Chapter 2
Bedelia, still fascinated by Mei-Ling, gestured toward the open doorway.
"Come," she said. "Let us sit in the study. I want to learn more about you...and your tiger people."
She glanced toward Estelle.
"Estelle, join us, please."
Then she looked back at Mei-Ling.
"Estelle is my daughter now, in a manner of speaking. My protégé. She is learning from me, just as I hope to learn something from you."
The three women walked deeper into Pecan Hill until they entered Bedelia's study.
It was one of the oldest rooms in the mansion and, perhaps, Bedelia's favorite. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, their shelves crowded with volumes collected over nearly three centuries. Some had been purchased only months before. Others had crossed the Atlantic by sailing ship and still carried the faint scent of old leather and fading ink. Many had been saved from Fernwood Hall.
A fire crackled quietly in the fireplace despite the mild evening. Bedelia had never truly needed its warmth, but she had always loved the atmosphere it created. The amber glow mingled with the soft light of shaded lamps, casting gentle reflections across polished mahogany furniture and crystal decanters.
The room invited conversation.
As always, Bedelia assumed the role of gracious hostess.
She selected a bottle of Merlot, uncorked it with practiced ease, and poured three glasses into delicate crystal stemware before settling comfortably into a leather chair opposite her guests.
For several moments, an easy silence filled the room.
Mei-Ling's attention wandered across the bookshelves, her emerald eyes lingering on titles written in English, French, Latin, German, and several languages she did not immediately recognize.
Estelle, meanwhile, studied Mei-Ling with open curiosity.
She had never before met someone who was neither human nor vampire.
The silence gradually became comfortable.
Each woman took a sip of wine.
Finally, Bedelia leaned forward.
"So," she said, unable to hide her curiosity any longer, "tell me...how did your people come to be?"
Mei-Ling slowly turned the wineglass between her fingers, watching the deep red liquid catch the firelight.
"There are many stories."
Bedelia smiled.
"Aren't there always?"
Mei-Ling smiled in return.
"Yes."
She took another thoughtful sip.
"Every people possess legends explaining where they came from. I have heard the stories surrounding vampires—ancient beings, creatures some believe were created by gods, while others insist they were born from demons."
Bedelia's expression grew thoughtful.
"I've heard similar stories."
"Our own tale is not so different."
The room became perfectly still.
Even the fire seemed quieter.
"More than seven hundred years ago, when the Mongol armies swept across China, entire cities vanished beneath their advance. Villages burned. Families disappeared. According to our oldest legends, one small valley lay directly in their path."
She paused.
"My ancestors lived there."
Estelle listened without interrupting.
"The people understood they could not survive. They possessed no great walls, no army, and no hope of resisting hundreds of mounted warriors."
"And then?" Bedelia asked quietly.
Mei-Ling's gaze drifted toward the flames dancing within the fireplace.
"Then..."
She smiled faintly.
"...something came to the valley."
Neither vampire spoke.
"Some believed it was a god."
She shrugged gently.
"Others claimed it was an ancient spirit older than the world itself."
Another pause.
"Some insisted it was good."
She smiled.
"Others argued it was evil."
She looked at both women.
"No one truly knows."
She rested one hand lightly upon her wineglass.
"What everyone agrees upon...is that it pitied my people."
Bedelia nodded slowly.
"And?"
A playful smile touched Mei-Ling's face.
"And apparently..."
She laughed softly.
"...it possessed a rather unusual sense of humor."
Estelle laughed.
"The being gave the villagers a gift."
"The power to become great tigers."
"The Mongols arrived only days later."
Her expression became serious once more.
"Hundreds of mounted warriors."
"They expected to find frightened villagers."
Instead, she smiled.
"They found more than one hundred tigers waiting for them."
Even Bedelia laughed.
"What happened?" Estelle asked.
Mei-Ling looked at her with amused eyes.
"What do you think happened?"
She lifted her glass.
"It was a massacre."
Silence returned.
Only the soft crackling of burning wood broke the stillness.
"When the few survivors fled, they carried stories of demons that wore the skins of men and became tigers beneath the moon."
She smiled thoughtfully.
"Those stories spread quickly throughout the Mongol ranks."
"And they never returned?" Bedelia asked.
Mei-Ling shook her head.
"Never."
She gazed into the dark wine.
"From that day forward, our valley became a forbidden place."
She smiled softly.
"Even conquerors occasionally discover somewhere they would rather not conquer."
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then Bedelia smiled warmly.
"I believe I would have liked those ancestors of yours."
Mei-Ling returned the smile.
"I think they would have liked you as well."
Bedelia chuckled.
"So..."
She leaned back comfortably.
"Have you traveled all the way from Chicago merely to recruit Estelle and me to defend the city from the return of the Mongol Empire?"
Mei-Ling laughed.
"No."
She raised her wineglass slightly.
"Not Mongol hordes."
A shadow crossed her expression.
"But other hordes."
Bedelia immediately noticed the change.
She set her own glass aside.
"Go on."
"Many spirits travel through the supernatural world."
"They speak."
"They listen."
"They carry stories farther than any human messenger ever could."
Her emerald eyes met Bedelia's.
"What you did in New Orleans traveled much farther than you realize."
Bedelia sighed dramatically.
"I was afraid of that."
Mei-Ling smiled.
"Down there..."
She paused.
"They no longer call you merely a vampire."
"No?"
"They call you..."
She looked directly into Bedelia's eyes.
"...the Dark Angel."
Estelle's smile broadened immediately.
Bedelia rolled her eyes with theatrical resignation.
"Yes."
"I've heard the title."
"And now," Mei-Ling continued, "I've begun hearing the same whispers here in Savannah."
Bedelia settled comfortably into her chair.
"People do enjoy their legends."
Mei-Ling's smile slowly disappeared.
"Chicago has its own monsters. Drug cartels, human traffickers, murderers. Predators who walk openly among ordinary people."
Bedelia nodded.
"That sounds painfully familiar."
"It should."
She held Bedelia's gaze.
"So..."
Bedelia smiled.
"You want Estelle and me to come to Chicago?"
"No."
Bedelia raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"You misunderstand."
The tiger woman gently lowered her wineglass onto the table between them.
Her expression had become completely serious.
"My people are not numerous anymore."
Mei-Ling's voice had grown noticeably quieter.
"Hundreds of years ago, there were many of us."
She looked into the dark wine before her.
"Today..."
She smiled sadly.
"...we are rare."
Her expression became completely serious.
"I already fight those monsters. I hunt them. I kill them when I must."
Bedelia listened without interrupting.
"But unlike you..."
Mei-Ling met her eyes.
"...I am not immortal."
A thoughtful silence settled over the study.
"If I am shot, I can die."
She spoke without self-pity, simply stating a fact.
"If I am stabbed, I bleed."
She rested one hand lightly upon the table.
"In tiger form, I am powerful."
A faint smile crossed her face.
"But I am still mortal."
Understanding slowly appeared in Bedelia's eyes.
"You don't want my help."
"No."
"You want..."
She paused.
"...what I am."
Mei-Ling nodded once.
"I want to become a vampire."
The words lingered in the room.
Even the crackling fireplace seemed to fall silent.
Estelle stopped moving altogether.
Bedelia slowly lowered her wineglass onto a nearby table.
For several moments, she said absolutely nothing.
When she finally spoke, her voice was softer than before.
"Now I understand."
She leaned back thoughtfully.
"You already possess remarkable power."
"Yes."
"Yet you desire the power of the undead."
"Yes."
Bedelia studied her for a long time.
"And if I gave you that gift..."
Her blue eyes narrowed slightly.
"...how would I know you would use it to protect innocent people instead of becoming exactly the sort of monster you already hunt?"
A small smile touched Mei-Ling's lips.
"You wouldn't."
Bedelia continued watching her.
"You would have only my word."
"And that is supposed to reassure me?"
"Not particularly."
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then, to Estelle's complete surprise, Bedelia laughed.
Not because the answer was foolish.
Because it was honest.
Mei-Ling laughed as well.
"But I ask that you consider it."
Estelle glanced toward Bedelia.
She very clearly had an opinion.
Bedelia caught the look immediately.
Without saying a word, she gave the slightest shake of her head.
Not now.
Estelle understood.
Whatever she wished to say could wait.
Finally, Bedelia looked back toward Mei-Ling.
"You arrived at my front door less than an hour ago."
Mei-Ling smiled.
"A fair point."
"I am not saying yes."
"I understand."
"And I am not saying no."
For the first time that evening, genuine hope appeared in Mei-Ling's emerald eyes.
"But I need time."
"That is all I ask."
Bedelia rose gracefully from her chair.
"In the meantime, you are my guest."
She spread one hand toward the rest of the mansion.
"Enjoy every bit of hospitality Pecan Hill has to offer."
Mei-Ling inclined her head respectfully.
"Thank you."
"And besides..."
A mischievous smile returned to Bedelia's face almost instantly.
"I suspect you and Estelle may become very good friends."
Estelle looked up.
"What?"
Bedelia ignored her completely.
"There are actually a few residents of this house you haven't met."
Mei-Ling glanced around.
"Residents?"
"Well..."
Bedelia smiled.
"...not exactly people."
She turned toward the hallway.
"Buttons!"
Only a few moments passed before the unmistakable sound of heavy paws echoed across the hardwood floor.
A massive black panther padded calmly into the study as though entering a room full of strangers were the most natural thing in the world.
Mei-Ling stared.
Then she laughed.
"Is that..."
She looked back at Bedelia.
"...your house cat?"
Bedelia grinned.
"Yes."
Buttons walked directly to her, rubbing affectionately against her leg with enough force to nearly move the chair.
"I rescued her in the Louisiana bayous many years ago."
Mei-Ling watched the enormous panther with open amusement.
"And Estelle here enjoys becoming a black panther."
"Really?"
"Really."
Mei-Ling looked from Buttons to Estelle and back again.
A broad smile spread across her face.
"So..."
She laughed.
"You're telling me there are three enormous cats living in this house?"
"Exactly."
Bedelia folded her arms.
"I keep imagining the three of you as kittens chasing a ball of yarn."
Estelle groaned dramatically.
"Bedelia..."
"Very large..."
Bedelia corrected.
"...very dangerous kittens."
Mei-Ling laughed harder.
"I believe I would actually enjoy that."
"I rather suspected you might."
Estelle thought about it.
Actually...
That did sound like fun.
She had always enjoyed spending time with Buttons, even before discovering she could assume a panther's form herself.
Now there would be a tiger.
She smiled.
"All right."
She stood.
"Let's give this a whirl."
Black smoke erupted around her body, spiraling upward like a living shadow before dissolving just as quickly.
A magnificent black panther now stood where Estelle had been.
Across the room, Mei-Ling's face lit with unmistakable delight.
For the first time since arriving at Pecan Hill, she looked almost childlike.
The past several years had been filled with violence, death, and endless hunting through the streets of Chicago. There had been precious little laughter.
Even less innocence.
Now...
For the first time in a long while...
She simply felt accepted.
She rose.
Soft white mist drifted around her feet.
The delicate fragrance of jasmine immediately filled the room.
The mist climbed gracefully around her until it completely concealed her form.
Moments later, it dissolved.
The enormous Siberian tiger stood silently in her place.
Buttons froze.
The tiger froze.
Estelle, now in panther form, slowly sat and tilted her head.
For several long seconds, the three great cats simply stared at one another.
Then Buttons made her decision.
She turned toward the doorway.
The tiger looked at Estelle.
Estelle looked at the tiger.
Without hesitation...
They followed.
Bedelia burst into laughter.
"Oh, no."
Three enormous predators stopped simultaneously.
"You are absolutely not tearing through my house."
Buttons looked over one shoulder.
Her expression somehow became astonishingly innocent.
Bedelia pointed a finger.
"I know exactly what you're thinking."
Buttons continued looking innocent.
"You may destroy the front lawn."
She pointed toward the windows.
"You may flatten my gardens."
Another gesture.
"You may even terrorize half the forest."
All three cats immediately perked up.
"But you are absolutely not knocking over my antique furniture."
Three sets of ears immediately stood straight up.
Apparently satisfied with the arrangement, the trio marched toward the front door together.
The sight was almost absurd.
One enormous black panther.
One even larger Siberian tiger.
And one vampire capable of becoming a black panther.
They moved through the great hall with all the enthusiasm of children suddenly released for summer vacation.
Bedelia watched them with an expression somewhere between affection and resignation.
Then she heard footsteps overhead.
As the three oversized cats reached the front entrance, Benjamin appeared at the top of the staircase.
He stopped.
His eyes widened slowly as he looked down into the hall.
Buttons.
Estelle.
A tiger?
He blinked once.
Then shook his head.
"This house is becoming a damn petting zoo."
The three animals continued toward the front door as though they hadn't heard him.
"Bedelia?"
He looked around.
"Where are you?"
Hearing his voice, Bedelia stepped into the great hall.
"Benjamin?"
The smile disappeared from her face almost instantly.
"Are you all right?"
He descended the staircase slowly.
Too slowly.
Every movement seemed to require more effort than it should.
"Yes," he replied quietly.
"At least..."
A tired smile appeared.
"...I think so."
Bedelia's heart sank.
She noticed it immediately.
His movements.
His posture.
The unnatural paleness of his face.
Not human pale.
Vampire pale.
The pallor of hunger.
He offered her a weary smile.
"I'm feeling a little weak today."
He shrugged.
"But otherwise, I'm fine."
Bedelia simply looked at him.
Every instinct she possessed urged her to help him.
"Oh, Benjamin..."
He sighed dramatically.
"Please don't."
"What am I supposed to do with you?"
"There it is."
"What?"
"I know exactly what you're going to say."
Bedelia folded her arms.
"And what am I going to say?"
Benjamin pointed toward her.
"That I need blood."
"You do need blood."
"I am not killing anyone."
"I didn't say that."
"And I am not drinking human blood."
Silence settled over the great hall.
Outside...
Buttons suddenly exploded across the front lawn like a black cannonball.
The tiger bounded after her.
Estelle followed close behind.
Benjamin glanced out the tall front windows.
He watched three flower beds disappear beneath nearly two thousand pounds of enthusiastic feline.
He sighed.
"I think your landscaping just surrendered."
Bedelia followed his gaze.
"One problem at a time."
"What?"
"My starving husband."
Benjamin looked back toward her.
"Husband?"
"Yes."
She pointed toward the windows.
"Those three can finish destroying my gardens later."
For the first time all day...
Benjamin laughed.
It lasted only a moment.
But Bedelia noticed.
And for a few precious seconds...
The weight she carried around her heart became just a little lighter.
After thoroughly terrorizing the front lawn, flattening several flower beds, and scattering what was undoubtedly the worst day in the lives of at least a dozen squirrels, Estelle, Buttons, and Mei-Ling finally returned to Pecan Hill.
The front door swung open.
Estelle stepped inside first.
Black smoke curled upward around her before fading away, leaving the young vampire smiling broadly.
A heartbeat later, white mist filled the doorway.
The familiar fragrance of jasmine drifted into the hall.
When it cleared, Mei-Ling stood there once more.
Elegant.
Composed.
Entirely human in appearance.
Buttons, however, saw absolutely no reason to become anything other than a panther.
She looked toward Bedelia.
Then toward the kitchen.
Then back toward Bedelia.
The message was unmistakable.
Bedelia laughed.
"Yes. I know. You're hungry."
Buttons immediately headed toward the kitchen.
Fortunately, there was non-human meat in the refrigerator.
Ordinarily, Pecan Hill contained considerably more human blood than steaks, but Bedelia had not been hunting recently.
A very large steak would have to satisfy the oversized house cat.
As Buttons disappeared around the corner, another realization struck her.
Mei-Ling actually ate food.
Real food.
An increasingly uncommon event within Pecan Hill.
Bedelia slowly turned toward Estelle.
A smile spread across her face.
"Estelle."
The younger vampire looked immediately suspicious.
"Yes?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You can do one of the things you do best."
Estelle frowned.
"And what would that be?"
"Cook."
Instantly, her face lit up.
"Oh."
Bedelia laughed.
It had been quite some time since Estelle had prepared a proper meal for anyone.
Long before becoming a vampire, she had loved cooking, and immortality had done nothing to diminish that passion.
She could no longer truly enjoy the food herself.
But she still loved creating it.
Estelle turned toward Mei-Ling.
"Come on."
Mei-Ling tilted her head.
"Where are we going?"
"The kitchen."
Estelle smiled.
"I'll show you what we've got."
She paused.
"Well..."
She laughed.
"...anything for which we actually have ingredients."
"That sounds wonderful."
The two women disappeared together, already discussing favorite foods and recipes.
Bedelia watched them go.
She smiled.
She genuinely liked Mei-Ling.
There was something about the tiger woman that reminded her of another age.
She was intelligent.
Respectful.
Patient.
Soft-spoken.
In a world that increasingly rewarded noise over wisdom, those qualities had become remarkably rare.
For all the power Mei-Ling possessed, she lacked the arrogance Bedelia had encountered in so many supernatural beings over the centuries.
That alone made her unusual.
The cheerful sounds of conversation drifted from the kitchen.
Bedelia closed her eyes for a moment.
The house sounded alive again.
Then the smile faded.
Benjamin.
The problem remained.
No amount of laughter...
No amount of cooking...
No amount of giant cats racing across the lawn...
Changed that.
Her husband was starving.
And he remained every bit as stubborn as she had fallen in love with.
"Ancient Ones..."
She sighed.
"What am I going to do with that man?"
Shaking her head, she made her way toward her office.
It was one of her favorite rooms in Pecan Hill.
Dark mahogany bookshelves climbed almost to the ceiling, filled with volumes collected across nearly three centuries. Antique lamps cast warm pools of amber light across polished wood, while the broad windows overlooked the estate she had worked so hard to preserve.
She settled into the chair behind her desk.
Opened her laptop.
And began reviewing investment portfolios.
Two and a half centuries of careful investing had made Bedelia Marie Dubois extraordinarily wealthy.
Managing that fortune required surprisingly ordinary work.
Stocks.
Bonds.
Real estate.
Numbers filled the screen.
Yet her attention never truly settled upon them.
Again...
And again...
Her thoughts returned to Benjamin.
She had solved countless problems throughout her long existence.
Criminals.
Gangsters.
Corrupt politicians.
Ancient vampires.
Demons.
This was different.
Because Benjamin Reese was not merely someone she cared about.
He was the man she loved.
And for perhaps the first time in nearly three centuries...
Bedelia Marie Dubois found herself confronting a problem she did not know how to solve.