Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

Sucks to be You

Helen told Lori "I talked to Rachel about this possibility. There will be some that want a look at the famous male Vampire. Some that want more than a look. Some that will disagree about him being allowed to live. Fearing his power. Whatever the reason, from unwanted sexual advances to a possible assassination, Adrain will need to be with one of us at all times. It will be up to Rachel, Jessica, and I to do that."

Lori gave me a smile that verged on a sarcastic sneer "Sucks to be you sometimes, Adrian. You get to sleep with two nice looking ladies and all, but that comes at a high price." She then went on more thoughtfully. "I sometimes think it would be very cool to be able to choose to be a Vampire, but then, I'm a woman. In that world, I would be in good shape."

"Except for leaving Danny behind," I said, which got the response I thought it might.

"Yeah. Except that. If he could be turned too, then he would be a male Vampire in the Vampire world. I have seen how great that isn't for you."

I shrugged. "I get to be with Jessica. It's worth it."

"You are the dearest man." Jessica's eyes sparkled. In our months together she has never stopped taking my breath away with a look like that one. "After we practice throwing knives, and some mixed martial arts, I may take you back to bed."

Helen poked her for that. "May? My cute ass."

Jessica has black belts in a number of fighting styles from around the world and created a fusion style of her own. I call it as 'Jessica-Fu'. She usually tosses me on the ground when I say that. Her human, birth name is 'Maria' so I am thinking about trying out 'Maria-Fu' to see if that gets my ass similarly kicked. It probably will.

"Wow. You guys really know how to have an exciting morning." Lori said, then changed us back to the previous topic to avoid getting into any more details. "So what else goes on at these big-ass meetings of the fanged set?"

Jessica waxed enthusiastic "A normal one can have people giving sessions on all kinds of things. I love them."

Helen injected "Jessica is like a sponge. Any new thing that comes along, she likes to learn about it. She has always been that way. Part of why I fell for her back in New Mexico. She really stood out."

Jessica shrugged and explained "Vampires that quit caring about learning new things? Having new experiences? That's when they decide their time is up. Not me. I am centuries away from anything like that. If ever, I hope."

Lori agreed with the attitude "Part of why you are a great doctor. You stay current."

Jessica smiled at the compliment."Exactly. Although it's getting harder to keep up and pay attention to all the other things I am interested in. Back to the question: Sessions vary in subject and length, and depth. There may be an hour or two about the latest in archeology. There can be cooking classes. Yoga. Meditation. Astronomy. Computers. Politics. History, even religion. Becky, who Helen mentioned is a Pastor in a church up in Colorado and she gives interesting talks sometimes. Interesting because they are usually from the point of view of someone who was there. At an event. Knew a historical figure in person."

Lori looked intrigued. "So, like if someone was there in the Mexican American or Civil war, they give a talk about fighting for the North, working with Lincoln or Grant, or something like that?"

Helen was offhand about that: "Sure, for recent history. Some Vampires are thousands of years old. I went to a session where a woman from the area now called Israel lived over two thousand years ago. She knew of all sorts of prophets wandering around in the desert. I gave a talk about Lord Admiral Nelson once since I knew him. Not deeply, but I did have dinner with him upon occasion."