“Love is its own master. Who can say what is often and what is rare? All that matters is that it happens.” Dominic shrugged. “You see? We are not so different from humans.”
“Except that you have the power to wipe us out if you so desire.” She couldn’t let him distract her from the truth or let herself forget that under his expensive suit and manicured good looks, he was still dangerous.
His jaw tightened and he rolled his eyes. “Mamma mia, why would we want to wipe out the human race? What purpose would that serve us? We want to live as you do, to have friends, family, a peaceable existence.” He held his hands out. “We are not… monsters. We are only different.”
“Different.” She exhaled a short, loud breath. “That’s an understatement.”
“You have varcolai on your staff who protect you. There are fringe vampires who work night shifts on the city’s police force. Remnants who care for the sick as doctors and nurses in the hospital. Do you see them as a problem? If you say yes, you are a fool for allowing them to keep their jobs. If you say no, you are a hypocrite for leveling this curfew against them.”
She stared at him, choosing her words carefully. “Whether human or othernatural, there will always be those who think they are above the law. That sect of the othernatural population is who the human population fears. The curfew is the best defense the city has until both sides find a way to live in peace.” Creek had stressed that. “So you see, I can’t lift the curfew for you and ignore my human constituents. Why should they live in fear so your othernatural patrons can party? The tax revenues can be made up elsewhere.”
“It would be a gesture of good faith. There has been no real reason for the curfew anyway.”
“My daughter’s death and the death of the two other women is reason enough.” She blinked, trying to remember what Creek had said that had made the curfew seem like the right decision.
“The killer was caught and dealt with. Would you put a curfew on the human citizens if one of them went on a killing spree?”
“If I thought it would help, yes.” She shook her head. “I’m not lifting the curfew. Please go.”
But he didn’t move. “There must be something you want. Elections are less than a year away. Perhaps a generous donation to your campaign fund?”
She was about to snap that she couldn’t be bought, when she realized there was something she wanted very, very much. So much, that she rocked back on her heels slightly with the weight of it. This was her chance. Maybe her only chance. She set the useless gun on her dressing table and walked a few steps closer. “There are two things I want.”
He smiled. “At last, we see eye to eye.”
She stood as close as she dared, which was still a few feet away. “First, understand that at the next incident involving any othernatural, the curfew will be back in place and you’ll support it.”
His smile faltered. “I can only control those in my club—”
“Do you agree or not?”
Not a trace of the smile remained. “I agree. What is the second thing?”
She took a breath. “I want you to turn me.”
“Turn you?”
“Into a vampire. Like you.”
For a few moments, he just stared blankly at her, as though he couldn’t fathom what she’d just asked. “After setting this curfew in place and everything you’ve said to me, you would become the very creature you fear? The same creatures who cause your precious city so much trouble?”
“I would not become a monster ruled by my appetites. I would be no different than I am now, just more powerful, more capable of running this city with an understanding for both sides, and better equipped to mediate the wishes of all my citizens.” He didn’t need to know about Mariela or her fears that Paradise City would become a ghost town when her citizens fled.
His face shifted the same way the vampire Malkolm’s had, leaving all traces of humanity behind for hard angles and jutting bones. His eyes shone silver. “Foolish, foolish mortal.” He pounded one fist against his chest. “You think my life is so easy? That I have power and wealth and not a care in the world? Pah.” He spat. “You are stupido.” He threw his hands up. “I won’t do it.”
She held her ground. “You will if you want the curfew dropped. Think about how much better things would be if you had me as an ally and not an enemy. Think about how much more compassionate I would be to othernatural issues.”
He leaned in, his fangs gleaming in the room’s soft light. “And if you didn’t survive the turning? What then? I would have your death on my hands? I think not.”
His words chilled her. “What do you mean if I didn’t survive?”
He backed away, nodding. “Si, that’s right. Death is a possibility. Not this kind of death.” He touched his chest again. “But real death. Permanent death. Are you willing to risk that?”
She stared at him, trying to wrap her head around what he’d just told her. That wasn’t a consequence she’d known about. “I don’t know.”
“That’s what I thought.” He made a noise deep in his throat.
His apparent disgust at her weakness galvanized her. “What if I am willing to risk it?” She stepped toward him. “Turn me. Right now. And let the consequences fall where they may. If things go poorly, no one will ever know it was you. You’ll be perfectly safe. And if things go well, you’ll never have to worry about anything interfering with your way of life again.”