I assumed they meant me. So great to be talked about like I wasn’t even here. Like I was property with no say in what happened.
More and more, my decision to remain hidden was being validated.
The two faced off, the human and I forgotten as the tension ratcheted up.
This was awesome. Perhaps they would fight, and I could slip away in the resulting chaos. I could even take the human for a snack.
Just like that, I was fixated on his neck, staring and close to drooling. Just a sip would go so far in quenching this awful thirst.
Kat hissed at the other vampire. I sidled up to the human and bent closer.
A blow knocked me sideways, sending me crashing into Kat. We landed on the floor in a pile of limbs.
“What’s this?” the vampire who’d kidnapped me thundered.
His eyes glowed bright blue in the space, his fangs descending and giving him a feral appearance.
My senses returned in a rush now that I was away from the human. I hated referring to him as that. Human. It made me sound like a monster.
The bloodlust was worse tonight. I kept fixating. If I kept this up, I wouldn’t be able to trust myself in my normal life. Even when Jenna had crashed in on me last night, I hadn’t been so out of control.
Wait. Last night.
That’s the last time I’d had any blood. No wonder I was having so much trouble resisting the human. I was hungry. No. Starving.
I mentally kicked myself. I knew better. I never forgot and always made sure to keep myself properly fed. It’s the best way I’d found to keep myself from snapping.
How could I have forgotten?
Even if events had been rather distracting in the past two days, my body should have craved it, warning me to top up. When the sorcerer showed up this morning, I should have been jonesing for his blood like a junkie cruising for her next hit.
Why hadn’t I? Had he done something to me? And if so, was it something that could be replicated?
While thinking about my hunger problems, I had tuned out of the conversation. With a start, I realized they were talking about me.
“No one is claiming the yearling until I say so.”
They both protested.
My kidnapper growled, sounding more like the werewolves from last night than the vampire he was. How was he even able to do that? I never sounded like that when I was mad.
“I don’t have time for this. Aiden, I called you here to learn more about the death of your family member. This was the last place I’d been able to trace him to before he was found dead in his apartment. There might be some clue in the tapes.”
“It’s always business with you, Liam. You never were any fun, even when you were young. I just wanted to get a feel for the girl to see if she would fit in my clan.”
“I don’t have time for your lack of focus. This killer is escalating,” Liam said with forced patience. I was surprised when he didn’t turn the glowing eyes back on. He seemed to have a rather short temper. “If you don’t mind the death of another of your children, I will be happy to step aside while you fence with words in another Clan’s home. Or you could watch the tapes and tell me what you see.”
“He needs permission from the club manager before viewing Davinish property,” Kat said, shooting Aiden a glare.
She really didn’t seem to like this Aiden and was borderline disrespectful towards the end. It was surprising since she’d gone on and on about respecting my elders when Liam turned me over to her. Patriarch, I knew, represented a family head. Same for Matriarch. What one was doing in the back room of a club, I did not know.
The glowing eyes came back on, forcing Kat to bow her head and back down.
“The fact that I said I needed him should be enough,” the vampire hissed, his voice hitting notes I’d never heard in a human’s voice.
For the first time, I noticed the stack of DVDs in the vampire’s hands. I had a sneaking suspicion the man I was supposed to meet in the apartment was on them. It might be worth trying to get a look. The sorcerer would probably want some clues to go on if his contact was dead.
I would also need something to go on if I had any hope of getting out of my fool’s bargain. I didn’t think even induction into a vampire family could save me from the sorcerer’s claim.
