Chapter Fifteen
At the David house in a suburb of Paris.
"Merde. Mick St. John is not just some rich American. He's a very good private detective and best friend of Josef Kostan, one of the oldest and richest vampires in the world."
"Is St. John a vamp also, Jean-Louis?" Sophie David is starting to feel very apprehensive.
"Yes. But he and Kostan somehow sired children. Kostan's got a son, Charles, who is 15, and along with Colleen are hybrids. Damn, this changes everything. I want my revenge against Lance but this would put you and Kara in danger."
"You must not consider us, Jean-Louis. It is your families' honor and Kara's heritage to be thought of. Why can't you just burn them all?"
Kara enters. "Because I have seen the past, Maman, and know that the older vampires are somehow able to regenerate from fire. They've taken some kind of herbal compound that temporarily humanizes them. That's how they survived La Revolution, right, papa?"
"Exactly. And they allowed the human families such as ours to be scapegoats; driven from our homes, captured and guillotined by the peasants. My great, great grandmere, Marie, who got close enough to try to cut off his head but instead put the knife in his eye. She could not kill Lance the batard."
"Then we will have to continue with the original plan, Jean-Louis, making sure to include a way to eliminate this Mick St. John without infuriating his friend, Josef Kostan. We will have to take out the entire family. Pity. I liked Beth."
Kara spies movement outside the livingroom. It must be Heather. I thought she had gone out for dinner. How much has she heard?