As much as I was enjoying my conversation with Jamie, there were more pressing things to discuss. "Anyway, we shall shift you to New Haven after the sun goes down. I've had tunnels built in secret so it's easy enough to get you out." It was disappointing that I would see him so seldom, but it was not as if I could not invent slightly more frequent excuses to need to travel there.

Although that was another unnecessary risk as well. Leif would surely make his disapproval known. I longed for a world in which I would no longer have to consider such things and could follow my whims to the end of the earth, or at least the edges of North America. All the other continents were their own messes, from what I had heard.

Perhaps we vampires truly were parasites rather than predators as Jamie had suggested. Destined to feed off the energy of life but to produce nothing, it might just be why we were so poor at managing the world.

Although humans had also crafted some horrific societies, at least every one fell to eventual ruin under the weight of its own instabilities. I feared that fracture would not come with the council's stranglehold on the future without some external pressure on it, unless they truly did destroy the underlying population. That would not happen if I had my way.

My thoughts had grown far too dismal. "So, I hear you properly met Soren?"

"Yes," he agreed.

"I thought he might appreciate your accomplishments. Once he found out you've taken out a few vampires besides your attempt on me, he became your biggest fan, you might have noticed."

"Yeah, I did." He looked adorably uncomfortable with the hero worship. It was an odd reaction, because veneration was such an enjoyable part of my life. I could not imagine being troubled by it. Perhaps it came with him wandering around in the wilds for years with no one to appreciate him.

"You'll be getting that reaction a lot more, now, I imagine."

His slightly disgruntled expression was rather amusing, but I continued. "Soren has got quite a lot in common with you. He has not killed any vampires yet, but his family was taken away when he was quite young. He was overlooked in the chaos. I found him wandering alone when he was thirteen. Normally I would stick such a young one in the care of one of the factories, but he seemed so scrappy that I instead gave him to Raoul. He's a very good fighter now. I bet he'll be able to start his own tally if the time was right."

"When will the time be right?" Jamie asked.

He probably would not like my answer, because humans tended to be hasty. I supposed it was because they felt the pull of the years so strongly upon them. "To gain a decisive victory, we're trying to get everything in place. We need enough resources built up that when the other vampires find out what we are up to that we can withstand whatever they throw at us, and it will be brutal. It should be in your lifetime... Hopefully." I was getting extremely tired of waiting, myself.

His reaction was as expected, his brow furrowed as he considered my words. "You want to wait for the right moment."

I was a bit surprised that he took the idea so calmly, but I was hardly going to complain about his lack of protest. "Exactly. But you never know, stick with me and you might just get to stake a few more leeches yet." I winked.

Jamie was watching me as if he was trying to reason out what I was thinking, and I suppressed my urge to say something provocative to sidetrack him from whatever his thoughts were. It was difficult, because so many ideas of how to get a rise out of him presented themselves to me.

Perhaps it was time to take my leave before I lost my internal battle and angered him again. After all, I did agree that I would at least try not to vex him too sorely. "Well, Jamie, if you have no more questions, I have things to do yet this night, and you'll doubtless need some rest. Tell Soren if you need anything, I've set him in charge of bringing you what you need while you're here."

"Thanks." The way he said the word made me think he was unused to saying it, or at least that he was unused to saying it to vampires. How much did my state of existence bother him now that he was here of his own free will?

Perhaps I would ask him one day after he had settled in.

"Have a good sleep, Jamie."

"Night," he said.

I left with one final glance at that handsome newly shaven jaw line, but he lingered in my mind even after he was out of sight. It was good that he had not fought shaving. No doubt he had a beard during most of his attacks on vampires, so keeping him clean shaven in the future would add an added layer of difficulty to anyone trying to identify him.

It was fortunate that everything but the vague memory of facial recognition software had been lost in the human suppression wars.

* * * * *

I experienced an unprecedented level of optimism that night. How could anything go wrong when things were so obviously going right?

It was a ridiculous fallacy and I knew it, but I could not help my satisfaction at the situation. It was oddly sweet, much more than the pleasure I gained from tricking and gainsaying my enemies in the council or irritating my favourite humans. It was almost an innocent feeling, although I could scarcely consider anything to do with myself innocent.

Whatever this odd emotion was, I could not quite puzzle it out, but I was content to simply enjoy it.

The night fled quickly, and the morning found me sitting in Leif's office and listening to his ever present concerns. Hopefully I was not damaging his heart with all the stress I caused him.

"If anyone figures out who Jamie is and what he has done and that you are harbouring him, it's going to bring up a lot of questions," he said sternly.

"I know. I've thought of that. I simply will ensure that no one finds out. Thus, New Haven. If anyone figures out that he came here, I'll say I disposed of him for escaping in the first place. Which reminds me, ensure that his death papers are properly filled out, please."

Leif looked unimpressed. "Obviously, Mistress."

I noted he was Mistressing me again while we were alone, which usually meant he was annoyed at my decisions or thought he was stepping out of line. It was clearly the former this time since he also had that exact tone my father long ago used when I did not want to be courted by one swine or another for perfectly good reasons he could somehow not comprehend.

"I know you have reservations, but Jamie will be an asset. I'm sure Connor will find a perfectly good use for him. Surely you can't doubt his capabilities."

"I'm sure he has plenty of capabilities, but I'm not sure the risk is worth it, Mistress." This time when he called me that he had an interesting combination of irritation and worry.

I tried to hide my smile and be serious. "Listen, Leif. You know how I am, and I need him. I know you've been concerned from the beginning, but so far nothing has happened that's particularly bad."

"He killed two of Ivan's fledglings. You're the one who knows Ivan. Do you think he'll take that lying down?"

I sighed. "It will only be trouble if he knows who did it and who and where Jamie is. I don't think Ivan has ever even laid eyes on Jamie. And it's not all trouble. Having Jamie back soothes me in some rather indescribable way."

"I've never known you not to be able to describe something."

"I know. It's odd."

He was clearly trying to figure out what was in my head. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Well, there are some benefits to his return. You are happy again, maybe even happier than I've seen you."

"I'm always happy," I told him. "That's why I'm always smiling." I bared my fangs at him in an aggressive grin to demonstrate.

"You're always amused. That's not the same thing as happiness."

I scoffed. This conversation was getting tedious. "Either way, I have listened to your objections. Jamie is still staying at New Haven, Leif."

He did not look surprised in the slightest. "I know. I just hope you'll be careful. I don't want to see you sabotage centuries of planning over one human."

My smirk took on a wicked edge. "Worry not, human. I've got everything under control."

He seemed far from convinced, but that was fine. I never picked him to be a yes man.

* * * * *

Marcel watched over me while I slept that day. He was extra attentive and seemed on edge. I considered speaking to him about the situation, but the darkness tugged me away from any such thoughts and buried me in its cold comfort.

As I crawled out of the black nothingness, that hovering sense of contentment engulfed me again as soon as I recalled that Jamie had survived and returned. I stretched and considered how the night ahead of me would find Jamie further from me again, but at least this time relatively safe.

"Good afternoon, Mistress," Marcel said.

I returned the greeting as I stood up.

"How was your rest?"

"Very nice," I told him. I was well used to the sensation of falling out of existence on a daily basis. "Come, get some coffee with me."

He nodded.

"When did I last feed on you, Marcel?"

"Not long ago. I can take it again if you need though."

"Perhaps," I agreed noncommittally. I would have the records checked. Marcel could not always be trusted to be properly cautious about such things. He could be so reckless and hasty. It was terribly entertaining.

Before we left my inner chambers, Marcel spoke. "Mistress?"

"Yes?"

"Can I come with you tonight?"

"To New Haven? Whatever for?"

"I don't trust him."

Ah, that made sense. "You don't need to be suspicious. He wants the same things as we do."

He frowned. "Does he?"

"Of course, or he would not have returned. Now Marcel, it's time for you to get over your anger at Jamie. I know you did not like him staking me or his attitude, but you said a lot of similar things when I first acquired you, too, remember? I bet if you had the opportunity before you knew the truth, you would have staked me, just like he did."

"But it's still—"

"I simply adore that you're so protective, but he didn't know more than you did at the beginning. And I dragged it out with him. You can hardly blame him for being willing to go through me to gain his freedom. I know I did little to foster it, but I would like there to be peace between you two. At least eventually."

Marcel looked a bit rebellious to me, but I ignored it in favour of getting the agreement that I had been seeking. "Marcel. I need you to tell me that you will deal with Jamie with all civility."

"Yes, Mistress," he said, although his voice was missing his usual deference to my will. I smiled at him because I had gained his agreement regardless of his attitude.

"Then, I shall allow you to accompany me when I take Jamie tonight," I told him. It would be as good of a point as any to test his agreement. It would satisfy his worrying, and I had not failed to notice that Marcel was typically the instigator in his and Jamie's disputes.

And if this agreement did not work, I supposed I could always let the two of them beat on each other again. The vision of Jamie subduing Marcel had not been lost in my memories. He had a body that could make me salivate without even thinking of the delightful red fluid rushing through his veins.

I again could almost not contain my pleasure that he was back.

* * * * *

The hours slipped by, and I sent Soren to let Jamie know that the time to go to New Haven was nearly upon us. He seemed disappointed that Jamie would be leaving and had apparently fixed the slightly older human as a hero in his mind. I thought it was rather cute, and it was doubtless a good idea to get Jamie used to the idea of being an inspirational figure in my rebellion.

I was torn between my delight that Jamie would still be near and displeasure that he would not be near enough, but I was resolute in my decision. Even Leif had put his stamp of approval on it, clearly acknowledging that the situation was as good as it could get. Although Leif would never dare to say it considering my attachment, in his analytical mind the most strategic course of action would be for me to turn Jamie over to Ivan to buy favour and to re-establish peace amongst the council.

I was obviously of a different opinion, because I would burn the world down for Jamie, insane as the idea was. However, I was nothing if not greedy. I wanted all of it. I wanted Jamie, the old world remade, and the council on their knees before me.

And I was going to get what I wanted if I had anything to say about it, and I always had quite a lot to say.

But first, a compromise in order to assure the safety of both my human and my rebellion was the best course of action, rather like moving the knight out of the line of fire in a chess game. Just because he was temporally out of the action did not mean that he was completely out of the game. I smiled to myself at the thought.

He had clearly stated he was done with playing, and I would do my best, but I needed to figure out what this odd new world I had ventured into was going to look like. How to operate.

Along with the two humans who were coming with us, I met Jamie in the stairwell and he looked undeniably handsome before me, his hair unruly and that stubborn jaw on prominent display. I shamelessly ogled his muscles underneath the fabric of his shirt.

The only satisfactory conclusion now was to make him long for me as much as I did for him. Although his feelings for me were still very much unclear, I did not miss the way he looked at me in return, and he by no means seemed displeased. I smiled at him when his eyes made their way to my face.

To Jamie's credit, he looked completely nonplussed by the fact I had caught him, although even if he were, I might not know because he never let anything out when he did not have to. Such contrast, I knew him so well but could never be certain at all.

I smiled at him again, this human who I dearly wanted, and I began to walk.

Soundlessly, he began to follow me and the other humans.