The Graves of Saints by Christopher Golden Page B

exactly do you want from me? You want me to
leave?’
    Allison settled back into the chair, steepling her fingers on her chest. ‘Not at all. I’m like you. If Peter vouches for you, that’s good enough for me. But that doesn’t
mean I don’t get to be curious and to wonder about you and your allegiances.’
    Charlotte threw up her hands. ‘Look, I told those guys everything I know about Cortez. I told them every safe house I ever visited and the names of every member of the coven I knew.
It’s a hell of a head start, I think. There’s nothing else I can offer. And if I was out to kill Octavian, I’m sure I had an opportunity or two when we were fighting Navalica. You
want to know whose side I’m on? Don’t be stupid. I’m on my own side first. But I’m smart enough to know that Octavian’s on my side, too. He wants to keep me alive and
to take Cortez down. Seeing as how those are my two top priorities, yeah . . . I’ll fight for him. Wherever he wants me, that’s where I’ll go.’
    Allison nodded thoughtfully, turning to glance out the slider at the gray sky lightening over the city.
    ‘He’s a sort of mentor to you, now, I suppose,’ Allison said, turning her attention back to Charlotte. ‘He’s good at it, you know. Being the “vampire
godfather”, taking ordinary Shadows under his wing and making heroes out of them. He did it for me and a lot of people I loved. But you’d better be very sure that’s what you
want.’
    ‘I’m sure,’ Charlotte insisted.
    ‘See,’ Allison went on, ‘there were a lot of us, once upon a time. What Peter was talking about last night, the group he mentioned? Most of us are dead. Old friends and old
lovers. We won the battles that mattered, yeah. But not without a cost. Not without a price that you have to be willing to pay if you’re going to get into this. Most of us never got the
chance to decide, to know what we were getting ourselves into. So maybe I’m coming off as a cold bitch. I’m sure I am, actually; I haven’t had a lot to laugh about, or anybody to
laugh with, for a long time. Might be I don’t remember how to be pleasant. But I wanted to give you the opportunity to really think about what you’re getting into, and to run like hell
if you want.’
    Charlotte blinked in surprise. She had thought that this visit was about suspicion, and that was certainly part of it. But what Allison had brought her this morning was an unexpected
kindness.
    ‘I . . .’ she began, faltering. ‘Look, I appreciate it. Honestly. But whatever happens from here on in, I’m choosing it. After I got away from Cortez I just wanted to
have a life, but now that I know all of this is happening, I can’t just do nothing about it. Besides . . . even if I wanted to run, I’ve got nowhere else to go.’
    Allison sat forward, pushing her hair away from her face. ‘All right, then. You’re in. But Peter’s going to have a lot on his mind, so if he’s your godfather, from now on
I’m your fairy godmother. You have questions, you need combat training, you’re trying to deal with the life you left behind, come to me. I’ll do what I can to help you get through
it.’
    Charlotte smiled, touched by her words and slightly taken aback. Allison stood to leave and Charlotte scrambled out of the bed to follow her.
    ‘Thank you,’ Charlotte said. ‘Really. Thanks so much.’
    She didn’t expect to find a friend in this grim hunter. She didn’t express the sentiment out loud, however. It seemed clear that there would be no hugs and late-night girl talk
between them. Perhaps ‘friend’ was too strong a word, but ‘ally’ would do.
    ‘My pleasure,’ Allison said, reaching the door. She pulled it open and then turned, standing silhouetted against the corridor beyond. ‘Let’s be clear, though. If it turns
out you’re bullshitting and that you’re still taking orders from Cortez, I’ll spend hours killing you.’
    Charlotte could only stare, wide-eyed,