The man’s fear was palpable. Gaius could smell his sweat and hear his heart beat more and more quickly.

The room was dark, for Gaius would tolerate no open flame in his haven. From what his thrall had told him, this supplicant was an elf of the low caste. Beneath the man’s unseasonably heavy cloak, which he wrapped around himself like a shield, Gaius could the flush golden skin tone that marked the lower castes of elves.

Not that Gaius should be one to complain about unseasonable cloaks, he wore one himself. Though for him, it was no ill-considered attempt at anonymity. He always felt cold, even in the height of summer. It was a condition he had borne ever since he died.

“I understand-” The man’s voice cracked, and he took a moment to clear his throat. Gaius had to stop himself from smirking and remain serious. “-I understand that you’re a man who can solve problems. Have you heard the rumors about the slave hunters crossing the border into the Republic?”

“Including the one sent to bring you back to your owner?” Gaius had little patience for social niceties. Age had served to rid him of any desire to talk around an issue. “The man you want me to kill. Yes, I know. Did you bring the offering?”

“Fifty gold sovereigns is a great deal of money.”

“It is. And the hundred sovereigns you’ll pay me after the job is finished is another load of money. I was made to understand that you stole a number of your owner’s jewels when you left.”

The man’s cheeks actually began to blush; Gaius could smell the blood move to the surface of the skin. “I did, I brought them with me. More than enough for the initial payment, but I fear…”

“What I’ll do to you when you don’t have enough money to pay me, once the job is finished.” Gaius allowed himself a predator’s grin. “Don’t fear, I accept service in lieu of coin. As long as you make the first payment. I only insist on the down payment to make certain my client is taking this seriously.”

The man actually seemed to have the temerity to be insulted. “Of course I’m taking this seriously. Do you know what they do to runaways and thieves?”

“It depends on the owner.” Gaius stood up to his full height. He towered over the little man, and drew back his cloak enough to display his high elven heritage. The man was so trained to subservience that he began to kowtow instinctually.

“When a piece of my property tried to run or steal from me, I would flay off his skin. I had a priest trained in medicine within my household who would keep them alive through the whole process. Then, to preserve them as long as possible, I put them in a barrel and filled it with salt. Like you do with any piece of meat.” Gaius raised his hand and the man cringed backwards as if fearing a strike.

For a moment he considered it, but then Gaius placed it gently on the man’s shoulder and raised him to his feet. “But that was a long time ago. And a fate you needn’t face, since you’ve now hired me.”

“P- p- please take these.” The man held out a pouch, which Gaius happily relieved him of. “I can’t go back. If you help me, I’ll do whatever you ask. By Terra, and all the other gods, I swear it.”

“Good.” Gaius tried to make his voice soothing, but his attention was already on the contents of the pouch. He jingled it next to his ear, and tried to see if he could guess the contents by the sounds they made. Rings mostly, but also a chain necklace, if he didn’t miss his guess. “I trust you, but I’m sure the Earth Mother will hold you to your word. You can see yourself out.”

The man left, and Gaius had made his guess perfectly. Gold rings with amber and ruby insets, and a necklace of gold chain. They would have sold quite well in a jewelry shop, maybe enough to cover his entire fee. But a fence wouldn’t give him nearly so much; he might not even get enough to cover the entire down payment.

It wasn’t as though he really needed money; he preferred favors. And sometimes the lowliest servants could provide the most useful favors. A door left unlocked, or something special put into a nobleman’s meal. The possibilities were endless.

And if all else failed they could always provide blood. Servants disappeared with far greater frequency then nobles.

Gaius’ lovely little thrall Allura entered his haven nearly half an hour after the client left. An expert in illusionary magic, he left it for her to make certain that his new client had no idea where his meeting had been, or how to get back there.

Despite his centuries of existence, Gaius had never taken the time to ever seriously pursue study of the arcane; it was too esoteric for his tastes. That was why he always made certain to keep an expert on the topic in his service. His last illusionist had been a man who was practically a relic when they had met. They had traveled together for nearly a decade, before he was killed by a slayer with fire red hair in defense of his master.

No great loss. All things considered, Gaius much preferred his current magician.

By the time she arrived, Gaius had settled into his favorite sitting chair and sat beside the haven’s only small window, reading by moonlight. The tome was a particularly dull text on the constellations, by Thales the astronomer.

Then Allura’s arms were around him and her head pressed against his throat. Her lips were warm, but then she could hardly have been otherwise. Summer was hot enough in Whitegate, but in his eighth-floor haven, it was nearly unbearable to anyone. Except for Gaius himself.

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Allura took the book out of his hands, and then slid around him like a constrictor snake until she sat on his lap. “Gods and Star Signs: A Comparative Study. Helios’ breath, why are you reading this tripe?” She looked over the cover, skimmed the first few pages, then threw it back onto the shelf.

“Anything would seem droll in comparison to you, my dear.”

“Oh.” The compliment seemed to pique her interest. She closed her eyes, and lightly pressed her lips against his. “Tell me more.”

“The only stars I have need of studying, are those in your eyes.” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. In return he looked deep into her, pressing his will into her and twisting her emotions to suit his whim. She didn’t resist, instead opening herself up to him, allowing him to mold her mind and soul like clay.

There was a certain carnality, falling into a vampire’s trance, as Gaius well knew. The ancient who had taken him and made him what he was, had forced his way into Gaius’s mind and even through all his terror and fear, there had still been undeniable pleasure.

Only once it was over, however, he found himself horrified by his loss of control. To cast aside all doubt and fear, to devote oneself totally to another’s will. Gaius could understand the psychotic appeal such thanatos held, but he would also go to any length to never experience it again.

Allura always kept coming back.

Perhaps it was her constant need for greater power and authority during her waking hours that drove her to him after dark. The pressures she faced under the sun, which made her so crave the release of utter powerlessness. He shaped her memories to suit his needs, and planted commands to further his plans deep in her thoughts, but he never commander her to return to him when her tasks were complete. She always did that of her own free will.

Why did she do that? Why did he always offer her the choice?

Gods! The bards’ stories of vampires’ immortality driving them into endless brooding and psycho-analyzation really were true.

All sentient races – but humans in particular – possess many silent indicators to demonstrate how they feel, if one could perceive them closely enough. To his enhanced sense of smell, she practically reeked of hormones.

At one time, a beautiful sorceress sighing and trembling in his arms would have driven Gaius half mad with desire. But he had lived for a long time, and the female body no longer held the same fascination for him as when he breathed.

His own hormones, and the endless drive to procreate they instilled, had died with him. Now he was just as cold emotionally as his body temperature. What he wanted from her was control, pure and simple.

Allura, still trembling, began nuzzling his chest. She stretched out her neck, offering her vein to him. “Please, take it. I need you, take my blood, please.”

Gaius knew what the bite from a vampire felt like. He had experienced it only the once, the night he died. He bared his teeth and smelled her neck, savoring her scent before taking just the slightest nip. Only a mouthful. Just a tasting, before opening the bottle.

In his arms, she allowed him to manipulate her body like a doll, totally unresisting. He bit and a rush of warm sweet blood filled him. Gaius could hear his thrall call out distantly. Every thought was robbed from him, as he was filled up by stolen life.

A vampire’s bite was paralyzing. Gaius had felt cold when the ancient monster had stolen his life from him. Every passing moment he had grown weaker, until at last, his final energy was spent resisting that icy abomination.

“Not finished so soon?” she asked with disappointment in her face, as he stood them up.

“You only have so much blood. Any more and you won’t be able to go teach your classes at the university tomorrow.”

“Then I won’t go tomorrow. We’ll spend the day together; I’ll sleep in your arms.” Allura hugged him close and leaned on him. Though now it was weakness from real blood loss, rather than emotional pliancy.

“I wish it could be so. But you have many little things to do for me.”

"I do? What are they? I'm sorry, but I can't remember them."

"That's just fine, dear heart. You will when the time is right."

Gaius slowly became aware that he had regained consciousness. He took his time to stretch luxuriously; in no rush to fully wake up. He turned over on his side to doze for a few more minutes between his satin sheets before getting out of bed.

By the time Gaius arose for the evening, the sun had already slipped completely out of sight. His spawn had laid out an outfit for him, a crimson doublet of silk, with a black cloak to keep himself hidden in the shadows.

He allowed himself to be dressed, and then proceeded to the dining hall where his coven had already procured a meal. His home stood on the highest floor of an island of flats. The young man serving to break their fast was a cut-throat for the Guild, who lived on the second floor. His spawn had been watching the man for some time. It didn’t do to hunt so near one’s haven regularly, but he kept a number of targets no one would miss under surveillance. For when circumstances demanded a quick meal.

The mugger was tied down on the dining room table, but hadn’t yet been touched. As the leader of the coven, he had the right to the first portion. The others watched him. Their hunger was evident, but he didn’t let that rush him.

There were three of them in Gaius’ coven.

A pair of identical twins from the elven low caste, both of whom he had owned when he still dwelt among the elves. Lithe and acrobatic, they had served as his bodyguards when they still lived. He had blooded them when he left for Whitegate, and now they served him dead.

The last was the youngest, a dwarf. The daughter of one of a gold merchants in the Dwarven Quarter, who objected to being married to a smith against her will. She had prayed to the providence for release, and providence had sent Gaius.

The gods rarely answered prayers exactly how mortals would wish.

When he decided they had waited enough, Gaius bit down onto their meal’s neck. He took more from this man then he’d dared from Allura, but the experience was not so satisfying. When the pulse began to fade, Gaius pulled away. In an instant, the rest of the coven descended, each desperate for whatever precious vitae remained in the man’s veins.

Gaius left them to their meal. He had a job to do.

Up on the roof, he stretched out his will and called to the creatures of the night. In a few moments the crows began to arrive, and then the rats began scurrying around his feet. Within a minute, the roof practically swarmed. As he touched their minds, the tumult of thoughts was a cacophony in his head. Only his centuries of experience allowed him to sift through the minutia for the information he sought.

The strange elf, the bounty hunter.

At last, he had what he wanted. A crow had spoken to a brother, who had a friend, who knew where the hunter resided. He had hidden himself in Guild territory.

Gaius allowed the crowd to disperse, and then began to alter his own shape. When he was finished, one additional crow flew out into the night.