Chapter 9: The Warehouse

  Caleb drove us across Encinar to an old building down by the old waterfront where he assumed our targets were shacked up. The hideous eyesore of a large rectangular building was covered in different words painted across almost every inch of the structure’s exterior. Other large buildings were tucked close and all packed near a rail line for easy offloading of supplies. Yet they were all abandoned.

  Much like the club, we parked some distance away and walked to the ugly building. Along the way through the warehouse to the office, Caleb asked, voice echoing inside the abandoned building, “So what were you humming in the store?”

  “The British Grenadiers.” I smiled at the ThinGen. He raised an eyebrow in reply, so I twirled a hand and swung my legs in a curtsy. “I am a privateer extraordinaire!”

  “I thought you were Encinar’s mayor?”

  “I wasn't always the mayor.” I wagged a finger at Caleb and winked. “At one point I may have been a privateer for the Nassau Empire, but it was only because the Empress paid better and actually honored the deal. The British had better music, but refused to acknowledge my sire or I as legitimate ship captains. Something about women not being allowed on ships.”

  “Huh. Whose side did you guys fight on?”

  I waved a hand dismissively. “I had my own country to worry about once the skirmish became a dust-up in ‘73 when some yanks threw tea into the sea!”

  “What?!” Caleb blinked a few times at me, shaking his head like he just had a spasm for the first time since he was turned.

  “I was not just a mayor, Caleb.” I pointed at the ground beneath our feet. “I founded Encinar with a group of mortals! We stole gold from London and Paris, bought the land from Spain; We worked a deal where my sire and I kept Encinar safe from werewolves in return for blood tithes. This attracted more vampire and mortal refugees and soon, the little ranch became a small city in California.”

  Caleb shook his head again and made his way up to the office door, which opened before he reached it and a brick of a mortal with shoulders as wide as the door frame blocked our path. The man had muscles almost as big as my head! He wore grubby clothes like the kind a beggar would wear, and he didn't look happy. “You two talk louder than a babe crying for their mother’s milk,” the brick said.

  I placed my hands on my hips and flicked my head toward the blood sack, hoping Caleb got the hint.

  Caleb spoke with a stammer that was annoying, because he knows how to speak. “W-we’re here to… to… speak with your boss!”

  “No,” the brick said.

  “What?” Caleb blinked.

  “I don't wanna take you to him.”

  “Why not?!”

  The blood sack shrugged. “Because I just don’t.”

  Caleb looked at me like a confused squirrel, working his mouth in an attempt to come up with a plan. I refused to tell the ThinGen anything. He whirled around on the mortal and pointed a finger. “Listen here, you little… little… mortal! I am a fucking vampire and you’ll do what I tell you!”

  I covered my mouth to suppress the smile and made it look like I was yawning instead. Caleb was quite terrible at intimidation! Perhaps he should instead stick with being a merchant pinata.

  “I don't care if you're a vampire. Go away, noisy ones.” The brick closed the door in Caleb’s face. The ThinGen knocked on the door again only for a muffled voice to tell us to leave.

  To his credit, Caleb didn't relent and knocked again while I wandered off, looking for another entrance into the office, listening for movement nearby. There was only the distant roar of highway traffic and a few honks here and there.

  The warehouse had quite a few places to hide with old rundown machinery and long shadows cast by light barely creeping through holes in the ceiling. A strange stench of oils mixed with grease and rust filled the air as I explored the ground floor with my new revolver weighing heavy in my hand with a familiar weight.

  I longed to feel the weight of a cutlass in my off-hand as if it were still my fledgling years. Perhaps I could find a blacksmith to make me one.

  Had I been able to sweat, I was sure my hand would be slick with it. I instinctively wiped it on my dress before twirling the heavy revolver backward, and then forward, gripping it in the ready position. Something didn't feel right about the building. My footsteps failed to echo in the large, abandoned space, but that wasn’t what was odd. That was normal, because the shadows awaited my command.

  It just felt like we weren’t alone.

  I passed by machinery taller than I was. One piece of machinery appeared like a mechanical crane on wide train tracks holding a beam precariously aloft on thin lines. In a way, the beam looked like a piece of the building they had picked up off the ground. I watched it move very slightly in the wind that managed to make it through the gaps in the windows, creaking and groaning.

  Caleb’s angry shout carried to me, “Come on! This is my first assignment. Let me in, man!”

  “No!” the other man yelled back as I glanced at a hole in the ceiling. A few lights attached to an airship moved above us low enough I could make out separate blinking white and red lights, but either it made no noise or it was too far away to hear. The other man continued, “The Top Hats are too many. We do not want them here. Deal with them.”

  I glanced back to the faint light spilling out from the office. Caleb was insistent, I’ll give him that, but Top Hats?

  Inquisitors? Here in Encinar?!

  “Shit,” I whispered, finally noting the building’s prime ambush spots as being everywhere! Mortals could be sneaking through the shadows toward Caleb and he wouldn't know, because he was too busy arguing with the brick. And I wouldn't know because I’d been neglecting my eyes and ears.

  “Fledgling!” I yelled for Caleb, my voice carrying as far as the darkest shadow, reminding me that not even they wanted to deal with helping my voice reach him.

  I did something I should have done as soon as we arrived, and focused my blood on my eyes and ears, my heart finally sending a second beat that night.

  Even though it was fairly dark, I found the world becoming as bright as daytime with all the colors associated with it. I absorbed every detail about the machinery from the flaking paint to the stickers covered in dust. There was faint shuffling some distance away off to my right. Just barely audible over Caleb and the mortal arguing about what the ThinGen was supposed to be doing there.

  My heart pulsed a third time as I stepped into the shadows and melted, following the new sounds around the machines and between crates until movement caught my eye near one of the larger machines. I pressed myself against the strange manufacturing machine and made my profile as small as possible, exposing only half of my body.

  Roughly fifteen yards away, five pairs of light green orbs attached to the faces of armored men bobbed through the maze of machinery while pencil thin red dots were attached to weapons in their hands.

  They were bulked up in padded long sleeve shirts and pants with helmets and neck protection, indicating they knew who their targets were. And if there was any doubt to what their purpose was, the holstered stakes were a clear message to me.

  The Inquisition was still active in Encinar when I thought we had run them out half a decade ago. Encinar was my city, not theirs. I had to get rid of them.

  I aimed down the revolver’s red scope at the man in the middle of the pack, placing the red dot on his head, waiting for a clear shot on his jaw as they approached with their modern rifles drawn. They claimed it was accurate to forty yards, but didn’t specify the grouping. I was about to find out just how accurate their claim was. An intense ache unlike any I experienced thus far built in my exposed fangs while I watched the soldiers approach my position, feeling like I’d seen a similar scene at least once in my past, but it didn't matter when or where.

  I had to protect her from the hunters. They couldn't get into the house, but here they were approaching my front door. Amelia wanted me to hide, but that wasn't me.

  I am many things, but a coward I am not.

  I tracked the slow moving target, bracing the heavy revolver with my other hand, and squeezed the trigger when they turned in my direction. The revolver kicked back against my undead wrists, shockwave rippling through the dead flesh into my shoulders. A massive flash illuminated the soldiers for an instant, followed immediately by an ear shattering report loud enough to make me smile at the sheer power in my hands.

  The revolver was a darned ship cannon, not a pistol!

  My cover blown, I ducked behind the machine once more as my headache faded. I melted with the darkness right when surprised shouting echoed from both Amelia and the hunters. One of the hunters screamed about something I didn't care to listen to. They returned fire with a crescendo of shots, bullets impacting metal and concrete where I'd been standing only moments ago.

  One man yelled, barely audible over the rapid popcorn pops of return gunfire, “Shots fired, shots fired! Requesting backup. I say again, shots fired! Targets are armed!”

  A strange metal tube clinked into my view, rolling to a stop near where I’d been standing. It reminded me of a grapeshot container for the cannons, only much, much smaller. I shrieked involuntarily, realizing it might be an explosive and dashed for cover behind another machine. A flash illuminated the warehouse like the sun shone through the ceiling.

  Followed by a hollow explosion that rocked the building, sending glass shards and dust raining down around us. I instinctively covered my head. Shrapnel tore my beautiful dress to shreds as if it was tiny needles digging their way deep into my skin.

  “Fan out!” Another hunter shouted as the popping slowed to a stop. “They can't have gone far.”

  Fangs aching for blood, body itching while it worked to push the glass shards out and heal the damage, I focused on finding a quick solution to the problem. I couldn't keep dancing through the shadows without draining someone dry. I stepped around a stack of crates and aimed at the hunters once more, looking for a target.

  Amelia’s frightened scream seared its way into my skull from somewhere nearby.

  The men frantically searched the darkness for me. An unmoving one lay on the ground while another dragged him from the fight toward cover, separating him from the others. I moved swiftly, stepping into the darkness close to me and reappearing next to him.

  He tried to turn and face me, but I was faster. I slipped in behind and found a weakness in his armor they didn’t expect me to find. They likely never considered it because of their group tactics. Most of their armor was in the front and it was far less armored than I initially thought. It all focused on the chest, neck, head, and elbows without pauldrons to cover their shoulders. And since the armor was form-fitting cloth, it looked easy to bite through. Even if it was plate metal I could rip it off him.

  I practically jumped on his back, wrapped an arm around his torso in an effort to keep his arms pinned, and buried my fangs into a shoulder. My beast hungered. She wanted blood. He had blood. He was trying to kill me. I’ll kill him instead.

  I wanted to, I wanted to drain every last drop of his blood. The warm lifeblood slid down my throat and fueled my body. My body absorbed the sip and wanted more. She wanted more. I had to give it to her. I had to have it all.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The three remaining men were practically back to back less than eight yards away, sweeping their glowing faces left to right. I didn’t give a fuck and drank as much as I could.

  “Primary target spotted!” one yelled as his gaze fell upon me. He brought his weapon up.

  I spun around to put his thrashing comrade between him and I. The man’s elbow slammed into my gut, his hands clawed at my face and hair, trying with all his might to rip me away. They learned just how strong a vampire’s grip was.

  I pressed the revolver against the man’s spine and pulled the trigger, since his comrades weren’t giving me the satisfaction of draining him dry and there was no more time. I hoped to at least hit one of the others, but I didn’t aim and didn’t see where the shot went.

  He stopped moving. I shoved the man forward. He stumbled ahead, falling to his knees as I lined up a shot to the back of his skull.

  The enemy’s weapon barked thrice in the same breath my revolver roared once more.

  A bullet stung my shoulder and another slapped my bicep, digging deep and tearing off a small chunk on the way out.

  The rest of the squad were already turning to fire on me.

  My hunger burned, willing me to stay and fight until all were dead, but I had to save Amelia. Another ache yearned for me to unleash the beast on them. It tore across my scalp and into my fangs, but I couldn't stay. Staying and fighting an armed mob was suicide. They'd stake me to a pole until the sun rose.

  I broke line of sight by darting around a machine and thought about stepping into the shadows again, but that wouldn't work with how much my headache seemed to be moving around. My blood wouldn't listen and demanded I sustain it with the nearest walking blood sack. The ones behind me were too grouped up for that. I had to find one that was weak and there was one near Amelia.

  I ran for the office, throwing caution to the wind, as muzzle flashes illuminated the warehouse like a fireworks display. One bullet snapped past my head, another bit across my lower back, followed by a couple ripping through my dress as it swayed in the wind.

  Amelia stood in the doorway with a dumbfounded blood sack. Both were mortified at my rapid approach.

  I held a hand out for my partner as I said flatly, “The party’s been crashed.”

  “You've been shot!” Amelia yelled, eyes wide in shock. She looked at my ruined dress and tried to feel it. There wasn't much blood to indicate where I was shot. Just the holes that itched profusely while my body worked to repair the damage and push the bullets out. Amelia continued, “How do I fix this?!”

  “I do.” I pointed at myself. “Look, we gotta skedaddle! There's five of ‘em and they called for the calvary. We ain’t staying.”

  I dared not look at the blood sack, lest his beating heart tempt me into draining him dry even though I wanted to. I was on the verge again for the second time tonight, but it felt worse. My fangs once more out on their own and digging into my skull, aching for blood. Blood that was only feet away.

  I leapt for the man with a shriek, my fangs going for his neck. Amelia yanked me back, shouting something I couldn't understand because it was elvish. She glared and pulled a can of blood from my dress, adding, “Drink this!”

  I had no idea I even had that on me! I followed her directions. The nasty canned blood did little aside from cutting the edge.

  “I tried to warn you!” the blood sack yelled. “You’ve been set up!”

  “By who?!” Amelia gasped, looking from me to the blood sack. She should know better, but she seemed different. Less herself.

  I pointed inside the office. “There’s no more time, Amelia, we need to skedaddle, now!”

  “Follow me!” The blood sack turned around and dashed inside the office.

  I waved for Amelia to give chase as one of the hunters shouted behind us, “Primary target spotted! Light her up!”

  Bullets shattered the wooden door and concrete wall, raining splinters and rock. Amelia rushed behind the mortal, leaving me to slip into the dark once more. I waited in the shadows for the hunters to appear before I unleashed my remaining two shots on the one in the lead, gaining a System Notification but there wasn't time to check what it was.

  *** ***

  We ran through the building, past stacks of tightly packaged items, and into another building, dodging gunfire along the way. Two of us took potshots at the hunters while they gave chase, their numbers increasing as time went on. The mortal blood sack from the office carried an automatic pistol with a large magazine. Had I known I could've bought a pistol like that, maybe I would have, but my boomcannon was perfect for me.

  Amelia kept her head down for the most part and shouted fruitlessly for the others to stop shooting. One bullet struck her square in the chest and sent the woman sprawling to the ground. I hauled her back to her feet and dragged her with me.

  I don't think Amelia understood the gravity of the situation. The hunters were organized with enough backup to have us surrounded if we were to stay. Their shots were precise, yet unhinged in a way that seemed more like they were stalling for time than advancing.

  Time…

  I checked my pocket watch and saw it was less than an hour before sunup. The sky had become lighter, all stars having long since disappeared.

  A wailing babe drew closer, followed by another and another.

  “What's that noise?” I asked as I lined up a shot on another mortal. Despite the impressive explosion coming from the barrel, my shot missed the man by quite a lot. It was a quick snapshot after all.

  The hunters returned fire, bullets thumping into the wall I slipped behind.

  “The coppers are coming! the blood sack exclaimed. The police were closing in, complicating the situation even further, because they likely didn't know how to deal with vampires. Much less heavily armed Inquisition hunters.

  “Just lovely! Now we have to deal with incompetent blood sacks bumbling about! They won't know how to deal with me. Just like these hunters have no clue who they are dealing with.”

  “Oh they do know how to deal with you, because they’re vampire police!”

  Vampire police? Vampire police?!

  There wasn’t enough time to ask about the details as I reloaded my revolver for the second time. Luckily the ammo I bought came in boxes of twenty rounds. I had two boxes, but left one in the pickup because I only had two speed loaders.

  We were half-way to Caleb’s pickup when the blood sack provided me with a bag of good sustenance to clear my head, because any fool could see me salivating once again over juicy lifeblood only feet away. Even with the canned manure I had drank earlier. I was using my powers left and right, draining my blood faster than I replenished it. It had been a while since that last happened. As Mayor of Encinar, fighting was left to other vampires.

  It was strange. My headache dissipated during the fight, leaving me somewhat clear headed as I checked over my handful of remaining magnum rounds. If only I had that rifle from the store I’d have another weapon to shoot back with. It’ll be my next purchase, or perhaps another boomcannon.

  A helicopter, as Amelia called it, not airship, circled overhead shining a light down on the original warehouse while multiple flashes of light echoed from within the walls. Almost as if the hunters were fighting the police now. Another whirlybird joined in and floated some distance from the scene opposite the first. Though, curiously, without a giant lantern.

  The blood sack said for us to split up and take three different cars. That his boss would contact us in the next few days. Then he vanished much like I could before I could tell him I didn't have a car.

  I herded the stunned Amelia toward Caleb’s pickup. A few shots had impacted her, but the woman’s body repaired them much like mine did. The twitch in her fingers and the way she licked her teeth reminded me of a hungry vampire, because it was a similar tick to mine.

  Amelia popped the door open and climbed inside, grabbing a can of blood to drink. I took two for myself and downed one before she even had the pickup started.

  Amelia’s grip on the steering wheel was just as shaky as her voice. “So… I don't know if we can make it to your house before dawn.”

  I checked my revolver once again and lightly clicked the cylinder shut. “Isn't it the opposite way?”

  She tilted her head a bit as she thought about it. “You know, you're right.”

  “What?”

  Amelia looked at me. “We get on the freeway heading the opposite way of traffic and put as much distance between us and the docks as we can. Maybe go into Lafayette and rent separate hotel rooms.”

  I waved toward the window. “Go!”

  *** ***

  I dreamed. An unusual thing for sure, but not the kind of restful dream mortals had. No, these were all too real as I crossed a muddy field ripped from the worst description of a battlefield you could imagine. Nothing left alive but a single beautiful tree.

  The breechloading musket was heavy in my hands as I ducked from crater to crater, trying to reach the safety of Amelia's tree. Her tree sat next to my house while the building burned to the ground in an inferno. People in black and white uniforms surrounded the house, mingling with blue and white uniforms, including some red uniforms. All wore tall hats and worked together to throw buckets of flame on my home.

  I dropped the rifle in the muck, reaching for the tree as a shout of pain left my lips. My heart thundered in my ears. Breathing ragged, I barely held on, but the tree climbed out of the ground and ran from me. From the monster I became.

  Flames dashed from the house, trying to turn me to ash as I dove into a crater.

  Only for my face to land right on a soft couch like someone threw me down on it. When I rolled on my back and looked up, a beautiful, yet terrible woman knelt over me with fangs bared and eyes as dark as voids. Shadows crisscrossed her body like scars, creating a horribly disfigured old monster from the abyss.

  She leaned in for my neck with a smile. All I could do was watch while my mortal body refused to fight back, heart pounding as if I galloped all night. Pain tore through my chest, blood leaking from many holes. And yet, the monster biting me was something I waited a long, long time for.

  A knock on the door pulled my thoughts from the dream right when the monster’s fangs pierced my neck, sending flames through my jaw as my eyes snapped open.

  A System Message appeared immediately: Level Up! Please choose your starting class to receive benefits.

  After dismissing the message, I pushed the blankets away and climbed out of the tub. It was pitch black, which was good. First, I knelt before the door to make sure no sunlight pierced the veil of shadows. Someone had opened it before me. The cloth I used to seal the light out was already pushed away from the gap at the bottom. I cracked the door open and stepped out, making my way through the dark room toward the front door.

  It was odd. I felt relaxed, completely sated, and could feel a very heavy meal in my veins. Some rested in my unbeating heart again, waiting for the signal to go anywhere in my body.

  Another knock rang out. Could be Caleb. Could be the police, or anyone, really. Still, I wrapped the camouflage jacket over my blouse and corset, checking the fit once again to be sure I had chosen correctly the night before. My dress’s top was shredded like an animal ravaged it at one point. Even the skirt and petticoat were damaged enough that I was forced to wear a pair of Caleb’s ill-fitting trousers.

  Light shone through the peephole and between the curtains and window. The kind of artificial light that came from lanterns rather than sun. Ungodly bright, yet consistent and not fear inducing.

  “Sire?” Caleb’s muffled voice called out. “I forgot my key.”

  I moved quietly, placing my feet as gently as I could on the floor until I reached the door. The tiny peephole was enough to see Caleb standing there with a fist full of cans in one hand and an open one in the other with a fourth tucked under an arm. Lights from the highway and city were in full effect, washing out the image beyond the hotel.

  He held one of the disgusting cans out for me when I opened the door. I sipped from the fake blood. It tasted fine today, which was odd. I tilted my head in response to the sweet sugar assaulting my tongue even as the normally nasty metallic aftertaste stayed behind.

  “Sleep well?” Caleb asked with a hint of concern. I downed half the can in one gulp. His red eyes followed my movements while his fingers drummed against his own drink.

  I stepped aside with a soft, happy gasp, and let him in. Caleb pushed his way past and into the room.

  “You might say that,” I said, locking the door. Then set my revolver on the table near the television in the center of the room. “I apologize if I did anything odd last night. My hunger took over and that is not like me.” I gulped down another mouthful of the warm drink.

  “About that…” Caleb bit his lip, fangs protruding in an almost adorable way.

  “Do you recall what happened? I remember seeing the hunters, aiming my revolver at them, and then… the night was a blur.”

  “You were shot multiple times,” he replied, waving a hand toward my shredded dress, which explained its state. “And hit by shrapnel from a grenade.”

  “It feels like it.” I rubbed my arm where it itched underneath the jacket as if it were freshly healed.

  “We escaped, headed to Lafayette where you grabbed a random woman and drank from her, so now we’re here in Orin." He cocked his head to the side along with an eyebrow.

  “What?” I blinked at his allegations, as it was impossible to travel that fast! Well, at least a week ago.

  “You damn near killed her! It took all of my strength and another vampire to rip you away from her.”

  It didn’t make sense. I remembered shooting the first hunter, but nothing after that. It was a haze of darkness and blood, which meant my inner demon did take over. And she was not as nice as I was; Cruel, vindictive, and very matter of factly.

  “I cannot recall the details of what transpired from the time my hunger took control to now.”

  “You latched onto another mortal and almost killed him, too! And look!” He grabbed a device off the table and pointed it at the television, which turned the device on. “Look! They're talking about what we did in the warehouse.”

  A person’s face appeared on the display talking about a gang battle taking place down at the Port of Encinar with a few people dead and the vampire police investigating it. The building was hideous in the daytime and looked ready for an errant structure fire to take it down. Words scrolled by at the bottom of the screen about different things from mundane events such as a display going missing from a museum to details about a corporation war in the Ventros Wildlands.

  I looked over at Caleb, because I failed to see what the fight at the docks had to do with the blood sacks.

  “And?” I asked.

  “What do we do?! You killed three people! That other guy killed others, too.” That Caleb knew of. It felt like more.

  “Nothing.” I shrugged. “That’s three less hunters in the world.”

  “You can’t be that cold…”

  “I can and I am. They would’ve staked us for the sun.” I glanced over at my shredded clothes, longing for more cloth to remake them, as they were now blood stained trash, so I threw them in the dust bin.

  “But what about the club owner? He wanted the rebels dealt with.”

  “And he gave you the address?” I asked. Caleb nodded, so I added, “Then either the ‘rebels’ were hunters, or he set you up for failure. I will not tolerate being made a fool of, and so we are going right back there tonight.”

  Caleb glanced at the ground for a moment, tapping the side of his head like a tree trunk. “I remember… they called you the primary target multiple times. It doesn’t make sense, Sire.”

  I heard that somewhere, but couldn't recall where, so I scratched the back of my head as I stared at the moving display screen. The aerial view showed flashes of light during the early morning hours. Gunshots most likely. Mine? The police? The hunters?

  “Did anything else happen?” I asked.

  “Yeah… um. I, uh…” Caleb flashed a warm smile. My eyes fell on the bed where the sheets looked roughed around by one or two people, which meant only one thing, because I awoke in the wash room.

  My eyes widened when I realized there was an actual wash room physically inside the building with a working toilet. Something I never heard of before!

  Can I flush it and watch the water swirl again?

  What?! Why do I know that it'd do that?

  Because!

  “You drank my blood, didn't you?” I asked, trying to distract my thoughts.

  His face contorted between embarrassment and happiness as he shrugged. “It was very tasty…?”

  “Did I drink yours?” If she was in control of my actions last night then she would have sought out proper sustenance. And proper sustenance was vampire blood. Mortals were tasty, they were fine, but to fully quench her required biting a vampire. It would explain a lot.

  “I bit your wrist,” Caleb said. “You bit my neck at the same time.” He nodded again, eyes lingering on mine in a way that he’d be blushing had he a beating heart.

  I pointed at him, eyes narrowing. I thought about ordering him to forget the events, but… I felt that would be bad. He was a fledgling. Caleb didn't know any better and was looking to me for guidance. I just happened to be perhaps the worst teacher for him to encounter. I've never tried to teach another vampire anything in the last hundred or so years. Someone always told me what to do. From my mortal master before I met Roberto, to Isabella. There was always another in charge.

  I looked at the canned blood in my hand. It was the same Blood Co. blood that he always had, even the type was the same, but the taste was almost refreshing as I took another sip from it.

  Something changed in me from the night before to the morning, because part of his heavy vampiric blood mingled with the rest in my system, attempting to intertwine with it like a dance. I suspected he felt the same way.

  “Sire,” Caleb began, the word not annoying me for once. “I have a notification that says you and I share a level one bond. What does that mean?”

  I checked my stats by focusing on them and saw the same thing. Right there below my close relationships was bond status with Isabella and Caleb, and Amelia. My sire was at level six with Caleb at level one and a note added about him being my adopted fledgling.

  “Don't. Tell. Anyone. Understand?” I said, motioning between us to emphasise my point that he better not say anything. “Not my sire, not your girlfriend, not anyone. A blood bond allows us to share power between each other, but it comes with a cost. Think of it as an activity done far and away from prying eyes. Sometimes as part of a business transaction, sometimes during intercourse.” And sometimes because it just tastes better.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He backed away, holding his hands up, jaw dropping upon hearing that. “I didn't want to fuck you! I just wanted to know more about your abilities!”

  “It is too late now.” I held the can up for him to see before I took a long sip and closed my eyes, letting the oddly flavored liquid do what it could to nourish me.

  The man folded his arms across his chest and frowned back at me.

  “To the club?” I asked and thrust a hand at the door.

  He sighed through his nose.