he smiled. "as a servio, you become immortal, logan. unless you incur an extreme amount of damage, along the lines of a grenade exploding in your hand or being run over by a speeding freight train, your body will be capable of healing any wound or disease. you will no longer fall ill. you will have to ingest millions of calories to gain a single pound, and you will age at a markedly decreased rate. you'll also gain supernatural abilities granted by ingesting your master's blood, and will need to be just as aware of the veil as any vampire."

she grimaced. "trinity already told me about everything you just said, except the ingesting blood part." she shivered at the thought. "i was really hoping to avoid that. i think i'd rather have a big, ugly tattoo."

he flicked his glasses down on the bridge of his nose. "you discussed becoming a servio with trinity? my sister, trinity?"

"yeah."

"when?"

"when she brought kerestyan the steaks he asked for. she told me i'd probably become a servio if i made it through the meeting. i asked her what that meant and she gave me a quick rundown of the basics."

he leaned forward. "humor me for a moment. what exactly did trinity say to you?"

logan shifted in her chair. she really didn't want to disclose every word of what trinity told her, especially the last part. "you want to know everything she said?"

"no. i'm only interested in what she said about becoming a servio."

"she said i'd be immortal, i'd stop aging for the most part, that it'd be really hard to gain weight, get sick or die, and that i'd be stronger and able to move faster than i could as a human. she also said whatever i do comes back on my master, so if i break any rules, my master gets in trouble first then passes the punishment down to me. then she said my punishment would likely be ten times worse because not only would i be punished by my master, but then stefan, because he doesn't suffer fools."

vouclade sat back in his chair, seemingly lost in thought until the machine her blood was in beeped. he turned his attention to the computer monitor. "as i suspected, your vitamin levels and immune system are severely depressed. and since you already seem to be informed of what it means to be a servio, i see no reason not to take the shortest route between two points."

she shifted again. the strange tugging sensation at the top of her spine said something wasn't right here. "why do i get the feeling something's going on that i don't know about?"

he smiled, shaving a bit off the edge she felt. "you'll experience that quite often while you're here. at this moment, twenty-two of my forty-six siblings are present in the castle. with the amount of telepathy and other magics in use, not to mention the sheer power of said individuals and the fact you are still very much human, you're going to feel an egregious amount of movement around you. i would advise you pay it as little attention as possible."

logan relaxed a little. maybe that was the reason, but the tingles just beneath her skin said his explanation was only a part of it. "i want you to know i'll accept that answer for now, but i think you just fed me a line."

he laughed. "i'm a scientist, logan. i look for connections in everything, visible or not. just because i pause doesn't mean there's something you should be concerned with. now, shall we begin the healing process?"

she stood when he did. "sure. what do i need to do?"

it wasn't until he moved around the desk to stand right in front of her that she realized they were the same height. he pressed his cold palms flat against her abdomen. "stand still. you're going to feel a warm sensation throughout your body but it will subside in a few minutes. in the mean time, i'd like to ask you a question."

"shoot."

"when i informed you kerestyan had brushed your teeth in response to your numerous requests, your heartbeat and body language suggested you found it troublesome. i find it very intriguing that you have no issue being naked in front of me, have little difficulty discussing personal subjects with me, yet learning kerestyan tended to you when you were in no condition to take care of yourself, upset you. why?"

she blew out a breath. she thought she'd done a good job of dodging this subject. "it didn't upset me. i just don't know how i feel about it. it's been a long time since someone's taken care of me in any way."

"i'm taking care of you now."

she stared into his sharp grey eyes. "it's not the same. you don't look at me the way he does. you look at me like you're trying to see through me, like you're searching for my motivations and all that other psychobabble bullshit. he looks at me like, i don't know. as if he wants to-"

"know you?"

she started to nod but stopped when his eyes narrowed. "yes. i've been alone for a long time. not counting the time i was sleeping or half out of my mind, i've only known kerestyan for about ten hours. it's weird."

his lips curved, slow and wide. "yet you know how many hours you've spent with him, and you engaged in carnal activities with him."

she blamed the overall warming of her body for the flash of heat she felt in her cheeks. "believe it or not, kerestyan's been the most stable part of my life the last few days. and you should know, just for all that analyzing you're doing, i didn't start seeing him as a gorgeous man with a hard body until our dalliance in the kitchen. but when i woke up wrapped around him in the bathroom...like i said, sometimes you do things because they feel good."

he made the evil sound again. "i'm not surprised kerestyan has become a pillar of stability for you. he's been that way the majority of his existence. but tell me, when was it you stopped seeing him as a vampire?"

"what do you mean?"

"twice now, in my presence, you've referred to him as a man or a guy, but you directly referred to me as a vampire. i'm wondering why and when you began to draw a distinction, or if perhaps it's entirely subconscious. were you thinking of him as a vampire while you were having sex with him?"

she smiled. "you want the truth?"

"of course."

"at that moment, i really didn't care. i was thinking he was the sexiest damn thing i'd ever seen, and all i wanted to do was to fuck him hard and fast until we couldn't move anymore."

"your heart rate is elevating."

she'd never realized how hard it was to laugh while standing still. "i'm not surprised. your questions make me remember what we did. thinking about him makes me hot, vouclade. at this moment, i can honestly say he's one of the best looking men i've ever seen."

"most vampires are, logan. even though i don't exude the same type of appeal kerestyan does, and i happen to be shielding you from it right now, if i walked into any nightclub in any city i wouldn't leave alone."

"so you're telling me all vampires are hot?" she wagged her brows. "even you?"

"no, i'm advising that you'll find any vampire of substantial age attractive. much the way certain animals have evolved camouflage capabilities to assist in hunting, vampires become more appealing as they age as a means to attract prey. most ancient vampires, those who were born thousands of years ago when the average height for a man was five feet, are now six and a half feet tall. our curse assures our physical bodies adjust to suit the time period, but the damning aspect is that it doesn't assist our minds. i'm sharing this information with you so that in the future, should you find yourself in the presence of someone who draws you like kerestyan or my father; you'll know you're dealing with a vampire of advanced age and power."

her mind kicked into overdrive. "you know, you talk a lot about old vampires, but what about the young ones? are they all ugly? how are they supposed to compete for food against someone like kerestyan? it doesn't sound very fair."

"a young vampire is no less attractive than they were as a human, but in terms of competition, they have to work harder. and nothing, logan, nothing about being a younger vampire is fair. since the moment the eldest began passing their curse, it never has been. it never will be. kerestyan told me he used a business analogy with you, yes?"

she couldn't help but grin. "yeah, i'm in the cushy corner office for once in my life."

he chuckled. "yes, you are. take the same business he described, but imagine what it would be like if you were one of those working in a cubicle. you put in day after day of hard work, but no one above you ever retires. there are no promotions, no advancements, unless of course, you manage to dispose of a supervisor. could you imagine some of the fledgling vampires you've witnessed in new york challenging someone like my father, or even odin for that matter?"

all she could picture was a thick haze of red and gold. "they wouldn't stand a chance. kerestyan didn't even move and the three i ran into in the alley died."