Tom slept quite well that night and was pleased to find Alex was still with him when he woke up in the morning. The alarm jerked them both into a sitting position.

"Bloody hell, Tom, is that thing loud enough?" Alex hopped off of his bed and stretched, out of habit.

"Sorry Alex, I have to make sure it wakes me up," Tom apologized as he slapped the alarm to turn off the din.

"You want some breakfast? I'll go start somethin' for you, yeah?" she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Tom answered with a smile of his own, and she popped out of the room. Tom dressed for work and headed for breakfast. He saw Lena also dressed and waiting at the door to Hal's room. It looked like things were back to normal. Maybe Lena wouldn't mind answering a question or two once they got downstairs.

"So, you can change what you look like?" Tom asked Lena as she and Hal joined him at the table. Alex was cooking for the crowd this morning, to show her appreciation for last night.

"Good morning, Tom, and yes I can," Lena replied.

"Um, I don't suppose you was the bloke who loaned me a fiver at the Aldi checkout t'other day, was you?" Tom asked.

"Nope. But I could be if I chose. Why?" she asked.

"Well, how am I gonna find 'im to pay 'im back?"

"I don't know, Tom. Why did you need a fiver? Don't I pay you enough?" Lena was concerned that she may have neglected her staff at the Barry Grand.

"I don't know, Lena. I never been a manager before," Tom said. "I filled up Hal's car so I could see the Rileys and it run me short, that's all."

"Hal, why didn't you tell me Tom was using your old Mercedes?" Lena frowned at Hal as she spoke. She wasn't entirely sure his car was road-worthy.

"What else would he drive?" Hal asked, surprised by the question.

"There's not a car at the hotel? No, of course there's not, I knew that. Damn it, I was going to take care of that," Lena said, now frowning at herself. "Tom, I've neglected you and the hotel. I'll look into your salary today and arrange for a car to be sent to the Barry Grand. The hotel should have vehicles available for staff use."

"You might want to consider getting Tom some official identification and a driving license as well," Hal said coolly. "I'm sure you have people who take care of that sort of thing."

"I do, as a matter of fact." Lena eyed Hal speculatively. "You should have them too. The photo identification may be tricky."

"Indeed."

"We have the photo of that portrait of you. Maybe we can use it to run a facial recognition program and find your doppelganger," she said, then smacked herself on the forehead. "I'm an idiot. I'll just do it myself."

"What do you mean?" Hal asked.

"I'll just be you for the photo. I'm a shape changer, remember? We'll use the studio; it's about the only room that isn't covered in hideous wallpaper. I need a plain surface to stand in front of, and I'll need to borrow one of your shirts."

"Are you saying that you can take my form and be photographed as me?" Hal asked.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying," she replied. "I haven't taken another person's shape for a while, but it shouldn't be that hard, especially with you right here for me to look at."

"I have to see this," Tom said with a grin. "Alex, we're gonna be late for work today."

Hal didn't say any more, but he seemed to be giving the idea some serious consideration. They all finished breakfast quickly and went to Hal's room, where he handed Lena his good suit and a white dress shirt to put on.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Yes," Hal replied. "If you are going to be me, I want you to look my best. It has been quite a while since I've had a portrait done."

"In that case, I'll need a pair of your boxers too," she replied. "Keep the suit, I'll be right back."

She took his white shirt and boxers to her room and returned shortly with them on, her ponytail gone, hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. As Lena moved to stand directly in front of him, Hal couldn't help thinking that she looked like an actress in a romance movie, a woman wearing her lover's clothes, hair still mussed from the night's activities. The shadows of her nipples showed through his white shirt. She hasn't asked for a vest. The corner of his mouth twitched in a secret smile.

Lena noticed the twitch and the area where his gaze lingered and looked down. "Shit," she said, blushing slightly, and she quickly transformed as Hal asked her if she wanted to borrow a vest. Before he had finished the question, Hal was receiving a withering look from his own face and hearing her say in his voice with her accent, "Thanks for the heads' up. And yes, I'd like to borrow a 'vest,' although we call them wife-beaters in the States."

"What a ghastly name," Hal said as he got a vest for her.

As she took off Hal's dress shirt and traded it for the vest he held out to her, Lena turned to Tom and Alex, "What do you think? Can I pass for Hal?"

They nodded, speechless. It was unnerving to see two Hals standing together. Alex was especially aware that nearly-naked HaLena looked very much like the real Hal. Apparently Lena had been paying attention.

Hal looked HaLena up and down closely as she pulled the vest over her head; he hid his amazement at her transformation. "I have more body hair," he pointed out.

"I'm not doing body hair for the photo, Hal. I'll be wearing your suit. And don't look too closely at my crotch, okay? I make no guarantees about correct dimensions in that area," she said as she reached for his dress shirt.

"Hmph," Hal said as he handed her the shirt.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he grabbed the elastic waist of the boxers, pulling it out so he could look down the front. Lena gasped and nearly jumped back and punched him, but she froze as she realized that he was actually looking at his own 'package'. She blushed bright red as Hal did his visual inspection, with Tom turning pink out of sympathy for her and Alex grinning at them both.

Hal looked from his boxers up to his own startled hazel eyes and red face. "I see you have a good memory," he said with a smirk.

She turned an even deeper shade of red but wasn't about to be outdone. "Really?" she said as she looked down for herself. She had noticed the extra weight in the boxers after the transformation, but this was the first time she had seen that particular part of Hal's anatomy in nearly 500 years. Damn! She thought. I do have a good memory!

"I may have been generous," she said out loud. Hal released the elastic on the boxers so they would snap back at her. "Ow, that hurt!" she said, rubbing her belly, which was now occupied by Hal's nicely sculpted muscles.

"Hal, don't do it, mate!" Tom said in alarm, and Lena looked up to see Hal with his hand on the button and zip of his trousers, a determined look on his face. He was clearly prepared to do a full comparison.

"Fine, I concede! I have a good memory, possibly even a conservative one," Lena said as she grabbed Hal's hands to stop him.

"I want to know just when you saw his stuff in the first place," Alex said. "I don't remember hearing about this."

"Yeah," Tom agreed. "What are you getting up to while we are at work?"

"We haven't been 'getting up to' anything since 1514," Hal said with a touch of sarcasm as he handed HaLena his suit trousers to put on. "We knew each other, previously, when I was still human."

Lena added, "I had taken a different form at the time. Hal didn't know of our relationship until recently. I kept it from him." She didn't want Tom and Alex to think that Hal had lied to them or kept a secret from them. Let the blame lay where it should.

"And you still remember?" Alex asked Lena. "Shite, must've been something," she muttered to herself.

The trousers fit perfectly. Hal handed her his belt and got out shoes and socks for her. She sat on the bed and started to put them on, but Hal intervened when it looked like she was putting a permanent crease in his trousers from her awkward attempts. He took the shoe from her hands and knelt in front of her to finish the job for himself. Tom and Alex watched as Hal assisted HaLena into the rest of his suit and tied his tie for her, demonstrating his own fastidious taste.

Finally Hal ran a comb through her hair and declared her acceptable to photograph. He stood back to look at his living, breathing mirror image. He looked pretty good in a suit. Apparently the dream world had been accurate as far as his physical appearance was concerned, which was a relief. HaLena confirmed that Hal had a good idea of what he actually looked like.

They went to the studio and Lena posed while Alex took several photos with Lena's phone, both head shots and full body shots. Hal decided that they weren't taking things seriously enough, so he took over.

He positioned HaLena and fussed with her clothes like a fashion photographer and finally decided that the composition was suitable. He took the phone from Alex and made her show him how to take pictures with it. He even had HaLena change expressions and positions.

"Right, hands in trouser pockets, lean casually against the wall, nonchalant expression please," he directed her. "I said lean, not slouch. I don't slouch. Straighten your spine, please. You are a dancer; surely you can present a good line for the camera." He took a couple of photos and stuck the phone in his pocket.

"Now let's try slightly menacing," he said as he approached her. "Arms crossed, stand up straight, legs slightly apart." He positioned her arms slightly and straightened his suit and hair. "Stern expression please. I said stern, not goggle-eyed. Are you taking this seriously?"

"Not really," she replied.

"Well please do, it isn't like I can check myself in a mirror. This is my chance to see what people have been looking at for the past 5 centuries."

"I didn't realize this suit was that old," she said. Tom and Alex laughed from their safe positions several feet away. Hal got a pained expression on his face, so she relented. "Fine, I'll take it seriously. Show me stern and I'll try to mimic it."

Hal insisted that she also pose in his leather chair in the corner of the studio, so she did that as well. Once again he positioned her and fussed over her, making sure everything looked just so. After the first round of photos he turned to Alex.

"Could we get a snifter of brandy?" he asked her. She just stared at him. "Quickly, please."

Alex looked at Lena, who sighed and nodded. The ghost disappeared and reappeared with a glass of something from the bar. It looked vaguely like brandy. Hal decided that it would do and handed it to HaLena. Next he took his tie off of HaLena and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt, then mussed her hair slightly.

"Now, look as though you're relaxed and enjoying yourself," he ordered her. "Imagine a beautiful woman just out of the shot, admiring you. Show me a look of pleasant anticipation."

"For god's sake, Hal, this isn't a GQ shoot, it's just for a photo ID!" Lena exclaimed. She had finally had enough of playing model.

"I take it you won't do sexy eyes for me, then?" he asked.

"Please tell me you're joking," she answered.

Hal grinned at her. "I am. I just wanted to see how much I could get you to do."

"Hal, you were taking the piss! Aw, that's brilliant!" Alex said, laughing along with Tom.

"You had us all going, mate!" Tom added.

Hal snapped off a couple of shots of HaLena leaping out of the chair and chasing him around the studio before he returned her phone to her. He insisted that she send all of the photos to him immediately and stood watch to make sure she did so.

Alex and Tom left for work, trying very hard to consider it a normal day in spite of what they had just witnessed. Alex the friendly ghost was ready to be back on the job and was looking forward to spending the day with her best mate.

Lena and Hal returned to his room, where she took off Hal's suit and he hung it carefully back in the wardrobe. She left on the shirt, vest, and boxers as she transformed back into herself and returned to her room to change into her own clothes. She brought back the rest of Hal's clothes.

"That was quite possibly the oddest experience I've ever had," Hal said as he took his clothes from her.

"It was a bit strange, even for me," Lena agreed. "I've never done fashion modeling."

They went downstairs. Now that the plumbing part of the renovation was finished, Lena had decided to take a break from construction. The house was, in Hal's mind, blissfully quiet.

"I have a video conference at 10:30 this morning," she said as they set up in the dining room, which also served as their office for the time being. "What about you?"

"Just the usual check-ins from the team. We may have a Hetty sighting in Kiev," Hal replied. "Working on confirmation."

"Really? I'd love to throw her into hell," Lena said with a touch of the predator's growl in her voice.

"I suppose you can do that to anyone you choose," Hal said, remembering the great door she had called into existence.

"Apparently. I never tried it before last night. Thought I'd give it a shot." She shrugged. "Who knew?"

"You didn't know you could do that?" Hal was incredulous.

"When I'm in battle mode I try all kinds of things that I don't know I can do. That 'belief in myself' thing that you think is so amusing," she said. "Come to think of it, I haven't had anything not work yet."

"My god you are terrifying," Hal murmured.

She grinned. "Yeah, so I've been told."

Lena went straight to work getting 'legal' identifications requested for Tom and Hal and fleet vehicles ordered for the Barry Grand. She was still mentally kicking herself for not thinking of it earlier. Apparently Hal had been occupying more of her mind than she realized.

A quick Google search gave her the list of the top 10 best-selling cars in the UK. "Ford Fiesta? Really? Oh Hal, I'm not sure I can see Tom driving a Fiesta."

Hal got up from his chair across from her and looked over her shoulder at the list. He pointed to the Audi A3 and she followed the link to a satisfactory review and enough photos to make her feel comfortable choosing it for Tom and the hotel. Hal agreed and the decision was made.

"Does the hotel need a utility vehicle?" she asked, looking up at him. He had remained standing behind her, following her activity on-screen and secretly watching every move she made. Her delicate grace extended even to her hands on the keyboard. Less than an hour ago those had been his hands. Last night they had burned him and thrown him effortlessly across the room. She was endlessly fascinating.

"I'm not sure it does at present," he replied. "I don't recall feeling at a loss for one. Tom might enjoy having one, though, at least for one night a month."

"Good point," she said. She did another Google and they chose a Land Rover Discovery. Hal returned to his own seat as Lena sent the specs for the new vehicles to her London office, so they could be purchased, licensed, and delivered.

Next up was a check of Tom's salary, which she discovered was sadly inadequate for his current position. A manager's salary should have been automatic; this was an obvious oversight by the team that had handled her purchase of the hotel. It occurred to Lena that Hal had never actually discussed salary with her either. She quietly set them both up with online bank accounts and automatic payroll deposits of amounts that she considered acceptable.

Hal checked his email and discovered a welcome from Lena's bank and an email from her, giving him the password to his online bank account and the suggestion that he change it to one that suited him. The one she had chosen was OLDGIT. "Smartass," he murmured as he smiled to himself.

Lena put on her headset and began the video conference, a monthly financial review and update of activities with her board and CEO. Hal was able to successfully ignore her until he heard her mention a familiar name.

"What about Intercontinental Cruise Line? What's the launch date for the new ship?" she asked.

"Intercontinental?" Hal spoke up. "That belongs to us."

"Hold on a minute," she said into her headset. "What?" she asked Hal.

"Intercontinental belongs to us," he repeated, "to vampires. Through a shell corporation of course, but it was founded by Mr. Snow himself."

"Snow's dead, Hal, remember? The company belongs to me now. Come here, I'll catch you up." She addressed her board. "I'm putting us on speaker. Hal is joining us."

As he moved a chair to sit next to her, Lena explained, "We've known for a while that vampires had their own financial empire with which they were funding operations, including Snow's plan to take over the world." She paused and chuckled. "I'm sorry, Hal, but it sounds like a plot from Pinky and the Brain when I say it."

"The hideous children's cartoon?" Hal shuddered. "Not even Mr. Snow deserves that."

"Come on, Hal. Can't you just see it? Wyndam asking, 'What are we going to do tonight, Snow?' and Snow rubbing his hands together and muttering 'We're going to take over the world!'" Lena cackled at the image. "Okay, sorry, back to business."

Several of her board members were chuckling too, but one voice came over the speaker with a question. "Is there a vampire with you? What is going on?"

"Oh, right, sorry," Lena said. "I guess not everyone has heard the gossip. I live with a vampire now, and a werewolf and a ghost. Everyone, this is my housemate, Hal Yorke. He is a vampire Old One. Hal, this is my board of directors."

"Hello," Hal said.

There was a variety of uncomfortable waves and noncommittal greetings from the dozen board members, most of whom were in a conference room in London, a few of whom were in conference rooms across the globe. Hal noted that Lena was the only one not in business attire.

"I can't see him," a plaintive voice said.

"Vampire," Hal reminded the voice gently. "Can't be seen online, or in photographs or mirrors."

"How do I know what you look like?" the voice said. "I'm not very good with names, but I remember faces."

"Then you are at a disadvantage, I'm afraid," Hal replied with a touch of humor, "unless Lena wants to forward a recently-taken photo of my lookalike."

"We'll worry about that later." Lena interrupted, "Back to business. I've had specialists digging into possible vampire holdings with the idea that cutting off their financial legs would be another way of slowing down vampire growth across the globe. We've made strategic purchases of assets whenever we could. After Stoker's we watched for ripples in the business world that suggested upheaval or a lack of leadership. With the Old Ones gone, we assumed that the vampire business structure would be shaky."

"I thought you were retired," Hal said.

"Semi-retired," she reminded him. "There's more than one way to go hunting, and remember, the extermination of your species is my ultimate goal. Here's the spreadsheet listing known or suspected vampire holdings and our current percentage of ownership." She quickly opened the spreadsheet in a second window and Hal scanned the list.

"Why are you telling a vampire all of this?" her CEO asked.

"I trust him," Lena answered shortly. Again Hal was glad that his shocked expression was hidden from public view. She turned to Hal. "I'll email you this for later, but for now, can you tell how complete the list is?"

"I really can't say. I've been away for decades," Hal said. "I only know what I personally invested in and what some of the others told me about."

"You have investments in some of these companies?"

"Yes, including the Intercontinental. When I left the vampire community I forfeited my interests in any investments." Hal added, "They weren't exactly in my name."

"Still, if you have rights to the property they should be re-established," Lena said. "Get me a list and whatever you can remember about your investments and we'll get it straightened out."

"No." Hal shook his head as he spoke.

"Excuse me?"

"No. I decline."

"Oh for fuck's sake Hal, why?" Lena didn't like being told 'no.' She wasn't used to it, and it didn't sit well.

"It was blood money, stolen from my victims or gained illegally. I didn't earn it and I don't need to benefit from it now," Hal said calmly.

"Well, shit." Lena couldn't think of a valid argument against Hal's point of view.

A grin spread across Hal's face as he realized the situation, "It seems I have gained the upper hand with you again, my lady."

"One small argument won, Hal. Don't get cocky."

Aware that nobody except Lena could see him, Hal leaned over and whispered in her ear, "My lady, when it comes to you I am always cocky." He drew back with a smoldering look and had the pleasure of watching her struggle to maintain her composure in front of her board of directors. She blushed and growled quietly but menacingly at him. He arched an eyebrow and smirked.

"Back to business," she snapped. "Timeline on the launch. Sorry for the interruption."

"I will put together a list of companies that you may want to investigate, if you like," Hal offered docilely as he moved back to his original place at the table. "It will keep me busy so I will avoid interrupting you further."

"Thank you, Hal, that would be great," Lena said overly-politely.

As soon as the meeting was over Lena closed her laptop and stretched. "Time to dance! I'm going to change into some workout clothes."

"And just exactly what kind of 'workout clothes' will you be donning, my lady?"

"Hey, that was perfectly acceptable dancewear." Lena said, blushing again. "It was just a lot less dancewear than I usually wear."

Hal smiled to himself as she left the room. He had asked her the same question at every opportunity since his three-wank morning, and he would continue asking it as long as it made her blush. She was just too adorable for him not to. From terrifying to adorable in the blink of an eye—Lena certainly kept him on his toes.

Lena changed into leggings with a dance skirt over them and a sports bra with conservative tank top over it. She took off the tank top and put on a t-shirt instead, just to be on the safe side. She noticed that the t-shirt said "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" so quickly took it off and changed into a plain blue one instead. She looked at herself in the mirror and asked herself why it mattered what she looked like. For that matter, since when did she blush? What the hell was going on?

"Didn't I try to kill that man about 12 hours ago?" she muttered to herself. "Why do I care what he thinks today?" In truth, she wasn't sure when she had begun caring what Hal thought of her and didn't know what to make of the whole situation. She grabbed her leather dance slippers and practically stalked out of her room.

Hal was waiting at the door to the dance studio, book in hand. "I hope you don't intend to blast my eardrums with 'heavy metal' today," he said. "I can't seem to find my earplugs."

"You don't have earplugs, you use sarcasm as a volume control. Why don't you pick the music today? I can dance to anything." She waved him toward the sound system.

He browsed her CD's for a minute, then chose one and held it out to her with a challenging look. Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Opus 77. She frowned thoughtfully. This would require her to be more honest in her dance than she was comfortable being in front of an audience. With Hal as her constant companion Lena had been choosing music that didn't require too much of her—melodies good for exercise and simple expression.

She lifted her chin and met Hal's look with a smile. She would accept the challenge and let him see her true dancer's nature. "Give me a minute," she said. She put on her slippers and did a quick stretch while Hal set up the CD. He carried his book and the sound system remote to his comfy leather chair. She stood in the center of the floor and nodded to him when she was ready.

He pushed 'Play' and for the next 43 minutes was lost in a mesmerizing fantasy as an exquisite and challenging piece of classical music was recreated by an angel.

Music flowed through and over and around her; centuries of ballet and millennia of improvisation poured out of her. She floated and spun and glided and leaped; her body laughed and wept and sang without making a sound; her ponytail was ribbon on the breeze; wings whispered on her back and brushed the ceiling as she swept through the air.

There was a pause between movements and Hal froze in fear that the silence would break the spell, but she knew the music and was expecting it. She simply waited, arms aloft, until the Adagio began with a haunting melody and she was caught in it and moving again.

With the third movement a festive march erupted from the speakers. She suddenly became joyous and celebratory and regal and stepped so quickly that he was breathless just watching her. The music ended with a triumphant flourish and so did she. There was a moment of silence in the room before Hal exhaled a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and leaped to his feet with applause that he couldn't contain. She blushed and smiled as she bowed. She was slightly out of breath, where a human would have been collapsed and panting.

"I don't usually dance like that in front of other people, but this piece doesn't allow for anything less," she said as if she were apologizing for something. She didn't look at him, she looked at the floor. "People—people don't see that part of me, Hal. Only my family has ever seen that part of me."

"Don't worry," he said with a smile. "I won't tell anyone that you are an angel in disguise. They wouldn't believe me if I tried."

"Hardly an angel," she said softly, almost to herself.

"I would very much like to dance with you," Hal said. As she quickly looked up at him he added, "Something simple. A waltz?"

"I have Strauss, would that do? I assume you prefer traditional." She had suggested music for the Viennese waltz, which was faster-paced than the dance Hal had envisioned, but he agreed to it anyway.

"Yes, that will do nicely. "Tales from the Vienna Woods" is a favorite of mine."

She turned to the CD rack and he followed her, replacing Brahms in the player with a selection of waltzes by Johann Strauss II.

"I feel underdressed for this," she said as they moved to the center of the room.

"And yet you were fine leading a corporate board meeting in trousers and a t-shirt with a ridiculous slogan," Hal replied as the music began. He led off with his right foot and so did Lena, making for an awkward moment. "The man typically leads," he said.

"Sorry, I'm usually the man," she replied as she followed him on their second attempt. She smiled at his slightly alarmed look. "I mean I usually dance alone, so I automatically take the lead position."

"The waltz is not a solo dance," he said. They didn't talk after that, choosing to focus on the dance instead. Lena discovered once again what a wonderful dancer Hal was as he led her masterfully around the floor. She was able to surrender herself to his lead and relax, taking his cues as if they had been partners for years. He had perfected the traditional Viennese waltz centuries ago and she knew it by heart as well.

The music ended and they bowed formally, although Lena giggled slightly as she did, which ruined the effect. Then her stomach growled and dancing was officially ended.

"I think that's lunch," Hal said with a smile, but as they went to put the CD away his stomach growled also and it was Lena's turn to smile.

"Apparently," she said as she put the CD back in the rack. Hal noted its position for future reference.

"I'd like to wash up and change back into my trousers and ridiculous t-shirt first," she said as they left the studio.

"You are misquoting me. I didn't say the shirt was ridiculous, merely the slogan." They were entering her room now. He looked at the shirt lying on her bed. It was black, which was fine. It was emblazoned in large white letters: ALWAYS BE YOURSELF! UNLESS YOU CAN BE BATMAN. THEN ALWAYS BE BATMAN! He sighed.

She got her clothes off the bed and a clean pair of underpants from the bureau: yellow cotton, no lace. He sighed again, shaking his head sadly.

"What?" she asked. "I'm a cotton gal, Hal."

"I have seen lace made from cotton."

"Well, if I find any lacy underpants in your size I'll be sure and get them for you," she quipped as she slipped out the door and into the new bathroom. Because it was just next door Hal didn't have to lurk in the hallway, he could actually sit in the boudoir chair in the corner of her room and wait.

# # #

Lena was quiet at lunch. Finally she said, "I'm doing a piss poor job with the grace thing."

"I didn't realize you were doing it at all," Hal said.

"See, clearly doing a piss poor job." She used his statement as an affirmation.

"Once again, an endless fount of colloquialisms. I meant that I didn't think you would take the idea seriously," he said. "It is ridiculous."

"Why do you think that?"

"How did Raphael define it? You have to put my interests ahead of yours at all times, in all ways, correct?"

"Yes," Lena said with a smile at the thought of her grandfather's visit. "He said that I should choose what is best for you rather than what is best for myself, always."

"That is exactly what I have demanded from the women I have kept," Hal said. "It is a terrible kind of slavery. I can't imagine you living like that."

"I don't think Raphael saw it as a form of slavery Hal. He saw it as a form of giving." Seeing his baffled look, she continued. "You cannot take by force that which I freely give. The choice has to be mine, to put you ahead of myself. That's the difference. It's just hard for me. I'm not particularly generous."

"The fact that I'm still alive is testament to your generosity."

"That's not enough. I nearly killed you last night."

"But you didn't. And you healed my burn—"

"Which I caused."

"-and you include me in decisions about the hotel, and about your company, and you told your board that you trust me, and you are establishing a legal identity for me, and you are paying me to do a job that I would be happy to do for free," he said as ticked off the list on his fingers. "That sounds very generous to me, my lady."

He didn't list the things that were most important to him; that she gave him her time without making it seem like a burden; that she touched him without shuddering in horror at what he was; that her smile was genuine; that she danced in his presence.

"But those things are easy, Hal."

"Maybe you have more grace than you realize. Trust me, none of those things would be easy for me."

"I feel as though grace should include a kind of extravagance that I have yet to achieve."

"Again I feel it necessary to point out that I am, in fact, not yet a pile of dust."

Lena had become introspective again. "I need a minute," she said, and she left the dining table and walked to the far end of the room, where she had dealt with Byron the night before. She closed her eyes and manifested as she had the previous night and waited. She called her swords into being and held them and waited. The room pulsed with light and heat.

Hal sat frozen at the table, his throat constricting convulsively as he recalled her grip on him. He couldn't imagine what would happen if she touched him now—surely she would burn him to a cinder. Was she trying to frighten him?

She returned to her everyday form and rejoined him at the table. "I didn't really feel it," she said.

"Feel what?"

"The rage. Against you. When I manifest I become more elemental, less civilized. That's why it was hard for me to control myself last night; it brought things to the surface that I usually keep locked away."

Hal nodded his understanding. She could easily be talking about his own struggle with the vampire.

She continued, "But today it's just about gone."

"Why?"

"I think because I told you the truth about who I am and why I wanted you dead. About my daughter. I guess confession really is good for the soul." She shrugged. "Who knew?"

"I will never understand you," he said. He had no other response for what was, in his mind, a miracle of generosity on her part.

"You're not meant to," she said with a smile.

"What was her name?" Hal asked quietly. "She never said. She let us believe that she was you."

"She was protecting me, taking my place. Her true name is Byzantia, after her father. I called her Tania." She saw the question on Hal's face. "Yes, that guy. The founder of Byzantium, what is now Istanbul. I'm from Mesopotamia originally."

"And I thought I had some history," he said.

"I thought we weren't discussing age," Lena reminded him. "Come on Fangboy, the glamorous allure of household chores is calling us."