The next few days at Pecan Hill passed peacefully.
As he had promised, Thomas worked alongside Cooper in the gardens and around the house. There were always chores that required two people. Even a sturdy oak table could not be carried by one man alone.
Thomas proved to be a godsend.
With another pair of willing hands, Cooper finally tackled several projects he had been postponing for months. He could have asked Bedelia, of course. She could probably have lifted the table with one finger.
But she was the mistress of Pecan Hill, so he would never ask.
Noah, meanwhile, continued making steady progress. Each day Bedelia spent a little time with him, gently speaking to him while using her unusual ability to explore the pathways of his remarkable mind. She knew he would never become what most people considered neurotypical. Nor, she had come to believe, should he. His mind wasn't broken. It was simply different.
Different in ways she was only beginning to understand.
It was almost as though Noah's thoughts existed on an entirely different frequency of reality. Every so often, he seemed able to perceive things that no one else could.
Catherine Jenkins noticed the changes as well. For that alone, she could never thank Bedelia enough.
One afternoon Catherine was crossing the great entrance hall when Noah quietly approached Bedelia.
"Bedelia."
She turned toward him.
"Yes, Noah?"
His eyes remained fixed on the polished floor.
"Someone is coming."
She smiled gently.
"Someone?"
He nodded.
"Someone old." A pause. "Someone...very old."
Bedelia studied him carefully.
"How do you know that?"
"I can see it. I know it."
There was no uncertainty in his voice. Only simple inevitability.
Bedelia had learned not to dismiss such statements.
"So, this person..."
She chose her words carefully.
"They aren't human?"
Noah stood silently for several moments.
Then he shook his head.
"I don't think so."
"A man?" she asked, knowing she would have to ask Noah for more information. Unlike most people, he wouldn't ramble on and offer it.
"No." Another pause. "A woman."
Bedelia's curiosity deepened.
"What else can you tell me?"
His brow furrowed slightly.
"I think..." Another pause. "She has red hair."
Bedelia felt a flicker of recognition. Red hair. Ancient. Not human. Her thoughts immediately went to Boston.
Joseph and Sean O'Reilly had once spoken of the vampire who had created them. She had always wondered whether their mysterious maker might someday appear. Perhaps...
She smiled to herself.
If Noah was right, she was about to meet someone she had wanted to speak with for a very long time.
It was as the evening meal drew to a close. As always, Bedelia sat among the others with nothing more than a glass of wine. Conversation drifted around the table as Thomas enthusiastically described the work he and Cooper had accomplished in the gardens that afternoon.
Bedelia smiled.
The boy was settling in.
Even so, one fact had become increasingly obvious. Pecan Hill was simply too large for its present staff.
Thomas had been a tremendous help to Cooper, but one young man could not make up for the work of several people. Sarah already carried enough responsibility inside the house, and Catherine was a guest, not an employee, despite her willingness to lend a hand whenever she could.
Her thoughts wandered to Estelle in New Orleans.
Estelle had solved the same problem brilliantly by asking Momma whether any of her voodoo practitioners wished to work at La Belle Nuit. It had turned out to be one of the best decisions she had ever made.
Savannah, however, was different. There were no voodoo communities here. But then another thought occurred to her.
No... But there are hoodoo practitioners.
Luella!
Perhaps Luella might know someone trustworthy.
Of course, she would have to choose carefully. Bedelia had no desire to hire anyone likely to run screaming into the streets announcing that Pecan Hill was owned by a vampire.
She had grown rather fond of the house. Moving again because of human superstition or fears held very little appeal for her.
Then, without warning, another sensation touched her mind.
A presence. Old. Very old, and powerful.
She slowly turned toward Noah.
For one of the rare times since she had met him, he wasn't staring at the floor. He was looking directly at her. That was all she needed to know.
Bedelia smiled.
"Thank you, Noah."
He simply nodded.
"I'm going to greet our guest."
She rose from the table and quietly excused herself. Crossing the long corridor, she entered the great entrance hall and opened one of the massive front doors. The warm evening air greeted her as she stepped onto the broad veranda overlooking the sweeping staircase and gardens.
No one was there.
Yet.
She waited.
Then she saw it. High against the deepening twilight, a great black raven circled silently overhead.
Bedelia smiled and thought.
"A vampire."
The bird completed another graceful circle before folding its wings. It descended rapidly, landing on the lawn below the staircase. The instant its talons touched the earth, black smoke erupted around it. The smoke swirled for only a moment before slowly dissolving into the night air.
Standing where the raven had been was a tall, fair-skinned woman with long, brilliant red hair that caught the last traces of daylight.
She looked up the staircase.
Bedelia smiled warmly.
"Welcome to Pecan Hill."
The woman regarded her curiously as she began climbing the steps.
"You were expecting me?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Bedelia glanced briefly toward the house.
"I have an exceptional young man living here who perceived your arrival even long before I sensed you."
The woman smiled.
"I should have guessed. I have heard you collected many interesting friends and allies."
She stopped only a few feet away.
For several seconds neither woman spoke. Each quietly measured the other. Then the newcomer inclined her head.
"So... You are Bedelia Marie Dubois."
"I am," Bedelia stated with warmth and no signs of defensiveness or threats.
A faint smile crossed the woman's face.
"You've acquired quite a reputation."
"So, I've been told," Bedelia affirmed.
"You've also managed to acquire a remarkable number of enemies."
Bedelia laughed, knowing full well that to be true.
"That also seems to have happened."
The woman extended her hand.
"My name is Maureen O'Reilly."
Bedelia accepted it.
"O'Reilly?"
She smiled.
"I've met Joseph and Sean."
Maureen's expression brightened.
"My boys."
"I assumed they were your sons."
"They are."
She laughed quietly.
"Just not by blood."
Bedelia looked puzzled.
"I always believed they were brothers."
"Oh, no. They met shortly before I found them. Neither had much affection for the family life they were leaving behind. When they accepted the Dark Gift, they decided they wanted a new beginning. So, they became brothers, brother vampires. And they both chose my surname."
She smiled with unmistakable affection.
"If I was to become their mother, it seemed only proper."
Bedelia nodded.
"I rather like that."
"So do I," said Maureen.
For a moment the two women simply regarded one another.
Then Bedelia asked quietly, "How old are you, Maureen?"
Maureen grinned.
"I stopped counting centuries a long time ago."
She paused.
"But if you insist...I've walked this Earth for a little over a thousand years."
Bedelia laughed.
"Compared to you, I'm practically an adolescent."
Maureen chuckled.
"I've known vampires considerably older than either of us."
Bedelia immediately thought of Aurelian.
"As have I."
Silence settled comfortably between them. Then Maureen looked past Bedelia toward the great mansion.
"You've done well."
Bedelia followed her gaze.
"It took me a very long time."
"I imagine it did. It has always amazed me why more vampires, with so much time on their hands, don't try to amass wealth. Even in books, Dracula lived in a castle, not the hut of a peasant."
Bedelia laughed, then motioned to the open doors and stepped aside.
"Please. I've kept you standing outside long enough."
Maureen looked toward the house.
"There are others inside?"
"My staff. And several guests."
"They're human? I can smell their blood."
"They are."
Maureen was a little shocked.
"They know what you are?"
"Of course they do."
"And they're not afraid of you?" she asked with some amazement.
"No. Not at all."
"And...you don't feed on them?"
Bedelia gave her a knowing smile.
"Maureen, there is a great deal you have yet to learn about me."
The ancient Irish vampire laughed.
"I believe you're right."
She stepped through the doorway beside Bedelia.
"This is going to be a very interesting conversation."
When they entered the kitchen, the others were just finishing cleaning up after dinner.
Bedelia smiled.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet someone."
The room grew quiet.
"This is Maureen O'Reilly. She'll be staying with us for a few days or longer."
She paused.
"And yes..." Bedelia smiled mischievously. "She's a vampire."
The room remained remarkably calm.
Sarah smiled first.
"It's lovely to meet you, Maureen."
Cooper nodded politely.
"Welcome to Pecan Hill."
Thomas grinned at the thought of a second vampire.
"Nice to meet you."
Even Noah glanced up briefly before returning his attention to the floor.
"Hello."
Maureen simply stared. No fear. No screaming. No crucifixes. No one even seemed uncomfortable. They simply accepted her because Bedelia had welcomed her. It was unlike anything she had witnessed in more than a thousand years.
For centuries she had lived alone or among other vampires. The idea of sharing a home with humans...
Of laughing with them...
Eating—or rather sitting at the dinner table—with them...
Had never once occurred to her.
She looked at Bedelia with new eyes.
She truly is unlike any vampire I have ever met, she realized. But she also could sense something else within Bedelia, something incredibly dark and old, something powerful.
After everyone returned to their evening routines, Bedelia turned toward her.
"Come. The den is quieter. I think we'll be more comfortable there."
"I'd like that," Maureen replied.
The den was warm and softly lit.
Bedelia crossed to a wine cabinet.
"May I offer you a glass of wine?"
Maureen was surprised.
"You drink wine?"
"Certainly."
"Doesn't it bother you?"
Bedelia laughed softly.
"Not at all."
"I can't eat human food. But wine has never caused me the slightest discomfort. I fully enjoy it."
She selected a bottle.
"A rather pleasant Pinot Noir."
Maureen smiled.
"I've never considered trying wine."
"Really?"
"No. We generally drink only blood."
Bedelia chuckled.
"Well...So, do I. But I also love good wine."
She poured two glasses and handed one to Maureen.
The ancient vampire cautiously took a sip. Her eyebrows rose.
"Well...That's unexpectedly pleasant."
"I thought you might like it."
Maureen laughed.
"You're teaching me things."
Bedelia smiled.
"You're more than four times my age."
"Yes. But apparently you've discovered things I've overlooked."
"I don't know that I've discovered anything."
Bedelia settled into her chair.
"I've simply found what works. So..."
She studied Maureen.
"What brings you all the way to Savannah?"
Maureen became serious.
"I came to warn you."
Bedelia nodded slowly.
"I suspected as much. The others don't approve of my philosophy."
"No. They don't. And they want to end you. They are coming to kill you."
Bedelia leaned forward.
"Then why aren't you standing with them?"
Maureen looked into her wine for a moment before answering.
"Because I think they're living in the past."
She raised her eyes.
"For most of my life, the world consisted of scattered villages and isolated kingdoms. A traveler might spend weeks carrying news from one town to the next. If a vampire made a mistake..."
She said with a slight shrug.
"...few people ever heard about it."
Then she gently swirled the wine.
"But that world no longer exists."
She pointed toward the lights visible through the window.
"Today...A person presses a button. And the entire world knows."
She continued, thoughts heavy on her mind.
"If humanity ever truly accepted that vampires exist..."
With a faraway look in her eyes, she continued.
"They would eventually come for us."
Bedelia listened without interrupting.
"There are nearly ten billion of them. There are very few of us. They possess satellites. Drones. Thermal imaging. Artificial intelligence. DNA analysis."
"They would never stop looking."
She met Bedelia's eyes.
"It might take years. Perhaps decades. But eventually...They would find us and kill us all."
Silence settled between them.
Bedelia's thoughts drifted unwillingly to the Louisiana refinery. Estelle had survived. But only because Aurelian had sacrificed himself...
...and because every demon that answered Bedelia's summons had intervened.
Without them...
Estelle would almost certainly have died.
Maureen finally spoke again.
"We survived for centuries because humanity couldn't unite. They can now. And if we force them to...They will."
Bedelia slowly nodded.
"I've reached the same conclusion."
Maureen took another sip of the wine.
"I've also heard about your daughter."
Bedelia smiled.
"Estelle."
"Yes. Estelle Barré. I've heard what happened in New Orleans when the Vatican sent a priest to investigate."
She shook her head in quiet admiration.
"Most vampires would have hidden from him. Or killed him. She did neither."
"No," Bedelia replied. "Estelle invited him into her home. She spoke with him. She fed him. And then she let him leave."
Bedelia smiled, always missing Estelle.
"I'm afraid that's something I taught her. Diplomacy before violence."
Maureen laughed softly with a grin.
"That's hardly traditional vampire behavior."
"No. It wasn't."
She gently swirled the wine in her glass.
"But the old ways belong to an old world. And that world no longer exists."
Maureen nodded.
"From what I've heard, Father Hansen returned to Rome. He met with the Curia. And eventually with the Holy Father himself. There is now discussion of some sort of..."
She paused, searching for the proper word.
"Reconciliation?"
Bedelia considered it.
"Not reconciliation."
Maureen looked at her.
"No?"
"No. The church cannot go that far. More like..."
Bedelia smiled.
"I would call it...a détente."
Maureen nodded.
"Yes. That's exactly the word."
Bedelia leaned back, staring at her wine.
"I've spoken with Estelle about this more than once. The détente is not between vampires and the Church. It is between the Church..."
She swirled the glass.
"...and those vampires who have chosen another path."
"The Dark Angels."
She paused.
"The Church is correct about one thing. There are vampires who murder indiscriminately. They are evil. I would never ask the Church to pretend otherwise."
Maureen listened intently.
"But I hope they eventually understand something else. When we hunt murderers..."
"Rapists..."
"Those who prey upon children..."
"The truly monstrous..."
"We remove dangerous human predators from human society."
She looked into the fire.
"In a strange way...We protect humanity."
Her eyes returned to Maureen.
"The fewer monsters humanity produces, the less reason there is for us to exist."
Silence settled over the room.
Finally, Maureen smiled.
"I've lived for more than a thousand years. I've watched empires rise. I've watched them collapse. I've seen religions change. I've seen kingdoms vanish."
She lifted her glass slightly.
"And I have come to believe that you're right."
Bedelia smiled.
"I hope so."
"Because if I'm wrong..."
She looked out the window into the darkness.
"...our kind may not have another thousand years."
From there, Bedelia continued explaining to Maureen her unusual relationship with humans—not only those who lived under her roof, but also those who helped her. She explained her relationship with Detective Kensington and Estelle's with Detective Johnson. They had become the answer to the crimes the police could never solve. She explained how Henry Agron and Anton St. Clair aided her.
Maureen absorbed it all. "So that's how you determine your victims?"
Bedelia shrugged slightly. "Not always. Sometimes I hunt the old way. But if I see someone innocent—a man walking home from work, a mother with her child—I would not dream of touching them. I know exactly whom I wish to feed upon. I'm sure you do as well."
Maureen smiled. "Yes. Yes, I am very well aware. During the thousand years I have lived, I have killed people I should never have killed. But I eventually realized that killing indiscriminately was not the best path."
"So, what are your plans now? I hear it is to spread your philosophy," Maureen asked.
Bedelia nodded. "If philosophy is the right word. I believe your boys in Boston have adopted it. We also have Mei Ling in Chicago, and now Catherine and Kurt in Baton Rouge. They are all patrolling their cities, in a manner of speaking. Or, as I prefer to say, culling the herd."
Maureen laughed. "Then you think of people as cattle?"
Bedelia smiled a little. "Well, I look at it this way. When humans keep cattle, they cull the herd. They remove the diseased, the dangerous, the ones that threatened the rest. They do it not out of cruelty, but to preserve the health of the herd. We are attempting much the same thing for humanity."
"And I believe—and this is only my belief—that someday, in the distant future, it will make a difference."
"How so?" Maureen asked.
Bedelia leaned back slightly. "If, century after century, you remove only those devoted to evil and destruction, then perhaps the better qualities of humanity will have a greater chance to flourish."
Maureen nodded. "I see your point."
"But you have a very large problem ahead of you, Bedelia."
Bedelia looked at her. "Those who wish to destroy me?"
"Yes."
"Hmm." Bedelia gave a faint smile, looking into the fire. "Well, when they come, I will meet them. One way or another, I will deal with them."
Maureen studied her. "I hear there are quite a few of them. You may not be able to defeat them."
Again, Bedelia seemed unconcerned.
"I'm not worried."
Maureen frowned. "I think you should be. I hear you're a powerful vampire, but not against that many."
Finally, Bedelia turned and looked out the window.
"I want to show you something."
Maureen raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yes. Come outside for a moment."
By now, darkness had settled over the estate. A half-moon had risen, bathing the grounds in pale silver light. Together they walked across the lawn and toward the edge of the woods.
"All right," Maureen said, looking around at the old forest of trees. "And what exactly are you going to show me out here? Swarms of mosquitoes?"
"This."
Bedelia slowly extended both hands.
Above one palm, a brilliant sphere of fire suddenly erupted, glowing like a miniature sun. Maureen instinctively stepped backward.
With her other hand, Bedelia gestured toward a massive fallen tree. Though long dead and rotting, it still weighed several tons. Without a sound, the great trunk rose from the forest floor. It floated upward until it stood upright, as though some invisible force had replanted it where it had once grown.
Then Bedelia casually flicked the blazing sphere into the trunk. The tree exploded into flames. A towering pillar of fire roared into the night sky, illuminating the forest like a funeral pyre.
Maureen stared in stunned silence.
"How...?" she finally whispered. "How can you do this?"
Bedelia watched the burning tree without taking her eyes from the flames.
"Have you not heard? I am also called the Queen of Darkness."
"Yes," Maureen replied, "but I thought that was merely hyperbole."
Bedelia smiled.
"No. You must understand, I do not fully understand it myself. Somehow, I became the chosen daughter of the Old Ones, the ancient beings that live outside of time and space. And this..." She nodded toward the blazing tree. "...is only a small part of the power they have given me."
For a long moment, Maureen simply stood there.
She was centuries older than Bedelia, yet for the first time she truly understood. Power was not measured by age. It was measured by what one had become...and by what one had been given. The vampire standing before her possessed abilities the world had not witnessed for thousands of years.
Maureen did not kneel. She was far too old—and far too proud—for that.
Instead, she lowered her head in a quiet bow.
"Now I understand," she said softly. "And I am with you."
Bedelia turned and smiled.
"You are with me to defend me?"
Maureen laughed.
"I honestly don't think you need me for that. But I am with you in what you're trying to accomplish."
"Good."
Bedelia made a gentle motion with one hand. Within seconds, the flames consuming the tree simply ceased, as though they had never existed. The blackened trunk settled gently back onto the forest floor.
"Come," Bedelia said. "We never finished our wine."
After that, the two vampires simply talked for most of the night. It had been a very long time since either of them had been able to sit down with another vampire who truly understood—someone who could agree, occasionally disagree, yet always serve as a thoughtful sounding board for their ideas, their memories, and their philosophies.
As the hours passed, they grew increasingly comfortable with one another.
And somewhere during that long night, beyond Bedelia's demonstration of power and beyond all they had shared, something else had quietly happened.
They had become friends.
