Chapter Four
Adalyn never knew aworld without vampires.When they came out of the proverbial crypt ninety years prior, the world went into an upheaval.Worse than it already was, if her history lessons in school were to be believed.The Earth had been slowly dying from too many wars, too much poverty, and too much pollution.Humans were awful creatures.The vampires had had enough of hiding and decided to give their management a try.
It turns out, vampires were savvy economists.
She’d never been fascinated by them, and certainly never thought one of them would end up being her first lover.Blinking to dislodge the sleep, the memories of the night slowly replayed in her mind.Although she had no one else to compare him to, it was hard to imagine another man being careful of her first time.Gareth had been ...gentle, for the most part.Like he cared for her.Or meant something.Maybe she was simply projecting a sense of romanticism to the whole evening in hopes it erased how she’d sold herself.Blowing out a deep sigh, she rose and dressed.
In the cold light of day, she had mixed emotions.The night with Gareth had been ...extraordinary.At the same time, shame washed over her.She placed a hand over the area where he’d bitten her neck, secretly in awe at the euphoric feeling it invoked.No one told her how incredibly awesome it would feel, and she saw why people would voluntarily become thralls.Opening the ornate doors, she came face to face with a human male.He had no emotion on his face, but he greeted her and said he would escort her to the banker so she could collect her payment.
As he escorted her down to ground level, she thought about Gareth.Instinctively she knew that it was going to take a long time to forget him.Of all the scenarios that could’ve happened, she was glad it had been him who bought her.
She was led to an office that had a sign designated as ‘banker.’A woman waited for her, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk.Adalyn turned to thank the man, but he’d already walked away.
“Please, have a seat.”
Adalyn sat, and the memories still rolled through her mind like a projector screen.She touched her neck, feeling the slight ripple in the skin where he’d bitten her.Why did she feel strange now?Like she’d just passed through a veil and came out the other side a completely different person.
“They’ll fade.”
Adalyn’s gaze refocused on the banker.“Excuse me?”
The woman pointed at her neck.“They’ll fade by this evening.It’ll be like they were never there.”
“Oh.”Adalyn didn’t know how to feel about the puncture marks.Part of her wished they’d stay forever.The other part wanted them gone as soon as possible.
“This is the agreed upon payment,” she said, handing over an envelope.Then she placed a piece a paper in front of her.“This is the termination of the contract, payment paid in full.Please sign at the bottom.”
Adalyn quickly scribbled her signature.When she held the envelope, it seemed a little too fat, so she looked inside, immediately realizing there was too much.
“Wait,” she said, frowning.“I only want the contract price.”
“You have that.The rest is a tip from Lord Huntley.”
Several things hit her all at once.One, Gareth had a nobility title.Two, she discovered his last name.Three, he just reinforced all her self-deprecating thoughts.Vulgar words ricocheted through her head.Whore.Slut.Tramp.It took effort to stomp it all down and lift her chin.
Adalyn pulled out the money and counted fifty thousand.Then she held out the rest.“Please return this to Lord Huntley.”
The woman’s eyes widened.“What?”
“I said to please return this to Lord Huntley.I only want the contracted amount.”
“But ...but...
