Gathering all the confidence she could, Claire finally returned to her tavern again that night at around eight p.m. Of course her composure suffered another blow as she passed through the doors. Almost immediately the whistles and hoots and catcalls began as she attempted to make her way from the doors to the bar.

“Where have you been hidin’ this one, Bas?” one man called as he whistled at her as she passed.

“Look at that hair; did your mommy let one of those savages give it to her?” another man added in.

“You shouldn’t be alone, sweetness; come on upstairs with me” a third man called.

Claire just sighed in annoyance at her welcome, immediately flashing back to her one year of hell in that London brothel back in 1673. The men had only gotten worse somehow she thought angrily. That was when one of the men who were either bolder or drunker or both reached out to grab at her corset to try and gain a peek behind the material. With the speed of light her hand grasped his the moment his fingers touched the material. Then those fingers were nearly crushed as she glared up at him.

“Next time you lay a hand on me; you’ll lose your fucking hand” she growled as she tossed his hand away and moved more deliberately toward the bar.

“Cunt” he spat after her.

“And it’ll be in your dreams tonight, won’t it?” she spat back with another glare as she finally approached the bar.

As she reached the bar, her anger only deepened if that were possible. From her new vantage point on the elevated ledge around the bar, she spotted several young ladies who were neither stage performers nor waitresses; and that’s when she began to seethe. She quickly moved her eyes from these new additions to her establishment to find Sebastian behind the bar and sampling his own drink and chuckling with one of the customers.

“Sebastian!” Claire called loudly enough for him to turn his eyes back to her with a bit of shock as she began moving around the bar to have a few words with him.

“Darlin, you’re on the wrong side of the bar” the man Sebastian was speaking to informed her as she took her new position next to where Sebastian looked more than a bit wary of the look of discontent on her otherwise beautiful face.

“I thought you gave up on this place” Sebastian greeted her as she tossed another glare at the other man’s last comment.

“Say it ain’t so” the man interjected once again, “she’s the prettiest one here” he added, speaking to Sebastian whilst his eyes hungrily moved over Claire.

“Are you telling me that in the week since I was here last, you took it upon yourself to hire a dozen whores?” Claire asked him angrily.

“For the last two years, you’ve only been showin up once a week to count up the cash” Sebastian defended weakly, and with a bit of a slur to his words, “thought that meant the place was pretty much mine now” he shrugged as he took another sip of his drink.

That was when Claire centered a dark look on him and snatched the glass from his hand, slamming it down on the bar with almost enough force to crack the glass. That was when the other man interjected again, “sweetheart, you should know better than to come between a man and his drink” he then turned to Sebastian, “you oughtta teach her better manners, Bas.”

That was when Claire’s dark eyes turned back to the other man as she caught his gaze, “get the fuck out” she growled as she held that gaze. Without another word, the man left his drink and obediently began heading through the crowd to the door.

Sebastian scoffed as he looked after the man before turning back to Claire, “he didn’t even settle up his tab” he informed with disapproval.

“Fine; it’ll come out of your fucking paycheck” Claire growled back up at him.

Sebastian scoffed again, “you’ve developed quite the vocabulary” he muttered, and then added, “and you practically abandon the place for two years and then come back all pissed that I’m givin the customers what they want. We’ve made more money this week than…”

“You know damn well how I’ve always felt about hiring whores. We don’t do it” she told him with further anger.

“Well, we haven’t been here” he responded smartly, then dropped his volume when he saw even more anger in her pretty eyes. “Besides, like I said, it’s what the customers want; that’s just good business.”

“Like I give a shit about the money? You have always been aware of my feelings on the subject of whores; I’ve hardly hidden them” Claire returned, trying desperately to keep her tone even, as difficult as that was in light of their surroundings and her current mood.

“I don’t get why you of all people have such a problem with whores” he muttered as he reached for his glass again.

Claire’s eyes only darkened further, “and what the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked in that same growl as she smacked his hand away from the glass.

“Just seems a tad hypocritical” Sebastian muttered in an even quieter tone, though when he saw the look she gave him then, he immediately regretted his words as he swallowed hard.

In the next moment, Claire had taken his arm painfully in her grip and began dragging him with her up the stairs, ignoring the reactions of the crowd of men as she pulled him behind her, her anger more than clear.

“Watch out Bas, you’re in for a spankin now!” one of the men called, causing howls of laughter from most of the room as the two disappeared upstairs.

Once through her office door, slamming it behind her, she pushed Sebastian down into the seat with such force she had to have bruised his tailbone with the action. Seeming to immediately sober enough to remember what exactly she was, Sebastian didn’t offer any more words as he stayed in the seat, watching her with widened eyes that were so like his father’s, and filled with more than a bit of fear now.

“So, you think I’m a whore, do you?” Claire spat out, her anger obviously not having cooled at all.

It took him a long moment to find his voice, “you told me yourself that you and Sean have had plenty of lovers. And we know who yours included” he added more quietly as he cast his eyes down.

Claire scoffed to hide her own hurt and buy herself a moment to try and calm any of that anger. She then finally decided that it was way past the time that he understood what exactly had led to her one sexual encounter with his father, as difficult as it even was to describe or admit.

“The night that your mother died…” she began as she braced herself, “the same night that your father and I were together that one time… It wasn’t my choice” she forced herself to finish.

Sebastian immediately looked up with shock making way for his own anger, “you’re telling me that my father raped you? And then you decided to give his son a job; not to mention everything else? I find that hard to believe.”

“No, your father didn’t rape me; not really. He did want it more than I did at that particular moment; but that’s because he didn’t know the real reason why I offered myself to him that night” she forced herself to begin that story.

“He wanted it more than you?” Sebastian shook his head in doubt, “but you offered yourself to him? In what world do those two sentences go together?” he asked her bitterly.

“Basically, I was forced to go and seduce him” she made herself further explain.

Sebastian scoffed, “and how the hell does one get forced to seduce someone?”

Claire sighed heavily as she thought about how to explain that entire night to him. Possibly because of her own remaining anger, she decided that the best way to convince him of how that was possible would be to show him. On that thought she leaned down, looking deep into his eyes, “go over to the window and jump out” she told him in that eerie tone.

He swallowed a lump in his throat as he pushed himself to his feet and shakily moved toward the window, trying to debate on how bad a drop from the second story really would be.

Just as he began to open the window, Claire spoke again, “never mind. Sit back down” she told him in that same forceful tone as he turned back to her and slowly, warily moved back to his seat, watching her with even more disbelief and fear then, “that’s how” Claire finished pointedly.

Nearly shaking then, he watched her for another long moment before finding his voice again, “you can make people do whatever you say?”

“Why do you think that asshole downstairs just left?” she returned smartly, satisfied that Sebastian would be showing her a bit more respect for the rest of the conversation.

“And have you always been able to do that?” he had to ask, afraid to take his dark eyes off of her at all now.

“Only for the last two hundred years or so, give or take a few decades” Claire answered with a trace of smugness left over from her already foul mood.

“Then how…” he just shook his head, “how was someone able to force you to do that… against your will?” he added unnecessarily.

“Because as old as I am, there are other vampires who are older, more powerful and more evil, than I have ever been” she added pointedly.

“Here?” Sebastian asked as he looked toward that window warily.

“The one who made me do that is dead now, thankfully” she answered as she continued to watch him.

“But I don’t understand… why would this other vamp want to force you to… to go have sex with my father?” Sebastian had to ask.

Claire sighed again, “like I said; he was evil. He got off on pain and death and misery. He sent me to seduce your father hoping that either me or your mother would die that night; he didn’t care which of us” she added more quietly. After another long moment wherein they both stared at the floor in silence, she spoke again, “so I hope you can see why being called a whore for being forced against my will to do that… it’s a tad upsetting” Claire finished sarcastically, but with a slight sniffle as well.

“I didn’t know…” Sebastian stated quietly, his guilt obvious.

“It wasn’t exactly a pleasant story” Claire added as she tried to compose herself again.

“But for ten years you let me think that…” Sebastian shook his head.

“See last statement” Claire returned with another light sniffle. “Now, about these women you hired…” she forced the subject back around.

“I get that you didn’t want whores here; but it is what the men want. They make a ton of money and they keep the customers calmer than they’d be otherwise” Sebastian attempted to defend, only slightly thankful for the subject change.

“Do you not understand how upsetting it is for me to see women treated that way?” Claire stated plainly.

“Treated what way?” Sebastian returned with a shake of his head.

“Like property; like they’re not real people with real feelings” Claire stated, some of that coolness returning to her tone.

“I’m not forcing them to be here; and I try to keep them as safe as possible” Sebastian offered as his defense.

Claire sighed, “unless you’re in the rooms with them; you can’t guarantee their safety, Sebastian” she warned. Not able to easily refute her statement right away, Sebastian looked down silently. After another few moments, Claire sighed again, “but I suppose I can try to.”

“What?” Sebastian asked as he looked up at her again.

“Believe me, I am still in no way comfortable with women believing that is their only use in this world, but I will ask them all point blank if they honestly want to stay and do this” Claire sighed again, “if they truly want to be here, I can help keep them a bit safer than they’d be in any other establishment.”

“How?” Sebastian asked as he watched her warily.

Claire sighed once more, “when I’m not here, you’ll be serving special drinks to our clientele; and when I am here, I’ll be serving them, and I’ll be having a little chat with each man before he takes any woman upstairs.”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at that, “special drinks?”

“Drinks that will make them behave a bit more gentlemanly towards the fairer sex” she stated, and then added more quietly, “plus it’ll keep any girls who do choose to stay from having bastard children put in them; which is always a dicey situation for any woman anyway” she finished as she looked down with another soft sigh.

Sebastian swallowed another lump in his throat, “you mean your blood, don’t you?”

“It’s not exactly ethical, but if it’ll keep the men under control, and make them actually show respect to myself as well as any other women employed here; I’d say it’s a fair trade.”

“I’m still a little unclear on how your blood will keep the men under control. I mean, I know about the effect the blood has on unborn children” he stated as he looked down guiltily, “but you lost me on the other part.”

“Our blood does have a peculiar effect on mortals; it makes them a lot more pleasantly disposed to the Kindred whose blood they taste. It’s how we know that our servants at the estate will protect us with their lives. Our blood makes it so” she gave him the short version of that explanation.

“You’re saying you could literally control every man in town… with a drop of your blood?” Sebastian asked as his eyes widened.

“The ones that like their drink anyway; then again, they are the ones who usually need a bit of control, aren’t they?” she returned smartly while adopting a smile to hide all that wariness and guilt that she still felt at the idea of binding so many mortals to her will. Though in a town and time as brutal as this, what other choice did she honestly have? Or at least that’s what she tried to tell herself at any rate.