She had thought of a wonderful homecoming. She had dreamed of her own room furnished with every luxury. She had worried over the eventual meeting with Lucard. What Serina Savore found upon her return was anything but what she expected. Sitting in a waiting lounge, she silently fumed about the cold reception she had received. I sent a letter ahead, she thought angrily, months ago, but still... The secretary, an irritating, pert blonde, had coldly informed her that Lucard only met with people by appointment.

"Lucard is expecting me," Serina had told the woman.

"Do you have an appointment," the woman repeated.

"No, but-"

"Then you will have to wait," the secretary cut in. "He might find time for you later today." She then ushered Serina to the cold, unfriendly room that she had occupied now for hours.

While she waited, she thought over the situation. When she had arrived in town, she had found herself immediately at a loss where to go. She had asked for directions to Lucard Industries. The directions had brought her to this business building, rather than the castle she had stayed six years ago. The place seemed new; it still had the feeling of a new appliance. The room she was in was well furnished, yet it lacked a warm feeling. It seemed to have been designed to make the waiting individual feel intimidated by the power and wealth of Lucard Industries.

Serina was not impressed.

I've been here for three hours. Where is he? As if an answer to her thoughts, the door to the room opened. However, it was not Lucard who stepped through. It was the secretary.

"Mr. Lucard would like me to inform you that he will see you," the secretary said smiling, "when he has the time." Serina smiled coldly back at the woman. `When he has the time?' Does he even remember me? Did he even get the letter? "Oh, and there is a car waiting for you outside the lobby." Her duty finished, the blonde turned to leave.

"Take me where?" Serina asked the retreating woman's back. The secretary continued walking. Serina reached for the power inside of her as she had been taught and touched the woman's mind, making her stumble for no apparent reason. Petty, she chided herself, but worth it. Worth it because she enjoyed watching the secretary looking around, seeing if anyone had seen her nearly fall flat on her face. Smiling in her small victory, Serina picked up her one bag and headed down for the lobby.

She had had little to take when she left what had been her home for the past several years. A few changes of clothes, a few small sentimental items, and a book given to her upon her departure. It was the book Serina treasured the most, for it contained the lessons she had struggled to learn and much more. With it, she could finish her training.

Reaching to lobby, she spotted the car that was intended to take her home. It appeared to be some sort late model BMW or Mercedes. A man, she presumed to be the driver, was leaning on the car with his arms over his chest. His thickly muscled chest. Zombies and vampires could not carry muscle on their bodies like that. A human? she wondered. I wonder if Lucard stopped using undead assistants? And why, if he did? She shrugged and walked to the car. The driver took her bag and opened the door for her. The seat was soft leather, and much more comfortable than the waiting room chair she had been sitting in.

As they drove, Serina reflected on what she had learned about her ability the past few years. She now knew that her ability came not from gypsy, but something very different. Something as mythical as the creature Lucard was. She carried in her blood the magic of the faerie folk, though not the teacup variety. There existed faeries who closely resembled humans in size and appearance. Serina did have an exact description of them, but they were said to be beautiful, bronze-skinned creatures that could live for ages without the years touching them. Sometimes, these creatures grew bored of dallying with their own kind. When they did, they sought human attentions. The offspring of such attentions were often stillborn, but those that lived did not resemble their mythical parents in any form. The magic of the faerie would lie dormant for many generations, then would manifest itself in one single descendent. Serina just happened to be that one lucky descendent. Lucky, ha! I have been cultivated by a vampire.

Finding out the true nature of her supposed benefactor had come as a shock for Serina. She had not believed for months until her teacher had brought a vampire before her unbelieving student. The magic's reaction had been nearly identical as what had happened to her with Lucard. Immense pain, and a terrible feeling of danger and evil. Serina had still not wanted to believe that the reaction to vampires. Really, she did not want to believe that such creatures existed. If she did, then it meant the monster in the closet that her mother had told her was nothing might really be something. But then the nice vampire had smiled widely, showing fangs, and asked if she needed more physical proof that he was really a vampire. She had not.

So Lucard is a vampire, she thought, this means what? Why I am so afraid to meet him again? The magic was tugging at her, the way it did when it thought it saw something she did not. Wish it could just tell me. Serina referred to the power inside of her as a separate entity, but, in reality, it had no real cognitive abilities. It was just an extension of her intuition. A very noisy extension.

The car came to a stop. Serina looked out the window to see the same brooding towers she had seen six years ago. Oh, goody, maybe I get to stay in the same room, she mused irritably. However, she was not led to the same room. To her surprise, the new room was very agreeable, even plush. The driver left her suitcase on the bed and left without a word. Serina looked around the room carefully, looking for hidden cameras. After a quick visual scan, she closed her eyes and scanned the room again with her magic. She found nothing.

Looking in the bathroom, she found to her delight that there was a shower and a bathtub. The queen-sized bed was softer than anything she had slept on in years. Serina quickly showered and changed into something to sleep in. She had been awake for nearly twenty hours, and sleep was threatening to take her before she was under the covers. Wringing out her hair, she wondered if she should take out her mother's cross. Her mother had gotten her the cross when Serina turned 16, making a big deal at the time to get the thing blessed. It was a beautiful piece of work, thin twines of silver wrought around each other to give the impression of a vine. She had had the cross re-blessed on her return journey.

Serina decided she would take the cross out, but she would not wear it. Somehow, it seemed rude for a guest to wear a blessed cross in the house of a vampire. Instead, she placed it under her pillow. Just in case. Sleep took her before she could wonder about what "in case" could be.

Lucard returned late from the office, which was not unusual for him recently. It seemed like something was always coming between him and rest. He had thought that after vanquishing Helsing he would have more time on his hands. However, five years later that extra time was still hiding from him. But his business was expanding at an incredible rate. A few more lives, and he should be in control of the entire world economy. He had not decided yet what he would do with that kind of power. But, he was sure he would think of many fun ventures by then.

Turning his thoughts to the present, Lucard realized that he had not completed his business for the day. He still had to deal with one Miss Serina Savore. Her letter had come as a surprise to him. Months after receiving it, he could still recall it word for word.

Mr. A.Lucard,

I have finished the training you instructed for me to acquire. Expect me soon.

Serina Savore

Simple, to the point, and completely useless to him. Given no specific time, he had been unable to plan for her arrival. He had nearly given up when he noticed the memo his secretary had left for him on his way out of the office for a lunch meeting with his executives. "Ms. Savore came by," she had written neatly. After mentally cursing the secretary, he had left her a note with instructions to find Ms. Savore and have her taken to his castle. It wasn't until after he had returned from the meeting that evening that he found Serina had still been in the office when he had left. The secretary had been fired exactly one minute after her learned this information. Then, exactly one minute after that, she was dead, completely drained of her blood. The woman had a tendency to make up things he said to clients anyhow.

Lucard had wanted to keep Serina as close to him as he could after she entered the city. She needed to be kept a secret until he knew the extent of her abilities. Of course, he also needed her under his control as soon as possible, which meant making her a vampire tonight a priority.

He entered her room silently, careful not to wake her. She slept peacefully, her raven-dark hair splayed across the pillow. Her face had matured into the promise of beauty he had seen in her six years ago. A perfect time for the change. In her prime. He approached her bed quietly.

Serina was aware of Lucard's entry of the room. She had barely controlled her breathing and heart when she woke. Not really wanting to face him yet, she lay still, hoping that he had just come to look in on her. A few moments later, she knew his intentions were not bent on simple observation. Her hand already was under the pillow, inches away from the cross. Carefully, she moved her hand toward it, hoping he would not notice the slight movement. She let a mental sigh of relief as her hand closed around the cool metal. When she sensed he was beside her, she sat up, holding the cross in his direction. Lucard reacted immediately by slapping her across her face with the back of his hand. Hand still grasping the cross, Serina was thrown across the bed by his attack. He was on her before she could move, grasping her offending wrist and holding it tightly over the edge of the bed.

Serina's eyes met his, now golden in his vampiric state. She could tell that he was furious. His hand tightened on her wrist, crushing the tiny bones together ruthlessly. Serina tried to hold onto the cross, but she gave it up with a cry of pain when several of her wrist bones cracked under the pressure of his hold. Having eliminated the threat, Lucard let go of her wrist and brought his hand to her face, gently brushing away a tear that slid down her cheek. The anger was erased from his features, replaced by hunger and need.

His hand slipped behind her head, wrapping in her hair tightly. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a hard kiss. Serina did not respond to him. She closed her eyes tightly as his lips slid down her jaw to her neck. He traced the jugular with his mouth, as if he was trying to taste it through her skin. A hard brush of teeth, then a sharp pain as his fangs pierced her neck. She did not fight the fatigue that came over her, willing it to take her quickly.

I won't be a vampire, was her last lucid thought.

Lucard woke with a hangover. Which would not have been really unique except that he had not had a hangover since he became a vampire. Vampires simply did not get hangovers. Yet, he was definitely suffering from one. Dimly, he could recall the symptoms he often experienced as a mortal after a night of heavy drinking, and yes, those matched what he felt now. Examining his surroundings, he took a moment to gain his bearings. He had not retired to his usual, secret coffin. Instead, he was in the library, where apparently he had slept on the couch. Frowning with distaste over his wrinkled clothes, Lucard looked at the book sitting on the table before. It was the same tome he had perused when Serina had arrived years ago. He had not remembered getting it out, yet clearly, someone had been reading it for it was opened. Still, he was interested in what someone had been reading.

The blood of the faerie folk is intoxicating to vampires. Vampires should beware of taking too much from a faerie, for the intoxication is incapacitating. However, faerie blood taken in small amounts can fully restore a vampire.

Why had he not read this before? He remembered reading the book when he had first met Serina. . . then he remembered that, at the time, he had attributed her abilities to a gypsy condition, and had researched gypsy power, not faerie. He read on:

There are no known cases of a faerie being brought over as a vampire. Every vampire that has attempted to change one has woken several days later only to find the faerie gone, along with the link associated with new vampires to their masters. It has been decided that either the faerie cannot exist as vampires, or that they deal with their own when one is made.

This book was only talking of pure faeries, not a half-breed. Perhaps the same rules did not apply? If so, and he had managed to change Serina, she would be an even more rare item than he had originally anticipated. Yet, he did not feel the bond he was used to with new vampires. Perhaps her condition as a faerie half-breed negated the effect. He had to go find her before she woke.

The smell of oranges filled his senses long before he reached her room. He followed the scent until he found himself in one of his smaller, lesser-used meeting rooms. Serina was curled in a plush suede chair, holding a peeled orange in her hand. He watched as she delicately removed a slice of the plump fruit and bit gingerly into it, sucking at the juices as she did. Her eyes watched him throughout the whole movement.

Lucard had known the moment he walked into the room that she was not a vampire. The blood that coursed through her veins was not that of a vampire, and it sang of origins that were not completely human. How had she managed to evade the change? He noticed her wrist had been wrapped tightly, but, rather than giving him a small victory, the sight of her broken wrist disgusted him. He should not have had to harm her. There was no sign of the bruise she should have had on her face, however.

"Didn't you know I can heal myself?" She seemed to be reading his thoughts. He knew this could not be possible; the book had not said anything about mind-reading in the abilities of the faeries. My face must be as readable as that book at this moment, Lucard mused angrily, struggling to regain his composure.

"How is that possible?" He finally managed to say, his astonishment wiping away his usual composed manner.

"Very simple to explain, if you had read more of that book you seem to treasure so much." She smiled when his anger showed. How could she know about the book? "You see, all faeries manifest their powers in different ways. Mine just happens to be healing." She placed another chunk of orange in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

Healing? He had no use for a healer. It was a great disappointment to find her powers so limited. But perhaps. . .

"If you know how to heal, then you know how to - un-heal - as well," he said, confident of the answer. Her serenity faded for a moment, replaced by irritation.

"You mean hurt?"

"Yes, I mean hurt. You must know how to hurt people. To kill with a touch?"

"I might."

Well, then, Lucard thought, Serina can be of use after all. He just needed to get her under his control first. A vampire with her powers would be. . . interesting. But how to change her? He could feel even from the distance of the door to where she was sitting that she was wearing a blessed cross underneath her shirt. Now was definitely not the time to take her. Besides, he had to find a way to counteract the effect that her blood had on him first. However, her bandaged wrist raised an interesting question.

"Why did you not heal your wrist?"

"I left it that way," Serina said, "because. . .for a reminder to myself to heed warnings I am so freely given." Lucard paid no attention to her excuse. He suspected that she had not healed her wrist because she had not been able to keep herself from being a vampire and repair the damage to her wrist. She simply had not had enough power to do so. All he had to do was to find a way to make her use most of her power, then he would take her. Watching her eat the rest of the orange, Lucard realized there was no particular hurry. Serina had known what he was when she had arrived, and obviously had no intention to leave. She had passed up a very viable chance while he was inebriated. He knew he would find something for her to drain her power on. Just a simple matter of time for him.

But something in the back of his mind was bothered that she had come back at all.