Chapter 2 #2
“Biological sciences,” Rhea said. “Raptor ecology.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, an eagle shifter making sure the native eagle population stays safe. Back when I had a therapist, he had a field day with it, but whatever.”
“I can see wanting to do that,” Emmy said. “If humans hadn’t already killed all the natural dragons, I’d want to know more about them. I certainly wish I could see them, observe them.”
She looked at Toby, waiting for him to answer.
“Already have the astrophysics and astronomy degrees. I’m here for the northern sky.
I have a spot on the roof with my own telescope, but I also get time at the Stargate Observatory, about an hour north of here, and I work in the astronomy department at UAA doing research, but they’re pushing for me to teach. ”
“So, you study auroras?”
“Yes, but also stars, incoming objects, meteor showers, all kinds of things you can’t accurately map or photograph from the lower latitudes. I usually go with Zander to Mordnik. Brutally cold, but super-clear skies when the weather cooperates, and it’s inside the Arctic Circle.”
“Mordnik?”
The two looked at each other, and Rhea said, “Technically, it’s Noctimordvik — night-death-town, right?
That was the original name, but it’s Mordnik on maps now, still means death and night, but shorter and easier to spell.
About as far north as it’s possible to get.
It’s like, fifty miles from the city that used to be called Barrow, and I keep forgetting what it is now, but—”
“Utqiagvik,” Toby said.
Rhea nodded. “Yes. That. Thank you. Anyway, the previous Master Vampire bought an old Cold War missile silo and built a town around it. It’s night from early November to late January, and only the richest, most connected vampires can get reservations.
They’re awake for months. No dying. No down time.
He only takes about a third of the flock up with him, and those who are invited usually make double or even triple their normal salary. ”
“Entire town is based around a vampire economy,” Toby said.
“Lots of bear shifters live there year round. A pack of arctic wolves. A handful of lynx. The mayor’s a damned snow leopard, and she’s married to a fucking wolverine.
” He shuddered. “And there’s this huge colony of spotted seals who spend most of their time in the water, but have a house they share on land, for when they feel like being human.
Feral crowd, but the vampires love feeding from them. ”
Hmmm. She’d have to consider whether she wanted to make the trip if the pay was better. But how would she handle school? Might be worth a conversation with Spence.
“If you have your degree and you’re up here to work,” she asked Toby, “why are you in the flock?”
“Alaska isn’t safe for prey shifters, but being in the flock puts me under Zander’s protection. Bear shifters scent him on me and give me a wide berth. No one wants to fuck with our Master.”
Emmy nodded. “Yeah, after he lost most of his flock in Chattanooga, I’m guessing he’s even more protective than he used to be over his people.”
“He is, and that makes you one of his people, too,” Rhea said, “So welcome to the food chain.”
Emmy snorted. “Dragons don’t generally need protection.”
Rhea shook her head. “Alaska is different.”
Emmy had her steaks going on the grill, and mushrooms frying in butter on the stove.
Normally, it would be onions, with mushrooms thrown in at the end, but there were rules against eating too many onions, so she figured she shouldn’t push that with her very first meal.
Apparently, vampires aren’t a fan of onion flavored blood.
The rules said they were fine in small amounts when cooked, but she’d need to see how many others ate before she started frying them for herself.
And since she couldn’t have onions, she sliced some more mushrooms and tossed them in. Spence had said anything in the refrigerator on the left was fair game.
“So,” Toby asked. “You got Byron?”
She paused, glanced over. “What? Is he like some kind of initiation ritual?”
“Predators almost always get him to start,” Rhea said. “Everyone ends up feeding him at some point, but unless Zander or Kendra want first dibs, Byron’s usually first.”
“Unless someone asks for pain, since he doesn’t usually hurt people beyond his venom,” Rhea said, plating the last of her fish. “He’s just cold. Efficient. Not interested in talking to his food.”
Emmy gave a humorless smile. “Yeah. I noticed. How often do we end up on Zander’s rotation?”
Rhea sat at the island with her fish and what looked like a glass of wine.
“He only takes the masochists on his rotation. If you end up assigned to him, it’s because you asked for it.
Mostly, if you haven’t asked for pain, you don’t get it.
A few might hurt you when they’re in a mood, but mostly, Spence and Fawn do a good job of assigning the right flock members to the right vampires. ”
“Noted.” She stirred the mushrooms, checked her steaks, and decided everything was done enough. She put the four steaks on a huge plate and topped them with the buttery mushrooms.
She preferred to hand pain out rather than experience it. She didn’t mind some kinds of pain — she was a big fan of rough anal sex.
But no way in hell was she going to agree to be hurt by vampires. Sure, the salary was a lot more, but no.
So why did the thoughts of Zander with a flogger seem not-so-bad?
She shook her head. “Does Spence handle the intake stuff for everyone?”
“Zander did mine,” Rhea said.
“Kendra handled mine,” Toby said. “She supervises Eric feeding from me when he needs a calming meal. He’s pretty decent for a new vampire, but no way am I agreeing to feed the new ones in the cages.”
“I wasn’t given that option. What’s the deal with feeding them?”
“Dragon blood is probably too strong for them,” Rhea said. “Mostly, they’re given prey blood that’s been donated ahead of time. Once they start gaining control, they sometimes get predator blood as like, some kind of reward.”
“Yeah. I drain blood into a glass just outside their cells,” Toby said, “and then someone hands the glass to them. Eric is pretty controlled, but it’s still scary, knowing he sometimes isn’t.”
“I knew Zander when he was still Abbott,” she said. “Major stick up his ass. Always in suits. I adored him as a child, but I hear he’s different now.”
Rhea shrugged. “I didn’t know him then, so I can’t speak to how he’s changed, but he mostly wears trendy outdoors stuff. He’s a stickler for the rules, but when everything’s going as it should, he’s pretty chill.”
“He’s kind of like a chameleon at Mordnik,” Toby said. “One night he’s a Roman aristocrat, another night a Viking, and then the Mad Hatter the next week. You get the character and not him.”
Emmy sat back and stared at him. “I think I need more explanation.”