Standing in the doorway was a figure that had haunted me for weeks. 
The vampire was just a little taller than Asher and broader in the 
shoulders.  His coppery brown hair shimmered in the light of the 
naked bulbs that lit the mill house. His mahogany eyes reflected no 
light whatsoever.  "Gunthor," I whispered, an icy ball of fear 
forming in my gut. 'You said you *killed* him!' I shouted through the 
marks at Asher, in a panic.  'Tamara?' Asher's mental voice came 
faintly. 'What's wrong, cherie?  What is causing you distress?'
'YOU SAID YOU KILLED HIM!' I shouted again, sending him an image of 
what I was seeing.


'Mon Dieu! This is impossible!' came the response.  The vampire 
responsible for my terror spoke. "I see you have had the displeasure 
of meeting my little brother," he said with a sympathetic tone. 
"I assure you, Frau, I am *not* Gunthor. I am called Vladimir." He 
paused.  "Although, seeing your reaction to my resemblance to my 
brother, I begin to understand why I was chosen for this mission. My 
mistress *does* have a cruel sense of humor at times."  Asher had 
kept the marks open after my initial panic, to offer what aid 
he could through them. As a result, he was getting what amounted to a 
live broadcast of what was going on here in Georgia.


'Now I remember him,' Asher told me. 'He is one of Belle's pets. She 
had to send him away from court most of the time, because Gunthor 
would torment him terribly, even by *her* standards. Vladimir is the 
older brother, but he is not a master.'  'Why would Belle send a 
lesser vamp out without a master?' I asked.  'Probably for the very 
reason that *he* suspects. She must have learned of your encounter 
with Gunthor, even though he was not of her line,' Asher replied.


'Whose line was he from?'  'He was a rare one. One of the few 
remaining vampires of the line of the Queen of Nightmares. You were 
fortunate that he didn't haunt you any more than what he did. If he 
had stolen you from me instead of trying to kill you, you would be 
mad with fear by now,' Asher sounded solemn. So, that had been an 
even closer call than what I'd thought.  My exchange with Asher had 
taken only a few seconds. Seemingly without a pause, I replied to the 
Council rep. "Waking up in your brother's coffin and nearly being 
drained dry by him are definitely *not* some of my favorite 
memories."


"You have my sympathies, Frau," Vladimir replied. "Be assured that I 
do not lament Gunthor's...removal."  "Just exactly how much do you 
know about that incident?" I asked.  "Only that you had been attacked 
and that your master destroyed Gunthor in the process of rescuing 
you," Vlad answered.  I caught Derik giving me a "look." I'd never 
told him about my abduction before. I knew we were going to have 
a "talk" once we could get some time alone. I wasn't looking forward 
to it.  'Concentrate on business, Tamara,' I told myself.


"Vladimir, little miss 'I-am-a-professional-barfly,' there, said 
something about you being here to see me?" I made it a question.
He nodded. "Ja. You are one of the reasons my mistress sent me to the 
States. It is a bit of an anomaly for a master vampire to survive the 
death of a human servant, let alone take a new servant afterwards. 
Belle is curious about you," he stated.  The fear was beginning to 
return. Belle Morte was definitely not someone I wanted to draw 
attention from. Still, at least I now had warning about her 
interest. That also let me know to be extra cautious around Vladimir. 
I had no idea how close of a link he had with Belle. The less *he* 
knew about me and my business, the less *she* would know.


"If you would, Frau Lowery, please contact your master and announce 
that I will be arriving in Orlando in one week's time," Vladimir 
requested.  I got the go ahead from Asher, then said, "He is with me 
now."  "Wait just a minute!" Bart protested. I *never* gave 
permission for Asher to enter my territory!"  "You misunderstand, 
sir," I stated. "He isn't here in body, but he is currently in 
contact with me."  "So, you *have* taken all four marks. How did 
*you* take that, Herr Lowery?" Vlad tried to bait us.  "That's our 
affair," Derik said, keeping any emotion out of his voice.  Prison 
had honed his survival skills.


"Asher thanks you for the consideration of announcing your impending 
arrival," I interrupted, steering the conversation back to the 
business at hand. "We realize that the Council and its representative 
are not required to do so, and may travel freely wherever they wish. 
We hope that you do not find our hospitality wanting."  "You are most 
gracious, Frau Lowery," Vladimir gave a small bow. "I look forward to 
getting to know you better. My mistress is most curious as to what 
would prevent your master from returning to her side at court, since 
he seems to have grown tired of Jean-Claude's company...or lack 
thereof." 


Sheesh! How close of tabs DID Belle keep on her boys?  I felt a 
twinge of fear for my safety from Asher at that last remark.  'We'll 
make it through this, Mon Cher,' I assured him.  'Ma rose d'acier, 
you are very brave and confident to say so, but you don't *know* 
Belle,' he chided.  'No, Asher. I'm not brave. I'm just that damned 
stubborn,' I corrected. 'We *will* make it through this. I refuse to 
accept anything less.'


I sensed a slight movement off to my left. Seemed Tanya was taking 
advantage of everybody's attention being focused on Vladimir and me. 
She'd begun stalking Charlie again. He was frozen in place, torn 
between terror and fascination, much like a mouse or bird that's been 
charmed by the cat.  She had almost reached him by the time I spotted 
her.  In a flash, I was in between her and Charlie with my hand 
around her throat. "Not so fast, Bimbette," I growled. Everyone 
looked surprised by my speed and actions, though none were so 
surprised as Tanya, herself.


All I could figure was that the speed was one of the side benefits of 
having the marks wide open.  Bart was the first to recover from the 
shock. He got himself a hefty handful of bleached-blonde hair.  "My 
apologies, ma'am," he said, yanking Tanya's head back roughly. 
"She'll not be bothering you or yours anymore. None of my people will 
give your family any trouble, in fact. Wouldn't want anyone to say I 
was inhospitable, now would I?"  "No, Bart, you wouldn't," I 
answered, a little surprised at him behaving like he was afraid I'd 
bite his head off and spit it out.  


'He knows he would be no match for me if I took insult from him,' 
Asher told me.  'Ah, *that* explains it,' I replied.  "If you'll 
excuse us now, this one needs to spend a little box time,"  Bart 
said. He proceeded to drag a kicking and screaming Tanya by her hair 
across the floor and out the door. I started to wonder just how old 
he really was.  "There is certainly more to you than meets the eye, 
Frau Lowery,"  Vladimir observed. Maybe I was being paranoid, but the 
way he said it sounded ominous to me.


"I regret that I cannot spend more time with you right now, but I 
have business with the Master of Savannah before I go on to Orlando. 
Guten abend, mein freunds." He bowed, stepped out the door, and 
vanished into the night sky.  "Well, *that* was certainly 
interesting," I sighed.  Derik and Charlie just stared at me like 
they'd never seen me before.  Considering the way things had been 
going lately, I couldn't say I blamed them.