The entire cadre would be released following two lengthy sessions with the sour-faced bitch that walked the concrete jail halls as if she were God. It had been made clear to them. A specific set of rules and expectations. If they didn’t follow them, their vampire life would be over. Judgment would be swift and irreversible. They were to split up. No more than three living in one place at any given time. They would not convert anyone else without permission for the next one hundred years. Blood meals would be taken carefully from trusted blood-bonds or compels who were left alive and wiped after the experience. Secrecy was not an option. The vampire community survived as nothing more than legend for thousands of years. And would remain so. At any cost. The cadre understood this. Even Malice and Marina. Starla asked the red-lipped woman where Jacob was. The woman smiled tolerantly. “Oh, that one? We let him go right after you got here. We warned him about his actions.
