0258: The Vampire's Daughter Book Three

Once Vein had walked in, Elizabeth looked at his guards, smiled and nodded, and shut the door.

She turned to see Vein wandering around the living room, inspecting things. “Well?” she asked.

“This is a nice place you have here,” he said, then turning to face her, he asked, “How do you know how many vampires I’ve brought with me? I know full well you aren’t powerful enough to sense them. No vampire in the New World that I know of is.”

“Perhaps you don’t know of all the Vampires in the New World. Or, maybe, you have underestimated my powers,” Elizabeth responded.

“No, no, that isn’t it. I know exactly how powerful you are,” he said, sitting down in what was obviously her chair. “Besides, if you were powerful enough to sense that, you’d be powerful enough to defend yourself from Thomas. But, from the healing wounds I can see, I’d say you couldn’t.”

“Perhaps wouldn’t,” she suggested, sitting on the couch.

“Ah yes, honest and loyal, that will take you very far, won’t it? Yes, it seems Thomas holds your honesty and loyalty in high regard. What’s next in your illustrious climb down the ladder?”

“Are you here to insult me or discuss something?” Elizabeth asked, tiring of Vein’s games.

“Yes, right,” he said. “I have a letter that I think you might want to read.”

“Who is it from?”

“In fact, I don’t know. You see, in an act of good faith, I’ve not opened it,” Vein said. “A fine young chap from the Old World delivered it. His name is Francis, do you know him?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, he seemed to know you. Oh, and that fellow you sired, what was his name? Let me see, I think I remember. Was his name Sabastian?” he asked mockingly.

“May I see this letter?”

“Perhaps,” he answered. “That fellow was named Sabastian, right? You know him, the one who brought down the Tribunal because you refused to allow justice to be served. I think that was the vampire my European friend mentioned anyway. However, I know for a fact that he was looking for you.”

“Is the letter for me?” Elizabeth asked.

“I’m not really sure,” Vein said. “There’s nothing on the outside to indicate who the letter is for. I just know that the deliverer asked for you at a previous residence.”

“Do you know who the letter is from?” she asked, obviously becoming frustrated.

“Try as I did, the lad wouldn’t say. And trust me, I tried quite hard to persuade him to reveal the author. The only thing I didn’t do was kill him,” Vein said with a laugh. Then, quite seriously, he said, “I figured it would upset you if I killed the messenger. You know the old saying, ‘don’t shoot the messenger.’ Though I guess bite the messenger would be more appropriate in this situation.”

“Vein, must we play this game?”

“No, we don’t have to play this game. I simply thought you would enjoy this game, for old times sake,” Vein said.

“What do want? Am I to barter for this letter?” Elizabeth asked him.

“That sounds interesting,” Vein mocked. “What do you have to offer?” After asking that question, Vein looked down and his entire appearance changed. His haughty, larger than life exterior slumped and his gleeful face waned into a serious expression. “Actually, no,” Vein said, looking up, his appearance had changed from condescending and protective to open and honest. “I simply want you to consider a proposition.”

Elizabeth, taken aback, asked, “A proposition. Are you playing games with me?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Well then, let’s hear your proposition,” Elizabeth said.




[The Vampire's Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.]