Scarlet Vamporium: Vamporium #2 by Poppet[vampire] Page B

than coffee?”
    “Just name it and you can have it,” says Selene.
    “I wouldnae mind a dram of whisky if I'm honest.”
    “Sure thing,” she smiles, a crystal glass appearing in her hand half filled with amber fluid.
    Placing it down in front of him, she refills my goblet and magics one for herself.
    “So Douglas MacLeod, what do you do for a living?” she asks, making the amphora disappear and taking a long sip of hormone enriched blood.
    “I'm studying. I dinnae work yet.”
    “What are you studying?”
    “Nature conservation,” he smiles warmly, his eyes alighting back to cheer.
    What am I? Invisible?
    Selene probes, “What do you need to study exactly? You're twenty-one aren't you? Surely you're almost done with your studies.”
    Why is parental interrogation so darn predictable? I'm tempted to roll my eyes.
    “Aye.” He nods, tucking his long hair behind his ears while creaking the leather at his elbows. “Em, well I need ma degree. I'm daeing animal welfare science, ethics and law; ecology and environmental biology which includes marine and freshwater ecology, and I'm hoping tae get a placement here in Glencoe with the NTS when I get ma Phd.”
    Selene glances at me, gives me a fleeting wink, then looking back at him she lifts the shortbread and offers him more with the gesture, “That's why you were bending Ellie's ear when you met. She told me about the swans and fishing.”
    He tinges a ruthless shade of pink, “Och, I didnae mean tae bend her ear, it's just I love this place and want tae preserve it fer ma children.”
    She leans across the nook, squeezing his hand, “And for us. As long as you preserve the forests you are also helping our ancient sites be preserved in the process.”
    I clear my throat, reminding them I'm still sitting here. Isabelle jumps up onto the breakfast counter to wriggle her long tail in my face and I sit back to avoid it, scratching under her chin. At least Izzy acknowledges me.
    Releasing his hand, Selene sits back, behaving.
    Doug strokes Izzy too, then looks at us both with evident glee, “This is a Scottish wildcat. Where'd ye get her?”
    “We have three of them. Cats choose their owners, not the other way around. She came in during a particularly severe storm when she was still very young, and simply never left,” explains Selene.
    “They've been around fer over nine thousand years, then mankind comes along and now there's barely four hundred of them left. They're one of the last truly wild cats still around.”
    Cuddling Izzy while she purrs and flirts with him, he gestures to her fur, “See this line down her back? Domesticated tabby cats have it gaeing all the way intae their tail, but with a true wild cat it stops at the base here, and they ha'e nae spots on their flanks. Och, she's a beauty. Ain'che pretty girl,” he croons, rubbing under her chin while she leans down so low her head is almost flush with the counter, adoring the attention.
    “Someone's in instant love,” grins Selene, indicating Izzy. “So tell me about your ancestor who married a fairy.”
    “A MacLeod chieftan married a sidhe. They were only allowed tae stay taegether fer a year and a day, efter that her Da insisted she return home.”
    “Go on,” she encourages him, giving me a kick of excitement under the counter.
    “They had a baby boy before she had tae return home. But she warned the MacLeods she must never hear her bairn cryin'. At a ceilidh the nanny left the bairn unattended, and he was wailin' somethin' fierce, so his Maw came back from her realm tae soothe him, and he went back tae sleep. She wrapped him in her shawl, and it's still on display at the castle.”
    Her eyes ignite again and Selene says with determination, “I'd like to see this shawl.”
    “Och, it's verra old now. It's fragile and faded, and parts of it ha'e been cut off and stitched back. It's a magical flag fer the MacLeods, one that saves us if we ever need the help, but we can only use it thrice,