“I can’t bring you a head to mount on your wall,” Sean said. “They turn to dust when they die.”
“Really?” General Bond gave Gregori a speculative look as if he were contemplating testing Sean’s claim.
Gregori stuffed the bottle back into the ice bucket. “If you don’t believe me, fine. Maybe a lot of people will refuse to believe it. We can spread the word ourselves that it’s all a hoax, so I won’t waste any more of your time.” He stood.
“Wait.” The president raised a hand. “We still have much to discuss. Please have a seat, Mr. Holstein.”
Gregori hesitated.
“Already two of the major networks have examined the video and declared it authentic,” President Tucker continued. “We estimate over forty percent of the public now believes, and that number is growing daily. To be blunt, Mr. Holstein, you need our help. We are prepared to discuss a mutually beneficial alliance with your kind.”
Gregori sat down.
A bunch of jaws dropped. Gregori ignored Sean’s fierce scowl and proceeded to tell the other men about MacKay Security and Investigation and how Angus MacKay had come to the rescue during World War II.
“I’ll have to verify that information,” Caprese said.
“Of course.” Gregori leaned forward, focused on the president. “Before we agree to an alliance, I need to know that you’re willing to declare the video a fraud and denounce the existence of vampires.”
“We will certainly consider it,” the president said.
“Easy to do,” the general muttered, “since it’s all a bunch of bullshit. No one here has given me any proof.”
CIA director Caprese sighed. “I told you we’ve been monitoring the Digital Vampire Network—”
“Which could be produced by a bunch of loons who are either crazy or acting,” General Bond interrupted. “Just because someone claims to be a vampire on television, doesn’t mean it’s true.”
Gregori tamped down on his frustration. How could he succeed with Plan B when the general wouldn’t even agree that vampires existed?
“Show him your fangs,” Sean Whelan whispered.
Gregori shot him an annoyed look.
The secretary of defense sat back. “Those do look awfully sharp.”
“And pointed,” the national security advisor added.
Homeland Security director Schiller shook his head. “Those teeth aren’t long enough to pierce a hot dog, much less someone’s neck.”
“The fangs elongate before they bite something,” Sean explained, then turned to Gregori. “Go ahead, show them.”
He gritted his teeth. Sean was such a newbie, he didn’t know a vampire needed some motivation to get his fangs to shoot out. Hunger. A beautiful woman. Hot sex. There was none of that here. Just a group of stodgy old men who expected him to perform tricks like a well-trained dog.
“What’s taking you so long?” The general smirked. “Are your fangs rusty?”
“We don’t use them much anymore.” Gregori motioned toward the ice bucket. “We drink our meals from bottles.”
General Bond crossed his arms with a dubious look.
“He speaks the truth,” Sean added. “The modern-day Vamp no longer feeds off humans. They’re completely safe and harmless.”
Instead of looking relieved, the men eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and disdain. Gregori fisted his hands again, wishing he had a stress ball he could explode. Sean was still trying to make Plan A work, but he’d suspected from the beginning that the safe-and-harmless routine was doomed to failure. Worse than failure, for it made Vamps look like incompetent wimps. Maybe some nice sharp fangs would garner him some respect. He closed his eyes to envision a beautiful woman. Simone. Inga. All the beautiful Vamp women he’d dated over the years.
Nothing. Not even a tingle in his gums.
The image of Abigail sneaked into his thoughts. Her eyes, her lips, her mop of curls and curvaceous body. Good God, how he’d like to get his hands on her. He’d show her just how high her dopamine levels could go.
With a hiss, his fangs sprang out. And his vision turned red, a sure sign that his eyes were glowing.
The men all flinched, staring at him with alarmed expressions. Hell, he was shocked, too. Red glowing eyes meant one thing. He was hopelessly hot for Abigail.
“Excellent,” President Tucker whispered.
Gregori closed his eyes, willing the redness to fade away. The president wouldn’t be so thrilled if he knew it was his daughter who had inspired the demonstration.
“All right,” the general grumbled. “You convinced me.”
“Good.” President Tucker rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get down to business. We are prepared to declare the recent vampire mania a complete hoax.”
Gregori forced his fangs to retract. “Thank you. We simply wish to live in peace and keep our existence a secret. Not only are we morally opposed to causing mortals injury, but intellectually, we understand that harming people would only serve to reveal our existence and ultimately bring about our own destruction.”
The president nodded. “You sound very sensible. I believe we can work well together.”
Gregori stood. “Then I will convey the good news of our agreement to my people.”
“Not so fast.” Schiller from Homeland Security raised a hand to stop him. “We will need a list of every vampire in the country. Their names and addresses.”
Gregori had suspected they would make such a request. “There is no list.” Actually the Coven Masters did have lists, but there was no way he would admit to that. Vamps were essentially sitting ducks during the daytime, completely unable to defend themselves. He couldn’t trust the government to leave them alone.
Schiller snorted. “Of course there’s a list. If vampires are drinking from bottles, like you claim they are, then there’s a list for distribution.”
Gregori sat once again. “Most vampires don’t get home delivery. It would look odd to have blood delivered to your house, and vampires are experts at blending in and going unnoticed. We simply want to go about our jobs and our lives in secret.”
“Do you really expect us to believe you’re harmless?” the secretary of defense asked with a dubious look.
“For the majority of Vamps, that is true. Synthetic blood was invented in 1987, and since then, most Vamps have switched over entirely to bottles.”
“
Gregori shifted in his chair. It looked like he’d have to go to Plan C. “Yes, just like there are some bad mortals, there are some bad vampires. We call them Malcontents.”
“They’re a small faction that takes pleasure in feeding off humans and killing them,” Sean Whelan explained. “The good Vamps have been fighting them in order to protect us. Just a few nights ago, the Vamps defeated a small army of Malcontents. Their leader, Casimir, was killed in battle. That’s what you saw on the video.”
“The video showed a decapitation,” Schiller said. “That doesn’t sound harmless to me. Why should we trust you?”
“You can trust us because we’ve been risking our lives for centuries to protect you.” Gregori leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “You say you want an alliance with us? The alliance is already there. You just didn’t know about it.”
“What sort of things can you do for us?” the national security advisor asked. “What kind of powers do you have?”
There it was, the question Gregori had feared would come up. “Our sight and hearing is a little better than normal, but that’s about it.”
“What? You don’t have special powers?” President Tucker shot an alarmed look at the CIA director. “You said
