Famished

by Jacquelyn Frank

  She was sitting down in a large grouping of chairs, her long legs crossed and a relatively conservative skirt tightened just above her knee with her seated position. Man she had a great pair of legs. He had noticed that first thing when they had met. He was a sucker for long, lithe legs. She walked very gracefully, her carriage correct and her hips having just the right amount of provocative sway to them. Classy, not trashy. All the way. If he had to choose a single word to describe her from what he had seen so far, “classy” would be it.

  There were others seated in the circle of chairs, and one very big vampire standing just beyond them at the window was staring hard out of the glass at who knew what. They were almost too high up to see the street, certainly without any clarity, and this particular corner office was not impeded by the face of another building with windows that might make staring out more interesting. Of course, he could just be enjoying the view, but he didn’t seem to be the type to experiencing the joy of that kind of thing. The next person to catch his eye was the black man seated, amusingly enough, to Simone’s left side. This he knew was Danton, his predecessor. There weren't many black vampires. It spoke of his mixed heritage. He wondered how far back into his history it was that an antecedent had mated with a human, thus creating the mixture of genes he was presently looking at. Most vampires were “white”, but as time went on there had been others showing up…Asian, Indian…African. The trouble with that was that it immediately set the vampire apart, labeled them as impure, tattled on their mixed lineage. And unfortunately that came with a certain amount of prejudice. Marcus would like to think they were above such things, but they were as flawed as humans were when it came to these matters. Purists like him frowned on the mixing of human DNA into their gene pool. They also proved to be the most intense bigots in the vampire world.

  Marcus was a little more enlightened than the majority of purists, however. He didn’t condemn someone just because of his lineage…but he did do all in his power to save others from the fate non-pure children would face. There wasn't anything wrong with being an impure child, except for the painful ways in which they could be treated by their fellow vampire children. It was something he would never want to subject his own children to. He would never mate with a human woman.

  There was another man sitting to Simone’s right. This, he knew by having studied his picture, was Rafe DaSilva. He was her right hand man, not just in seated position. Rafe had been the one to write out a lot of the treaty, negotiating the pitfalls of wording and the possibilities of offending each prince of their peoples. Every word had had to be exact. Putting their heads together, he and Simone had managed to balance out the wording of a forty-five-page treaty without insulting anyone. A feat to be sure, and one to be respected.

  The one thing about Rafe that had struck him was the fact that he was currently mated to a human female. A police detective. Risky business that, on several fronts. He wouldn’t go over the pitfalls of mixed marriage in his head again, but he did wonder about the committee’s choice to allow such a woman to be exposed to vampire knowledge. Surely human law and vampire law would clash. Vampire methods of treating offenders were far harsher than human ways. When a vampire was brought up on charges it was life or death. There were no prisons for vampires. The logistics of such a thing were impossible. Who would feed them? How would they feed them? Even the simplest of crimes were met with capital punishment under the worst of circumstances. This worked as a deterrent, but of course there were those who could not seem to resist certain crimes.

  Most vampires were law abiding. Vampires took care of their own, so thievery was not necessary, and things like assault were settled between the two parties with an intermediary. Murder, when it happened on the rare occasion, was an automatic death sentence, be it the murder of a fellow vampire or a human. And any vampire who got caught by human law, well, there was no coming back from that. The risk of exposure was too great and a vampire in a human jail would likely fall into torpor, a coma-like state that shriveled the body and mind. With this they ran the risk of blood tests and human medicine figuring out they weren't quite human. Oh, they looked human, but on the cellular level…even on the level of their organs…they were quite different. Vampires had three kidneys, an extra lobe to their liver, and their hearts were located on the opposite side of their chest. Of course, these anomalies could be explained away by certain human conditions that were in medical texts—conditions that, unbeknownst to humans, were likely a cause of crossbreeding somewhere in that human’s history. But these were very rare conditions and those humans with vampire DNA fell under the same laws as any vampire did. Risking exposure was absolutely intolerable. Allowing yourself to be examined and tested in ways that would expose their alien selves…unacceptable…and a capital crime. Authoritarians, as well as being enforcers of the law, had a section especially dedicated to erasing any records of such exposures. Retrieval of blood samples and x-rays…any data written or transcribed. Of course they rarely let it get beyond initial exposure…they were on the case immediately…their erasure fast and total. But it was a harder and harder achievement in this digital age. These authoritarians tended to be computer experts more than anything nowadays…defeating firewalls and deleting files, hunting down every last typed word that could result in exposure while other teams worked on the physical evidence.

  They had protocols for all of it…and punishment as well. In most situations, Rafe would have faced serious punishment for exposing the vampires to a human cop…but the committee had judged her trustworthy and for reasons beyond his immediate understanding Rafe had not faced censure. Rafe had gone up against the committee, but the committee had let him slide and stopped it before it had reached the tribunal stage. That was their prerogative, but Marcus knew he would not have been one of the committee members who would let such a thing slide. He intended to be much harsher than that.

  Marcus walked across the room and everyone rose to their feet. They extended their hands to him and he shook each one…save Simone and the vampire at the window.

  “That’s Halo. Don’t mind his bad manners and equally bad temper,” Simone introduced him.

  “He’s your head hunter?” Marcus asked. He took in the man slowly, feeling the surliness radiating off of him.

  “He’s our best hunter,” Simone said. “Not necessarily the one in charge. He’s just the one we usually turn to for the biggest jobs,” Rafe said with half a smile. “He doesn’t like to be called into the office like this. He prefers meeting in some seedy bar or another. Being in vampire central doesn’t make him very happy.”

  “Well, he lives here, doesn’t he?” Marcus asked with hesitation.

  “No. Close by, but not here.”

  Marcus frowned. He would never have allowed that had he been prince of this city. Vampires stayed in vampire central, wherever that was in whatever city. They were a community. A community couldn’t function if it was spread out all over the universe.

  An amusing sentiment, he realized, coming from a group of aliens whose original intention it had been to colonize another world. But this was different. This was for the protection and betterment of their species.

  “We give Halo a little leeway,” Simone said, reading his displeased expression for what it was. “He’s one of only three people who don’t live in vampire central.”

  “That’s three people too many in my opinion,” Marcus said flatly. The statement earned him a displeased growl from Halo, but Marcus could care less about the spoiled vampire’s temper. He had read up on Halo. He hadn’t been able to identify him from behind just now, but he knew a great deal about him. The vampire took risks, flirted with sycophanthropy and had risked exposure on too many occasions to count. As far as Marcus was concerned, Halo was indeed quite spoiled and was very much in need of a good snapping back. All Marcus knew was that there was a new sheriff in town and he wasn't going to allow such leniency. He would have Halo up before the committee before the month was out, no doubt.
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  Easy. Easy, he calmed himself. He had to take care. He had to use his mind and his wisdom here. He was the newcomer. He was the radically new thing that had to learn how they did things and form himself to their ways. But he would also introduce independence and clarity of thought. He would speak his mind even if it cost him this new position. He was used to his voice having value, and he would settle for no less here.

  Simone next introduced him to Danton. The big man took his hand in a solid grip and they shook firmly. His body, Marcus noted, radiated strength and power. His presence felt just as strong as the hunter’s and just as intelligent as the right hand man. He could feel it all radiating off of him instantly. Danton was an enigma to him. Why would a man give up such a choice position and demote himself? Was it because he disagreed with her policies? Was it because he was weary of the responsibilities of his position? No. It couldn’t be the latter. He was becoming head authoritarian in South Africa where he was going. He would have almost the same responsibilities, only not such a grand scale. Perhaps he craved more excitement. He was more likely to get his hands dirty in South Africa. He was more likely to be doing the enforcing of the law rather than supporting policy and helping to create new. Marcus would get his hands dirty occasionally in his new position, but most of his work would be bureaucracy and sitting behind a desk, figuratively speaking.

  Not for the first time Marcus thought he would need more action than the position might normally call for. He would see to it there was time for field work. He needed balance. Excitement. Not that he was a danger junkie like the hunter at the window, but he needed a way to let off steam and hunting for food simply wasn't enough. He needed a far more clever prey. A stronger one. A cleverer one. Prey that would keep him on his toes.

  “Sit down please,” Simone said, indicating the empty seat beside Danton.

  It was not lost on Marcus that they had been meeting without him before meeting with him. That very likely meant they were meeting about hm. This he did not mind. He wanted them all to have time to adjust to the idea of him. However, he would only tolerate this in the first few days. Then he would insist on being included in all meetings of her cabinet.

  Not everyone was present. There were a couple of other less prominent advisors…economical and financial, that were part of this cabinet. However, it was clear that they were going to have this meeting without those two people…one man and one the only woman advisor the queen kept at the moment.

  He wondered about her male centric cabinet. It was true male vampires outnumbered female in their society. There were two males to every one female. Advantageous for a woman who craves variety, but perhaps not so advantageous in government. There should perhaps be a little more balance in her cabinet. More of a female voice to speak up for the women in their society. To represent their strength. He supposed the queen herself was their best representative, being both a woman and a strong vampire. That would have to be enough, unless he could advise her to implement some sort of change. Perhaps in a headhunter. She didn’t seem to have one in specific…the position of the first to be called seemed to most frequently go the Halo, but this hunter was no leader of men or women.

  “Are we all here?” he asks pointedly, “I would not want to exclude anyone from a vital discussion.”

  It was his way of reprimanding them for meeting without them and he could see by the look of slight embarrassment flushing over her cheeks that it was not lost on her. She then frowned, clearly not enjoying being scolded. Well, she would have to get used to him speaking his mind and feelings on things. He was not the sort to be a ‘yes’ man. He wasn’t gong to serve her badly by telling her only what she wished to hear…even if it might cost him his position in the end. Leo had appreciated this about him. Marcus had to assume that his talent for this outspokenness was part of the reason why Leo hand been so keen to give him up and offer him to Simone.

  Of course, it could be that Leo had finally grown sick of him constantly challenging him, he thought with an inward chuckle. Leopold had jokingly threatened to sack him for years.

  They had had jolly good fun together, he and Leopold. But that was over with and it was time for new things. Leo had sacrificed a friend and counselor, just to show his cousin how much he cared for her and how loyal he was to her.

  “Everyone vital to these discussions is here. We will introduce our financial advisors tomorrow. They are presently on a fact finding mission in France.”

  “Trouble?” he asked with concern.

  “The French vampires are not as well versed in economics as we would have them be. They barely make enough to keep their finances independent of ours.”

  By ours he knew she meant the race of the vampires as a whole. Each city-state was responsible for its own economics, but they were also required to contribute to the government and the central economic fund. The vampires enjoyed a great deal of wealth as a nation, and she was clearly determined to keep it that way.

  Just the same, he was a little bit miffed. They had known this meeting was going to take place a whole week ago. Surely if that was enough time for him to uproot himself and make himself readily available to her desires than that was enough to make certain all key players of the upper government were available for him to meet.

  He was scheduled to meet the committee later. They were the only other upper government players other than the tribunal. He would be meeting the members of the tribunal even later. Everyone had made themselves available to him. Everyone…save these two key people.

  He would have to get over it, he thought. It didn’t mean she was disrespecting him…did it? It was more likely just a thoughtless slip up. A government capable of those things was capable of many other mistakes. He was determined to see them do better.

  Marcus sat back in his chair a little as the discussion about France continued on around him. It was a superficial discussion. The meat of it would happen once the financial advisors returned.

  “Is there anyone else I should be meeting that is unavailable today?” he asked suddenly, breaking into the conversation.

  Simone blinked and stared at him a short moment.

  “I don’t think so,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Good. I’d really rather get the introductions and preliminaries out of the way so I can get to work as soon as possible.”

  “A little impatient, aren’t you? There is plenty of time for you to adjust to your new position,” Rafe said.

  “I don’t need time to adjust. I need to work. I can’t do that if I can’t get introductions under my belt.”

  Simone cocked her head as studied him. It was a very serious expression, and it suited her beautiful features…just as all of her expressions did. She was really a remarkable looking woman. Last night her hair had been down, in loose auburn waves about her shoulders and down her back. Today it was severely swept back. Not a single hair was out of place. It added to her smooth beauty…but he preferred it down. She seemed much more feminine with it down.

  Not that she could ever not look feminine. She had deliciously long legs, which were currently crossed, the modest hem of her skirt barely exposing her knee but somehow looking revealing all the same. She had curving hips…not overly pronounced, just defined enough to tempt the eye. Walking behind her last night his eyes had been drawn to the slight, graceful sway of them.

  Her waist then made a sharp curve inward, making her hips and breasts seem more pronounced. He had never seen anyone with such a small waist. He imagined it wouldn’t be difficult to span her waist with his hands. She must have looked remarkable in a corset back in bygone days, with her slender waist and her lush breasts. He could easily imagine those breasts provocatively curving out above a corseted neckline. That was a sight he would have liked to see. But although he had been alive when corsets were still worn, he had not seen or met her.

  He had been a low ranking authoritarian at the time and as a rule lower ranks did not get to meet the queen. She hadn’t even been queen then.
Vampires did not allow photographs as a rule in this day and age, and they did their best to avoid it, but there was more than one vampire’s image hanging on a wall in oil colors or other such historical mediums in museums or in personal collections. It was surprisingly easy to explain an incredible likeness as being an ancestor they merely looked a lot like. Although such permanent records were frowned on seriously, they weren't cause for being brought up against the committee. Especially not in this day and age where cameras were literally everywhere. They simply had to constantly change their appearances, locations and human friends before anyone noticed they weren't aging. They could emulate aging using makeup and hair dye to a certain extent, but really it was just better to start fresh somewhere new.

  Simone had been in New York City for fifteen years. If she were re-elected for another term, then she would have to move the government to another city entirely, displacing the prince of that province. Still, it wasn't so bad for the prince. They would then become the prince of New York City. He suspected this switch would no doubt occur between Leopold and Simone. He would give up London for her…and would enjoy the freshness of a new, challenging city in New York. He supposed Leo could run for office and get the position of king in the city that way, but Leo would never run against his cousin. There were rumors that Simone wasn't looking for a third reign. It was one of the many things he had to ask her about.

  “Have we insulted you in some way?” she asked astutely. It took him by surprise. He wasn't used to being seen through so easily and so thoroughly.