Changes (Belle Morte Book 4)

Chapter Eight

Jason

Renie stared back at Kendrick, apparently lost for words.

"That's bullshit," Jason said, then winced. Ysanne had specifically called for everyone to be on their best behaviour, and that probably didn't include swearing at their visitors.

He made apologetic eyes at Ysanne, but she didn't seem to notice.

Jason cleared his throat and tried again. "You can't strip them of their human rights. They're still people."

"No, they're not. Vampires are not human beings; therefore they are not entitled to the same rights as humans." Kendrick looked smug, and Jason wished he had something to throw at the bastard.

"Prime Minister, is this accurate?" said Ysanne.

McGellan weighed her words before answering. "Technically, yes. The Human Rights Act protects humans, but as Mr Kendrick pointed out, vampires are not humans."

"But . . . this is ridiculous," Renie spluttered.

"You drink blood. You live forever. You can't go out in sunlight. You have superhuman strength and superhuman healing. Ergo, you aren't human," Kendrick said.

"We're still people." Renie's voice rose to a near-shout, trembling with anger and emotion, and she half-rose out of her seat.

Edmond took her hand, murmuring something Jason couldn't hear. Renie sat back down, clinging to Edmond. Her mouth was pressed into a tight line, holding back anything else she wanted to say.

Maybe that violated Ysanne's code of conduct too, but this time Jason didn't care. He'd braced himself for things to get bad, but he hadn't thought they'd get this bad, this quickly.

Losing their humans rights?

Surely that couldn't happen. They might be vampires, but they were still citizens. Almost everyone in this room had lived in this country longer than Kendrick had been alive – much longer. Didn't that count for anything?

Even Davis looked startled. "You cannot just revoke their rights."

"I haven't revoked anything. The law has." Kendrick still wore that same smug smile.

"This can't be legal," said Jason, beseeching the PM with his eyes.

"The reality is that we are facing a situation unlike anything we ever imagined. The Human Rights Act is supposed to protect the citizens of this country –"

"Which includes vampires!"

McGellan didn't react to the interruption. "But Mr Kendrick is right. Vampires are not humans and therefore they are not subject to the same rights."

Jason closed his eyes, wondering if he was actually stuck in some horrible nightmare. "Let me get this straight," he said. "In the United Kingdom, in this day and age, you are proposing to strip an entire group of people of their basic rights?"

"No, we're saying they never had those rights to begin with," said Kendrick. "We can't strip something they never had."

"What about Renie and Roux?" said Jason, indicating them with his hand. "They've only been vampires for a few days. Up until then they would have been protected under that Act, so yeah, actually you are proposing to strip them of those rights."

"They lost those rights the moment they relinquished their humanity," Kendrick said.

"I didn't relinquish anything," Roux snapped, her eyes blazing red. "DeSanti kidnapped me and turned me without my consent."