There were two voices, neither hushed. Whoever they belonged to, they both spoke confidently, loudly. I shut my eyes tighter, inhaled and smelled dirt, which roused me. What I remembered was hazed, blurred, like I'd taken video with the fuzzed edges and vintage filter on. I saw the chandelier above the entranceway all lit up. I saw the tiled floor stained with red. I saw the silver circular symbol for Mercedes. Then, black. The strong scent of dirt. The strong pull within my chest that felt as if a chain had been tied around my heart and was now being commanded from somewhere outside my body. My silent, stilled heart. The familiar rhythm I'd known since birth was gone. I held back a blanch of shock, tried to fake sleep. The voices seemed to get louder or get closer, and before I could stop them and fake sleep again, my eyes shot open.

"Raped me," I gasped, forgoing grammar.

There were two men, neither hushed. Russell Edgington knelt at my right, while a dark, curly haired vampire stood at my left, arms crossed. I stared at the tiled ceiling, the four posters of the bed I was on framing my view. Plastic - specifically black plastic trash bags - was tucked beneath and beside me. I guess whoever had carried me inside hadn't wanted to stain the bedspread. Russell's expression turned from anticipation to annoyance. The curly haired bloodsucker threw his arms up with an angered huff. I looked around me dazedly, at the rich bedroom which I'd woken in. While the two hashed out a conversation I could hardly comprehend, I let myself be transported to the eighteenth century by the décor. Living out their existence like an Anne Rice novel indeed. Although the bloodsuckers in the room with me seemed more like an old married couple than the vampire Lestat and Louis.

"What is he talking about?" The curly haired snapped. "I demand to know if you had sex with him or no."

Russell stood, and I was glad to have his attention off me. "Heavens no, Talbot. Can't you see the boy's hallucinating?"

I think the bloodsucker called Talbot glanced over at me. I could hear him shuffle to and fro, contemplating something. After a moment he said, "Why did you even turn this pathetic excuse for a human? You know how much I dislike the West Coast and its..." He searched for the right word. "Animals. Why would you ever make one of them one of us?" His entire tone was that of a man smothered and spoiled. He wore the pants in household matters. I'd the feeling he was more irate about my filthy presence than my actually being one of them.

Huh?

I shot up in bed, looked everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "What?"

"See what you have done," Russell said. "You agitated him."

"I would not have woken him if he had not been here in the first place," Talbot cried. "Now you better feed him fast. I do not want him getting all starving, going out, and bringing back some corpse yours truly will have to deal with." He flicked his hand like he could brush air aside. "For your information, I would have been delighted had you not brought me home anything tonight, like usual. I do not like this model," he hissed and extended his fangs. "I do not like that he is yours, too."

"Seven hundred years," Russell replied. He fell quiet, but I could hear the wet sound of flesh tearing. "And you still get jealous. I thought you were better than this, Talbot. Don't make me rethink having made you. Who is it I come home to? Who is it I listen to? Who is it - I, the king of Mississippi, worship in bed?"

"Me."

Russell shoved his bleeding wrist against my mouth. "Drink," he said, then turned his attention back to Talbot. "Now look here, I changed him because I needed reparation for the two hundred fifty thousand, which is still missing..."

I couldn't hear how Talbot responded to knowing that instead of oodles of cash, he would just have to settle for me. Blood went down my throat without me really sucking, it seemed. All I had to do was open my mouth, and like a human who practically inhales their food, blood was in me, in whatever digestive track I had. I forgot about what I was, focused on filling up instead. I grabbed Russell's arm and held the cold appendage as if I were a drowning man. He grunted because I caused him to stagger in my thirst. Talbot said something about me going to drain him dry, how I didn't have any control, but I ignored him. All I knew is that I wanted more and more - fuck, the feeling was almost orgasmic. I have never felt less like a person than in those few seconds. Russell's blood tasted of so many things. One moment I tasted sweetness, the next moment richness. He yanked his wrist away finally, with great effort.

"Enough," Russell snarled, fangs still extended. "If you desire more, Talbot here can get you a drink from the kitchen."

I leaned back on my hands, my legs spread straight out on the bed. My pajama pants were stained with blood and dirt not even an industrial size washer could wash out. "I want to go home," I said simply, as if that were an option. "I don't want to stay here with you..." I looked at Russell. "Or you..." I looked at Talbot. "Obviously, I'm not meant to be a bloodsucker in the state of Mississippi. I'm not into killing, and I sure as fuck don't fit in with all you western vamps."

"You do not want to hang with the California vampires," Talbot said. It was the first time since I'd woken that he'd talked to me directly. "If you think we are terrible, you will not last a minute with those brutes, especially as a baby vampire."

Russell put his hand on my knee. "Think of yourself as a part of our family now. Forget your mother and father - hell, I have forgotten mine completely - and think of me as your parent instead, for I am your maker. Until I formally release you, you will abide by my command." He smiled a devious smile and I noticed his fangs had retracted. "You might not fit in with us now, but give yourself several days. The transformation from human to vampire is not quick, and is not easy. You will need to learn the ropes. And who better to learn from than a king and his first child?"

I stared down at my palms which gleamed with Russell's blood. I could feel Talbot's eyes creep up from my bare feet and settle on my face. Two terrifyingly tough vampires were awaiting my response. Don't disagree, I told myself over and over in my head. There were tons of items in the room that could easily double as a stake should either not appreciate what I said. Though I wanted to more than anything else, I fought the urge to cry out for my family back home in Cali. I slapped on a smile and said, "I can't wait to get started. Please Mister Russell, please Mister Talbot, show me how to use this gift."

The vampire king of Mississippi laid back on the pillows near the headboard. He chuckled, "Oh, what a delightful load of bullshit. Let us be honest here - admit it, you hate the fact you are now one of us, that you can never ever go back to your old life. Which, quite frankly, was glamorous for a human of your standing, Lovelett."

"You mean this is not the boy who stole from us?" Talbot cut in, surprising me and Russell with his angered tone.

"Have you listened to anything I have said?" Russell placed his arms behind his head. So long as they remained unaggressive, I felt fine being caught between them. "He is needed reparation for the missing money. While I expected Jeremiah Jackson to be lollygagging away at home, Lovelett here informed me our thief was on vacation. He was housesitting." Russell gazed at me with what I read as admiration. "So take care of him, since I am using him as a placeholder for the two hundred fifty thousand. Should Mr. Bailey-Adams meet an unfortunate end before the money is taken back, you will be punished."

I assumed Talbot's face rarely dropped, because when it did that moment, it didn't just drop - it plummeted. Stealing glances at his white complexion, his parted lips, widened eyes, I forgot the initial concern I'd had about the vampire king knowing my last name. Talbot looked like Russell had threatened him with a stake. Which, maybe sub-textually, he had. How did those two go seven hundred years without ripping each other's throats out? After pondering the question for a while and producing an answer (spectacular sex), I thought about what Russell had just said. Placeholder? Like a bookmark? Obviously, expected his money back. I was unfortunate collateral damage that was only worth something at the moment. Calling me 'reparation' was just a nice way of calling me 'pay back.'

"How did Jeremiah steal your money?" I asked after the king of Mississippi left me and his child alone.

Talbot had put his face together again. He donned his veneer of calm and composure again. He looked over at me, arms at his sides. "We do not live this way anymore, but at one point getting into my bed or Russell's bed was enough to get into our pockets. The boy slept with Russell, so do not give me that look. He stayed with us for three weeks doing nothing but having sex, eating us out of house and home, and irritating me out of my mind. If Russell ends up killing him, I won't make a peep. You cannot come into my lover's bed, change the chemistry between us, then steal from me and live."

And this whole time Jeremiah had told me he'd spent three weeks in New York, working. No wonder he needed to steal. I sure as hell wouldn't be able to support a lavish lifestyle without constant employment. I know I should have probably felt more sympathy toward my best friend, but all I felt was the need to find him, and tear the flesh right from his still-living body. Must have been the vampire blood. Talbot saw the problem from a relationship point of view, but Russell definitely saw it business-wise. Downstairs, I could hear the king preparing himself some kind of drink. Damn, the new hearing would be distracting.

"Did you hear me?"

I shook my head; shook the sound of liquid pouring from my ears. "Excuse me?"

"Did you," Talbot said slowly, "have sex with Russell?"

After all the talk about the route Jeremiah had gone down, and the consequences he would have to pay, I thought it best to lie. There was no real way, anyway, of knowing what went down. Any tear had already healed, and my memory of those few minutes of my death were securely stored away. Russell could have had sex with me. Then again, I could have just bled into my pajama pants. Maybe he hadn't even pulled them down at all. Maybe panic and friction had caused me to imagine the whole rape. "No," I said quite assuredly. "He was right - I wasn't feeling myself half an hour ago. I'm sorry, Talbot."

Talbot ignored my apology, cringed at the use of his name. He appeared relieved, though. Or as relieved as a statue could appear. "Good, good. Because for me to have some semblance of feeling toward you, I need to know you are not betraying me. Let me just say: No matter what Russell demands of me, I cannot protect or care for you if I do not like you."

What a pleasant surprise. I could picture us being best friends forever. I nodded, kept my amused smile to a minimum. Though his speech had made me feel like I was joining a Mean Girls kind of company, his speech also made me want to piss myself. Betray was a strong word. And what, exactly, did I need protection from? That reminded me I'd only seen one room of their home.

"May I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What kind of name is Lovelett?"

I was becoming sick and tired of bloodsuckers asking about my name. I glanced up, and would have shifted my eyes, had Talbot not caught and held them with his. His grey gaze read complete seriousness. I doubted he'd seen Mean Girls. "A stupid one," I said.

Talbot seemed satisfied by my answer. He went about the room, then, opening and closing various drawers, searching. As I watched his ridged body move, the finality and reality of my situation hit me. I fell back against the bed on a mountain of pillows. If my heart were still beating, I would have described the muscle as beating in my throat. I now belonged - belonged - to the vampire king of Mississippi, who was having my now older sibling watch over me. If I wasn't already dead, I would have described my mental state as me wanting to die. Talbot finally yanked out an exquisite silken bathrobe, questioning and commenting about my physique. I tried to think of something chatty to say, but all I could think about was the old saying from The Cosby Show, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." But Russell Edgington was no Bill Cosby, and I was no longer human. Thankfully, I was too distracted by Talbot to think about my place in their little scheme to steal back their money.