Dead in the Family

paused. “You know, his life will be ended if you tell anyone this.”
    “Oh, duh. I’m not telling anyone any of this. For one thing, the fact that you-all named your little slices of America after gods is just . . .” I shook my head. Really something. I wasn’t sure what. Proud? Stupid? Bizarre? “For another thing, I like Rasul.” And I thought it was pretty damn smart of him to take the chance to get out from under Victor’s thumb, no matter what he’d agreed to do. “Why are you telling me all this, all of a sudden?”
    “I think you need to know what’s going on around you, my lover.” Eric had never looked more serious. “Last night, while I was working, I found myself distracted by the idea that you might suffer for your ignorance. Pam agreed. She’s wanted to give you the background of our hierarchy for some weeks. But I thought the knowledge would burden you, and you had enough problems to handle. Pam reminded me that ignorance could get you killed. I value you too much to let yours continue.”
    My initial thought was that I’d really enjoyed that ignorance, and it would have been okay with me if I’d retained it. Then I had to hop all over myself. Eric was really trying to include me in his life and its ins and outs. And he was trying to help me acclimatize to his world because he considered me a part of it. I tried to feel warm and fuzzy about that.
    Finally, I said, “Thanks.” I tried to think of intelligent questions to ask. “Um, okay. So the kings and queens of each state in a particular division get together to make decisions and bond—what, every two years?”
    Eric was eyeing me cautiously. He could tell not all was well in Sookieville. “Yes,” he said. “Unless there’s some crisis that calls for an extra meeting. Each state is not a separate kingdom. For instance, there’s a ruler of New York City and a ruler of the rest of the state. Florida is also divided.”
    “Why?” That took me aback. Until I considered. “Oh, lots of tourists. Easy prey. High vampire population.”
    Eric nodded. “California is in thirds—California Sacramento, California San Jose, and California Los Angeles. On the other hand, North and South Dakota have become one kingdom, since the population is so thin.”
    I was getting the hang of looking at things through vampire eyes. There’d be more lions where the gazelles crowded around the watering hole. Fewer prey animals, fewer predators. “How does the business of—well, of Amun, say—get conducted between those biennial meetings?” There had to be stuff that came up.
    “Message boards, mostly. If we have to have a face-to-face, committees of sheriffs meet, depending on the situation. If I had an argument with the vampire of another sheriff, I’d call that sheriff, and if he wasn’t ready to give me satisfaction, his lieutenant would meet with my lieutenant.”
    “And if that didn’t work?”
    “We’d kick the dispute up the ladder, to the summit. In between meeting years, there’s an informal gathering, with no ceremony or celebration.”
    I could think of a lot of questions, but they were all of the “what if” variety, and there wasn’t any immediate need for me to know the answers.
    “Okeydokey,” I said. “Well, that was real interesting.”
    “You don’t sound interested. You sound irritated.”
    “This isn’t what I expected when I found out you were sleeping in the house.”
    “What did you expect?”
    “I expected you’d come over here because you couldn’t wait an extra minute to have fabulous, mind-blowing sex with me.” And to hell with the corpse, for the moment.
    “I’ve told you things for your own good,” Eric said soberly. “However, now that that’s done, I am as ready as ever to have sex with you, and I can certainly make it mind-blowing.”
    “Then cut to the chase, honey.”
    With a movement too fast for me to follow, Eric’s shirt was off, and while I was admiring the view, his other clothes followed.
    “Do I actually get to chase you?” he asked, his fangs already out.
    I made it halfway to the living room before he caught me. But he carried me back to the bedroom.
    It was great. Even though I had a niggling anxiety gnawing at me, that gnawing was successfully stifled for a very satisfying forty-five minutes.
    Eric liked to lie propped on his elbow, his other hand stroking my stomach. When I protested that since my stomach wasn’t completely flat, this made me feel fat, he