Blood Bathory: Like the Night by McKay Ari

Author:McKay, Ari [McKay, Ari]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Torquere Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-07-02T05:00:00+00:00

***

"Have you made certain all of the models remaining with you are receiving iron supplements?"

"Yes, Mother."

"And the payoffs to the government officials went out on time?"

"Yes, Mother." There was a pause, then Anna spoke again. "I do have it under control, I assure you, Mother. I've done everything you requested."

"Good. Then there should be no problems."

Elizabeth didn't offer her daughter praise, simply the acknowledgment that she was satisfied that Anna had completed her assigned tasks, and she could practically sense the tight-lipped resentment seeping through the phone. She didn't let it bother her, however; she was the Elder, and it wouldn't hurt Anna to be reminded of that, especially now that Elizabeth's plans were coming so close to fruition. She'd thought her daughter had learned her lesson after that unpleasant business with her mortal lover, but it wouldn't hurt to reinforce the message.

"If that is all, I must be going," Anna said, her tone neutral. "I have a daytime meeting with the venue representative that cannot be avoided, so I must rest."

"Very well. I shall email you the updated designs tomorrow when Esteban has completed them. I want the new line produced as quickly as possible, so that they can be ready for the fall show in Milan."

"Yes, Mother. Is there anything else?" Anna sounded almost bored now, and Elizabeth's own lips thinned in annoyance.

"No, nothing. I'll speak to you tomorrow." With that, Elizabeth ended the call, and she stared at the phone, unable to squelch the suspicion that Anna wasn't going to follow orders as well as she should. It was a thought that had troubled Elizabeth a few times of late.

It had all been so easy five hundred years ago, she reflected, not allowing the irritation she was feeling to crease her brow. Ruling over ignorant peasants through fear was much easier than dealing with authorities who had become far more worldly in the last century. It had taken considerable work on her part to maintain her hold on her family of vampires over that time and to find a way to build an empire that could exist safely amid the political and social pressures of the modern world. While belief in her kind had waned with the advance of years, it had also become more difficult to explain deaths and escape scrutiny by the media and the law. She'd managed to do so by the audacious measure of becoming a public figure, one that was, oddly enough, even better known than when she'd been one of the shining lights of Hungarian royalty. Several of her "children" -- vampiric ones, rather than her flesh-and-blood daughter -- had been uncomfortable at first, but in the long run, she'd been proven correct. Exactly as she'd known she would be.

As a public figure, she lived in the spotlight, but oddly enough, that intense scrutiny gave her a certain immunity as well. After all, who would ever believe that a world famous fashion designer could possibly be a murderer? Who would ever

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