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to Fang Manor, the stately mansion where the vampires lived. The three–story house sat on a ten acre lot along a quiet dead end road and was an hour’s drive outside the city. Tonight was poker night. Dixon tended to be the big loser when he played, but he didn’t play for the win. He loved the company.
    He parked his car along the driveway leading to the garage. The mansion had been the home of the vampires since well before Dixon took office. Over the past few decades, the manor had undergone changes. The place now had a sleeping deck on the third floor, a beautiful porch that wrapped around the front of the house, a restored basement and even an apartment over the detached garage. Fang Manor was a beautiful brick home, which sat in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for a den of vampires.
    Before exiting the car, Dixon grabbed a technical journal which lay on the passenger seat. This one discussed the latest apps for remotely running a home. Overall, not the most mentally challenging of documents to read, but enough to occupy his mind with numbers. Fooling Sulie proved to be one thing, but fooling her brother was a whole new ballgame. The vampire had the ability to pick up mental patterns. The last thing Dixon wanted was for Raymond to suspect any romantic intentions Dixon had for the man’s sister. Dixon felt he wasn’t good enough for Sulie and he didn’t need to hear that truth from his best friend. Plus, it would make his work as the Colony Director awkward. When dealing with vampires, attacks against the government, protecting the president — he didn’t need awkward in the mix. He needed trust and respect.
    A cool breeze hit him as he exited the car. Dixon took a tentative sniff into the air, but smelled no food cooking. The time ran past the dinner hour and the absence of food surprised him. Sulie always made something for him to eat when he came over. She had promised fish for him this evening.
    He walked past the gazebo, the rose bushes, and up to the wooden steps leading to the kitchen. The security alarm always remained activated at the house. Dixon punched in the special code, submitted to an iris eye exam, and to a fingerprint scanner. The alarm beeped, allowing him access. The building had a top of the line security model, which was detailed in another technical journal Dixon owned. One that he had nearly memorized, like many others, he read so often.
    Once in the house, he noticed Sterling, Sulie’s nephew, in the kitchen. The half–breed stood nearly as tall as Dixon, but the similarities ended there. Sterling looked GQ pretty and had the blond hair and tanned body that models envied. He wasn’t as strong as the other vampires in the group, but a far cry from a weak human. Tonight Sterling dressed in his old skin coverings, which resembled long–johns, preventing his skin from touching anything. Dixon understood the half–breed’s ability to flash on every object he touched — gleaning the object’s history in a painful process which caused Sterling to have headaches and skin rashes. Tonight, Sterling even wore gloves. It meant one thing — his wife Kate wasn’t in the house. He never needed to be that covered when his lovely pregnant wife was around.
    Overall, Sterling was easy to fool. Dixon just couldn’t let the vampire touch him or Sterling would be able to read emotions from his skin. It wasn’t like they went around hugging or anything, so Dixon rarely had to be on guard with him.
    “Grab me a beer too, will ya Sterling?” Dixon asked, smiling.
    “Sure thing.” He handed Dixon a cold bottle from the refrigerator after Dixon put his keys and coat down on the kitchen table.
    Fang Manor remained quiet, which seemed odd considering how many vampires lived in the mansion. Other than William, who had pulled White House duty tonight, Dixon wondered where everyone was — especially Sulie. “Where is everyone?” he asked.
    Sterling shrugged his shoulders. “The women are out to dinner