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went about carefully recording every last bit of pottery or bone that came from each
little niche. Dad even started collecting a scrapbook of newspaper articles about the
place. It& it was almost as if he was a member of that team. He d describe everything to
my mother and me as if he d actually discovered it. She laughed.
Of course, we knew that was only true in a very small way, but each day Dad
came home with a little piece of information about some ancient people s lives. It was
like hearing a chapter of a brand new book every evening and we absolutely loved it.
We d sit around the kitchen table at night and look over all his notes and discuss what
the archeologists had told him. She paused.
Cade saw her look of joy turn sad.
Go on, Maggie urged. Tell us more.
37
Candace Sams
Ann tried to smile. I think if my father could have, he d have loved to go to the
university and study ancient history. My mother too. They developed quite a healthy
obsession over what eventually amounted to a very minor medieval midden. It took a
few months to figure that out archeologically speaking. But that site was never minor to
us. Dad even had a small shard of a pot that someone gave him. And for months
afterward, we used to go to the library together and find all kinds of books to read on
the subject of ancient Britain and the early Celts. Every weekend, we d sit around our
flat, drink tea and just talk. I d never seen my parents so happy about anything. It was
as if some wonderful door had been opened by my father digging up that old pottery.
He became part of something more than himself. And the way he included Mother and
me in his studies was frightfully infectious. I suppose I ve been beguiled by the subject
ever since.
I know you put on your application that your parents were deceased, but you
didn t say what happened to them, Maggie softly prompted.
There was a car accident four years ago. My parents were coming home from a
local fair one night. I wasn t with them because I had a part-time job at the time. We d
have all died together otherwise.
Cade was about to tactfully tell his sister to shut up and let the subject drop when
he saw the tears form in Ann s eyes. But Ann kept going.
The fire& she began, then took a breath to continue, The fire must have burned
my dad s scrapbook, and I think I even lost the little pottery shard the university people
gave him. The firefighters said there was nothing left in the rubble, and they weren t
allowing anyone near to search because of their investigation. She paused for a
moment. Of all the things I lost, I ll miss the scrapbook and my dad s lucky pot shard
the most. She tried to smile and blink back the tears. Of course, if my parents were
here, they d certainly tell me not to worry a whit about it. They d say that I was lucky to
get out alive along with all the other residents. But now, I have to start over. She
shrugged. It s a little hard.
Cade watched her finish off her glass of wine in one gulp, then look down into the
emptiness of the glass as if she were trying to avoid his and Maggie s scrutiny. He had
the sensation that she didn t want to be pitied and that she was regretting having
opened up so much. Suddenly, something in him gravely lamented having approached
her with the offer of being his mistress. Some small part of his heart registered her loss
in a way that confused him. He didn t want to care about her life.
Cade turned his head when a servant entered the room, bowed slightly and
announced dinner was served. He held out his hand to Maggie first because she was
nearest to him. As his sister slowly walked toward the large dining table, he held out
his hand to Ann and was surprised when she not only took it, but smiled.
I think a father and mother would consider themselves very lucky to have a
daughter so eager to embrace their passions, he softly told her. Your parents must
have been very good people to have engendered such wonderful memories.
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Darkstar Guardian
She tilted her head at the earnestly phrased comments. Thank you. They were the
best, she replied.
Your memories of them will keep them alive. Never give those up, Ann.
A strange feeling came over her. The expression in Cade s eyes was forthright. She
had no doubt at that moment that he meant every syllable he uttered. His kindness was
in direct contrast to the playboy who d offered her a total stranger at the time a paid
place in his bed. For some reason, she slipped her arm through the one he offered and
felt some kind of truce had been reached. Perhaps he wasn t as bad as she d painted
him. Either that or he knew how to sell hard. Still, she preferred to give him the benefit
of the doubt, which was what she did with recalcitrant animals and their human
owners who often neglected to pay her fees when they came due. There was some good
in everyone. She had to believe that, or what was the use in going on?
As Cade dined on his rare steak and drank wine the servants had mixed with
blood, Ann ignorantly ate her own meal minus any of the substance vampires craved
most. He listened as the two women at the table conversed like old friends. They spoke
of every conceivable topic of interest while he watched Ann s every gesture with
renewed interest. Even the way she lifted her hand to make a point or pick up her water
glass was graceful and efficient. He realized she hadn t the foggiest notion what Maggie
and he consumed and wouldn t because of the deft nature of his non-human staff.
To be sure, the blood they took was a small amount and drained off fresh meat or
poultry. On exceedingly rare occasions, they would actually take blood from domestic
livestock. But it was never enough to kill and only a few ounces at a time.
For many years now, the king and queen of the colony had restricted the killing of
humans to necessity. This was now a stringent rule brought on by the advancement of
forensic sciences. In a world where a dropped hair or any telltale saliva left on a lifeless
body could pinpoint his species as being radically different from mankind, no murder
could be allowed. Blood-drained bodies piling up was cause for human fear and severe
scrutiny from law enforcement personnel. To that end, the reigning monarchs had
instituted their own sort of enforcement system known as Guardians. They were
marked from birth by some difference in their genitalia, as he d been. As one of their
number, it was his unfortunate job to hunt down and destroy any vampire in his
jurisdiction who couldn t follow the no-killing rule. Killing endangered all of their kind.
However, there was one exception to that edict.
If any human should discover their existence, even by accident, no amount of
psychic suggestion was deemed appropriate to let them live. It was too easy for people
to make recordings, reminding them of sightings or vampiric encounters, and too easy
to communicate what they d discovered before a psychic suggestion could even be
applied. In seconds, a cell phone or computer could be used to relate news of their
existence that might spread around the globe. Therefore, anyone discovering their
39
Candace Sams
existence simply had to die in a way that would assure whatever they d said wouldn t
be taken seriously. Those deaths were made to look like suicides or drug overdoses.
That, too, was one of his distasteful jobs. On this matter, the monarchs took no chances.
Their enforcement of this command was absolute and unyielding.
As he watched his unwitting houseguest, he knew she would run as far as she
could if his real identity was revealed. In the unlikely event that she should ever find
out, he d have to hunt her down and destroy her to keep his people safe. There were
just too many people craving news that vampires existed, and they d never let even the
hint of a story die. Despite this, the monarchs knew that some dallying with humans
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