Covet (Clann)

Michelle would say.
    Then I noticed the color of his eyes…the same white/silver as mine and Dad’s and every other vampire I’d ever met. He wasn’t wearing a FedEx, UPS or postal worker uniform, either.
    Smiling, he held up a small cooler and said, “Did someone around here order some blood?”
    Speaking of blood…mine went decidedly cold.
    “Um, hang on just a second,” I mumbled. My heart pounding loud enough that he had to have heard it, I kept my gaze on him and yelled, “Dad!”
    Dad appeared beside me a second later then froze. Silence. Then he smiled broadly. “Gowin! You did not say you would be coming by for a visit anytime soon. To what do we owe the pleasure of hosting a council member?”
    Oh, so that’s why he looked familiar. He had been one of the vamps at my “test” in France last spring.
    “The council heard a rumor that our Savannah here is having some trouble adjusting to the new lifestyle.” Gowin smiled. “And since I hadn’t seen my own protégé in quite some time, and I was in the neighborhood anyway, I offered to make the first delivery myself and see how you were both doing.”
    It was like walking into class and hearing we were going to have a pop quiz. But worse. Way worse.
    Wait. Protégé? “You’re…my dad’s maker?”
    “The proper term is sire ,” Dad said. “And yes, he is.”
    I stared at Gowin, trying to see how someone who looked so young could possibly be older than my dad.
    His grin widened under my scrutiny. He sighed and gestured at Dad. “These kids. They leave home, they never call or write or visit.”
    A smile formed before I could stop it.
    Dad hesitated only a fraction of an instant before stepping back to let Gowin enter. “It is always good to see you again. Will you come in and see my latest project?”
    Was he talking about the house or me?
    Dad quickly sent the floor crew home early for the day, then we vamps gathered around the kitchen table.
    I couldn’t stop staring at our guest. Not because he was overwhelmingly gorgeous. Only Tristan’s looks could really make me breathless. But it was strange to see a vamp who appeared so young yet had to be at least as many centuries old as my dad. Gowin was the first vamp I’d met who looked anywhere close to my age.
    Appearances could be deceiving, though. I tried to remember that fact as Gowin and Dad talked. Gowin was such a contrast to my dad. Unlike Dad, who always seemed a little formal and old-fashioned, Gowin was completely relaxed both in how he talked and dressed. Right now, he was wearing a T-shirt tight enough to show off his well-defined biceps and trim waist, plus faded jeans and sneakers.
    He could fit right in on any college campus. And yet, while he and Dad talked about the good ole days, I had to forcibly remind myself that those good old days were probably pre-American Revolution era. Gowin was anything but the harmless college kid he acted like.
    He made that hard to remember though, especially when he told jokes.
    “Hey, do you know how the Roman Empire was cut in half?” Gowin asked.
    Startled from my thoughts, I joined Dad in shaking my head.
    “With a pair of Caesars!” Gowin answered.
    Dad and I both groaned.
    “Missing your toga days, old man?” Dad teased.
    “Ah, now those were the days.” Gowin sighed and slouched back in his chair. “Talk about the perfect man fashions to show off these legs!” He stretched one leg out in my direction. “Now I have to wait for summer swimwear. And of course do the sunless tanning thing all the time so the ladies don’t laugh me out of the pool.”
    My jaw dropped. “You were a Roman?” That would make him a couple thousand years old.
    He grinned. “You are looking at one of the youngest senators Rome ever had. I had barely turned twenty-five when I joined the Senate.”
    “Gowin is also the third oldest vampire still existing,” Dad murmured.
    “And who are the oldest two?” I asked.
    “Caravass is the second oldest,” Dad said. “And the oldest is Lilith.”
    Gowin froze, his entire demeanor completely changing in a flash. Gone was the humanlike college kid, replaced in an instant with a too-still and very alien creature. “Don’t speak her name, old friend, or you may not like the consequences.”
    Silence filled the kitchen before Dad said, “I am sorry. I forgot your beliefs.”
    “They’re not just my beliefs,” Gowin muttered. “Those who know of her also know that to speak her name is to invite