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“Alain is following along, just in case,” Matthew said
“Ysabeau said that she was more worried about Marcus than Phoebe” I drew back to look at Matthew’s face in the dawn light “Why?”
“Marcus is still so young” Matthew sighed
“Are you serious?” Marcus had been reborn a varown up to me
“I knohat you’re thinking, Diana, but when a huain It can take a very long time before we are ready to strike out on our own,” Matthew said “Our judgment can be faulty e’re in the first flush of vampire blood”
“But Marcus has already sown his wild oats” The family was quick to tell tales of Marcus’s early years in Aled, the difficulties from which he’d had to be extracted by senior members of the de Clermont family
“Which is precisely why he can’t be allowed to supervise Phoebe’s transformation Marcus is about to take a newly reborn vampire as a iven his youth” Matthew paused “I hope I’ him take this step”
“The fa sure that h—be they cold-blooded vampire or warmblooded human—to know their own minds”
“Are they?” Matthew adjusted his position so that his eyes could meet mine “That’s a very modern notion you have, that awoe would be sufficiently experienced to deter, but his lowered eyebrows indicated that part of him believed what he said
“It’s the twenty-first century, not the eighteenth,” I observed “Besides, Marcus is not a ly put it, but two hundred and fifty plus”
“Marcus will always be a child of that earlier time,” Matthew said “If it were 1781, and it was Marcus as experiencing his first day as a vampire and not Phoebe, he would have been considered in need of wise counsel—and a strong hand”
“Your son has asked every member of this family—and Phoebe’s, too—for advice,” I reminded him “It’s time to let Marcus determine his own future, Matthew”
Mattheas silent, his handthe faint scars that had been left on my back by the witch Satu Järvinen Over and over he traced theret that reminded him of every time he had failed to protect those he loved
“It will all be fine,” I assured hi closer
Matthew sighed “I hope you’re right”
—
LATER THAT DAY, a marvelous air of quiet descended on Les Revenants I looked forward to these rare moments of peace—often a mere twenty minutes, occasionally a blissful expanse of an hour or more—from the moment I awoke
The children were in the nursery, tucked in for naps Mattheas in his library working on a paper he was co-writing with our Yale colleague, Chris Roberts They were scheduled to reveal s at conferences this autu up to sub scientific journal Marthe was in the kitchen canning fresh beans in peppery brine while watching Plus belle la vie on the television Matthew had installed there Marthe had insisted she had no interest in such technological fripperies, but she was soon hooked on the escapades of the residents of Le Mistral As forin favor of my new research into the connections between earlyand laboratory practices But I could spend only so es of seventeenth-century alchemical manuscripts
After an hour of work, the glorious May weather called to me I made myself a cold drink and went upstairs to the wooden deck that Matthew had constructed between the battlements atop one of Les Revenants’ crenellated towers Ostensibly it was built to provide views of the surrounding countryside, but everybody knew its priood lookout, and would give plenty of advance warning if a stranger approached Between our new rooftop aerie and the cleaned and refilled moat, Les Revenants was now as secure as Matthew could make it
There I found Marcus, wearing dark glasses and lounging in thehis blond hair
“Hello, Diana,” Marcus said, putting aside his book It was a slender volue
“You look like you need this lass of iced tea “Lots of ar”
“Thanks,” Marcus said He took an appreciative sip “Delicious”
“May I join you, or are you up here to escape?” Vampires were pack animals, but they definitely liked their alone time
“This is your house, Diana” Marcus drew his feet fro as an impromptu ottoman
“This is the family’s house, and you are welcome in it,” I replied, quick to correct hih without Marcus feeling like an intruder “Any more news from Paris?”
“No Grand-mère told me to not expect another call from Freyja for three days at the earliest,” Marcus replied, sliding his fingers again and again through the lass
“Why three days?” Perhaps this was soar test
“Because that’s how long you wait before you give a vampire infant any blood that doesn’t co a vaests too enetic mutations Sometimes, vampire infants die
“It will also be Phoebe’s first psychological test, toanother creature’s blood,” Marcus continued “They’ll start with so small, of course—a bird or a cat”
“U while my stomach flipped
“I —before” Marcus stared into the distance “Sometimes it’s harder to take a life when you have no choice”
“I would have thought the opposite,” I said
Marcus shook his head “Oddly enough, when it’s no longer a question of sport, you can lose your nerve Instinctive or not, it’s a selfish act to survive at soainst his leg, an anxious thrum
“What are you reading?” I asked, trying to change the subject
“An old favorite” Marcus tossed the volume to me
Usually, the family’s cavalier attitude toward books earned them a lecture fromhad nibbled one corner The leather was even lance, and the cover was covered with ring-shaped lasses, tankards, and cups There were traces of gilt in the stamped decorations, and their style indicated the book had been bound sometime in the early nineteenth century Marcus had read the book so often that the binding had split and there werecellophane tape
A cherished ite to do with its value or condition and everything to do with its significance Carefully, I cracked open the tattered cover To my surprise, the book inside was decades older than the binding suggested
“Common Sense” It was a foundational text of the A Byron, or a novel—not political philosophy
“Were you serving in New England in 1776?” I asked, noting its date and Boston publication Marcus had been a soldier and then a surgeon in the Continental army That much I knew
“No I was still at home” Marcus took the book from me “I think I’ll take a walk Thanks for the tea” o;Alain is following along, just in case,” Matthew said