Free Immortal Earth (Vampires For Earth Book 1) by Sarah Warden

Henry went to the bar and, following an exchange with the bartender, procured a bottle of champagne, two flutes, and a bucket of ice. Bringing these to the table, he popped the cork on the champagne with a flourish, and poured a glass for each of them.
    Henry sat down across from Isi and said, “May I propose a toast?”
    Isi smiled, and nodded slowly.
    “To Mr. Thomas Edison, my dear friend, with much thanks for all of his marvelous inventions, and a special thanks for his incandescent light bulb that allows men, such as I, to truly appreciate all of the classic planes and angles of such a beautiful face as yours, Countess Solovyov.”
    Henry raised his flute to hers, and Isi agreed to the ceremonial clinking of glasses, with a skeptical and amused smile on her face.
    “Yes, to Mr. Edison,” Isi said, “and please, do tell me Mr. Ford, how it is that you are acquainted with your nations most brilliant inventor?”
    Henry Ford leaned forward across the table, his whole body tensed toward her with the bridled power of the idea that he was about to divulge.
    “Thomas, and I, have been working on a project together for the better part of a year now. He’s been developing a battery that could be recharged in every home, using the tremendous electric grid that’s under development. And, I have been working on a kind of horseless carriage that could be powered using Tom’s battery. I was working on a steam powered carriage, but Tom’s the one with the laboratory, so we may go with his idea … for now,” Henry finished in a disdainful, but not defeated, tone.
    Isi shook her head in amazement. “You poor thing, you may have to use the great Thomas Edison’s idea? Silly boy, hubris is becoming on no man,” she said, still shaking her head. In a kinder tone, Isi continued, “Be that as it may, your idea of a horseless carriage is quite the interesting one, I’ll grant you that. Though, I would obviously defer to Thomas Edison when it comes to the means to power such a creation.”
    “There is no need to defer to a man, based solely on his name, Countess Solovyov,” Henry said. “In science, all that matters is the truth – provable, replicable, truth. If Thomas Edison’s battery works better for the horseless carriage that I’ve designed, we will use that. If, however, my steam engine is the better fit, the unknown nature of my name will be no impediment upon the usefulness of my invention. That’s the beauty of this wonderful intersection of profit and science that the world is experiencing now … any man can be a king, if he has a useful idea, and the drive to bring it to fruition.”
    Isi smiled at Henry. Quite true, she thought, more true than you can even imagine – but such kings can destroy a world, just as easily as they can build one.
    “So, Mr. Henry Ford,” Isi said, “you think that you have a useful idea? Your drive is evident, but this horseless carriage of yours … where is it? Did you ride in one to the ball this evening?” Isi asked, a look of kind skepticism on her face.
    Henry tilted his head down toward the table between them, turned his champagne in his hand, and watched the reflected light play out across the burnished wood. He was not sure how much of a risk he wanted to take with this woman. He had already spoken to her of his invention more freely than he had with anyone, except for Thomas Edison and Henry’s own wife, Clara Ford. Henry was not worried about divulging his scientific secrets, though he should be. No, his thoughts were consumed by the romantic risk that he was about to take. Married for only a few months to Clara, Henry was finding himself drawn to the Countess Isidora Solovyov in a powerful, and inexplicable, way. He had never felt like this, instantly, at the first sight of a woman.
    She knows me … she knows all of me … but, how? How is that possible?
    Unanswered questions do not sit well in the life of any scientist, and Henry needed an answer.
    “I confess,