---

"And she’s tryin’ to make a devil out of me..."

"Black Magic Woman" -- Santana

The problems with Mars continued, and Star was now even more deeply involved. I didn’t blame the Martian council for trusting him; he was doing what he was born to do: help people make the right decisions about their lives.

I sat through a lot of the council sessions with him. I’d done most of the on-site research on the state of the planet and had details at hand if they were needed.

Though I could tell how much it pained them, the Martian council members were beginning to seriously consider moving their remaining population to another planet, outside the solar system, if something suitable could be found. I had the feeling that would be my next assignment.

And it was. It took quite a while to find an unoccupied planet that would work. The closest acceptable world was actually a lot more like Earth than Mars, but that seemed like a plus. No point in choosing another half-dead world where the Martians would have to continue to spend their lives underground and would soon find themselves in the same fix they were in now. This new place had icecaps and deserts, oceans and temperate lands with lots of carbon-based foliage and animals... just no sapient species.

I was pretty psyched about it and couldn’t wait to see what the Martians thought, but figured I should tell Star first, as that was the usual procedure. We had an appointment to meet at his office at 1 p.m., but in my eagerness I got there a few minutes early.

The front door to the building that housed Star’s office, as well as Suria’s home and lab, was unlocked, as usual, and I walked in and down the hall to Star’s office. I half expected to meet Suria, but I heard nothing, and no one came to greet me. After a moment’s thought I decided I couldn’t resist having a look around. Ever since the nightmares had returned, I’d wondered about Suria’s testing set-up. Did she have a soundproof room somewhere, with stainless steel lab tables and titanium manacles? I swore to myself if I found anything like that I’d wreck it first and deal with Star’s opinions later.

Silently, I stalked down the halls, opening every door and finding nothing much more than test tubes and Bunsen burners and other equipment you might find in any lab. There was a communications room where Star, and I supposed Suria too, spoke to the folk on Lecurela. I found a room with rows of seats like a theater, and another was a large, well-stocked kitchen, but nothing seemed particularly sinister. Eventually I came to the central atrium where the tropical plants grew, the ones Suria had said belonged to Ravin.

It was a beautiful place, full of light and with many more plants than I remembered from last time: gorgeous bromeliads and orchids, more mundane lemon, orange, and fig trees, other colorful flowers for which I had no names. I was dazzled, and it took me a moment to sort out several pairs of eyes watching me from here and there behind leaves and branches.

"Hi kids," I said softly.

The redhead was easiest to see, her long tresses glowing like one of the exotic flowers. Then I saw another girl next to her, beautiful and with Star’s coloring, except for dark streaks in her ponytail. The gray-haired boy stood up boldly, tall and healthy looking, regarding me with interest in his dark eyes. He tilted his head to one side. "Who are you?"

I was almost afraid to move, but I walked a bit closer and smiled. "I’m Evan," I said. "What’s your name?"

On the other side of the large room, a door opened with a bang and Ravin stood there, dressed today in khaki slacks and tan shirt and looking very ordinary, except for the scowl on his face. "Noel," he called, "Cherry, Ariel, get over here! You know you’re not supposed to be in here alone." He stared directly at me, and I was struck by the hatred and fear on his face.

"Ravin," I said, "I just wanted to talk...."

Just then another boy crept out from behind him, very dark skinned with a mat of tightly curled white hair. At the sight of me, the child’s eyes opened wide, and he turned to run back the way he had come, screaming, "Mother!"

The other children flinched and began backing toward Ravin and the door while I watched helplessly. Ravin, his eyes wild now, pushed them behind him and advanced on me, one arm outstretched. "What do you think you’re doing here?" he snarled. "It’s bad enough I have to put up with him. You have no right to be here. This is my place." And he pushed me.

The moment his palm touched my chest, I felt his mind open. His thoughts teetered on a knife edge between justifiable anger and a red-orange storm of murderous rage. My only concern was for the children, and I grasped his arm, sending a soothing flow of calm through my body and into his. The instinctive act startled me; I hadn’t known I could do such a thing. I felt the force hit him, our wills clashing like fire and water, and then he tore himself away from me and hurried down the hall from which he’d come, calling, "Suria!"

But not before one vivid memory picture crossed the barrier between us and imprinted itself on my brain:

* * *

I still remember the first time I saw her... Suria.

I had gone to the old man’s place... strictly for laughs, of course. He didn’t approve of me, not that I let it keep me up nights. And as long as I was a vampire at a vampire bar, I figured I’d have a drink.

I had met the bartender before; André, they called him. He and I rubbed each other the wrong way, which was understandable since he was in the old man’s pocket... literally, I’d bet. So when I asked him what was good, he just smirked and shrugged, offering me a glass of dark red liquid that was no better than room temperature. Well, I supposed I could thank my lucky stars it wasn’t fresh out of the freezer.

I had heard some vampires claim they couldn’t taste the anticoagulant that was added to preserved blood, but I could. It added a subtle but nasty bitter taste to something that was so stale it was barely drinkable in the first place. Guess my taste buds were just more discriminating -- surprise, surprise. This glass was no different.

One small sip later I set the mug back down and just stared at the guy behind the bar. There were only a few randomly spaced mirrors back there, but none of them showed his reflection, which was a good thing. He was tall and wide, with a head shaped like a bullet -- little ears and small blue eyes, all topped with a crop of thin brown stubble. Having to look at two of him would have been way too much. I leaned over slightly until my face showed in one of the small squares of silvered glass. I smiled -- I was pleasingly thin with an oval face and lots of black hair. I winked one dark eye at the man in the mirror, hello there you handsome devil, you!

I saluted myself with the mug, forgetting and taking a large swallow, which was just about enough to make me puke. Pissed, I slammed it down, showering the bar top with thick red drops. My patience with this crap was at an end.

"Hey, haven’t you got anything fit to drink in this place? Something fresh, maybe?" My voice stopped just short of a growl, and I’m sure I saw the big guy flinch.

"Why yes, sir, we do," he said, dutifully mopping up the mess with a bar towel. "But it’s quite expensive."

Expensive? As if I gave a shit about money. I supposed some who came in here drank the cheap stuff as all they could afford, but what was wrong with these guys anyway? Why pay for blood when the fresh stuff was right outside, walking down the street in nice warm containers, free for the taking? Had they lost their teeth along with their balls?

No, they listened to the "master," the owner of this fine establishment, and he wanted everything to be peaceful. There was to be no killing of the dear little humans, no hunting of any sort, if he had his way. The only way a vampire could lawfully quench his thirst on the good red stuff was from a "donor" -- someone who was asked first and kindly gave their permission for a bite. I snorted -- fuck that. I’d drink when and how I pleased. That was part of what raised me above the rest of them.

Of course, I was smart enough not to rub their noses in it. Some said I owed Drackett for finding me a place here in "his" city. I didn’t see it that way. The Martian government had seen fit to throw me off the planet after an accident that wasn’t my fault, and it was only fair they should support me now. The old man had nothing to do with it.

"If you’ve got something good, then I’m buying. Bring it on, big boy." I smiled, placing a hundred dollar bill on the counter. The barman quickly removed the glass of swill and headed for a door in the wall behind the bar. He was gone for maybe five full minutes, and I thought about just getting up and leaving... after throwing my stool into the bottles on the wall, of course. But I sat quietly instead, just curious enough about what he might bring back to behave like a good little vampire for a short while longer.

Sure enough, he did come back, and the difference in the drink he carried was obvious immediately. The color was richer, brighter, and it was warm -- just short of body temp. All of a sudden I was hungry. I licked my lips and pushed the money toward him.

The hulk set the glass down in front of me, but he didn’t pick up the bill. In fact he just stood there, looking like he’d found a fly in his slop.

I shrugged and lifted the glass. It smelled good. I took a sip. No bitterness this time, but there was something different about it... not bad, just different. I drank some more. Yeah, I’d never had blood quite like it before. I grinned. Just when you think there are no more thrills... bam! Life becomes interesting again.

The bartender cleared his throat. When I ignored him, he did it again. I was just thinking that my barstool had four good wooden legs, and they’d make nice stakes if broken off just right, when he started talking, in that fake urbane tone of his, the one that set my teeth on edge.

"Pardon me, sir, but there will be no charge for your refreshment tonight. It is a gift from the lady at the table over there." I looked up and his chin pointed discreetly toward a dark corner. I didn’t recognize the skinny woman who was sitting there, but one thing was certain, she wasn’t a vampire. I glanced at the glass in my hand, only half full now.

Huh. Was this her blood? If it was, then she was a different kind of human than I’d tasted before. I looked at her more closely. Maybe she wasn’t human at all, not Earth human, anyway. Turning my back on laughing boy and taking the drink with me, I walked to her table.

Standing in front of her, I raised the glass. "Thanks." I saluted her and drank. I knew she was watching me. Well, what woman wouldn’t? Her voice was lower than I expected.

"Please, won’t you sit down?" I would and I did. It was one of those little round booths, meant for four, but I scooted over close, just to give her a treat. The blood in the glass was almost gone by now, but there was plenty more right next to me. I leered at her, beginning to feel the hot pleasure of blood-high. Maybe she was into vampires, had come here looking for a thrill.

Well, she had picked the right vamp; I was the only genuine article in the place, the only one who hadn’t let the old man yank his fangs... and never would.

She wasn’t all that pretty -- skinny, like I said -- not much of a figure. Her clothes, a plain white blouse and a long black skirt, didn’t show much of what she might have, and the makeup she wore just emphasized her big dark eyes. I’ve never been much into eyes.

But she smelled good... not perfume, just healthy female and fairly young. And there was that intriguing taste of difference about her. Was she really not from this world any more than I was?

She stared at me as I raised the glass and downed the last swallow. I figured she liked what she saw, so I just waited, put my arm around the back of the booth and let it sort of slip down onto her shoulders. I mean, I owed her something for the blood, right? She didn’t move away, not that I expected her to, so I pulled her closer. I was feeling good. "What’s your name, honey?"

She looked at me without smiling. "I am Aula Suria Tarvonne." She said it like it ought to mean something to me. It didn’t. So she added, "I think you know Paul White, my employer?"

I almost pushed her away at that. Jesus, not that tow-headed goody-goody. He and Drackett were best buddies. It was sickening, the way they hung on each other. The old man was supposed to be straight as an arrow, but I was willing to bet that he made an exception for his cute little blonde friend. I’d never seen a guy who looked so perfect all the time; you couldn’t even imagine him with a hair out of place. And I bet he thought he looked good dressed in all that designer crap. I glanced around quickly. Was her "employer" going to be joining us? Wouldn’t that be just ducky? Personally, I couldn’t stand the guy.

I didn’t see him or the old man coming at us, so I relaxed. "Sorry, I don’t ‘know’ your employer, but," I leaned in close enough to touch her neck with the tip of my tongue, "I wouldn’t mind getting to know you."

She shivered, which was kind of a turn on. Suddenly she did smile. "I’d like that." She hesitated. "Ravin."

Had I told her my name? I didn’t think so... but why shouldn’t she know who I was if she was interested? She’d probably asked around.

I grinned. "That can be arranged, sweetie. Why don’t we go back to my place?"

She shook her head, making dark hair swing around her pointed chin. "I want you to come home with me."

How could I refuse such a heartfelt invitation?

I wanted her to ride with me at least, but she insisted on driving herself. Her loss. I followed her sensible Ford sedan in my ultra-cool ’63 Corvette. Weirdly, when she stopped it wasn’t at a house but at a sprawling stucco thing in a business area of town. When I saw her name on the door I figured this must be her office. No problem, a desk worked as well as a bed every time.

She led me inside and, sure enough, she was hot for it. The minute she locked the door she was on me. Not only that, but the bitch wanted it in every position I’d ever heard of and a few I hadn’t. I kept trying to get her to hold still for a bite, but she always moved away at the last second. I’d had enough blood for one night anyway, and after a while it didn’t seem to matter.

Turned out she had a little apartment in back. We moved to her bed some time that night, and I must have fallen asleep there, because all I remember is waking up with the sun in my eyes. Good thing daylight never bothered me. Because of my Martian blood I didn’t even need that drug peddled by Drackett’s girlfriend. Another sign I was better than the rest of them.

My head hurt, which was weird, but I didn’t care. I threw on my pants and went looking for her. I remembered the way her blood tasted, and I was hungry again.

Wouldn’t you know, I found her in the same office, sitting at the desk where we’d fucked the night before, but this time he was sitting next to her. I’d seen him around, but we’d never exactly been introduced... Paul White, the rich faggot buddy of the old man.

She told him my name, and he smiled this big toothy one at me, but I didn’t offer to shake hands. Funny... for a second when she was looking at him I thought I caught a glimpse of something almost like hatred in her eyes.

But I had to be wrong. Sure, I didn’t like the guy, but she worked for him and, whatever else he was, I doubted he was a mean boss. Why would she hate him?

They chatted, nice as you please, but after a minute he went off and she turned back to me. There was this little smile on her mouth, and I figured she was remembering the night before. Bet nobody ever rang her chimes like I did.

I wanted to go back to her bed, but she really did have some kind of business there. She got phone calls and faxes and stuff like any office, and all I could convince her to do was let me follow her around all day, and then she promised we’d have time alone.

By dark I was damned hungry, but instead of the bite I was trying for she took me to her apartment and gave me another glass of her blood, fresh drawn and everything. "Isn’t this better?" she said, her voice dripping honey. And I had to admit it was... well, it was okay.

Then we went back to bed, and the sex was good like the night before. I know she liked it because she got this little smile on her face and told me she liked having me there with her. "You’re just what I’ve been looking for," she said. "I think you’ll do just fine."

I fell asleep right after that, even though it was still dark out. I guess all the sex tired me out or something... but I still wondered what was giving me the headaches....

* * *

Then I was alone in the sunlit solarium, hearing Star just opening the building’s outer door and walking toward his office.

What the hell...?