The next night we left Darius's house and moved to William's house, the house by the river, the one I had first seen when I watched him obsessively before making my fateful decision.

Alex was delighted with her gift and William insisted, to the obvious horror of the Authority members, that she would drive him home. Rather to my disappointment, she proved to be a competent driver, even managing to lose the Authority's security guards who were following in two armoured vans, although William persuaded her to stop and wait for them to catch up.

The first few weeks were taken up with endless meetings, organised by the Authority, together with one appearance on Television which was interesting, although Ulrich did most of the talking. After this appearance I began to acknowledge the power of mortal technology. I knew that this appearance would be seen by millions of people but somehow I had not appreciated what it meant. It was only when vampires began to arrive at the house asking to see us that I understood what a powerful tool this technology was. They had never met William, never seen him in the flesh, and yet they believed. And after meeting him they were prepared to do anything for him, for me. I had an uncomfortable feeling that he made a better God than I did!

William had an incredible memory. He talked to people and actually listened to their replies. When he met them again he remembered them. He remembered their names and details of their lives and their families. He asked after their wives and children. At first I considered this a waste of his, and my, valuable time. I would never have had the patience or indeed the inclination to take an interest in mortals' lives. However I came to understand that this pleased them, they began to trust him, even to like him and this made the negotiations easier.

William might annoy me intensely at times but I had to admit that he was far better at dealing with humans than I could ever be. I gladly loaned him my power at times when an example was necessary but for the most part I was quiet and watched him work.

Although William was a stubborn man and his association with the girl, Alex had enabled him to resist my dominance I began to appreciate that, nevertheless, he was doing, and would continue to do his best for me. Admittedly this was not what I had actually wanted him to do, but despite my frustration I was beginning to understand that it was probably the only way. Since he had shown me, through the computer screen, images of the weapons of war which mortals had created, I had accepted that these weapons were of such power as to render our physical superiority ineffectual.

I knew now that William had been the right choice for me, but I also knew that my power over him would be much increased if I could get rid of the girl. Somehow, in some manner which I could not quite understand, she was able to help him to resist my authority. I thought, perhaps, that she was a constant reminder of his lost humanity. What was it he had said? That he strived to be "good enough for her". I felt sure that, without her influence, his vampire nature would be able to reassert itself.

I could not harm her physically and I knew that even if I could he would never forgive me for it and our relationship would be damaged irreparably. He would never voluntarily send her away, at least not for his sake, but perhaps there was a way...

I knew that he claimed that he loved her, or at least that he thought he did! I had noticed that he was always careful of her safety. Perhaps if he came to believe that his influence was harmful to her...

I felt that perhaps a change of attitude on my part was called for.

William had accepted that he could not manage all the inevitable meetings and conference calls himself and so he had recruited an old friend of his to assist him. I was surprised to find that this friend, Gerry, also had a human girl with him. She was clearly used to dealing with the media and proved to be extremely helpful. Between them they allowed William to finally get a bit of peace and quiet.

One night we were lying in William's enormous bed in what he had told me was the old converted wine cellars. William and Alex had made love for hours but I was not prepared to stop there.

"Hmmm…..that was wonderful William. Do it again!"

William's fingers moved gently through her hair as he tucked his arm around her.

"She's far too tired"

"Then get someone else!"

"What?"

"Get one of the guards to round up a couple of girls for you….or if you're tired of humans, I'm sure Berenice would be happy to oblige you." I smiled reminiscently to myself. "She so enjoyed you William, I'm sure she'd be delighted!"

"I don't want anyone else!"

"Come on…I'm inside your mind remember. Don't try to tell me that you're completely satisfied. You would like more…now wouldn't you?"

He shifted uncomfortably.

"Perhaps I would….but Alex wouldn't!"

"Well exactly! I wouldn't want you to hurt the poor child" I murmured sympathetically. "That's why you should send for some other women to satisfy your requirements. You are a God to them now William, there are plenty of women, humans and vampires, who would be only too happy to share your bed. They would be honoured to satisfy your every need.

"I do not require other women!"

"Men then? Whatever you want..."

There was no response from William.

"Don't think you can deceive me William. I'm inside your head remember. I know what you feel, how your body reacts, what you need. You know in your heart that she can never truly satisfy you. You need more than she can give you, more than her frail mortal body is capable of, and you fear that you will hurt her. That's why you hold yourself back.

There was still no response and I recalled a memory I had felt from him when we first walked into the wide stone flagged hallway with its two leather sofas before the fire.

"You took her over the back of that sofa once didn't you? You couldn't wait...you needed her right that moment. You nearly lost control then didn't you?

I felt William shift uncomfortably, tightening his arm around her and I concentrated on his thoughts.

"Oh my! You have lost control in the past haven't you? You've hurt her!"

"Yes" his thought was almost inaudible, ashamed. "I have. But it will never happen again!"

An amusing thought struck me. "You're afraid of her reaction!"

"What?"

"You're afraid that she won't like it, that she'll disapprove if you slake your lust in other women!"

"On the contrary...she suggested it."

For a moment I was lost for words.

"She did what?"

"I've told you this before, she understands me, she accepts what I am. She knows that I take care not to hurt her and she trusts me, completely. We had this discussion once and she said that she would understand if I needed someone else. I didn't suggest it...it was her idea."

"Then why on earth don't you?"

"Because you're right. Although she would understand, she wouldn't like it. And I have no wish to hurt her either physically or emotionally. She has made so many sacrifices to be with me, because she thinks that being with me is worth it. Well I can make a few in order to be with her, because I think being with her is worth a few sacrifices."

I was silent for a moment, considering...

"I know you don't like her Lilith, that you don't approve of our relationship, but you'll just have to get used to it!"

"I have no objections to her. By all means, keep her if you wish. She is useful after all."

"That is not why she is here!"

"She gives you pleasure does she not...and sustenance? Why else would you keep a human?"

"I love her," he growled. "Why is it that someone with your knowledge and experience cannot understand this simple concept! Even if she did not allow me to feed from her and to make love to her, I would still want her to stay with me."

"She allows you to do these things? She has a choice in the matter?" I allowed a trace of scepticism to creep into my tone which I knew would infuriate him.

"Yes, she does!" he snapped.

"But she does not truly understand the danger, does she, the prey never does."

"Alex is not prey!"

"If you continue to feed on her William, that is exactly what she is. She enjoys it doesn't she, they always do, and it makes them reckless. When prey has been taken so many times they stop caring about death. There's only the pleasure of being fed apon. They care nothing for the danger. There's no thought involved, no judgement, no hesitation, only need and desire."

William had no response to this. He knew that I was right.