Chapter 146
Chapter 146
Amos paused, thinking. “How much do you know about English common law p>
Chloe’s brows drew together. “Uh… literally nothing”
“Ever heard of coverture p>
Chloe shook her head, brows still furrowed.
“Okay. Well. Uh… so, women used to not have legal personhood under English common law. It was called ‘coverture‘ and similar laws elsewhere across Lurope. A woman was either covered by her father’s legal identity, or her husband’s. She had pretty much no individual rights under coverture. Coverture was the norm for a long time, stretching back to medieval Europe, and it was still U.S. law during my mortal lifetime p>
“Alright. So, coverture meant women had no legal rights,” Chloe summarized, clearly trying to sense where he was going with it.
“What I’m saying is that there’s a fairly established historical precedent p>
“Okay p>
“But if a woman didn’t marry, at a certain point, she gained a minor degree of legal agency. So, an unmarried woman over the age of twenty–five became a feme sole–a lone woman–as opposed to a feme covert–a ‘covered‘ woman p>
Chloe nodded slowly, still obviously not following.
“So if twenty–five was the age at which a woman could be considered independent and self–identified, it seemed like a decent age to set for things like accepting a bloodbond regardless of gender p>
“Ohhh…” It was finally clicking.
“Of course, laws change,” Amos continued. “Coverture fell out of use in mortal law codes and ages of majority lowered over time. But vampires are not quick with modernization. By the time the various Councils got around to discussing changes in the age of consent, research had emerged that indicated that the human brain didn’t fully mature until about the age of twenty–five p>
“Ah p>
“So twenty–five remained as the age of consent, and has been for centuries. Of course, the law has been broken countless times. Etta’s a prime example of that. Luckily, our own research seems to suggest that the closer a vampire was to twenty–five as a mortal, the more likely it is that their vampiric regenerative properties will allow them to reach full cognitive maturation. Etta’s fine. But the younger they are, the more likely they are to be locked eternally into that stage of development. A child turned at, say, six years old, will never mature much past that stage.” Amos’s voice roughened with
anger.
“How did you find out they were turning children?” Chloe asked.
“Before I started my current company, I had a different one where I did digital installations for various home technologies–including security systems. I discovered the turned children when one of the predators hired me to set up a security system for a sealed chamber in his basement. I could hear them crying through the walls p>
“Oh my god.” She clutched his arm. As much as he hated upsetting her, he was glad she turned to him for comfort, instead of turning away in disgust. “What happened to the children?” she asked faintly.
“They’re housed in a Council–owned facility with others like them. There have always been stories of thralls who managed to throw off their enthrallment and revert to their mortal state, though we have no evidence of such a thing happening. In any case, there’s hope that someday our researchers will have a breakthrough that allows us to revert them back to a mortal state or possibly manipulate the regenerative properties in our venom in a way that will allow them to reach physical and cognitive maturity p>
Chloe took that in, leaning into him as they walked. He put his arm around her shoulders, both giving and taking comfort.
10:59 O
Caught Naked By My Alpha Neighbor! Now I’m His – No Escape.
Chapter 146
Ames could feel the impending sumuise when they finally made it to Chless’s house. He kissed her gently, hoth of the content to keep it soft and sweet.
Thank you.” said when he drew back.
“For what?
For being brave and facing the Council. For putting up with the ancient luftatics. If you give me a list, I’ll have words with the ones we were
offensive p>
Chloe gave him a wry look. “No, I will not be doing that p>
“Just words,” Amos promised.
“No. A tricky man could finagle having words‘ into ‘ripping out tongues p>
“They’ll grow back p>
She laughed. “No, Amos p>
“Bleeding heart,” he grumbled, accepting a playful kiss from her. Holding her face, looking down into her big brown eyes, he said, “Thank you for what you said to the Council. About me p>
She leaned into him, gripping the lapels of his jacket. “I meant it p>
Amos stared at her, almost trembling with the urge to claim her. His fangs throbbed with the need to do so. His fingers curled into white–knuckled fists. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to draw back from her.
“I should go. Sunrise is close. Sleep-” The wind shifted subtly, bringing with it a familiar scent. The same thrall Amos had been tracking and failing to apprehend for days now. Amos seized Chloe and surged to her front door. He couldn’t open it, not without an invitation. “Get inside,” he growled.
“Now p>
Chloe hurried to obey, slipping inside and pulling the door shut. The deadbolt slid into place as she called, “Be safe p>
He was gone before he could answer her, chasing after the rogue thrall. Despite the thrall’s inferior speed, the cursed creature was unexpectedly slippery. He darted down narrow alleys at the last second, faking Amos out, scampering up drainpipes and leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Amos had finally cornered him behind an auto parts store all the way out in Austin when the harsh burn of sunrise sizzled against his back.
He and the thrall both hissed. The light became blinding at the precise second that the sun crested the horizon. Limited to just scent and hearing, made clumsy by the drag of his daysleep, Amos made a cursory attempt at grabbing the thrall. One hand closed on filthy fabric, but the thrall managed to jerk free, cloth tearing, and scramble away past some dumpsters, where the overwhelming scent of gasoline, oil, and other chemicals masked his scent entirely.
Thwarted, blinded, and burning alive, Amos raced home. When he reached his door, he collapsed inside gratefully, swinging it shut, and hurrying for the stairs. He didn’t want a repeat of the last time he’d stayed out too late. At the very least, he’d like to collapse on the floor of his light–proofed bedroom instead of the hallway where a full day of indirect light would strip his skin like acid.
He made it over the threshold of his bedroom, kicking the door shut with sleep–addled gracelessness. He collapsed onto his bed, still fully dressed.
His last thought as the oblivion of daysleep slipped over him was that the thrall wasn’t fixated on him. If he was, he wouldn’t keep running from Amos. Instead, he continued to linger near Chloe’s house.
The thrall had fixated on her.
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