plates, their expressions troubled. Alessandro had a curious expression on his face as
he glanced from man to man, and Edward was eyeing everyone with calculation. It was
all very odd and Elvi hadn't a clue what these reactions were all about.
They ate in silence for a bit, and then she decided to make another gambit at
conversation. She glanced at Alessandro and said curiously, "You said last night that
you hadn't eaten in fifty years?"
" Si," he nodded.
"DJ is the only one young enough to still eat… prior to this," Victor added
uncomfortably, and then forged on with, "I fear the rest of us are too old to be
bothered with food most of the time."
"Too old to be bothered with it?" Elvi echoed, glancing around at their faces.
"After a century or two most immortals grow bored with the trouble of eating and
refrain from bothering unless it is a social occasion," Harper explained.
"A century or two?" Elvi gasped but had some vague recollection of having heard this
before. Probably the night before, either on the way to or during shopping.
Anything told to her then had gone out the window. Her mind had been wholly on
food at that point. She glanced from man to man. "How old are you?"
The others all looked to Victor in question. When he shrugged, Edward cleared his
throat, drawing her gaze. "I was born in 1004."
While Elvi was sucking in her breath over this, Harper leaned forward and offered, "I
was born in 1282."
"Me, I was born in 1794," Alessandro announced. When she glanced his way, he
grinned and added, "I am the youngest."
"The youngest?" Elvi murmured faintly. The room suddenly seemed to be spinning. Or
perhaps it was her head.
"Actually, DJ is just over a hundred. He's the youngest," Edward corrected him.
Alessandro shrugged. " Si. But he is not here right now."
"Yes," Edward conceded, then announced out of the blue, "Victor is the oldest."
Elvi's mind wobbled to a stop and she turned a look full of horror on the British man.
"Older than you?"
Edward smiled at her expression and nodded.
Elvi turned slowly to peer at Victor. He didn't look a day over thirty and could have
passed for twenty‐five, but they were telling her he was more than a thousand years
old.
Victor shifted under her glance, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable, then
muttered, "230."
"That's the year he was born, not his age," Edward explained helpfully.
"230?" Elvi asked with incomprehension. "But that would make you"—she paused to
do the math then said—"one thousand, seven hundred and seventy‐seven years old?"
Victor pursed his lips and shook his head, but before he could answer, Edward said,
"I'm afraid not. Victor was born in 230 B.C."
"BC," Elvi echoed, blinking rapidly as her head began to spin again. "Before Christ… Oh
my," she murmured and began to slide down her seat.
"I think she's waking up."
Elvi fought off the last of sleep's cobwebs at what she felt sure was Harper's voice. The
next one was definitely Edward's as he muttered a grim, "Hmm. Finally."
Blinking her eyes open, she found herself staring up at the four men. They all had
identical expressions of worry on their faces as they bent over her.
"You're awake," Victor said with relief. "You've been out so long we were starting to
worry. Are you all right?"
"What happened?" Elvi murmured with confusion.
"You fainted." Edward announced. "A very Victorian thing to do, if I may say so."
Elvi scowled. "I never faint."
"Apparently you do now," he pointed out.
"How much blood have you had over the last twenty‐four hours?" Victor asked.
"One bag last night and the one before breakfast," she murmured, pushing herself up
to sit upright. The men backed off a bit to allow her to lean back against the arm of the
couch and Elvi glanced around to see that they'd moved her to the couch in the big
living room while she was unconscious.
"One yesterday and one this evening?" Victor asked with irritation. "No wonder you
fainted. You should have at least two or three bags a day. You'll be sorry if you try
going without."
"Yes, I know." Elvi had tried to resist blood when she'd first been turned and had given
that up in a hurry when the pain had claimed her. If she didn't eat enough, it physically
hurt. In fact, now that she thought about it, the tummy upset and headache she'd
been suffering last night had probably been due to not having enough blood rather
than being due to the food she'd consumed. Both symptoms had been worse this