Famished

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “Perhaps somewhere with a beach and warm weather,” Marcus said with a grin.

  “No,” Danton said with a fond smile. “She loves the change of seasons far too much for that. You will see. You will learn.”

  Again, he had to fight off a feeling of jealousy. Jealousy that he knew her so much better than Marcus did. He took in a calming breath. Time. All of that would come with time. He couldn’t expect everything to happen all at once.

  He walked up to the window looking out onto the cityscape. Danton let him think quietly for a minute. The enormity of his responsibilities hit him in that moment. He was going to have to be all things to this magnificent woman in his life. More even than Danton was because they had crossed into the area of being lovers as well as coworkers. He was going to have to be the support system of a great woman who carried a great responsibility for a great many people. Was he up to such a task? Had he really taken all of this into account before accepting this position and inserting himself intimately into her life?

  He realized it didn’t matter. He was willing to do whatever it took to support her…whatever it took to be a part of her world. She had quickly gotten under his skin and he liked her there.

  “We have to talk about Draz,” he said, realizing quite suddenly that if Danton had not managed to end the threat of Draz in her life, then he might have little hope of doing so as well. Danton was a wholly competent man. A vampire apart. Marcus respected him, had a newfound respect for his skill. But perhaps Danton had focused too much on domestic needs of his queen rather than routing out the evil that was the sycophant leader on their coast. Marcus did not blame him for this. Even he was overwhelmed by the load on his plate. However he must make Draz a priority.

  “I have all of my best hunters searching for ways to get close to him,” Danton said. “It is the best that can be done.”

  “Have you never thought of hunting him yourself?”

  “I was needed here,” Danton said pointedly. “Leave the hunt to the hunters. You have enough to deal with already.”

  “But it doesn’t seem as thought they are getting the job done,” Marcus pressed.

  “They are. Especially Halo. I trust him. And I suspect he was getting very close to Draz,” Danton said. “Otherwise why would he bother having him kidnapped and try to turn him? There are other hunters after him, other people who had access to the queen. He picked Halo specifically. He’s scared of him. He’s running from him.”

  “I thought it was Roth who tried to turn him,” Marcus said.

  “Roth was working for Draz. Whatever he said in the end, I’ve no doubt about that.”

  “He must be dealt with,” Marcus said with a frown. “If he had already made one attempt, he will make another. It is only a matter of time.”

  “I realize this of course. And perhaps you will take a different route than I have. Perhaps a fresh perspective is what’s needed. Perhaps I have grown complacent. But remember your first responsibility is to the peace of mind and safety of the queen.”

  “Proactively going after Draz is taking care of the safety of the queen,” Marcus pointed out.

  “True. We will see if you can strike a balance. A better balance than I have perhaps. Now…if you don’t need me for anything else, I really should finish packing up my apartment.”

  “Surely you have others who can do that for you?”

  “I like to keep track of my own things,” he said. “I’ve had help of course, but I have supervised every step of the way. I am afraid it has made me neglect some duties. You should have a full plate on the committee agenda later today.”

  “I am headed there in just a minute,” Marcus said with a glance at the clock. His meeting with Danton had run longer than anticipated, and yet felt as though it had gone too quickly. There was so much he knew that Marcus didn’t. He could spend hours plumbing the depths of his knowledge of Simone. However he would not have that opportunity. Danton was leaving and they wouldn’t have another chance to talk before he went.

  “Good luck. My advice to you on this is that you get to know your committee members well. They handle the most critical cases and decisions of our people. You have to understand them in order to understand the part you must play among them. Often I find myself playing devil’s advocate even though it is not a part of my personal beliefs. It is all about striking a balance.”

  “Thank you. I will keep that in mind,” Marcus said.

  With that, Danton exited Marcus’s office. Danton’s office. Up until yesterday it had been Danton's office. Now it was his. His desk. His view of the city. His heft of responsibilities.

  Marcus didn’t allow himself to be weighed down by his thoughts. He had far too much to do.

  He walked out of his office and headed to the committee chamber on the next floor down.

  Chapter Twelve

  Marcus walked into the committee chamber and took a long look around. It looked similar to others he had seen, but on a grander and more intimidating scale than those and the sub-committee he had served on while working for Leopold. It was a starkly empty room of vast size, the only thing in it a lone chair in the center of the room and with their backs facing the sunlight a raised dais with a long wooden lectern, behind which was seven chairs. One for each of the committee members. An odd number so that there was never a tie vote.

  There had only been five committee members at his last posting. Five members meant fewer opinions to muddy the waters. He would have to see how things went in this expanded version of things. He wasn't certain what purpose the two extra members served.

  As head authoritarian he also served as chairman of this group. He would lead and they would fall into line below him. Since he had not been in such an important role before—excluding the fact that he had also led the committee on Leopold’s side of the ocean—he wondered how seriously these committee veterans were going to take him…and how much they must resent him for so easily slipping into a position above them when he was the least experienced of them all. But that was just the way their government worked. The lead authoritarian led the committee. Period. He also had the power to remove a committee member if he felt they weren't living up to their responsibility…with the queen's consultation of course. It kept the lead authoritarian from biasing the committee to his preferred way of thinking.

  It wasn't unusual for a new power change like this to be a catalyst for a full on changing of the guard. Like a president choosing cabinet members, he could select fresh candidates for the committee and have the old ones traded out. All with consultation of the queen of course. This way, the new leader of the committee didn’t have to stand on unequal ground. He didn’t have to feel the way Marcus was feeling right then…like he was stepping into the shoes of a greater man…and that those on the committee would never accept him in place of that man.

  He had decided to leave the committee as is for the moment. He had studied up on each member of course, getting to know them through their files. He intended to get to know them best in person, but just the same he had begun to look for a dream team, a selection of committee members he might find himself replacing this one with. Not all of the possible members lived in New York…hell, many of them didn’t even live in the United States. They would have to make the same move he had in order to accept the responsibility of serving on this committee.

  A female committee member was organizing everyone in the room, bossing them into taking their seats and calling for a steward of the committee chamber to bring in the first case. Marcus quickly realized this was starting him off with a bad impression.

  “Hold!” he commanded the steward in contradiction to her orders. The steward froze, his gaze darting from the veteran committee member to the newcomer, unable to decide which command to follow. Marcus made it easier on him.

  “I’d like to settle in a little first and get to know who I’ll be working with,” he explained.

  The female committee member, one Darilina by name, frowned at being co
untermanded. However she recognized his authority over her with a stiff nod of her head.

  The committee all took their seats and he stood before them a moment, feeling what it would feel like to be a penitent being brought to face them down and defend themselves. He would have to defend his right to be set above them. His chair at the center of the lectern was empty and waiting for him. First he put names to faces. Darilina and Fabian were the two women on the panel. Spectre, Josial, Diondre, and Gerard were the males.

  Darilina and Fabian were twins. They looked very much alike with their brunette coloring being the same tint and their facial features almost identical. But there were subtle differences that could be seen and one major difference that allowed him to tell them apart thanks to their files. Darilina was about two inches taller than her sister. As they had stood together only moments ago, he had determined who was who and had tracked them to their seats.

  Spectre lived up to his name, his nearly white blue eyes standing out starkly with his white hair and brows. However the lack of color did nothing to make him seem old. His features were angular and mature, not boyish, but they were far from being aged.

  Diondre was as unremarkable in looks as the others were remarkable. He had simple brown hair and brown eyes and was significantly shorter than the other males in the room. However, Marcus wasn't fooled by the outer package. Diondre was one of the fiercest authoritarians out there. It was said he always got his man…no matter how long it took or where the search took hm. Marcus appreciated that because he had much the same qualities. It was surprising to find Diondre on the committee. He was obviously a man of action, versus a man of politics. However the law was the law, no matter what role you played in it to see it through to its end. He suspected that was exactly the same take Diondre took on the matter.

  Gerard reminded him of Simone with his coppery hair that went his shoulders and though he whipped it into a tail as Marcus watched, snapping on an elastic band of some kind, he had the opportunity to see it was just as wavy as Simone’s as well. Unlike Simone’s green eyes, he had a warm, welcoming brown. His entire face seemed to radiate a natural joviality. It made Marcus smile a little.

  “This isn’t meant to be a social occasion,” Darilina said with an unfriendly frown.

  “No. But if I don’t have a feel for you I won’t be able to work with you in any kind of harmony.”

  “Surely you’ve already researched us,” she said, disapproval in her every word and expression. It was immediately clear that she didn’t want him there. That she was afraid of him and what his presence might mean for her. He gave her credit for not sucking up to him in an effort to keep from getting kicked off the team. Her sister, however, was another matter entirely. She smiled warmly at him and said, “Come on Dari, be nice to the man. Give him a chance.”

  Gerard chuckled. “You will find the twins to be the perfect yin and yang. They openly display it and often clash in their differing opinions as only siblings can. But they allow us to see things from all sides. A very valuable asset.”

  “Indeed. It sounds like it,” Marcus said. “What else can you tell me about yourselves? Are you conservative or liberal as a rule? Do you advocate change and reform or adhere to traditions and the old ways?”

  “I would say Gerard and I are the more lenient,” Fabian said. “Spectre and my sister are very old school. Diondre rides the middle. I never know which way he’ll turn. And Josial…Josial is an island unto himself. He takes each situation and weighs it heavily and then makes a choice based solely on the merits of the case and not on his own agenda.”

  That meant that the group was well balanced, leaning toward the liberal. Except now that he was there the odds had shifted more toward the conservative. He was not known for losing his arguments easily. Although, he liked to think he was more like Josial…fair and measuring. Selecting a response based on the individual case and what was at stake rather than to further his conservative point of view. However, he had to admit to himself that that was not always the case. He was such a staunch supporter of the old vampire ways. He was so afraid of their exposure to the human world and the watering down of their species. Not that he held anything against vampire crossbreeds like Danton, but…he just didn’t think it was right to not preserve their bloodlines.

  “Are you satisfied now?” Darilina asked grumpily. “Can we get to work?”

  Marcus sighed. “Very well. I guess we’ll learn as we go.”

  He stepped up onto the dais and took his place behind the lectern, pulling up his chair and finding a stack of papers place neatly before him.

  “The pages of information are in order. Each case is given with a list of evidence against the perpetrator,” Fabian said in a soft voice from beside him on the left.

  “Similar to how we did it on the subcommittee in England,” he remarked. Louder he said, “Let’s take a moment to review the information on the case.”

  “We already have,” Darilina said. “We take home the cases the night before and review them then.”

  “Well I have not,” his bit out sharply, growing tired of her rancor. “In the future I will, but today I have not. You will give me a moment to read…and it wouldn’t harm you to refresh your memory of the case.”

  “A good idea,” Spectre spoke up at last. Marcus appreciated his support and hoped he could count on it in the future.

  Marcus turned his attention to the paperwork before him. He read the name on the file and took the measure of the case quickly. The committee was reserved for hearing the most crucial cases of the vampire nation, but it was also responsible for the cases that came up in Manhattan. There ought to have been a subcommittee for that, he thought, lightening the load on the committee whose responsibilities were much heavier as a whole. Just as subcommittees sat in judgment locally in each principality there should be one here reserving the committee for more important matters.

  That was something he could bring up with the queen at another time. At the moment he would have to go along with the status quo.

  For instance, this first case was a minor infraction. The vampire had been caught using the word ‘vampire’ off protected premises. It was more a rule than a law that they not speak of their own existence off of vampire soil. Well, actually it was a law, but not one he thought of as worthy of a death sentence…which was the sentence reserved for the worst lawbreakers. And by the time they were marched in front of the committee, they were the worst lawbreakers. Usually.

  “Send him in,” he instructed the steward.

  The steward nodded and immediately went out of the door and into what would be a holding area. The holding area would be littered with criminals and authoritarians that had those criminals under guard. The steward brought the offender in and his authoritarian who had brought him in came with him.

  “Really, authoritarian,” Marcus said immediately. “Do you feel this is worthy of this committee’s time? Would not a warning have sufficed?”

  “He has been warned in the past. This time he was caught having a conversation about vampires in the open air of a café where anyone could have heard him. I have his companion outside as well, up for the same charge.”

  “And who reported the infraction? They obviously wouldn’t report on each other. Who overheard them?” Marcus asked, suddenly taking the matter more seriously. If someone else could overhear them, then anyone, including humans, could overhear them. It was damn risky behavior and both vampires should have known better.

  “A third vampire was seated in the same café. He was at the table right next to them. It is true that vampire hearing is keener than human and they were speaking softly, but still, it is the principle of the matter.”

  Marcus had to agree with that assessment. He turned his attention to the offender, one Thomas More.

  “What do you have to say for yourself, vampire?”

  “I beg the committee’s forgiveness,” he pleaded, dropping dramatically to his knees and clasping his hand in a prayer
position. “I swear I’ll never do it again. I simply wasn’t thinking!”

  “Such thoughtlessness could mean the end of our species,” snapped Darilina.

  “But I do not deserve death for it!” he gasped.

  “That is for us to decide,” Marcus said dourly. “It is for you to convince us you will never do this again.”

  “I will remain on vampire property for however long you deem appropriate, only leaving to hunt once a week and even then going out supervised,” he offered. “With a chaperone of your choosing and not my own.”

  “It is not for you to select the manner of your own punishment,” Spectre said. “That is our job.” He paused. “Although, your willingness to curtail yourself is noted and appreciated. It shows genuine repentance. But I wonder if you would have been so repentant if you had not been caught.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t have,” he answered honestly. “I wouldn’t turn myself in. Honestly I wasn't even thinking that it was criminal behavior.”

  “Every vampire child knows you don’t speak of your vampire heritage or the nation in bald terms when off vampire grounds,” Darilina snapped. “Every child knows the consequences of breaking even the slightest of vampire laws.”

  “And why should we go through the effort of imprisoning you here, wasting resources and guarding you to make certain you behave? You are supposed to be a mature adult vampire. You are seventy-four years old. You most certainly are of an age to know better.” Josial said grimly.

  “I agree,” Thomas said readily. “I am completely at fault and throw myself on the mercy of this court.”

  “Enough. We’ve had enough of your pleading. You will give us a moment to consider. Please wait in the holding area,” Darilina said.

  The authoritarian who had brought him in took his arm and hustled him out of the room, leaving the committee with its first decision with Marcus at their head.