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control of the body of his so-called girlfriend. Had we not
done the nasty in front of some horrific people, he might have been
killed.
    At the time, my relationship with Dan and
Tristan had been ... well, complicated. Tristan had scores of blood
groupies. As I said before, blood and sex go together. He was not
exclusive with me. Dan shared me with Tristan, albeit unhappily.
However, Levi had been one more man too many for us all. We sorted
ourselves out in the end, but it had led to a lot of hurt
feelings.
    Was Tristan still riled about that, even with
our relationship firmly in the past? It would make talking to him
about this new problem even harder.
    I got up and went to the cabinet for a
pick-me-up. “I don’t look forward to this conversation.”
    Dan gave me a pat on the back that I couldn’t
feel at all. His look was all sympathy for me. “I don’t suppose you
would. There is nothing like being in love with someone to make a
man behave like an asshole – sorry, I mean a jerk – when that love
goes down the tubes.”
    I didn’t react to the cussing, though usually
I took offense to it. I was too busy trying to shore up my defenses
before approaching Tristan and the people who would try to keep me
from him. Confronting him would take every ounce of equilibrium I
possessed.
    Dealing with the other man I still loved
tended to make me behave like an butthole too.
    * * * *
    I walked into Para Central with a purpose,
striding through the grand doorway into what had once been an
elegant ballroom.
    I’d changed my outfit, putting on clothes
like a knight putting on armor. The gray pants and jacket were
Chanel, cut with precision and grace and fitted perfectly to
Patricia’s slim figure. I’d like to claim the clothes were all my
idea, but Patricia had possessed exquisite taste in clothing. It
had not hurt my feelings to inherit the contents of her closet.
    The rosy pink blouse with lace was me,
however, as were the brand new cherry red Louboutin heels that
click-clicked down the parquet wood flooring between rows of office
desks where Tristan’s staff worked. My personal tastes ran a little
more showy than my predecessor’s. I tried to balance the two
because many didn’t know who ran this body now. We wanted to keep
certain people in the dark.
    Still, I saw nothing wrong with a little
splash and flash, if done right. With her cool and classic
Katherine Hepburn looks ... done with pageboy-cut black hair and
vampire pale skin ... Patricia could carry it. I didn’t like many
aspects of my situation, but I enjoyed styling someone so far from
my own looks.
    As I passed the many desks with their
inhabitants working away, I noted how Tristan’s employees snuck
peeks at me. Para Central looked like any office hell with three
rows of desks marching its length, except for the fact that it was
in a Swinging Twenties era hotel ballroom. A twin of the lobby’s
chandelier hung overhead. At the end of the room stood a bandstand
where one might have seen Glenn Miller, had the King George still
existed above ground during his time.
    I kept my nose pointed in the direction of
the bandstand stage, where two huge executive desks perched. Behind
those were a couple of whiteboards with notes scribbled in various
handwriting ... a few were notes on county commission dealings, but
most were battle plans for the election.
    I faltered a little as I gazed at the big
desk on the left. That had once been Patricia’s desk, where she had
coordinated so much of her brother’s dealings and ordered his busy
life. Since I was not the most welcome creature among the vampires
here, I never used it. I had the office with the late Ms. Keith’s
name on the door.
    Manning the desk that still sat there like an
accusation was Patricia’s girlfriend Taylor Allen. I hadn’t seen
Taylor in weeks, except by accident. We had done our level best to
avoid each other. She looked the same as ever, except perhaps for
an aura of sadness that pinched her