Not like I would need to change it. The second it was out, it would be changed for me. If I ate all the cheese? New, expensive cheese would show up the nextnight. Cleaning the fridge? Done for me. Cleaning the rest of the house? Taken care of when I wasn’t home.
Yes, the vampire presence in my house was pretty obvious. I was living with an army of invisible butlers. And while that sounded super cool, and might’ve been a lifelong dream once upon a time, I also knew they were reporting my every move to their master. Darius. The most persistent, overbearing vampire I’d ever met. He treated me like we were bonded and I was fragile, even though no way were we bonded, and I certainly wasn’t fragile. He acted like he was still under orders from Vlad (elder vampire supreme) to protect and look after me, and he did it with the diligence and the attention to detail that had kept him alive through so many troubled periods throughout history.
Did I mention I’d tried to bar the door? Didn’t matter. With their “breaking and entering” magic, as I called it, they could undo any lock I tried to use, then waltz in against my wishes, rearrange everything, look through my stuff, stock my fridge, and wash, fold, and put away my undies. My undies!
Did I say overbearing? I meant suffocating.
Had I paid for the service, okay, but he was doing this after I’d expressly asked him to leave me alone. To give me some space. To stop trying to break into my magically protected closet and poke through my stuff, for criminy sakes!
“Reagan, part of protecting you is to protect you from yourself. I just want to know what it is you are hiding,” he’d said.
I’d tried to punch him, but he was danged fast. Instead, I’d said, “Fat chance,” slammed the door in his face, locked it, and pretended I didn’t hear him unlock it immediately after. Then chuckled darkly.
That vampire was tap-dancing on my last nerve.
What was nuts was that his actions were not standard operating procedure for vampires. I’d asked around. Even people who were bonded, which basically meant they shared a special link with a vampire, didn’t get this kind of attentiveness.
The only thing I could figure was that Darius was trying to put me in a gilded cage. He knew what I was, which meant he also knew I was his meal ticket to becoming the most powerful vampire in the world. He probably thought all the help and gifts would keep me happy, which would keep me put.
He didn’t know me very well.
If he made a move on me, I’d kill him. I would probably need help, because he was old as hades, and an exceptional adversary, but I had backup. Callie and Dizzy, two high-powered mages, had become my family. They also knew my past, they’d helped hide me when I was a baby, and they knew vampires were not to be trusted. The three of us could get me out of most anybind.
Hopefully. That theory had yet to be tested.
I rubbed my forehead as I stared into the fridge. It had been a long, kind of terrible, day. I took out some high-quality cheese, salami, and grapes. Whoever did the shopping got only the best, and clearly the most expensive, stuff. Not like I could taste the difference. My magic was powerful, but my palate was weak.
From the equally stocked pantry, I grabbed some fresh French bread. After I’d picked out a bottle of wine, a knock sounded on the door.
It was either the cops or Mikey wanting to know what was going on. Maybe even Mince looking to gossip.
I set the full plate onto the counter, flicked on the hall light so I didn’t seem weird, and answered the door.
My stomach flipped over and tingles spread across my skin.
Stupid, handsome vampire.
Darius stood at my door in a black button-up shirt that hugged his muscular chest and pulled taut across his broad shoulders. The vee of his upper body led down into trim hips encircled by a black leather belt, holding up formfitting jeans that probably cost as much as some people’s rent.
When dealing with normal people for days at a time, I always forgot how incredibly hot Darius was,and how incredibly powerful. He moved with a raw magnetism that entranced the eye. It was probably because I’d taken blood from him once, but his proximity made my body vibrate in worrying ways. If I didn’t keep my wits, I was liable to reach out and run my hand up that bumpy torso, or reach around and grab that perfect ass.
Great googly-moogly, I needed to stay away from this vampire. He was decadent sin in a mouth-watering wrapper.
“What’s up?” I asked, blocking the doorway.
His eyes roamed my face. “Your eyebrows have gone missing again.”
“You’ve always excelled at observation.” Just as I, apparently, excelled at losing my eyebrows.
“Yes. I heard about theaswangand, more importantly, Garret allegedly saving your life.” He paused, watching my reaction. I was sure he saw what he was looking for. That sore spot might not go away for a while. “I thought you might like some company.”
Who was he in contact with at the MLE office, I wondered?
“No. I’m okay,” I said. “Thanks, though. I know I’ve said this before, a few times, but could you please tell…whoever it is that I can do my own shopping and laundry? I’d rather not have someone in here when I’m gone.” There. That was a nice-guy approach. I hadn’t tried that one yet, maybe.
“Don’t be absurd,” he scoffed. “Only simpletons perform those duties for themselves. Clear the way. I’ll make you dinner.”
Nice-guy approach was out. I didn’t much like sayingpleaseto him anyway.
