Free Generation V by M. L. Brennan Page B

patches where his dripping fluids had clearly already seeped.
    On the vampire’s right was a young girl with long dark hair that hung in two braids, looking like a high school freshman dressed up to play Juliet. Her neck and arms were covered with old and half-healing bite marks. Her eyes were dull and uncaring, already half-dead, and she never even glanced at us, looking only at the floor.
    “I thank you for your hospitality, Madeline,” the vampire said. His Italian accent was thick, and there was something in his voice that made me grateful that Chivalry was beside me. He took off his sunglasses and smiled widely. His fangs were extended, long and needlelike. “I am Luca, blood son of Dominic, who was nest-mate to your brother Edmund. I carry greetings and affection, and a desire for knowledge.”
    “Welcome, Luca,” Madeline said. There was a formality to this exchange that was weirdly offset by the incessant giggling of the skinny, and I was guessing crazy, man. “I am pleased by your greeting, and introduce you to my blood children: Prudence, Chivalry, and Fortitude. I hope that your visit here is fruitful.” She paused, and I risked a glance back at her. She looked completely at ease, despite all her formal trappings and phrasing. Prudence looked bored, while Chivalry’s face was deeply disapproving. Madeline continued. “I see that you have created a host. My compliments to you on your accomplishment.”
    Luca’s smile became even broader. “Yes, I am the first in Dominic’s nest to craft a functioning Renfield. This isPhillip, who I wished to speak to you about, and this”—his hand dropped onto the shoulder of the girl, who didn’t seem to even notice it, her gaze never deviating from the floor—“is my dear little Maria.”
    “You are all welcome in my territory,” Madeline said. “And now I believe that dinner has been served.”
    Luca walked forward and offered his arm to Madeline, who leaned on him and led the way to the dining room. Phillip and Maria followed Luca, trailed closely by Prudence, whose long skirt swished loudly on the floor. At the end, I grabbed Chivalry’s arm.
    “What’s with the entourage?” I asked, tipping my head toward the oddly matched pair.
    Chivalry’s voice was so soft that I had to strain to hear him. “A Renfield is a less polite term for a host, though still an improvement from those who prefer to call them thralls. Phillip is the same as Grace and Henry.”
    “But why is he walking around? Grace and Henry don’t ever get to leave their cells.”
    “Clearly Luca has less reverence for life than our mother.”
    I let that horrifying thought roll over me, then asked, “And what about Maria? She looks really young.”
    “She
is
very young, Fort. Not more than fourteen if I’m any judge.”
    I hadn’t really wanted to believe that my impression had been correct. I’d been telling myself that she was probably one of those eighteen-year-olds who looks really young.
    “But—”
    “Don’t say anything,” Chivalry hissed in my ear, and I could feel his hand gripping my wrist tightly enough tomake the bones ache. “Mother has already welcomed them to the territory.”
    “But that girl—”
    “Be silent. Mother will handle it.”
    I bit my tongue and followed them into the dining room.
    Dinner was a long and difficult affair. Vampires slowly lose the ability to digest food as they get older, deriving more and more of their primary sustenance from blood. Madeline’s cook had prepared three versions of a meal—for me, another jab at my vegetarianism with a filet mignon, which meant that I had to spend the entire meal eating around the beautifully prepared steak and filling up on potatoes and veggies. For Chivalry it was a thick stew with chunks of meat, and for Prudence a potato soup with finely diced shavings of steak. Madeline sipped at a glass of wine.
    Luca had dished himself out some of the stew, but I noticed that he avoided most of the meat,