Charlaine Harris - Crimes by Moonlight

“Geoff is so generous. I could never be a concubine to somebody who wasn’t generous.”

“Naturally not.”

“He gives me new jewelry every month on our anniversary. Of course, it’s in our contract, so he has to, but he has such wonderful taste.” She sighed happily. “Tomorrow is our anniversary, and I can’t wait to see what he got me. He has something in a velvet bag that he wouldn’t let me look at. Maybe it’s a necklace or a bracelet.”

“I’m sure it’ll be lovely.”

“I want something really special to show Vilmos how much Geoff appreciates me.” She lowered her voice. “Vilmos only got Ramon to invite us because he wanted Geoff to send me to him for a birthday present.” She wrinkled her nose. “Geoff would never do that, and besides, it’s in my contract that he can’t lend me out. So don’t bother asking.”

Deciding that he didn’t want dessert enough to put up with Reinette any longer, Mark said, “Lovely to meet you,” and left.

By the time he got back to the room, Stella was stirring, and he climbed into bed with her to speed the process. Ironically, this resulted in their remaining in bed somewhat longer.

Once they were both up and dressed, Mark told her about his progress with Vilmos’s finances.

“Can you help him?”

“Of course. I’m a genius. But why are vampires such wimps with their money?”

“We’re just cautious.”

“Cautious investors don’t pull their money out the second the market drops half a point, which is what most of them were talking about doing last night. Cautious investors know how to ride out the tough times, to take the long view. If anybody should know how to take the long view, vampires should.”

“Vilmos isn’t broke, is he?”

“Not even close. In a year’s time, he’ll be able to buy and sell women at will.”

“Excuse me?”

“I met a woman named Reinette downstairs who said Vilmos couldn’t afford her, though I hadn’t realized that slavery was part of the vampire lifestyle. You do realize that I come from an old New England family. We were abolitionists long before it was cool.”

“It’s not slavery.” She rolled her eyes. “Foolish humans have trophy wives and boy toys. Foolish vampires have concubines. They actually contract with humans to act as regular blood donors.”

“Are you serious?”

“Reinette’s family has served vampires for generations. She offered herself for auction last year and signed a contract with Geoff.”

“What if she changes her mind?”

“Don’t ask. Besides, Reinette was quite willing. Ramon found the whole process amusing, and told me that a dozen vampires put in bids, but it came down to Geoff and Vilmos. They kept upping their offers until Vilmos ran out of money. As it was, Geoff had to pay twice the usual stipend, plus expenses and monthly gifts of jewelry. When the term is up, she gets a house and pension.”

“That’s a lot of bucks just to win a pissing contest.”

“Geoff is an idiot. And now he’s got to put up with Reinette for the next five years.”

They were about to head downstairs when a scream ripped through the mansion. With a place that large, few humans would have heard the screams unless they were nearby, but vampires came from every corner with blinding speed. Mark, of course, was the last to arrive and pushed his way into the spacious suite, mindless of protocol.

At first, it didn’t register that the heavy draperies were open, exposing the room to the nighttime sky. Then he realized how wrong that was. He’d never seen any of the house’s drapes open, for obvious reasons. As far as he knew, he was the only vampire young enough to endure the sun.

Reinette was staring at the bed, no longer screaming, but as pale as the oldest vampire. The blankets were pulled back, and the sheets rumpled as if someone had slept there, but the bed was covered in a fine coating of steel-gray dust.

Mark wasn’t sure what he was seeing. Stella knelt by the side of the bed farthest from the window, then stood holding something. Mark’s mind rebelled when he realized it was an arm, a man’s arm.

“He always slept with one arm hanging over the edge of the bed,” Alexis said, “ever since I gave him the Choice.”

“Who?” Mark asked.

“Geoff,” Stella answered. “This is all that’s left of him.”

Reinette swayed, and Ramon moved to catch her as she fainted.

“How did this happen?” Alexis demanded, eyes flashing. Her languor of the night before was gone-Mark hadn’t realized that she was Geoff’s dam.

“I don’t know,” Ramon stammered. “My servants are trained to perfection. They would never do such a thing.”

“They must be questioned.”

“I’ll see to it immediately.” Realizing that he was still holding Reinette, he looked around, as if for a convenient shelf on which to place her.

“Take her to my room,” Vilmos said. Mark hadn’t even seen him-for once, he wasn’t the center of attention.

“Gods above, Vilmos!” Alexis said. “Control your appetites!”

“How dare you imply-”

“Give her to Mark,” Stella said calmly. “He can watch over her.”

Mark wasn’t sure if it was because he was trusted or because he was too low in the pecking order to be a threat, but both Alexis and Vilmos nodded in agreement, and Ramon passed the unconscious woman to him almost tenderly. The other vampires stepped aside, and Mark carried Reinette to his and Stella’s room. Fortunately, they’d left the door open. He hesitated about whether or not to put her on the bed, and deciding to avoid giving the wrong impression, laid her on the sofa.

Reinette stayed out for over an hour, while Mark went back to work on Vilmos’s finances. Though he kept hoping Stella would let him know what was happening, they were left alone. Finally Mark heard Reinette’s breathing and heart rate change, and after a moment, she spoke.

“Is Geoff really dead?” she asked in a tiny voice.

Technically, Geoff had been dead for years, but Mark didn’t think she was in the proper frame of mind for technicalities. “I’m afraid so.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and he was touched by the depth of her emotion until she choked out, “Then what happens to me?” and burst into the most annoying sobs he’d ever heard.

Mark found a box of tissues to give her, but felt helpless otherwise. Presumably he could have held her or patted her back, but he didn’t want to touch her.

Suddenly she stopped. “There was something about this in my contract! Think, Reinette, think!”

“Silly girl, nobody expects you to do that.”

Mark and Reinette looked up to see Ramon in the doorway.

“Ramon, do you know what my contract says about Geoff dying before the term is up?” she asked.

“Probably the usual provision for you to get everything you would have if he’d lived: the stipend, the pension, the house.”

“And the jewelry?”

“I suppose,” he said, “but that’s all moot.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that the only provision of your contract that applies is one about punishment for killing your patron. Once you’re found guilty by the tribunal, you’ll be given to Geoff’s sire, which means you’ll be spending the rest of your life as Alexis’s belonging. Did I mention that she’s quite angry at you for killing Geoff?”

“But I didn’t!”

“Every other human in the house has been bespelled and questioned, and none of them went into that room today. It had to have been you who opened the curtain.”

“It wasn’t! Bespell me and ask me.”

“You know that’s not possible.”

“Why not?” Mark asked.

“Reinette was rendered immune from bespelling,” Ramon explained. “It’s part of the bond between a concubine and a vampire. How else could it be a binding contract?”