I lay in the silent darkness of the travelling pod thinking over what William had said. I had seen the girl, Azaria, many times. The first time when I was watching over William, I recalled seeing her and Alex arriving at his house, running together into the building while he unloaded their bags from the car. I remembered that I had been curious about their relationship even then. She behaved towards him like a child to her maker but it was evident to me that she was many centuries older than him. I understood now that their relationship was that of maker and child, although he was not truly her maker.
He had explained to me that she had been betrayed and abandoned by her maker Lazlo, although I struggled to understand why he would feel the need to take care of her. At first I had thought it was simply because Ulrich had requested it, but I soon realised that he was genuinely fond of her.
I tried to put myself in his position. If I had learned of her fate, would I have done what he did? Would I have made such an effort to find her and release her? Would I have been prepared to take on the commitment of caring for her? I had to admit that I doubted it, and yet he had...
I knew from his memories that she was the granddaughter of Queen Mab, perhaps that was the link, he appeared somehow to be drawn to those with the fae blood. Although her maker Lazlo was also part fae and William's feelings towards him were perfectly clear. Had he perhaps agreed to care for Azaria in order to anger Lazlo? To exert kind of dominance over him by taking away his child? That was a motive I could have understood but I knew that William didn't think that way. As I relaxed, puzzling over this I felt a jolt and the smooth movement we had experienced for hours changed suddenly.
"William! William, what's happening?"
"What? what's the matter?" his voice sounded slightly thick with sleep.
"That's what I'm asking you!"
He tapped a finger against something in his ear. "Harry! Give me an update please!"
The reply was faint and slightly hollow, as though it were coming from the bottom of a deep well.
"We've just landed in New York Mr Compton. We're taxiing to a private stand where you and your companions will be unloaded. You'll have half a dozen security guards with you and I'll supervise Miss Morgan and her friends and see that they clear immigration with no problems."
"Thank you Harry. There, you see, nothing to worry about. We've arrived."
"We're in New York?"
"Yes." I could feel his amusement. "You're not excited surely?You've visited the New World before?"
"Well yes...but..." It was almost impossible to explain. "I've only seen the world as an incorporeal being, a disembodied spirit, now I can experience it so much more fully with you."
"Is there so much difference?" he asked curiously.
"Oh yes! It's..." I struggled to find a suitable analogy for him. "It's like the difference between looking at a picture of a woman, not even that, a pencil drawing perhaps and then holding a woman in your arms, feeling the warmth and texture of her skin, the softness of her hair, the scent of her..."
He was silent for a moment, thinking. "So, when you were first incarnated in me...?"
"It was incredible! I had felt nothing like it in thousands of years. I had forgotten what it was like to feel, to touch, to smell. When I reached up and touched Berenice's skin I was almost overwhelmed completely with the sensation."
"I had never thought of that" murmured William quietly. "It must have been almost as much of a shock to you as it was to me."
I had never thought of this either. It had never occurred to me. For the first time I actually began to think about this, about how he must have felt. I recalled him telling me that existing in this world would change me, that interacting with others would change me. I had been furious at the time but now I began to see that he was right. Perhaps existing again in a body, even if it was not my own, was changing the way I thought. Was that possible? Or was it just William's influence? As I puzzled over these new and somewhat disturbing thoughts there was another jolt and suddenly we were swinging.
"It's okay, the pod's being unloaded that's all." William's voice was soft and comforting.
"...I knew that! I'm fine!"
"Good." I could feel the indulgent smile in his cool voice.
After a few minutes of the unnerving motion the pod was still and I heard a slight tap on the outside. William reached over and unfastened the catch and the lid was raised by one of Ulrich's security guards. The pods had been placed on stands and William swung his legs out and stood up. He immediately made for one of the other pods which opened just as he reached it. Azaria smiled up at him as he took her hand and helped her out. I watched her as Gerry and Ulrich climbed out of their pods and came over to us. She seemed a little nervous and kept close to William but I could sense her excitement.
One of the security guards came over and spoke softly to Ulrich, gesturing to the doors leading into the main building.
"Right then!" he said. "The others will be here soon so let's wait somewhere more comfortable shall we?"
We headed through the doors into a large, pleasant room, scattered with comfortable chairs and sofas. There was a long bar at one end and Gerry headed that way, coming back in a moment or two with a tray holding several bottles of synthetic blood. William and Azaria thanked him and took one each. I found the slightly metallic taste disagreeable but it was better than nothing and William required the sustenance.
"So where are we going now?" I asked.
"We're going to The Lord Ruthven Hotel on the Upper West Side, overlooking Central Park.
"It's named after Lord Ruthven? Who is he?"
"He's not a real person, he's a character in a short story by John Polidori. He was probably the first vampire to appear in English Literature. Some say he was based on Lord Byron."
"So the hotel specialises in vampires? That's why it's named after one?"
"That's right, most of the new hotels that cater for us tend to be named after literary characters, Dracula, Lestat, Carmilla, that kind of thing. Either that or they have some reference to blood! Alex and I stayed in a Hotel chain in Egypt which was named after Osiris, the Egyptian God of the dead and the airline that the Authority lease the jets from is named after Anubis, the guardian of the dead. Very apt really."
"Ah! At last!"
William looked up to see Ulrich coming over to us looking down at the phone in his hand.
"Is something wrong Ulrich?" he asked.
"No! Not at all. I've just got confirmation from the Authority's New York office that the Reception is set for tomorrow night" he answered with a smile. "Almost everyone they invited has confirmed that they'll be there, they don't want to miss the chance of meeting you Bill."
Before I could ask exactly what this "Reception" would entail the doors opened and two security guards came in followed by Alex, Susie and a young man I didn't recognise. However Azaria certainly did. She gave an excited squeak and jumped up from the sofa where she had been sitting quietly beside William and flung herself into his arms.
"Dan! I thought you weren't coming with us!" she cried happily.
"I managed to get leave at the last minute" he said, grinning at her obvious excitement.
Alex came over and gave Bill a hug. "Good flight?" she asked.
"Yes, mostly" he said. "Lilith kept me talking for quite a while. Just questions…..she seems to be getting more interested in the modern world!"
"I was just curious!"
She tucked her arm under his elbow and laid her head on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she whispered. "She's not giving you a hard time?"
"What? How dare she!"
"She's just concerned about me that's all."
"No, not at all. She's just curious, which I can't help thinking is a good thing. The more she learns about us the more likely it is that she'll begin to understand us better." He smiled down at her. "Come on, Ulrich's arranged for cars to take us to the hotel. We've been waiting for you to clear immigration. All the bags are in the cars already."
A convoy of vehicles was waiting outside in a private area surrounded by the familiar, black clad, security guards of the Authority.
I left William and Alex to talk in the back of the car as I we headed out across the city in a tight group with a blacked out security van in the lead.
She was asking about the hotel but I was distracted by the lights of the city as we raced through the darkened streets until we pulled up before a large building.
Half a dozen security men poured out of the van and after a moment one came back out and spoke quietly to our diver, who got out of the car and opened the doors. "Everything checks out okay Sir" he said to Ulrich.
"Excellent!" said Ulrich, turning to watch as William and Alex climbed out of the car after him. "Have our bags sent up will you?"
The other car had pulled up behind us and Azaria had jumped out and was looking around her wide-eyed with excitement.
"I can't believe I'm actually in New York!" she said, practically twitching with excitement. "Oh Bill, can we go and explore later?"
"I'm going to be far too busy I'm afraid!" answered William with a smile. " We have meetings set up later to arrange a schedule but you and Dan can go and look around if you like, on one condition." Azaria's face fell instantly. "You must take a couple of security guards with you."
"Oh must we, really?" she whined.
"Yes, you absolutely must!" said William firmly. "It's well known that I consider you to be as dear to me as if you were my own progeny. Anyone who wishes to get to me need only threaten to harm you. Please Azaria, do this for me?"
The young man, who I assumed must be Dan, put his hand on her arm. "He's right. You know he is" he said. "I couldn't protect you against a couple of humans back in Oxford that time. I'd have no chance at all against vampires!"
She sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Okay, we'll take some security."
"What did he mean by that?" I asked as we headed into the foyer.
"You remember that I told you how Azaria was kidnapped back in Oxford?"
"Oh yes...that was when you got involved with Mab?"
"That's right. Well Dan was with her. He tried to fight them off but there were too many of them. He was injured and left for dead when they took her. But fortunately we were able to find her."
"I thought you said there was a vampire involved? Why would he use humans to take her?"
"Oh, it was complicated. They were kidnapping girls for him during the day while he slept. He was a nasty piece of work, actually you might know him. He was associated in some way with Darius Ashman, his name was Clovis, it was from him that Ulrich got the information about Darius's group."
"Clovis? What does he look like?"
There was a pause and then I was standing in what appeared to be an old warehouse. It took me a moment to realise that I was inside William's memory. A man lay on his face on the stone floor and, with a slight shock I saw that Azaria was crouched on top of him, one hand twisted in his hair. He lay still, obviously terrified.
Before him on the floor lay a crippled vampire, he was trying to pull himself across the floor with his hands but his back was obviously broken and his legs dragged uselessly behind him. I recognised him, I had seen him at Darius's house but never knew his name. A shadow appeared beside the half-open door and William came in.
He smiled at Azaria "You okay?" he asked.
"Fine!" She said grimly. "He's not going anywhere!"
He turned to Clovis who was now lying still and looking up at him with furious eyes.
"It's not too late Compton" he said. "You could still help me, I could make it worth your while." William simply stood silently watching him and I realised with horror that he had done this, he had crippled Clovis. This is what Mab's strength had been used for. I could sense from his mind the barely suppressed fury that he felt at Clovis's actions. He had killed several innocent human girls and had several more imprisoned here which William had released. He had intended to murder Azaria and blame the deaths on her. William could have killed him easily, but I knew that was not what he wanted, he didn't want him dead, he wanted him to pay! He wanted him to be punished!
"You can't really mean to hand me over to the mortal authorities? You would betray your own kind?"
"Why not?" asked William. "That's what you have done. You have made a point of showing mortals the very worst, the darkest part of our natures. Why should I care what happens to you?"
"They haven't arrived yet" said Clovis quietly "It's not too late to change your mind. No-one could blame you. No-one would believe that you could have defeated me. Help me escape! I can give you whatever you want, women, money, power, anything you want."
William took a step towards him and squatted down beside him on the filthy concrete floor. He smiled sadly. "You have nothing that I want, and what I want, you could never give me" he said softly. "I have had to find it for myself." He stared down at Clovis for a moment longer and then walked out without another word.
"What happened to him?" I asked softly, barely aware that we were ascending in an elevator.
"He was handed over the The Authority. The humans did not have the facilities to deal with him. Ulrich managed to get the information about Darius out of him but beyond that I neither know, nor care."
"A little severe don't you think?" I hazarded.
"We're fighting a war here Lily" he said harshly. "Not the one you had in mind, but one where the stakes are just as high. We need the humans to understand us, to believe us. They need to trust us to deal with creatures like Clovis ourselves. If we lose this war we will be wiped out just as surely as if we tried to take them on directly!"
I was silent. This was a side of him I had never seen before. It appeared that, despite his gentle nature he was quite capable of taking hard decisions, even of inflicting severe damage on one of his own kind in order to protect those he cared about.