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&039;For the first four hundred years, I had to hide You weren&039;t a vampire then, Kate Before Dracula came to London and the undead population exploded,They believed they&039;d sinned so dreadfully they were barred froes were all for the best&039;

&039;You can&039;t , Kate&039;

Kate felt pinpricks of anger Genevieve was acting like the typical elder Seen everything, done everything, know everything Pretty et, either&039;

&039;I&039;m not sure about my bloodline,&039; Kate said &039;Of the many my father-in-darkness turned, I&039;m the sole survivor&039;

The majority of those who turned vampire failed to live out their normal lifespan, let alone becorow true When a warh amind to stay whole Many condeh the dark

&039;Charles is alive because of us, Kate You and I, we have drunk from hied hiets us mixed up in his mind He looks at me and sees you&039;

&039;And Pamela?&039;

Now Genevieve was pained Skilled readers of emotion, they could hold a conversation via tiny expressions

Kate regretted her angry spark She shouldn&039;t underesti for Charles What distinguished Genevieve Dieudonne froenuinely Many elders couldn&039;t even love themselves

&039;Yes,&039; Genevieve admitted &039;More and more, there is Pamela&039;

&039;You never knew her&039;

Pamela Churchward, Penelope&039;s cousin, had been a few years older than Kate She&039;d kno Kate, then a near-blind warm adolescent carrot-top, felt about Charles, and always took the trouble to be kindly Pa Charles&039;s child The terrible, bloody business had affected Charles, turned hieet Pamela back That hadn&039;t been fair, especially to Penny Kate thought not being Pa and the Dark Kiss

&039;Pamela was more like you than Penelope,&039; Kate said

&039;And more like you than me,&039; Genevieve replied

&039;Only because I wanted to be like her Penny did too, and even Mina Murray Painal and we the poor copies&039;

&039;Tchah! You&039;ve had eighty years to beco perfection Even Charles knows that had she lived, she&039;d have been like the rest of us Not a saint, but a struggler&039;

Unexpectedly, Genevieve took Kate&039;s hand

&039;One of us must turn him,&039; she said, red tears in her eyes &039;We can&039;t let hio&039;

&039;Even if that&039;s what he wants most? To be with Pamela, not&039;

&039;Not me? Or you, Kate&039;

When Charles died, it would be the end of the orld for her He was the last living survivor of her girlhood But it was Charles the man she wanted to hold on to, not Charles the Victorian, the right-thinking, honourable, good-hearted servant of Queen and Country

This century was such a ?&039; Kate asked

Genevieve let Kate&039;s hand go as if it were electrified

&039;How should I know?&039;

&039;All your years You were a supernatural being&039;

&039;We are all supernatural beings, the warirl, I couldn&039;t separate religion from the Church That was a temporal institution, devoted to the perpetuation of its power When I turned, ere persecuted Those who tracked us down and destroyed us did so in the name of God In this century, we are all creatures of science, our mysteries dissected Those who have tried to destroy us have done so in the name of science, in a calculated attempt to eliminate an evolutionary competitor It&039;s all the sae most vampire bloodlines Even now, Kate occasionally heard warht about that

Ever since she could think for herself, Kate had been an agnostic Now, she wondered about the immortality of the soul

&039;There are vahosts?&039;

&039;I think so, though I&039;ve never seen one&039;

&039;As a girl, I fancied I saw dozens I went through a spiritualist craze, along with half the world Ectoplas It was all very "scientific", you know We Victorians wished to map the afterlife as we had e, not an ending Of course, that&039;s exactly what it turned out to be for some of us, for me When I turned, I lost interest Only recently have I realised the puzzle wasn&039;t solved but abandoned At first, being a va i tiht, I sao elders die in an instant, like anyone else We&039;ll both end, Genevieve Then what?&039;

Their gelati had melted

&039;This is perhaps an overly momentous conversation for such a time and place,&039; Genevieve said &039;This is a city of life and death Those great matters will attend to themselves without us We are just a pair of pretty old ladies&039;

&039;Less of the "old", Grand lovers and have theht of Marcello and blushed

Damn Genevieve would, of course, notice

Kate looked away, letting the shadow of her hat fall over her face

&039;Kate?&039;

Genevieve reached over and lifted up Kate&039;s hatbri

&039;Kate, you&039;ve been here less than a day&039;

Genevieve was astonished but not displeased She laughed out loud

&039;Kate Reed, you&039;re a dark horse And no mistake&039;