The agent who met us was barely five-four and nearly balding, with a round face. He looked to be the physician type to me. Norian then got on his communicator and I figured he was contacting somebody at Charter Headquarters. If anybody ran the Alliance, it was the Founder and the Charter Members. They had their own staff, seldom came to Conclaves and cast their votes from remote locations. Must be nice to be them.
All of us were covered in blood and muck after the bodies had been stored in refrigerated boxes, so Norian finished filing his report quickly. We left the morgue employee behind and walked roughly two blocks before I turned to mist again, getting us back to ASD headquarters as swiftly as I could. The smell of rotting bodies clung to my clothes and skin and I wanted it gone.
"Go ahead and get a shower," Norian pointed Lendill and me toward the two shower cubicles. "I have a few more people to speak with." I was happy to get into the shower as quickly as I could—the scent of death was making me gag.
At least the showers had doors that shut and afforded a little privacy. I came out after a while, clean, dressed in my PJs and a robe and combing out my hair. Norian was still waiting outside—I'd deliberately showered quickly so Norian could get his bath if he wanted. He nodded to me and went inside.
I'd brought a couple of books on comp-vid with me, so I settled down to read for a while. "I thought you'd be asleep," Lendill observed after stepping out of the shower wearing a bathrobe. At least he had some modesty—Norian didn't seem to own any.
"I will be before long," I answered his question while covering a yawn. Lendill nodded and went toward his cubicle—it was the last one, just past Norian's sleeping spot. I tapped a bookmark in place between digital pages and snapped off the light above my bed. At least the beds were wide and comfortable—I couldn't fault the Alliance over that, even if they did need to learn a few things about privacy.
* * *
An unusual scent greeted my nostrils the following morning, and I was trying to puzzle it out in my mind before opening my eyes. I stretched beneath the covers—it's always a good idea to work the kinks out of muscles before rising. The covers felt heavy for some reason—heavier than they had the night before. I managed to crack open my right eye and when I did, I found myself staring into the eyes of a huge snake resting on top of me. If my scenting skills hadn't given me information there at the last second, I might have killed the snake before shrieking and misting off the bed, which would have been disastrous.
Chapter 5
My hands were shaking and I was trembling head to heels as I slid down the wall of my cubicle. It took several seconds to convince my voice to work as I watched the huge snake rise up in my bed and spread his hood, much like a cobra might. Only this hood appeared to be fringed with tiny, hair-like points. This snake was at least twelve feet in length and nine inches in diameter at the widest point. "Norian Keef," I managed to gasp eventually, "change back this instant. I could have killed you, you stupid schmuck!"
Norian was giving me his widest grin yet as he materialized on my bed, completely naked. "Now see," he chuckled, "you're the first woman I've ever met who worried that she might kill me instead of the other way around."
"You couldn't discuss this over breakfast or something? You had to crawl into my bed? And what kind of snake is that, anyway?" I was still trying to catch my breath and keep my body from shivering.
"A lion snake," Norian replied casually, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. A lion snake. A f**king lion snake. Only the most poisonous snake in the known universes. He might have killed me while I slept.
"No, breah-mul, I would never do that," Norian must have seen the realization flash across my face. Well, it was all fine and good to say that. Another thing to actually do it, or in this case, not do it. "I understand the trust issue; I have it myself," he went on when I didn't say anything. "My kind have our own form of compulsion and there are few who have discovered what I am that still remember. You are the one who I cannot make to forget, so you will have to keep my secrets as well."
"Unless you decide to kill me," I struggled to my feet. "How many Liaisons have you killed, Norian Keef?" He looked hurt at my question.
"Not one, breah-mul," he snapped. "And the others never saw me as you have seen me."
"Norian, put some clothes on." His erection was distracting, to say the least. I wondered where Lendill was and if he knew.
"Lendill doesn't know—he's gone out to do some snooping. I couldn't help myself, little queen—I wanted to rest my head between your br**sts. Just for a moment." Norian rose and stalked off toward his own cubicle, as if he were the injured party. He'd called me breah-mul, too—in a few languages, it meant my breath. What was I supposed to do? Tell him it was okay to scare the bejeezus out of me and that one or the other of us could have ended up dead as a result? I slapped a hand over my face and we didn't talk to each other for the rest of the morning.
Lendill came back after a while with breakfast for Norian and me. We were both dressed by that time and ate little breakfast rolls stuffed with meat in an uncomfortable silence. I won't give your secret away, I sent in grumpy mindspeech to Norian. The only indication he gave that he'd heard me was a brief widening of his eyes. He caught my arm later when we walked out to the streets, leaving Lendill behind at headquarters, working on the computer. "Why didn't I know you could send mindspeech to anyone?" He hissed at me, shoving me against a wall in an alley.
"Maybe you didn't ask," I jerked my arm out of his grasp.
"Tell me you didn't scent something different about me," he had my arm in his grasp again. "Your scenting ability is legendary. Or is that a lie?"
"Not a lie," I muttered angrily. "But I've never scented one of your kind before. All races have a different scent. Trust me; if I run across another of your kind, I'll know it. And if I happen to run across your parents or any of your relatives, I'll know that, too." That caused Norian to drop his hand and stare at me.
"You can tell who my parents are, just by smelling them?" His voice sounded hopeful and I had no idea why.
"Of course," I said. "Didn't all your records that you went to so much trouble to find say that?"
"No." His voice was clipped. He turned his head and cursed. "They must have thought that information was too sensitive to record."
"Yeah—those vampires, they're such a secretive bunch." I couldn't keep the sarcasm from my voice.