JК
The Harlequin :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 3 из 330«You have a lot of members,Malcolm; could you narrow it down a little? Who exactly are we talking about?»
«Don't be coy, Ms. Blake.»
«I'm not being coy.»
«You're trying to imply that you have a warrant for more than one of my vampires. I do not believe it, and neither do you.»
I should have felt insulted, because I wasn't lying. Two of his upstanding vamps had been very naughty. «If your vampires were fully blood-oathed to you, you'd know I was telling the truth, because you'd be able to enforce your moral code in entirely new ways.»
«A blood oath is not a guarantee of absolute control, Ms. Blake.»
«No, but it's a start.»
A blood oath was what a vamp took when he joined a new vampire group, a new kiss. He literally took blood from the Master of the City. It meant the master had a lot more control over him, and the lesser vamps gained in power, too. If their master was powerful enough. A weak master wasn't much help, but Jean-Claude, St. Louis's Master of the City and my sweetie, wasn't weak. Of course, the master gained power from the oath, as well. The more powerful a vamp they could oath, the more they gained. Like so many vampire powers, it was a two-way street.
«I do not want to enforce my moral code. I want my people to choose to be good people,» Malcolm said.
«Until your congregation is blood-oathed to some master vampire, they are loose cannons, Malcolm. You control them by force of personality and morality. Vampires only understand fear, and power.»
«You are the lover of at least two vampires, Ms. Blake. How can you say that?»
I shrugged. «Maybe because I am dating two vampires.»
«If that is what being Jean-Claude's human servant has taught you, Ms. Blake, then it is sad things he is teaching you.»
«He is the Master of the City of St. Louis, Malcolm, not you. You, and your church, go unmolested by his tolerance.»
«I go unmolested because the Church grew powerful under the previous Master of the City, and by the time Jean-Claude rose to power, we were hundreds. He did not have the power to bring me and my people to heel.»
I sipped coffee and thought about my next answer, because I couldn't argue with him. He was probably right. «Regardless of how we got where we are, Malcolm, you have several hundred vampires in this city. Jean-Claude let you have them because he thought you were blood-oathing them. We learned in October that you aren't. Which means that the vamps with you are cut off from an awful lot of their potential power. I'm okay with that, I guess.
«Don't be coy, Ms. Blake.»
«I'm not being coy.»
«You're trying to imply that you have a warrant for more than one of my vampires. I do not believe it, and neither do you.»
I should have felt insulted, because I wasn't lying. Two of his upstanding vamps had been very naughty. «If your vampires were fully blood-oathed to you, you'd know I was telling the truth, because you'd be able to enforce your moral code in entirely new ways.»
«A blood oath is not a guarantee of absolute control, Ms. Blake.»
«No, but it's a start.»
A blood oath was what a vamp took when he joined a new vampire group, a new kiss. He literally took blood from the Master of the City. It meant the master had a lot more control over him, and the lesser vamps gained in power, too. If their master was powerful enough. A weak master wasn't much help, but Jean-Claude, St. Louis's Master of the City and my sweetie, wasn't weak. Of course, the master gained power from the oath, as well. The more powerful a vamp they could oath, the more they gained. Like so many vampire powers, it was a two-way street.
«I do not want to enforce my moral code. I want my people to choose to be good people,» Malcolm said.
«Until your congregation is blood-oathed to some master vampire, they are loose cannons, Malcolm. You control them by force of personality and morality. Vampires only understand fear, and power.»
«You are the lover of at least two vampires, Ms. Blake. How can you say that?»
I shrugged. «Maybe because I am dating two vampires.»
«If that is what being Jean-Claude's human servant has taught you, Ms. Blake, then it is sad things he is teaching you.»
«He is the Master of the City of St. Louis, Malcolm, not you. You, and your church, go unmolested by his tolerance.»
«I go unmolested because the Church grew powerful under the previous Master of the City, and by the time Jean-Claude rose to power, we were hundreds. He did not have the power to bring me and my people to heel.»
I sipped coffee and thought about my next answer, because I couldn't argue with him. He was probably right. «Regardless of how we got where we are, Malcolm, you have several hundred vampires in this city. Jean-Claude let you have them because he thought you were blood-oathing them. We learned in October that you aren't. Which means that the vamps with you are cut off from an awful lot of their potential power. I'm okay with that, I guess.