Although she refused to admit it out loud, Eilidh was impressed with the work that Miriam and Karah had done in the store while she'd been away.

She wasn't impressed with the idea of a funeral for Reagan though.

"Why the hell would I want a funeral? It's a human tradition. It's not the vampire way. Why would I want to bring any more attention to the fact that my daughter is dead? And who would come anyway?"

Miriam tried not to show her disappointment. "It was just an idea, Eilidh. Look, Karah's got a guest list and many of them have said yes, they'll come. One of Reagan's ex's has said he'd like to speak and so has her friend, Alice. And, maybe Flip would like to say something?"

"Oh no, keep me out of it. I'm happy to go but I'm certainly not speaking. Not my thing. Not my thing at all."

Eilidh read the guest list that Miriam handed her.

"Martin Scarborough has said he'll come? And Florence Hanson?" At Miriam's nod, she added, "Well, maybe, I suppose, we could do this. If you've already organized it. Okay. Yes. When does this thing start?"

*****

Eilidh had to admit that the reception room in the Elder Council's building looked beautiful. Miriam and Karah had decorated it with deep red roses and black lily's. Chairs had been arranged to resemble a church and Eilidh sat in the front row and subtly watched all the vampires pile in.

She noted that it wasn't just vampires that came through the doors, there were werewolves and even a couple of witches. Nobody human obviously, but it seemed that Reagan had made friends in various circles. Of course, some of the attendees were only there to see how Eilidh was coping and some were there just to see who else was going to show up. But, that didn't matter. What mattered was that her daughter had obviously made an impact on these people's lives in one way or another. If only she'd known about that sooner.

Eilidh sat through the service, with Flip on one side of her and Miriam on the other. She laughed when Alice spoke of a night when she and Reagan had fed from a couple of drunk humans and had managed to fall into a fountain. She cried when a witch she'd never met described an occasion when Reagan had saved her from a werewolf attack. She was amazed when Reagan's ex told of how loving and considerate she was.

There were more tears from Eilidh and even Flip, when celebrated Soprano, Vincenzia Giordano, sang Ave Maria. Miriam had told her that she'd made the service as similar to a human funeral as she could but there some things that just couldn't be done.

A reel of photos and videos of Reagan, for example. While vampires could be photographed, they usually tried to avoid it because it could lead to awkward questions when the same person turned up in photos centuries apart.

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The traditional refreshments after the service could still be offered but of course, cucumber sandwiches and cream puffs were off the menu. Instead, there were plates of meat for the werewolves, and vials of blood for the vampires. The two witches managed to get a cup of tea from the council kitchen. Miriam hadn't planned on food for them because honestly, nobody thought they'd turn up. They kept to themselves in a corner of the reception room as the vampires and werewolves moved around.

*****

Eilidh wondered where the myth that vampires and werewolves hated each other came from. Sure, they were rarely best buddies but the enmity that seemed to exist in books and movies didn't happen in reality. Witches were more of a problem than werewolves. They were certainly more of a threat. Werewolves could do some damage to a vampire with their claws and teeth but witches, well, they had a lot more weapons at their disposal.

Eilidh's thoughts were interrupted when she was grabbed and engulfed in a massive bear hug from an old vampire that she hadn't seen in over 100 years. At least it smelt like Billy, she couldn't actually see his face when her face was crushed against such an enormous chest.

"Eilidh lass! What a fucking tragedy! How're ye bearing up?"

Eilidh mumbled into his chest that she was fine and gave silent thanks to Lilith that she didn't need to breathe anymore. Billy seemed to realize he was crushing her so he pushed her back and held her at arms length.

"Aye, lass, you look awfa' pealy-wally. Grief'll do that tae ya. I felt exactly the same when my Harold passed."

"Harold? I didn't know you had sired a son, Billy. When did that happen?"

"Sire? Nae, lass. Harold was my heilan coo. Lost him 3 months ago. Still grievin'." The big Scotsman shook his head, mournfully.

He looked ridiculous, as usual. He'd made, what was for him, an effort and was wearing a tartan kilt with a thick woollen jumper with a highland cow embroidered on it. It was obviously his Sunday best.

"Billy MacDonald! As you very well know, the death of a cow, however beloved, does not compare to the death of a daughter. Are you trying to annoy me?" It was a rhetorical question, Eilidh knew that was exactly what he was doing.

He lifted his head and smiled. "I jus' wanted to see if ye had any fire left in your ancient soul. Apparently, ye do."

"Billy, this is my daughter's funeral. Show some respect, you old buzzard. What would Dottie say if she could see you behaving like a rabid teenager at a funeral? How is Dottie, by the way, I haven't seen her in a good 80 or so years."

"Aye, she's bonnie. Busy o' course, with the whole historian thing, she sends her love. Ye know, she's still refusing to let me turn her? Ach well, she'll give in eventually. I'm very hard tae resist when I put my mind to something."

Eilidh laughed, "I remember, old man. What are you doing here? You're the last person I would expect to turn up to something as human- like as a funeral?"

Billy took her hands and said, " I never miss a chance to spend time with old friends, ye never know when ye'll lose them. And besides, I wanted tae see just how ye were going to pull this off. Ye've not done a bad job, lass, this funeral shite might just take off with our kind."

"Actually it was my daylighter's doing. She did all the work. It was her idea. I picked well there."

"Ach lass, ye always did have good taste when it came tae who ye spent you're time with." Billy winked at her.

If vampires could blush, Eilidh would have, but instead she invited that rogue Billy MacDonald to meet with her and a select few at her apartment after the reception. Vampires don't get together a lot as a rule, so she wanted to make the most of it. And besides, Billy was right, you did never know when you were going to lose someone.

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