The Maestro's Apprentice (9 page)

behind a tall, stern-looking black man with chiseled features and a bald head, in black suit and shirt.

Autumn forced herself to look at them before focusing on the man in the middle, who simply had to be their host, because she knew if she settled on him first, she would never be able to tear her eyes away. There was something horrifying about him, and she suspected it wasn’t the dramatic way he dressed.

He wore black leather pants, and a silver-studded leather jacket over a black shirt with a white image on it she couldn’t see. He jingled when he walked, as though there were chains on his boots. His long black hair was cut in shaggy layers. It was his eyes, though, that made Autumn shiver—black and hard, as though he had seen way too much to be impressed by anything.

The men sat. The man in the middle planted his elbows on the table and clasped his fingers below his chin, looking over the audience as Mick had earlier. Autumn expected frightening sounds to come out of his mouth, an animal growl or something high-pitched and evil. To her astonishment, his voice was clear and pleasant, even warm.

“Good evening, friends,” he said. “As some of you may already know, I am Freddie Biali, your host. I do this a couple of times a week to get to know as many of you as possible. Like many of you, I too, am a vampire. I know what it means to live without a community, to live in fear of being found out, of people reacting in fear because of what was done to me hundreds of years ago. This is why I built this place, and now offer it to you as a place to play and network with those of your own kind, and as a place of safety for those of you seeking shelter. Biali House welcomes all.

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“However, opening my home to everyone necessitates a few unfortunate rules, which you will find in the booklets in your rooms. They mostly have to do with the dress codes for particular events and areas of the house, etiquette—which is very important—what you may and may not do with house feeders and the feeders of others, what your particular package gets you. If you are staying here for free as a feeder, you must provide the use of your body in some fashion to fellow guests or my staff. If you want to get credit for a service, please see a member of my staff before the transaction takes place. I can’t tell you how many people have come crying to me that they didn’t get credit for banging some guy in the stairwell when no one knew about it. If that happens to you, it is your problem. I still expect documented payment. Vampires staying for free must provide at least one feeder for use. That means the feeder pays her own tab plus his, which is two uses per week per couple, three uses per week from a triad and vice versa. Check your jealousy at the door. I don’t have time to deal with it. I and my staff put a lot of time and energy into making sure everyone has a good time and remains safe.

“After dinner, we will retire to the Smoking Room, which is exactly what it sounds like. If you simply can’t bear to be around the smoke, there is a smoke-free parlor across the hall—and yes, I will be making my way over there as well. In the meantime, we have a wonderful dinner prepared by my kitchen staff for feeders and any vampires who still like to chew. For the rest, there are a lot of delicious feeders on the menu. Please be patient as they make their way around to you.”

The crowd had come in through two sets of double doors across the room from Biali’s raised table. Through these same doors filed in two lines, mostly women in 76

brightly colored gowns. The men were dressed in suits, but wore no ties, and had the top few buttons of their shirts undone. Each held a small red cloth.

Biali continued speaking as the feeders infiltrated the tables in formation. “There are one hundred and sixty-nine vampire guests here with us tonight,” Biali said. “I have provided two hundred feeders. They are heavy producers, so don’t be afraid to take as much as you want, even if you see marks on them. They know when they have reached their limit, and will tap either the table or your person when they need to be released. Feel free to make reservations for later if you see someone you really like.

“Those of our guests who are feeders, please—eat. Enjoy our little banquet. You taste much better when you’re well fed.”

Adam jumped when a beautiful woman in an emerald green gown with fiery red hair piled on top of her head put her hand on his shoulder. “Would you care to dine, sir?”

“I just, uh…”

Autumn tapped his arm with the flats of her fingers. “Go on, Adam. For the experience. It’s not like you’re going to get fat.”

He looked around nervously. “I’m just…I haven’t eaten at a table for nearly sixty years.”

“Well,” the woman said with a warm smile. “It’s easier than it looks. Mind if I sit on your lap?”

Even Maria had trouble containing her snickers as Adam reluctantly acquiesced and the woman sat gracefully on his lap, then handed him her little cloth. “Will you put this on me? It goes on my shoulders to protect the dress.”

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Autumn looked around the table. There were already many feeder-women sitting on laps of vampire men, with red drapes over their shoulders, offering their throats while feeders filled their plates next to them and chatted with other feeders. Vampire women sat on the laps of their male feeders. A few of the same-gender couplings seemed to be busy trying to determine who should sit where, based on body size.

There was a feeder to Autumn’s left, a thin young man with pink cheeks who seemed to belong to the well-dressed man sitting next to him. “Have you been here before?”

Autumn asked the boy.

The boy nodded. “It gets pretty crazy. There’s a reason they have security here. Some of the vampires…all the feeding gets them horny and they’ll fuck anything that doesn’t move. Or that doesn’t move fast enough.”

The vampire next to him—a tall, square-jawed man with a practiced salesman’s smile and short, neat hair—stopped feeding to turn his head. “Language, Joey. What have I told you?”

“Sorry, sir,” the boy said, then shrugged at Autumn when his master went back to the woman on his lap. “It’s true, though,” he whispered. “Most people don’t care, because they know they’re here to be used in every way possible and they love the lifestyle of servicing vampires. If they get dragged into a corner on the way to the bathroom, that’s fine with them.”

“Is it fine with you?” Autumn asked the boy.

“I guess, but he’s picky about who touches me, so I could get into a lot of trouble if something happens and he hasn’t approved it first. What about you?”

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Autumn shrugged. “We’re just here to see what happens. We haven’t been here before.”

The boy nodded. “It’s a good place. Just be careful late at night, is all I’m saying.”

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A surprising number of the vampires turned out to be smokers, among them the man with the 1940s haircut. “I could use a little something myself,” Adam said to the girls.

Autumn wanted to interact with everyone, but didn’t know what to say. People stood close when they talked, touching each other briefly on the arm, exchanging information and affection. Not far away, one of the house feeders stood patiently as a vampire man grasped her chin and turned her head this way and that, scrutinizing her features, then took her arm in one hand and used the other to squeeze her bottom. “Oh my God, Maria, look,” Autumn said, unable to keep the enthusiasm from her voice.

Maria nodded. She stood with her elbow propped on her hand. “I know. It’s a den of decadence in here,” she said disapprovingly.

“Prude,” Autumn teased tentatively, watching to see how the other woman took it.

Maria gave her a guarded smile that warmed gradually before she looked away.

A man with platinum curls and sparse hot-pink highlights leaned in. “Isn’t it just terrible?” he asked in a deep, silky voice. He was older, with some crinkling around his eyes, but those eyes were a startling shade of blue. “Hi, girls, I’m Francois. Frank, really, but Francois is good for business.”

The man from the Internet café.

Autumn froze.

“What do you do?” Maria asked while Autumn forced herself to take deep breaths.

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“Hairdresser to the stars, baby. I’m one of the best.” He bent down toward Maria.

“Did you know that having a man who knows what he’s doing wash your hair in the shower is one of the most erotic experiences you will ever have?”

“Really?” she asked. “That’s so startling I think I need a drink. Do you want anything?” she asked Autumn.

“Sure,” Autumn said, narrowing her eyes at the man, who shot her a self-satisfied grin. “Whatever you like.”

“I like beer,” Maria snapped. “But unlike us, I don’t think that’s on the menu. I’ll find you something girly. Excuse me.”

“Wow,” Francois said. “She must have had a hard day. You don’t think I upset her, do you?”

“Are you stalking me?” Autumn asked incredulously, just as Adam came over.

“What’s up?” Adam said. “I’m Adam. These are my girls.”

Francois widened his eyes in surprise. “Really? That’s…interesting. I’m Francois. It’s great to meet you, Adam.” He held out his hand. I was just talking to – what’s your name, beautiful?”

“Autumn,” she said, eyeing him warily.

“I was just talking to Autumn here. I hope you don’t mind.” He smiled quickly.

Adam shrugged. “Not if she doesn’t.”

“Good,” he said, rolling his shoulders and relaxing his face, looking from one of them to the other. “Because I have to tell somebody about the weird thing I saw on the way over here this afternoon. There was a guy standing by the side of the road, right? Playing guitar in his underwear, like that guy in New York, the Naked Cowboy. Have you heard 81

of him? He’s been playing his guitar in his underwear for money for about ten years, only he has the body for it. The guy I saw today trying to do that was about fifty years old with a belly the size of a Volkswagen. It was amazing. It made me cringe.”

Autumn made a face in spite of herself, intrigued.

Francois looked at her, cocking his head slightly and lowering his lids just a little. He pointed at her. “See? Just like that. That face is how I felt on the inside. You are so cute,”

he said. “Here, give me a hug. Maybe you can squeeze that image out of my brain.”

Autumn smiled and let him put his arms around her, relaxing a little. He kissed her on the side of the head. When she looked over at Adam, she saw him talking to a statuesque black woman with smooth, dark skin.

“Let’s do an experiment,” Francois said. “Give me your hands like this.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” she insisted. “I saw you today at the Internet café.

You looked at my computer.”

He let his gaze linger on hers for a moment while locking fingers with her right hand and squeezing. “Yeah?” he said. “I guess you did.”

She returned the squeeze absently. “You looked at me.”

“I thought you were pretty. Now think of a number from one to ten.”

Autumn found herself doing as she was told, then dropped her jaw at him. “You looked at my computer.”

“I recognized the site.”

“What about the honey bun?” she insisted. “You’re a vampire and you bought a honey bun.”

He furrowed his brow at her. “How do you know I’m a vampire?”

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“Because you sniffed the room when you came in. Like you were looking for someone.”

“Habit,” he said, with a sheepish smile. “Do you have your number?”

“Why did you buy a honey bun?”

“If you must know, it was for my boy. He has a sweet tooth. Now are you going to let me impress you with my little trick or are you going to interrogate me all night? Hmm?”

“Go ahead,” she said.

“Are you thinking of it?”

She nodded.

“You were thinking of…five.”

She furrowed her brow and shook her head slowly. “No.”

“That wasn’t it?” he asked with an exaggerated expression of disappointment.

“No,” she repeated.

“Got you to hold my hand though, didn’t it?” He let his face open into a wide grin.

Autumn dropped her jaw, liking him against her will. “That’s just…” She pulled her hand away, fighting the urge to smile.

He ignored her protests to first pull her close, then push her away and plant a kiss on the top of her head. “You’re adorable, you know that? Listen, I have to go now, but I hope I’ll be seeing you around. Are you guys going to be here long?”

“I don’t know,” she said, squinting at him, trying to figure out how she felt about him.

“We haven’t decided.”

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He took out a pen and a card, scribbled something on the back. “Here’s my room number if you decide you want to hang out.” He handed her the card. “Oh, I
am
a vampire, in case you were wondering.”

“Yeah,” she said, keeping her eyes on him in case he did anything else.

He backed away, held up his hand and waved with his fingers, then blew a kiss.

Maria slid up next to her, holding two drinks. They both watched Francois go. “I think he was trying to get rid of me,” she said, handing Autumn an amber liquid. “It’s an amaretto sour. You’ll like it.”

The last sentence sounded more like an order than a prediction, but Autumn wasn’t in any mood to notice. She took the cocktail, cold to the touch, surprised a few seconds later to find herself drinking it without noticing. “It’s like dessert.”

“Definition of a girly drink,” Maria said, nodding in the direction in which Francois had gone. “That guy is a lot smoother than he looks, by the way. There’s something almost familiar about him. I can’t put my finger on it.”

Autumn shrugged, hoping she was faking nonchalance well. “He’s looking for sex.

That’s what everyone’s here for, sex and feeding.”

Maria didn’t reply right away. When Autumn turned to her, she was pressing her lips together thoughtfully. “What if there are people here looking for something else?” Maria said. “This would be a perfect breeding ground for illicit activity.”

Autumn thrust her head forward and widened her eyes. “Illicit activity? What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, Autumn. But there are bad people in the world. Not everyone is what he seems.”