Free Braced to Bite by Serena Robar Page B

enraptured with his story, so parallel to my own.
    “I passed out and woke up a couple hours later. The soldier was still with me. I had an unbearable thirst and he seemed to understand this. He took me to a place where I could feed.”
    “Where was that?” I asked.
    Thomas’s gaze hardened a little, but he answered my question. “He took me to a battleground where most of the men were already dead. I found one or two that were too far gone to save.”
    “I’m so sorry, Thomas. That must have been terrible for you.”
    For a moment he seemed lost in thought but shook himself out of it when I asked, “How did you finally get your license?”
    “At the time, Germany had its own Princes and were adopting the license procedure, though it worked a little differently. I brought them the license of my Creator and I was given his license as my own.”
    “So you had to kill him, right? That was the only way you could get his license.”
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t understand. Why did he do it? He had his license. Wasn’t he getting along just fine?”
    Thomas sighed deeply. “My Creator had been a vampire for hundreds of years. That does something to you. He was very sick. You will learn that vampires don’t live in the human world but my Creator was in the army, living with other humans. It does something to the mind. Makes you dream impossible dreams.”
    Okay, whatever that means . He didn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore so I changed the subject. “So why get a license at all? Why is it necessary?”
    “It’s the law. It’s due process. Listen, Colby, there was a time when our kind was primal and savage. There were tribal feuds for power and many vampires lost their lives. Despite this, no one wanted to create more offspring for fear their children would usurp their power and kill them. Our kind was on the brink of extinction. It took the creation of the Tribunal to save us. Other areas began to adapt our notion and slowly we are rebuilding our race.”
    “So the Tribunal is what? The vampire congress or something?”
    “The Tribunal of any area consists of the three most powerful vampires, or Princes, to use an old-school term. They govern our area and keep the peace.”
    “Why three and not just one?”
    “Balance of power. When there is only one Prince, it is a monarchy. Two Princes means a complete deadlock if they don’t agree in all decisions; nothing gets accomplished. Three Princes gives checks and balances. It’s the best way to run things smoothly.”
    It sounded a lot like American democracy to me, and look how easily that gets screwed up. “So what do I need to do to get my license?”
    Thomas looked slightly uncomfortable with my question, which did nothing to help the growing unease that was making its way up my spine. He thought a moment before answering. “You must present a solid argument for why you should live in the vampire world. Define the value you bring to the community.”
    “Would it help if I told them I didn’t plan to live in the vampire world? I mean, I’m going to live with my parents for now, then college, get a good job and go from there.”
    Thomas shook his head at me. “I told you, vampires do not live in the human world. We have our own society.”
    “You are mixing in the human world right now.” I pointed out the obvious.
    “That is different. It is my job to seek out the unlicensed and investigate their existence. All vampires enter the human world to feed but they don’t live there. Do you see the difference?”
    I guess I could see his point. It was like stopping at Mc-Donald’s to grab lunch. Everybody did it but nobody would say they lived there.
    My thoughts must have shown on my face because Thomas reached over and touched my hand. I felt a warm and tingly sensation go up my arm and through my body all the way down to my toes. Aidan never made me feel like this.
    “Let me help you, Colby. You are very strong for a half-blood. You possess more