Even though I could not see it, I could feel the rising sun pulling on me, reminding me that I would soon need my rest. I welcomed the feeling, because those few hours of escape were the only thing that stood between me and my endless hours of dreary contemplation.

Sitting in Leif's office, I was in a foul mood, and I knew it. My patience at not snarling at my humans was waning, and I would only make them all nervous if I acted aggressively.

It was hard not to give in to it. I was furious at Lucas. I understood humans had their frailties, but I ignored and tolerated so much. My plan had been to keep him by my side for the rest of his life, and this disruption made me grit my teeth. I already missed him and the way he would make jokes when he disagreed with me.

This whole situation sucked. I was tired of all the stupid petty council rules that sought to control the way I managed my affairs.

And then there was Jamie. Perhaps it was unfair of me to be frustrated with him since I had spent so much time trying to make him think the worst, but I was nonetheless. It vexed me how he automatically leapt to the worst possible conclusion in every situation. So stubborn, so judgemental, and I was torn between my burning desire to bait him and some pathetic sentiment that wanted him to regard me in a more favourable light. It was not like I had done anything that bad to him.

Leif was busy talking about some matters relating to my holdings and I really tried to care about whatever it was he thought was deserving of my attention. He was droning through some column of numbers. I would have liked to just tell him to handle it—he was more than capable—but I had agreed to keep him busy while they were setting up whatever bit of appreciation they had planned to inflict upon him.

If I had known what a foul mood I would be in today, I never would have suggested it.

I was also terribly annoyed that I had been blindsided by Lucas and Rene's foolishness. They had been hiding their inconvenient little secret for months and I had been none the wiser. Perhaps I had been too distracted, but the fact I had been caught off guard was not pleasant.

"Would you like to see the ledger for the textile mill?" Leif asked me. He sounded hopeful, but I suspected that he was hoping that I would be too bored to endure it and would leave him in peace.

I forced a smile to my face. "Yes, please."

Leif nodded and opened the ledger. I would not be surprised if he was picking the most boring factories to try to get rid of me. Ha, if that was the case, now that I had figured out his game I was never going to leave. I perked up at the thought of defeating him. I could listen to textile numbers all day if that was what it took to win. Figuratively, of course, because I would fall into unconsciousness soon enough whether I wanted to or not. But I could always return and pester him again after...

Well, except I would not want to keep him from his own miserable celebration. I supposed I could resume tomorrow.

"Well, you have one hundred and thirty-two workers on-site as of last reporting. Production is up seven percent, and the outlook for the next quarter is—"

Leif's spiel was broken off by shouts, loud enough that he could not miss them with even his human hearing.

I did not wait for him; I left him in his office while he was still reacting. Most of my humans were looking confused as they attempted to discover or flee the source of the mayhem.

A million possibilities flashed through my mind as I hurried forward, dodging warm bodies as I ran towards the source of the cacophony. Were we being attacked by another vampire? By angry ferals? Was it some accident? Had someone discovered my secrets?

The noise was loudest near the kitchen, and I recognized the smell of smoke, and not like from a fire by rather the sharp scent of things burning that were not meant to be. I stopped Francis and asked, "What happened?"

"There's a fire," he told me quite unnecessarily.

"How did it start?" I asked.

"I don't know, I wasn't there," he said, sounding very much as if he were making a confession to some wrongdoing. I ignored his unease.

"Is anyone in there?"

"I don't think so." He did not sound at all sure of himself.

I sighed heavily. I was going to have to check myself. How unpleasant. "Francis, ensure that Leif sets up a water line to put out the fire."

Striding past him and the other panicking humans, I reached the kitchens. The smoke was rolling out of the door, thick and black. Maybe my humans could figure out a way to put those little sprinkler things in the ceiling like humans used to do.

The heat radiated towards me as I ran through the door, but mostly the place just stunk unbelievably bad. The scent of burning wood and plastics hurt the inside of my nose, and I could feel my skin starting to overheat and crackle and blister, while my body tried to restore it back to its normal state. It hurt, and it was not putting me in a better mood in the slightest.

A quick search of the kitchen showed me that it was empty, and I checked the larder and the pantry.

A body was lying on the pantry floor, and it took me the briefest fraction of a second to recognize Madeline and hoist her up. I ran her out of the kitchen in a mere second, getting slapped with water on my way out as I dashed out past my humans.

I rushed her to the hospital wing and set her on a bed. The blond nurse, Kasha, glanced at me quizzically while checking her charge.

"Please, keep her alive," I said, then I rushed back to help put out the blaze.

It took a half hour before the humans, with my help, got the fire down to a manageable level and Leif began questioning the humans who had been present about how it had occurred. I sat back and listened as calmly as I could, since they already seemed rather upset. I supposed it was only natural, they could have died and who was I to blame humans for recognizing their deep frailty?

I inspected my arms, as perfect as they always were. The burns had come and left so fast that there was no evidence that I had walked into a blaze at all.

I turned my attention to the humans around me. So fragile, so breakable. If they had gone in as I had, they would not have come out again. They looked so much like me, but we were not the same. An unusual melancholy fell upon me. I was oddly alone in the crowd of living beings.

The light was steadily pushing me towards the darkness more and more as the sun climbed towards noon. I probably only had another half hour before my rest took me, but I wanted to see if Leif determined anything about the cause of the fire.

And then, even that thought was pushed from my mind.

"Mistress, the newest humans are fighting at the gates."

* * * * *

They were trying to get out through three gates, the south gate being the only one unmolested. I ran through the halls of my home, avoiding the humans that were moving around in the chaos. They tried to get out of my way as best they could, but my movements were so fast that their best efforts were nearly in vain.

I was unsurprised that the newer humans were making a break for it, although I was quite vexed that they had put Madeline in danger in their escape attempt. She certainly would have died if I had not gone looking in the fire, and she very will still might if my medical humans did not manage to save her. I had acquired her forty years ago, and the thought that she might be lost to me in such a malicious way filled me with fury.

Still, it was in part my fault since I had been rather absent and had not given the proper amount of attention to bringing the newest additions into the fold.

Yet another thing I had let slide while I had been busy obsessing. I did not like this unpleasant feeling of valid self-criticism I was experiencing. I was not accustomed to losing and failing and it seemed that was nearly all I had done since I had found Jamie in the slave cages.

If I knew then what I knew now, would I have left him there?

The question was laughable. I would still throw myself into this disarray for him, madness though it might be.

Was he one of the escaping humans? I would be shocked if he were not. He had located his quarry and was likely gnawing at the bit to get to him. He had been infuriated after the fiasco with Lucas and Rene and I had not addressed that either.

I really was losing my touch. I heaved a habitual sigh and hurried on towards my chambers. This late in the day, I would find myself burning if I accidentally went out into the light, so I threw on the gloves, boots, and lengthy jacket that would help protect me from the sun's harsh rays just in case, although even clothing would not save me from solar wrath at the brightest point of the day. I grabbed my black tinted glasses and my parasol, but instead of rushing straight to him, I ran to the nearest balcony and cautiously looked outside past the heavy draperies that protected me from the sun.

Jamie was fighting against two of my guards. Running at top speed, I rushed down into the basement and followed the long tunnel that led to the wall, allowing me to avoid even the slightest ray of direct sunlight.

Slipping up the stairs and into the gatehouse, there I waited to stop the human that had so captured my interest from escaping my grasp.