Chapter 1: LUCIEN

"How can you bear to live here? Everything is so...basic." My mother turned up her patrician nose at my ten million dollar home with the Louis the thirteenth d閏or of which I'm so terribly fond.

Yes mother, the dishes are only thousand year old Wexford, nothing at all like the gold chargers and cutlery we have back at the family home that dates back to the days of the Babylonian empire.

"And the food, it has no substance to it, how do you survive?" Prime rib made just right, and new potatoes crisped in the oven with braised asparagus in Hollandaise sauce, along with accompanying dishes of roasted vegetables are indeed beneath the regal palate of my mother the princess.

"You've just listed all the reasons why I live here. Because I know none of the elders can stand to be here for more than two days if that. Which means there're no eyes watching my every move, calculating my every turn. It's called freedom."

"I can always program myself to like it."

"Yes, but dad won't go for it and you can't be away from him for more than two hours so I guess I win this round." She smiled encouragingly at me, the same smile I've seen all my life; but there was something, something around the eyes.

"Tell me mother, to what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?" I watched her closely, knowing that she was better at hiding her inner thoughts than even I, and I'm a master at it.

She shrugged her elegant shoulders as she paced around the room, picking up knickknacks and putting them back in place. Now I was really worried; my mother never paces and she's never this nervous. Nervous enough that she'd let her guard down.

"Can't a mother come visit her son?" Okay, what is it, and who squealed? I ran through the list of my latest transgressions in my head, making sure to shield my thoughts from her.

It couldn't be the preacher's wife; no, she wouldn't bother about that. Or the idiot broker who'd tried to swindle me, but who got swindled himself in the end. She'd see that as justice.

Nope, I can't think of anything I'd done that would send her hurtling through space and time to visit me without a forewarning. And without my father no less! Those two are hardly ever seen one without the other.

"Mom, you're scaring me." Not quite accurate but close.

"You silly boy." She came over and kissed my head. The way she did when I was a boy. What the eternal fuck is going on here? "Nothing's the matter. I just missed you that's all."

Now that...might be true. She does have a tendency to go off on one of her fancies without warning, but as much as I love her, I could only wish that she'd drop in on my siblings the way she does me and leave me out of it.

I looked up when she remained standing next to me, with that motherly look on her face. Oh boy! "Ma..."

"Luke darling, stop fussing, I just dropped by here on my way to your brother's okay."

I studied her as she evaded my eyes; I'm not one to call my mother a liar, but...

"Fine, keep your secrets." I lifted the glass of five hundred year old Madeira to my lips and took a sip, looking at my meal with distaste. It'll be cold now, fat lot she cares.

Mom is a darling, but dad spoils her abominably and so she expects her children, especially her sons, to do the same. She gave me another look before kissing my cheek and with a "ta-ta," was gone as quickly and silently as she came.

I guess I'll find out what that was really all about when her husband calls, or after a few days have gone by, whichever comes first. "Dennis!"

"Coming sir, I know, I know."

My butler slash valet came into the room bearing a tray with a new meal; he knows me so well. "Has milady gone so soon?" I rolled my eyes as he placed a fresh plate down in front of me and refilled my glass.

"Yes, she never did say what she came for. You wouldn't happen to know would you?"

"Sir!" His already cultured tone was even more pretentious and if his nose went any higher it'd kiss the clouds.

"Sorry, I forgot myself for a minute." Dennis, and heaven only knows why he chose that provincial name, is the watcher my parents sicced on me when I was a wild and unruly teen.

But I've long since turned him to my side; it didn't take long, I'm that charming. But we have a deal he and I. He doesn't share what he sees here, and I don't ask him what the folks are up to. It makes for a very entertaining dynamic I can tell you that.

I forgot about mom and her unexplained 'visit' a few hours later as I went for one of my midnight rides. There's nothing like the feel of a powerful bike between one's thighs as you race through the night. And for that reason I think the motorcycle is one of the bleeders' best inventions.

It's almost as freeing as flying high above the trees and feeling the wind against one's skin. And it scares humans less that's for sure. They're a timid bunch these bleeders, afraid of everything including their own shadow.

I ended my night in the backroom of some grimy bar way on the outskirts of town with some other like-minded people. There were only fifteen of us here tonight, a slow night for us, but it was a Tuesday so that was understandable.

Things have been rather quiet for a while, though things are always quiet in the sleepy little town I'd chosen as my home in the last year. It's not the kind of place I would've ever imagined settling down in, but it serves its purpose.

Far enough away from the city but close enough for me to keep an eye. Plus the fact that my people tend to gravitate to these isolated little enclaves, better to hide beneath the radar. Which is kind of strange when you think about it, since small towns are notoriously known for their bevy of busybodies.

It's a dead little town with nothing much happening, but for some reason a year ago I was drawn to the place, and try as I might I still don't know why. But the call was strong enough that I caved and have been doing some behind the scenes snooping if you will.

I know some of my kind can get up to some shady shit in places like this but so far I haven't sniffed out anything that would bring me down on their heads like the sword of Damocles.

Of course I couldn't have the place to myself, as soon as the others knew I was here they followed suit and now this quiet little town was the home of more than a few vampyre. My biggest worry these days is keeping them out of the beds of married women and barely legal girls.

Something I usually wouldn't give a fig about, but since I still haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing here myself, I prefer to keep them in check until that little nugget comes to light.

I'd put my mother's visit behind me, but now there seemed to be something else on the horizon. Namely my guys and the way they've been acting all evening. I watched now as one of them separated himself from the rest and came towards me. What the fuck now?