“Letting you run around biting everyone in sight worsens my reputation as well, you know,” Seamus said. “I didn’t parade you in front of the leadership only for you to embarrass me. I want you to learn control, but the only way to do that is to feed and accept that you may struggle to spare them at first.”
“Why are you so chill about this?” Zack asked.
“You mean, why aren’t I an asshole right now?” Seamus stepped back from the woman, and she remained where she was. “I told you, I understand why your impression of me is so abominable. I forgive you for that, but you should open your eyes and come to your own conclusions. You did about Roger.”
The situation couldn’t have been more different. Roger had bit him out of hunger and then broke off the fight in order to save Zack’s life. Everything that tumbled out afterward between them was two people growing closer. Seamus was trying to manufacture love and trust.
Zack longed for his dagger. He felt for its presence, but it wasn’t in the room. Seamus must have tucked it away in the mansion somewhere. Zack could only gain a general feel for the direction it was in.
And he was hungry. And Seamus had a point. Zack hadn’t learned how to stake a vampire in one go. It’d taken practice.Even babies have to learn how to eat.
“When I had a drop of Takashi’s blood, I started to go into a frenzy,” Zack admitted. “If I do that with her, you could stop me, couldn’t you?”
“Now you’re asking me to manipulate your emotions?” Seamus asked neutrally.
“Wouldn’t want to be an embarrassment.”
“I won’t let you attack anyone else. Now.” Seamus nodded at the woman. “Come take hold of her. You want to control her upper torso as much as her head. Our fangs are sharp. If she bucks or twists too much, you’ll cause more damage than you intend.”
Woodenly, Zack approached the woman. The part of him that had taken on a Cal voice was threatening to speak up, but Zack shoved it down.I’m a vampire. I’m hungry. All I can do is learn. She wasn’t fighting—whatever Seamus had done to her fear was still in place—so Zack had no trouble taking hold of her. He bared his fangs.
“Ah, ah,” Seamus said. “Not yet.”
Zack scowled at him.
Seamus shook his head and laughed gently. “You wanted to learn control. Across the room, control is easy. Don’t look so disappointed. We don’t have much time before the others are back, so I won’t make you wait long. You never want to bite the front of the neck. The angle is atrocious, but if you’re trying to spare them, then you don’t want to pierce their windpipe. You’ll be tempted to clamp onto the pulse throbbing in her neck. What throbs has blood pressure, and in the neck area, one wrong nick and your dinner is bleeding out in seconds. You want to consume from your bite, not lose it down the front of your shirt.”
Somehow, Seamus’s teaching tone helped settle the nerves climbing inside Zack.Just because he’s the bad guy doesn’t mean he’s wrong about everything. I mean, I haven’t met a more prolific killer. Except maybe Cal. Zack minutely noddedalong to Seamus’s speech while waiting for his opportunity. Blood was right there for the taking, and heneededit.
“All right,” Seamus said. “Now you can bite her.”
Zack took an extra second to map out the different things Seamus had said to avoid. Then he sank his fangs into her. Blood welled as he closed his mouth around the wound. He swallowed the first mouthful. More was waiting for him. Each swallow brought the soothing liquid into him and smothered the burning hunger in him. The taste was too novel to put into words. Zack slipped from himself to that place between consciousness and bliss, just a half step from forgetting reality entirely.
You’ll kill her, the voice in his head said.
I’m. HUNGRY.
So he drank.
The taste of the blood changed, becoming bitter. Startled, Zack released her, and the woman crumbled to the floor.
She didn’t have a heartbeat anymore.
“Shit,” Zack said. He started to bend down toward her.
Seamus put his hand on Zack’s shoulder. With his other hand, he tipped Zack’s chin back up. When Zack started to move, Seamus put more weight into his grip. “Never apologize for doing what you need in order to thrive, Zackery. You are worthy of this life.”
The sentiment had to be a lie. Another manipulation. Seamus didn’t care about anyone other than himself. That was what Zack had heard over and over, and he’d seen it for himself. A few nice words and a room full of expensive shit didn’t change the fact that Seamus had beaten him to death’s doorway. He’d only offered Zack the chance to become a vampire because it suited him. Zack just had to figure outwhy.
And he had to ignore the seed in his heart that threatened to sprout. Seamus couldn’t be sincere. He was evil. Everything hewas doing had to be an act. Zack had to match him and keep pace, or he’d drown.
But Zack wasn’t sure he was acting when he managed a smile at Seamus and murmured a warm “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 17
The other vampires led the way across the hall and three doors down. Takashi fell into step at the back of the group. Anton separated from the pack and carried on farther into the mansion while Xenofon, who had taken the front, opened the door. The smell of mortals drew Takashi’s attention, but he pushed his hunger back into its place. These were the other powerful elites of the GLC, and he had spent weeks attempting to know them. Without Seamus or Anton or even Roger, this was his chance to make an impression on them. He followed them into the room.
The space was barren of features except for eight wooden posts. Each side had a metal hoop attached to it. The same kind of heavy metal hoops were attached to the walls at regular intervals. Sixteen mortals—all human, Takashi realized from the smell—were gagged and tied to these hoops. Each was a fair distance from the next. All were naked. Some were weeping, while others seemed too checked out to realize what was happening to them.
