"As your sire, if they weren't dead already, I'd try killing them," Merrill agreed. He was vampire after all, so he'd heard my quiet muttering. "Now, back to female vampires. It is unfortunate, but any female that is turned has a seventy-five percent chance of walking into the sun or finding some other way of eliminating themselves after sixty years of existence as a vampire. We have been unable to find the root of this problem. I am asking you now to please not consider that."
"So that's what happens," I said, mulling it over for a bit. Then his previous statement hit me. "I'm one of sixteen? How many males are there?"
"A little over two hundred thousand. We had three times that number, fifty years ago."
"What happened?" While two hundred thousand vampires sounds like a lot, if you spread them out across the earth, it's not that many.
"Technology and better weapons happened to accelerate the war between vampires and werewolves. Now do you understand just what it was you did for both races when you preserved the Grand Master's life? He was the first Grand Master willing to make the compromises necessary. His death would have destroyed all of us, I think."
"Were you depressed when you first were turned?" I asked, going off subject for a moment.
"A little. But I was dying in battle, and my sire found me as I was slipping away. I wasn't all that upset, and I have enjoyed my life. Now, Lissa, let's talk about you. And what you can do that is so unique that you are an anomaly—an impossibility, as it were."
"It's not just because I got turned by two morons?"
"Wlodek told me you called them that." Merrill's mouth quirked into half a smile. "He found it humorous, but it is never wise to say something out of turn to the Head of the Council. He has a temper, little one, and you do not wish to see it aimed at you. Every one of those Council members knew how rare you were and still four of them called for your death. To me, that is unacceptable. You are capable of mindspeech, Lissa. At this time, there are only three known male vampires with that talent."
"I met Robert," I said.
"His twin brother, Albert, also has the gift," Merrill informed me. "They are both Enforcers but their gift is short-range only. The other one with the talent is Radomir. He has only experienced it sporadically, however, so it is not labeled as one of his gifts."
"I liked him," I said.
"Radomir is an Enforcer and Wlodek's child. Anything you tell Radomir you tell Wlodek," Merrill said. "The other talent that you have is misting. You are what we call a mister, Lissa. You can turn your body to mist, along with anything you are wearing at the moment. Wlodek was shocked when your chains turned along with everything else. He will be experimenting with his Enforcers to see if they can do the same thing."
"The Enforcers can mist, too?"
"No. Only two now hold that talent. It is as rare as mindspeech and according to the records, never has misting and mindspeech appeared in the same vampire. And most certainly never in a female. You are rare and precious, Lissa. That does not mean that Wlodek will allow you to get away with anything, so do not attempt it. He has warned you that if you appear in front of the Council once more, it most likely will be for the death sentence to be passed."
"Yeah. He said that already." I was twining my fingers together, my eyes on my lap.
"Little one, you did not ask to be placed in this position. You were rogue through no fault of your own, but the laws are in place for a reason. The vampire race is hidden from humans because they fear us and for good reason. We are stronger and we drink from them. The first Vampire Law is never kill your donor. I'm sure you've already guessed that one yourself. And with your fangs, it would be difficult for you to kill them with the bite. You could easily kill them in other ways, however, from exerting your strength to placing a compulsion for them to drive off a cliff."
"Geez, that's awful," I said.
"Not every vampire agrees. Some revel in the kill or the struggle and do not place proper compulsion on their donors. We do not have as much difficulty with this now as we once did." Merrill grimaced a little. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.
"So, some vampires still kill the ones they take from?"
"They are not allowed by law. That does not mean they don't achieve it from time to time. Most vampires feed themselves from the blood banks now. The Council keeps records of those who order blood and those who do not, as well as those who only order sporadically. They also watch to see if humans come up missing regularly where vampires keep residences or even nearby. If suspicions are raised, Enforcers are dispatched to investigate."
"The Council has a tough job."
"Yes. With that power comes a heavy price. You have seen the Council's justice. They do not hesitate and every living vampire knows this."
"So in your opinion, vampires are alive and not the undead? Because I have to tell you, that term has always bothered me. Undead to me means the opposite of dead, which by definition means alive, at least in some way."
"Vampires are alive in their own way," Merrill said. "Their hearts do not beat but they do breathe while awake, which causes some sort of metabolism. It's just that our bodies process things differently. We consume blood and it feeds us. If we did not metabolize it in some way we wouldn't have to consume more every day."
"That makes sense," I agreed.
"Good. Do you have any questions for me tonight? I have business to attend to this evening. We will continue tomorrow night. On Wednesday, I will be away for two days but back on Friday."
"Nothing for tonight. I'll think about it all and if I have questions, I'll let you know."
Merrill smiled at me. "You are something of a miracle, Lissa. I am glad to have this opportunity to teach you."
I left his study and went to Franklin. "Do you think he'll mind if I walk outside?" I asked. I hadn't been able to roof-sit in a while.
"Just don't go far. I'm sure he's already told you not to escape." Franklin smiled at me.
"He did tell me that," I nodded. "I just want to sit on the roof for a while."
"You know, if you were human I would be shouting the house down for Merrill to come and stop you," Franklin's eyes sparkled when he laughed. "But since you are what you are, don't damage the roof tiles."
It was my turn to laugh, then. "I haven't damaged any so far. That I know of, anyway," I said and went to find the door.