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.Through the winter, into the spring and summer, they went across the country, setting up shop at a safe distance from every known vampire residence and looking to see who was being held inside.Sometimes they got clear views through the windows.Sometimes they had to wait until a slave came outside to take out the trash or tend to the landscaping.They took pictures of every face they saw.Gia sent those pictures to the Network who used facial recognition software to try and identify the slaves.They stayed in safe houses with Network sympathizers.Gia introduced Nicky as if she were already a Network operative, as if the mission they were on was official Network business.Their hosts not only provided shelter, they also provided food, clothing, gas money, companionship.They had a Thanksgiving feast with their hosts in Boston.They celebrated Christmas with their hosts in Philadelphia.And all the while, Gia was teaching Nicky how to be a spy.Nicky learned how to use line of sight to see without being seen.She became hyper-aware of her surroundings, learning how to take detailed mental photographs of everything and everyone in her vicinity at all times.Already skilled at blending into a crowd from her years as a jackal, with Gia’s help, Nicky learned how to become completely invisible.In addition to the skills of a spy, Gia taught Nicky the history of the conflict between vampires and humans.“There was an uneasy balance that existed for centuries,” Gia told her one night in Richmond, Virginia.They were in the guest house of an estate owned by a wealthy patron of the Network, sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace.“The vampires have always had the power to enslave us all, but their own in-fighting and strange customs kept them in check.”“But then something changed,” said Nicky.“It was Daciana and Sergio,” said Gia.“They changed everything.”With the light from the fireplace dancing across her face as she spoke, Gia told Nicky the story of a seminal moment in the history of the conflict.“It was some time in the late 15th century,” Gia said.“A young vampire named Daciana Samarin, having just broken her bond and killed her ex-lover, fell in love with a nobleman from Andalucía.His name was Sergio Alonzo.“She made him a vampire, the first bond that she chose for herself.But with Sergio, something went wrong.The bond didn’t take.Sergio was an aberration, a kind of vampire the clans in Old Europe considered taboo.He was a Libertine.”“What’s a Libertine?” Nicky asked.“A kind of vampire gigolo, if you will,” said Gia.“Had Sergio been normal, he would have bonded with Daciana and the two of them would have fallen madly in love for decades.But with Sergio, there was no bond to be had.Sergio was defective.He was a Libertine, a vampire that doesn’t bond.And according to their custom, it was Daciana’s responsibility to kill Sergio the minute she realized he was different.”“But she didn’t kill him,” Nicky said.“No, she didn’t.She took pity on him, knowing that doing so would make her an outcast among her own kind.She helped him escape, and they both became fugitives.”“But Daciana is here now, in America, right?” Nicky said.“I’ve heard of her.”“Daciana lives in Washington, yes,” said Gia.“She and Sergio both.They came to America together some time in the early twentieth century.Daciana found her place in the underworld, and by the 1940’s, she was a feared mob boss in New York.”“But now she’s not a mob boss, is she?” Nicky said.“She’s in the government.”“Is there a difference?” Gia said.“And no, Daciana is not in the government.She is the government.Sure, there’s a president and congressmen and governors and judges and the like, but all of them answer to Daciana in the end.She and her clan allow the people to elect whomever they please and delude themselves into thinking they are free.But the minute an elected official takes office, he belongs to her.They all do.All the power players in America belong to her, and if not to her, then to whatever immortal lives closest, and all the immortals answer to her.”“How did she go from an outcast to a mob boss to—”“To queen of us all? It’s a good question,” said Gia.“The answer is Sergio.With Sergio, Daciana figured out a way to game the system.The two of them have worked together to break all the old rules and create a new world to their liking.The key is Sergio’s ability to create a new vampire whenever he wants.”“Because he doesn’t bond,” Nicky said.“Precisely.For all the rest of the world, a new vampire is only created within the sacred rites of a vampire bond.For a normal vampire like Daciana, it’s the only way they can do it.They have to be in love to make a new one of their kind, and for a vampire, love is serious stuff.A typical vampire bond is fifty to a hundred years of passionate love, followed immediately by passionate hatred.”“Passionate hatred?”“In Europe, when a vampire bond comes to an end, it is customary for the weaker of the two to run away, knowing that its lover has now become its enemy.Sometimes, the weaker vampire is too slow to act, and is killed.“This little quirk of their kind, more than anything else, is why their numbers stayed small and steady for centuries.But Daciana changed all that with Sergio [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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