How do you explain the visions when we share essence?"

He pulled out abruptly. "Visions?"

"I saw a man with long blond hair, standing in the snow. Who is he?"

He rolled off of me. "No one- you saw nothing! A hallucination brought on by ingesting blood, nothing more!"

"Seems to me, you know him well... "

He ignored my questions and got up to dress. "Get dressed. You have reading to do."

Ethan had peculiar ideas about our place in the world and thought it his duty to instruct me nightly in the drawing room. "Mortals are lesser beings," he said calmly, as he laid out his nightly game of solitaire on the inlaid card table. "You've undergone a metamorphosis. Your flesh is no longer mortal, and now you must shed the vestiges of the puny human psyche. Open your consciousness to new possibilities... "

I struggled through the dusty old tome he'd a.s.signed me, scowling. This philosophy of his was, in my opinion, simply a case of some animals being more equal than others, but it was seductive when offered by the epitome of male beauty. To Ethan, after living thirty-three years at the apex of human development, it seemed only natural that his new form took on divine proportions. It really isn't hard to imagine how he'd come to this conclusion. One look at Ethan would have made a believer out of the most hardened skeptic.

Ever the curious little cat, I put down the book he'd a.s.signed me and thumbed through a very old leather bound photo alb.u.m on the table, to a picture of a girl, fair, very slender, in her late teens. Her eyes stared out of the old daguerreotype like a plea for help. No one ever smiled much in those old pictures but she looked positively scared to death. "Ethan, this is your wife?"

An annoyed look came over him. "Yes- that's Sally Anne."

I couldn't help feeling jealous. "Did you love her?"

"We were ill-suited. I married her out of duty. My father was afraid he'd die before seeing any grandchildren. She was the least objectionable choice."

I felt another more severe stab. "You had children?"

A pained look briefly crossed his face. "Two sons, Robert and Joseph," he said, quietly turning the leaf to show me.

I looked down on two toddlers dressed in the fashion of a century ago, the unmistakable stamp of Ethan on those sweet faces. Gut instinct told me he still grieved for them. "Ethan, can't we have a baby?"

His face had that sudden odd look again. "No. We procreate through the blood."

"What if you had taken me and I hadn't- gotten rid of it?"

"An abomination that would have devoured you from inside. We're sterile. We'll never make a child together."

I sank to the floor in a heap, sobbing. For some reason, in the glow of transformation, I'd never considered this. What had I deluded myself into thinking? I wasn't really alive anymore was I? I was some kind of ghoul now no matter what fancy name we called ourselves. Ethan lifted me to my feet and held me close. "Hush now little bird, don't cry. I understand."

I tried to free myself. "You didn't murder murder your own offspring! I'm eternally d.a.m.ned for what I did!" your own offspring! I'm eternally d.a.m.ned for what I did!"

"Who is to judge what you did? It was the best thing you could have done, under the circ.u.mstances. There's no such place as h.e.l.l, except for the one men make, but you are my angel, and I can't bear your tears."

I choked back the tears as he ordered, but I'd never absolve myself of the responsibility. Every time I went to his arms I'd remember what I'd done to get there. Yet, there I was and how I craved his embrace. If he was d.a.m.nation- then I was d.a.m.ned.

Ethan's regime didn't let me hunt at first, instead he taught me to navigate the sinuous web of the human mind and just what strings to pull to get the desired result, involving me in complex seductions with mortals. Physical attractions snare the victim, but he trained me to play the vampire on a higher plane, to learn the victim's weaknesses and exploit them, whether the demons be s.e.xual, psychological or both- more challenging and hence more of a thrill at the game's conclusion.

More than just a voyeuristic thrill was involved in these nasty little con games we played. Each time we took on more complicated scenarios, more complex rules and more wealthy victims, and he guided me through each with a sense of deadly purpose.

He also dictated my appearance, wardrobe and manners to the letter, until I was completely his creation, his dress-up doll. However, Ethan's lessons also involved the use of less feminine weapons, namely knives and firearms, and the best methods for dispatching Immortyls, quick decapitation or a large caliber bullet to the brain or heart. I couldn't imagine why he wanted me to learn all that.

After several months of training, Ethan finally let his falcon fly solo. We drove up north, all the way into Connecticut, to a lonely Tudor knock-off on a hill. Dusty gravel driveway crunched like shards of dried bone under our feet, while the Long Island Sound crashed on rocks below. Leaded gla.s.s windows on the first floor were dark, no beacon shining to welcome our arrival. I asked him who owned the house.

"Your former lover's wife- time you did the honors."

Up until now, Ethan had done all the actual killing, and I might have balked had it not been Richard.

We crept around to a completely modern patio and swimming pool surrounded by chairs and chaise lounges, where I envisioned Richard and Katherine on fine days, drinking c.o.c.ktails and spitting venom.

A foghorn belched over the water. Mist enveloped the house like in some old Universal horror flick, the perfect setting. I could smell Richard's blood already.

Ethan jimmied the back door and we stole into the house. Bluish moonlight streaming into the cavernous phony English Country interior set Ethan's eyes ablaze. I ascended the stairway, gracefully in the manner he'd taught, careful not to let the tapping of my tiny heels ruin the element of surprise.

A small pool of light spilled out into the hallway. Berlioz on the radio. I took one deliberate step after another, forcing myself into the dark corner bearing Richard's name. A baby cried desperately for help. Legions of demons poured out as I lay again on the table, cold instruments invading, tearing into me.

I took a deep breath and swooped into the room, alighting on the bed. Richard's book fell to the floor with a thump. "Mia, good G.o.d, everyone thinks you're dead!"

"Good thing you had Katherine as an alibi that night. Do I look dead to you?"

Beads of perspiration came on his forehead, the smell of adrenaline coursed through his body. "I'm relieved to see you alive."

I traced the line of his throat, reaching unb.u.t.toning the topmost pajama b.u.t.ton. His pulse raced under his damp skin.

"We had a little appointment that day, remember? In Sumara." Sumara." I ran my other hand up his thigh, a teasing little spider crawling up the old waterspout. I tossed my hair filling the air with a pheromone c.o.c.ktail and slipped overtop him. His fingers timidly brushed the bare thigh above my stocking. I smacked his hand away. "Naughty boy." I ran my other hand up his thigh, a teasing little spider crawling up the old waterspout. I tossed my hair filling the air with a pheromone c.o.c.ktail and slipped overtop him. His fingers timidly brushed the bare thigh above my stocking. I smacked his hand away. "Naughty boy."

"You're still full of surprises."

"You've no idea."

Ethan slipped into the room, leaning gracefully against the doorframe and laughed.

Richard blanched. "What the h.e.l.l?"

Ethan was at his best, the cavalier at his lady's service, all panache. "The lady needed an escort... you bowed out."

I pinned Richard to the mattress. Bringing my face very close to his I whispered, "You owe me a life, d.i.c.k d.i.c.k."

His bloodshot gray eyes gleamed with fury. "You're crazy- the two of you. Get out of my house!"

"Your house?"

He pushed against me. A rush of power went to my head as he fought, my hands gripping his throat, his heart accelerating racing against mine. Blue veins stood out in his forehead as I bared my fangs. "What in G.o.d's name!"

"I finally know how Hilde felt when she drove Solness up the tower. Pity, I'll never play her again. Frightfully exciting!" Frightfully exciting!"

His wide-eyed look of horror was almost compensation for the pain he'd caused. A warm wet patch of urine spread on the mattress.

"Not very romantic, darling."

Ethan laughed, still in his casual pose at the doorway, perfect in every way. My bad boy never looked so good.

My lips brushed over Richard's throat. "Our revels are now ended Richard. Thanks for the ride."

I tore into the artery. A torrent of salt and iron slid warm down my throat and into my belly. His fingers clutched me as he whispered a prayer to the deceased G.o.d. My heartbeat grew stronger as his fought against the irresistible tide. Then- nothing. Demons ministered to me, fawning and caressing in adoration, whispering endearments, as I looked into my lord's approving frosted eyes."

Joe shuddered. "That's sick."

She ignored him and continued, "Ethan kept me locked away in his house for another couple of months, tweaking my skills until he was satisfied. Then one night I woke to find him holding a magnificent ball gown of blood red satin trimmed with spider web-delicate black lace and intricate jet beading, very old but beautifully preserved. "Come on, let's get you dressed."

After I'd dressed, he led me downstairs to the old ballroom, where I smelled the spicy perfume of roses, hundreds of them. Ethan moved silently about the room, lighting dozens of candles. He must have ransacked the house for candelabrum.

He softened in their glow, utterly devoid of the usual hauteur. I caught my breath in wonder. We were surrounded by ma.s.ses of roses, placed about the room in vases and petals strewn on the floor. Boy, did he ever know how to make a girl love him.

He placed the needle down on a small phonograph. Waltz music filled reverberated off of the old walls like a heartbeat, as if the house was coming to life again after a long vampiric sleep.

He turned slowly. A pain like dying went through me. Wow, did he look good.

I stood, tremulous, antic.i.p.ating his touch. What was this about? Was there some significance to all this?

He enfolded me in his arms. "Happy Birthday, cara mia cara mia."

"But it's not... ." I said, realizing the reason for this display, as his lips locked onto mine. It wasn't my birthday, not in the usual sense, not the anniversary of when my mother fatally labored to bring me into the world. It was the date I was reborn to him. him.

He reached into his breast pocket. Blood red and rainbow sparks spilled out into my hands. "Ethan, this must have cost a fortune!"

He clasped the necklace around my throat and kissed my bare shoulder. "A handful of cold stones cannot express the depth of my love for you."