Blood Double (God Wars #1)(6)

*

Days on Le-Ath Veronis are divided into twenty-eight hours. Because of somebody's superstition, the thirteenth hour is called Moon Hour. The one that falls during what they count as day is called Noon Hour. I worked until Moon Hour, before lifting my comp-vid from the desk, waving off the solar lights and closing the door of my office behind me.

No, my sire hadn't come looking for me to answer questions. He also wasn't waiting and hadn't left a message on my comp-vid offering any information. I brushed my teeth, climbed into bed and fell asleep reading more information regarding how a newly turned vampire was expected to behave.

*

"Here." Gavin walked into my tiny office, making it feel much smaller than it actually was and making me feel smaller than I actually was. A new comp-vid was dropped onto my desk. I closed my eyes for a few moments, trying to ignore the images that came from reading my vampire sire. They were disturbing, those images. A woman was being beaten, only this woman was the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis. She'd been naked when the troll who'd beaten her carefully aimed his blows to maximize the damage.

"What is this?" I opened and lowered my eyes to get the images out of my mind.

"Information on how to conduct yourself during a Council meeting. We will be attending meetings, beginning next week. Read all of it." Gavin turned and stalked out of my office. Did one not expect a greeting from one's sire? Obviously not. The Vampire Council, which had taken a two-month hiatus, was ready to convene again; the news-vids were full of that information. Apparently, I was expected to go and I didn't want that.

My life had settled into a pattern for four weeks after my turning, and in that interval, I'd seen my vampire sire three times. The third time had been to drop the comp-vid I presently stared at onto my desk. Friendly could never be a word used to describe Gavin Montegue. Cold and insufferable might work, though. My life was about to become much more complicated, via Vampire Council meetings.

*

"What are you doing here?" He made the question sound familiar—as if he knew me. I didn't know him, and he was the most unusual man I'd ever met. No images appeared as I stared at him in surprise.

"Kooper Griff," he held out a hand.

"Mr. Griff," I took his hand in a light grip—it was the way things were done in the Reth Alliance.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked again, settling on the padded bench beside me. Here was the arboretum, located beneath the central dome of the Queen's palace. Plants and rare trees thrived, grew and bloomed under artificial lights. It gave me an illusion of sunlight—something I was destined never to see again, thanks to Gavin Montegue.

"Enjoying fake sunlight while I read my latest assignment," I said, tapping the comp-vid Gavin dumped on my desk. It contained enough material to fill a library, and even had transcripts from many Council meetings. I was staring rudely at Kooper (and I knew it) while I answered his question. I had to forcibly close my mouth—I'd never met anyone before that I couldn't read as easily as the comp-vid in my hand.

Kooper Griff was very tall—probably six-seven or eight, with brown hair and golden-brown eyes. His mouth might be described as sensuous—I couldn't really say why I thought that. It was a blessing, too, to focus on his features (which were very nice) instead of what he'd done during his lifetime.

His hands, though, were what drew me away from his face. They were good hands. Large hands. With long fingers and neatly trimmed nails. He worked with those hands, though—I could tell. Calluses were evident on his palm and thumbs.

"Lifting weights and shooting practice." He'd caught me looking at his hands.

"Shooting?" I gaped at his face again. Guns frightened me. I'd had one waved in my face on several occasions, so how could they not frighten me?

"I work for the ASD."

He couldn't have shocked or upset me more if he'd thrown ice water in my face. "Excuse me." I rose from my seat to walk away. Skel Hawer was ASD, and he'd beaten me nearly to death.

"Don't leave," he caught my hand and pulled me back. "We're not all Skel Hawer." Golden-brown eyes pleaded with me to sit down again.

"I hope not," I muttered, staring at the hand that now gripped mine. His hand was quite strong, but I was vampire, now. I could have jerked away and ran. He wouldn't have caught me, either. I have no idea why I allowed him to pull me back to the bench.

"He was a trained professional. That wasn't what he was trained to do." Kooper held onto my hand. "The excuse I was given by my boss is that Skel was in love with the victim and allowed his emotions to take over."

"He doesn't have the brains of a gnat and he's violent by nature. He'll do it again," I mumbled.

"You can't say that for certain."

"I can say it for certain," I said, standing again and pulling my hand away from his. "That's why I hope he stays in jail for a good, long while." I walked away, my shoes clicking determinedly on the stone floor of the arboretum. Kooper Griff never expected me to hear what he said as I walked away, but I did. My hearing is just as sharp as any vampire's.

"He's not in jail," Kooper Griff sighed.





Chapter 3


I got my first glimpse of a snake that night as I was leaving my bathroom after a shower. I'd stayed up late—Gavin had shown up in my office when I'd gone there after my meeting with Kooper Griff.