“We were wealthy, and during what they called the Reconstruction era, properties and businesses were very nearly being given away. I mean, there were no jobs, and food was scarce, so our goal was to snatch up some land and then head back to Europe. During our travels one night, we came upon an encampment of people displaced because of the war. They were in tatters and rail-thin, but their veins contained what we needed, and since, by then, we knew how to compel, there shouldn’t have been a problem…except Polly took Victor by surprise.”

“Victor’s the one who turned her?”

“Yes. He’d finished feeding and thought she’d passed out. He was about to compel her to forget when Polly pulled out a knife and stabbed him. Victor’s instinct was to fight back, and he inadvertently did his job a little too well, taking her life in the process. That left us with two choices. Either we could take the head of an innocent woman who’d done nothing more than try to defend herself, thus preventing her from becoming one of us, or we could bring her into the fold. By that time, Max no longer had the stomach to murder innocents, so Polly became a vampire shortly afterward.

“She was born and raised in the hills of West Virginia, and her only education was being taught how to shoot a gun, skin a squirrel, and make moonshine. She couldn’t read or write, and once Max heard her thick hillbilly accent, he decided he’d turn yet another sow’s ear into yet another silk purse…and he did. Polly took to learning like I did, and there are only a few better than she when it comes to fighting. So, if I’m to be labeled a Phoenix, why not Polly?”

“You have a point, and not to rob you or Polly of your Phoenix moniker, but wouldn’t that make all vampires Phoenixes? I mean, we all rise again—right?”

“Yes, we do, but it’s not just about coming back from the dead. It’s about emerging as something stronger and better than you were before. An improvement on the original, if you will. With Angelique, she’s turned into one of the strongest women I know. I mean, think about it. She spent centuries living under the roof of a man she loathed in order to protect our community. If that doesn’t take strength, intelligence, and fortitude, I don’t know what does.”

“I see what you’re saying,” Lisa said, bobbing her head.