“Their special gifts, if you want to call it that, are secrets handed down to members of what they call a council. They ’re very selective in who they invite to join and limit their membership to twelve.”

“The Dirty Dozen.” Oh, great, now Valdez felt compelled to speak.

“But, CiCi, I’m sure you didn’t know . . .” I hated the accusing looks she was getting. CiCi’s like a mother to me, the kind I wish I’d had but never did.

“Simon enchanted me. Our affair was brief, very intense. I knew he was vampire. That was part of his allure, of course. ” Nods all around. CiCi visibly calmed herself. “I became pregnant. Simon was delighted. Any child of his would be vampire some day. I was merely a convenience for Simon, a worthy vessel.” CiCi’s mouth had a bitter twist. “I was supposed to be honored and happy to give him my child to raise.”

Freddy squeezed his mother’s hand. “But you didn’t.”

“Of course not. Simon miscalculated when he chose me as his brood mare. Once my enchantment with him wore off, I saw how cruel he could be. I ran away before Frederick was born. And married Count von Repsdorf who was old and desperate for an heir. He loved me and was very kind.” CiCi had a sad smile. “But he died soon after Frederick was born, set upon by footpads. Simon’s work, I’m sure of it.”

“But Simon didn’t claim his child then?” I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. What a story!

“I was terrified that he would, but Simon wasn ’t really interested in a baby, only in the man Frederick would become, the vampire he would become. So Simon bided his time.” A tear ran down CiCi’s cheek. “When Frederick turned, I had to become vampire as well. I couldn’t leave my child alone to live forever with such a father.”

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

CiCi smiled at her son. “No regrets. But I don’t want any of you to underestimate Simon. He’s very powerful. And ruthless. Even then he was involved with the EVs, a mere follower, not yet on the council. He has worked his way up in the group. ” She swept the room with an intense gaze and no one looked away. “Frederick and I have managed to live our own lives for centuries, but periodically Simon approaches Frederick again. I think he is almost proud that his son is not easily swayed to follow in his footsteps. But he is convinced Frederick should join the EVs. If you know anything about them, then you know they will do anything for Honoria, their . . . demon.” CiCi shuddered.

“See? I was right to be worried. We need to get Flo away from him.” I sent CiCi a mental sympathy card.

“Yes, indeed. The man works tirelessly to please Honoria. Who do you think invented this”—CiCi wrinkled her elegant nose—

“Vampire Viagra?”

“You can’t be serious.” Di gave Damian a sideways glance. They had a history, pretty hot to hear her tell it. But Damian had fidelity issues. Enough said. “Vampires don’t need Viagra. At least not one I’ve ever slept with.”

“Of course not, my dear.” Bela glided closer. “Not unless they had an unfortunate accident before they were turned.”

“Born vampires like me never have performance issues.” Will bumped against Diana. “When I get through with this gig, we can hook up and I’ll prove it.”

“Uh . . .” Diana’s glance shouted save me!

I just shrugged. When she saw Will in human form, she’d probably be more than happy to give him a spin on her pillow top. He had Mara’s beauty and a masculine build I’d just recently been reminded rated a ten on the yummy meter. I looked down to where his tail brushed against me. Even his dog form was cute. Not that I’d ever be interested. Will wasn’t through. “With made vampires”—he sniffed in Bela’s direction—“performance is a crap shoot.”

I swear I was getting a muzzle for my number two dog.

“Are you implying—” Bela’s fangs were suddenly huge in his dead white face. Did he have on lipstick?

Valdez jumped between them. “Are you going to waste your time on a dog?” He grinned and wagged his tail. “Obviously, this one’s talking out of his ass. Look at him.”

Interesting. I’d never have suspected Valdez would lift a paw to protect Will. Then Valdez looked at me. Oh, yeah, he was doing this for me. Because he felt I needed backup. Hey, I appreciated it. I patted his head when he trotted back to my side. The room filled with loud discussions and it quickly became obvious it was a made versus born standoff. We were about evenly divided. Valdez, being the only shifter, just stayed by my side and I was happy to rub his ears and watch the escalating arguments. At least I wasn’t the cause this time. It was obvious born vamps considered themselves above us “made” types. No news there. Mara had drilled that into me from day one at the Campbell homestead.

Will was nose to nose with Bela again. “You want to make a bet on that? I got five hundred that says I can knock you flat on your ass even in this dog form.”

“Relax, you two. No pissing contests in CiCi’s living room.” I jumped between them. Maybe not my smartest move, but I was surrounded by friends here.

“Can we get back to business?” Damian’s raised voice silenced the crowd. “Richard, will you tell them what you know about the EVs and their work?” Damian looked around the room. “Richard has been on their trail for decades. He followed them here from Argentina.”

“Yes, I did.” Richard smiled apologetically at Freddy and CiCi. “The EVs will stop at nothing to get the power they need to make their drugs. The Vampire Viagra is the most lucrative, but not the only thing they make. The Demon Honoria has a full bag of tricks.”

“What else do they make?” God, could Diana be any more clueless? But I smiled at her because I had the same question. She’d just been faster with it.

“He’s been working on a daylight drug. Last I knew, he hadn’t succeeded.”

“Daylight drug. So a vampire could survive the sun’s rays?” Now this was interesting. The Viagra thing didn’t do it for me—hey, I’m hot enough without it—but to be able to feel the sun on my face for real . . .

“That’s what he claims. But more than one vampire has been killed trying to use it. ” Richard was beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “It doesn’t work. Vampires have given him fortunes and then expired anyway.”

“That’s harsh.” Will stayed close to Diana.

“But get this, Diana. The EVs take power from vampires to make their drugs. And they’ve been after me.” I almost fell back as every eye swung my way. Whoa! Nobody can do intense like a vampire.

“You!” Diana ran to my side. “What happened? Honey, are you all right?” Diana has a southern thing going on. Part of her charm. Will sure thought so. He edged closer and, if he put his shiny black nose under her skirt, it was going to be no shifting and generic dog food for a week. He got my mental message because he eased away from her and gave me a dirty look.

“I’m okay. But they sent someone to try to persuade me to come see them. Since I don’t shape-shift, the EVs figure I have lots of stored power.” Would I be a greedy slut if I took a third glass of Fangtastic? To hell with it. I picked up a refill and sipped.

“Didn’t Florence tell you that too?” Richard was serious on a stick.

“Yes. Simon taught her how to check a vamp’s power level. I’m off the charts.” I felt Valdez push against my legs. “So I’m being careful. He won’t get to me again.”

“Who came after you?” Diana was a good friend and she looked really worried.

“Greg Kaplan.” I grimaced. “We were . . . together years ago. Now he’s hooked on the Vamp Viagra, so he does jobs for the EVs in exchange for the VV. If any of you know him, don’t let Greg get anywhere near you. He’ll try to lure you back for a little power draining.” There were a few nods. So maybe I wasn’t the only one Greg had approached.

“And, folks, don’t kid yourselves. After a session with the EVs, a vampire can be greatly weakened. No shifting. No preternatural speed.” Richard swept his gaze around the room.

“Hell, you’d be pretty defenseless.” Diana bit her lip.

“Exactly.” Richard nodded. “Frederick, you’re Simon’s son. And I don’t doubt your being here is one reason he chose to come to Austin. Has he approached you to join the council since he got here? I’ve heard they have an opening. Apparently one of the EVs believed his own hype and met the sun with disastrous results.” Richard ignored CiCi’s gasp and focused on Freddy. Darling Freddy, who could make me laugh, was a wonderful friend and had the best mom in the world, didn ’t crack a smile. Everyone in the room but Freddy’s mom and me stared at him like he’d morph into a creepy creature with a forked tongue at any moment.

“No, he hasn’t approached me yet. This time.” Freddy looked at his mother. “And if he did, Mother, I’d tell him I’m not interested. Just like I have all the other times he’s tried to play the ‘father’ card. Why would I want to join a group that obeys a female demon?”

“Their secrets don’t have to be used for evil, Frederick. If you joined them, you could—” Richard winced when CiCi grabbed his arm.

“No, I won’t hear any more of this. Frederick will not be your spy. The EVs would kill him, Simon ’s son or not, if he betrayed them.” CiCi faced off with Richard. “Wage your own war, priest, and leave us out of this.”

Okay, now Diana was really goggle-eyed. Maybe not everyone knew Richard had been a priest once. Every woman in the room checked out his buff bod, nicely showcased in worn jeans and black T-shirt. He obviously hadn’t taken anyone’s confession in a long, long time.

“Very well. We’ll keep Frederick’s relationship with his father out of this.” Richard nodded. “But we have to do something. We know they want Gloriana, but any one of you might be powerful enough to interest them.”