Gideon felt terribly conspicuous dancing with Evelyn. He was older and whiter and just not comfortable with young women. The more feminine they were, the worse it was. If Joshua could see him now he'd laugh his socks off.

Gideon caught sight of Adrian Talbot, eyes red, watching him. "Do you mind my asking -- what is Adrian Talbot doing here? I wasn't aware you numbered him among your friends."

"I'm not sure I do," answered Evelyn. One of her cold hands was in his and the other was on his shoulder, but she kept her distance -- any private school chaperone would be satisfied. It occurred to Gideon that maybe she wasn't comfortable either, and it had nothing to do with gender.

"I didn't plan this," she added.

"I know you didn't: still, this is not quite the setting in which I had envisioned having a serious discussion with you." The surroundings and the presence of Talbot were upsetting Gideon. He had retreated into his most pompous mode.

Evelyn seemed nonplussed. "I have a few questions of my own before I answer yours, if you don't mind."

Gideon inclined his head. He'd been taught to always defer to ladies -- ladies, not women that is. But Evelyn was a lady.

"I was told that you had been asked to be my mentor."

"Oh?" Gideon blinked in surprise.

"Adrian as much as said that Tammi asked you."

"Well, mentor is a bit formal," began Gideon. "Look, there's a table over there, maybe we could sit down?"

"But you dance so well," protested Evelyn. She let him lead her in the direction of the booth. "Who taught you?" she asked.

Gideon smiled. "My mentor," he replied.

"Is this a normal part of the mentoring process?" Evelyn asked with a little laugh as they stopped dancing and walked to the booth.

"Not that I'm aware of," he answered with that same gentle smile. "But Genevieve is an unusual woman."

A waitress immediately appeared.

"Scotch and soda, and red wine? -- " Evelyn nodded, "-- for the lady."

The waitress gave a snort at the word "lady" but made no comment on their order. When she was gone Evelyn closed the curtain, and only a candle in a red glass lit up the booth.

"Are you sure you want wine?" asked Gideon. "You didn't touch your first glass."

"I don't want anything. Well, you know, alcohol. But at least it's the right color. So, you were talking about Tammi asking you to...?"

"Tamara asked me to look in on you, to help introduce you to the community. Well, actually, what she said was: 'Aren't you curious about Simms' get and his killer...?'"

Evelyn smiled. "That sounds like Tammi. But why?"

"Well, whatever influence Simms had on you, it can't have been good."

"Did she think I was going to become a hunter, like he was?" demanded Evelyn. "Simms killed because he enjoyed it. You can't teach that. He was so twisted he couldn't understand why I didn't like killing. So," she went back to the original topic, "what would you get out of this?"

"Me? Well, nothing really. Perhaps Tamara will stop nagging me. It was two years ago that she asked, just after we heard about Simms'... demise. I have been dragging my feet a bit, and I apologize for that."

He offered no reasons or excuses, though, and Evelyn decided she liked that.

"Why did Tammi pick you?"

"I suspect we may have had some similar experiences with our... masters. Tamara no doubt felt -- and I feel -- that I owe you something for disposing of ... Simms." Gideon stopped himself from feeling his throat.

"You don't. It was Joe who did it." Evelyn studied her putative mentor.

"So," Gideon couldn't restrain his curiosity any longer, "what does Talbot have to do with all of this?"

"He wants to be my mentor."

Gideon frowned. "I don't know Talbot very well personally, but I know of him. Take my advice, as a much older vampire: stay away from him, he's trouble."

"He gave me the impression that he'd lived a more... active life than you and would have more to teach me. He said your immortality had been pretty sheltered."

"Sheltered?!" squeaked Gideon, then chuckled. "My existence now is pretty quiet, because I want it that way. I am married; I have friends who help me out; I have money -- because I can manage money, and Talbot can't --" he pointed out, "and that's a form of protection in itself. But my first eighteen years as a mortal and the following few years with my bloodmaster," Gideon repressed a shudder, "were not sheltered. Being born into the nobility was no guarantee of privilege, or safety."

"Eighteen?" said Evelyn. "You couldn't have been turned at eighteen. You look forty."

Gideon smiled. "Vampires may not age on the outside, but some of it shows in their faces, their eyes. That, a naturally high forehead, and a little... magic. Voila."

"Magic?"

"Every vampire has their own strengths and weaknesses. It varies with the individual and the bloodline."

A tumbler of golden liquid -- red in the candlelight -- was thrust through the curtains, then a wine glass. The hand waited for money and Gideon placed a twenty in it. It disappeared and didn't return any change. When Gideon peeked out the waitress was gone.

"So, I still don't understand why Adrian is here," sighed Evelyn.

"Well, you know, this isn't a situation where you have to choose between us. I would be happy to offer you any help I can. There need be no formal teacher-student relationship. Let us just be friends," Gideon heard himself say with surprise. He hadn't expected to like Evelyn, but her chilliness was perversely comforting to him: he knew she didn't want anything.

A little smile crossed Evelyn's lips. "I'd be honored."

"Now we should be getting back. The others will wonder." Gideon opened the curtain. "You know, we could have had this conversation somewhere... else."

"Jake asked me to take Adrian out where he could hunt," answered Evelyn.

"They're not...?"

She shook her head. "Jake is a flaming heterosexual," she confided with a smile.

Gideon winced as the band started up with a crashing chord. Yes, this was the sort of place Adrian would hunt. "Do you really like this?" he shouted over the noise.

Evelyn nodded and Gideon shook his head.