Davian

Zion burst into the suite in the middle of the night, fury darkening his eyes. "You only paid me half."

"I know," I said calmly from where I sat on the couch, one leg resting on the opposite knee. I picked up the remote and turned off the movie I'd been trying to watch. I hadn't been able to focus. Feeding on Adele had unlocked so much darkness in my mind that the real movie had become the past playing on the screen of my eyelids.

He stormed over to me, his fist raised, gold cufflinks gleaming in the light. I held up a hand, warding him off.

"Do you want to know why I only paid you half? Or do you want to attack me and never know?"

Zion sneered. "I don't attack, I kill double-crossers like you."

I kept my body relaxed and my voice mild."I'm no double-crosser. I'm a satisfied customer."

"Then pay me." He pulled his knife, the blade sharp in the light.

"I want to change my order."

"The price is final."

"The price is fine," I shot back. "I want to increase the quantity. Consider that money a deposit."

The fury melted away, leaving a congenial smile in its place. "Oh. Excellent."

"But can I trust you not to kill me?"

"I apologize." The knife disappeared into his suit coat and he smoothed the black lapel with one hand. "I misunderstood."

"It can't happen again. I don't partner with people who fly off the handle."

"It won't be a problem. Now," he moved to settle in the armchair to the side of the couch, "how many would you like?"

"Thirty girls. Clean as you can make them." I'd picked that number to push his supply chain to the limits. He would have to hustle to fill the order, making it easier to track how his operation worked. He'd bring in help and pressure his contacts. Every operation had a point at which it couldn't maintain itself. I would force him into that corner and something would crack open.

Zion was silent for a moment, his only response a small nod. "When?"

"Two weeks," I said.

"That's not a lot of time."

I let irritation cross my face. "You were the one who said you had a good supply chain."

"Good, but not infinite."

"Then we'll add some incentive. A discount for late delivery. Say, ten percent per head? Unless you can't handle it. In which case, I can take this one," I nodded toward the room that held Adele, "and go. You're not the only one selling." I made my voice cold, acting the part of the businessman. Let him think I would walk, that I had to be wooed. He needed to know I held the power now. I'd offered him more money than he'd ever seen in one transaction. The greed would overwhelm him, and he would make a mistake.

"I can handle it."

"Good."

"But you stay here until I deliver."

"If you insist on locking me up in this suite, we'll have to renegotiate terms." I wanted out so I could follow his people.

"You'll be free to move about, but this is where you lay during the day. Is that acceptable?"

"I'd already planned to stick around and keep an eye on things here." The more I saw, the better.

"Excellent. I'll assign a team to you."

"I'm sure I can manage on my own."

He waved a hand, dismissing my bid for independence. "It's like the New York City of trees out there. I wouldn't want you to get...lost."

"I'm sure you'd never allow that." I gave him a tight smile.

"I only want the best for my top clients." He shot me an equally tight smile. "So, we understand each other?"

"Perfectly."

He held out his hand and we shook.

I returned to my movie after Zion left, finally able to relax. The first phase of my plan was complete. I was in. Now to dig deeper and then shut him down.

I sank back into my chair, propped my feet up on the glass and chrome coffee table, and let a light sleep claim me. Centuries earlier, I'd travelled to the Orient and learned their meditation techniques. Even dead, I could still use the breathing techniques to generate an almost human body warmth, and it kept me from falling into the death-like sleep of my kind. I wanted to stay alert. Zion couldn't be trusted. The money would keep him in check, but only for so long, and I could never rule out the risk of being revealed for who I really was: The enforcement arm of the Vampire Council.

My thoughts still, the chair a pleasant cushion, I floated in a warm nothingness...until the scent of blood hit my nose. I jolted into full consciousness and inhaled a big gulp of air, testing for the scent's location, testing to see if it had just been a dream, but no, it was real. Standing up, I followed the metallic tang to the doors of the bedroom.

Dahlia...no, Adele.

The addict.

I unlocked the door and threw it open. The smell rushed to fill my nose. It slammed into my brain with enough force to make me sway back. I'd just fed and yet I lusted after that blood like a flame in need of a wick. Shoving my primal reaction aside, I focused on Adele.

She lay naked in the bed, her clothes scattered around the room. Eyes closed, she writhed in a disjointed, erratic rhythm. Her pale skin gleamed against the black sheets twisted around her like shadows. I couldn't tear my gaze off her long legs, the way her calves curved up to the knee and widened at the thigh. A different kind of lust came over me, and my cock throbbed at the idea of sinking into her body and wrapping her heat around me.

Moaning, she flopped her arms up over her head. The movement drew my attention and displayed the oozing gouges up and down her forearms. She'd scratched herself deep enough to make a mess. Red handprints adorned the wall above the bed, stark against the white paint.

"Adele."

She screamed and her back bowed up off the bed.

I rushed to her. "Adele."

No response.

I shook her by the shoulder. Her eyelids flickered open, but all I saw were the whites.

One of her arms reached for me and her grip clamped down on my forearm until her nails broke my skin. "N-n-n-need."

"What? What is it?" I peeled her fingers off me one by one, amazed at her strength. Every time I got one off, another clamped down.

"M-m-more." Her teeth chattered and she shivered and twitched.

"More what?"

She didn't answer. Her body convulsed, pressing her deep into the bed, and then she sprang up into a sitting position. Her half open eyes showed only white. She opened her mouth wide, and with one hand, yanked me close, her mouth sealing around my wrist, teeth scraping over my skin.

"No," I said, my voice full of authority. The compulsion hit her and she went still, refusing to move away but unable to bite me. "Lay down."

She fought it, but had no choice, her body and mind were mine for as long as I needed them. I didn't want to use her roughly, but I wouldn't let her feed from me again. It would deepen our bond and she might be chained to me for eternity. A fate I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Still, anger glittered in her eyes. I took it as a good sign. It was an improvement over her trance-like thrashing.

"What's wrong?" I put a light touch of my power over her into my voice.

Through gritted teeth, she said, "Withdrawal. I need a hit."

"No. You don't."

"Biochemistry is a bitch. I'm hooked and I'm not clean. It'll just get worse." She lurched upright and leaned over the side of the bed. Gagging, she hurled up all the food she'd eaten earlier. The sour stench of stomach acid mixed with the blood cleared my head. No vampire in their right mind craved anything that smelled that bad.

I took a step back and tilted my nose up, looking for less odorous air, but she kept vomiting and even though I hadn't eaten a full meal in centuries, my stomach made rumblings about wanting to eject things, too.

"I'm sorry," she sputtered in between waves of vomiting. "I'll clean it up." She managed to turn her head and the look in her eyes was so full of pain, I found myself going to her and picking her up, cradling her in my arms on the way to the bathroom.

The white tile of the bathroom made things sterile and cold. I set her feet down and she collapsed around the toilet, sick and desperate to purge. I held her hair until she was done and offered her a cool washcloth.

"Are there any toothbrushes in here?" Her eyes closed, she wiped her face with the washcloth.

I rummaged in the vanity drawers and located the requisite supplies. Handing them to her, I asked, "Will you be okay on your own for a minute?"

She gave a wan smile, so pale the white bathroom tile seemed dark. "Yeah. I don't have anything left in my stomach now."  She looked down and her eyes widened. "I also don't seem to have any clothes on."

"You can borrow one of my shirts." I went to the bedroom closet and grabbed a light blue dress shirt. Returning to the bathroom, I handed it to her.

"Thanks." Covering her breasts with one hand, she accepted the shirt with the other. She kept her head down, refusing to look me in the eye. I found that more reassuring than awkward. Women in their right mind didn't want to be naked in front of strange men. Not even shifters who tended to be more lax about nudity.

"I'll be right back," I said and then headed for the entrance to the suite.

The guard wasn't happy when I demanded a new room, but once the smell hit him—it had overtaken the entire suite by then—he pulled out his phone and made the call.

"All right. We've got something ready for you."

"Great. I trust you'll send someone to gather my things?"

The guard nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Let me go get my..." I cast about for the right word and couldn't find one. Finally I said, "companion."

"We just call 'em slaves here. Or food. Zion sometimes calls them dinner." The guard guffawed, amused.

I forced a laugh before shutting the door in his face. Back in the bedroom, the bathroom door was shut. Light leaked through the gap at the bottom along with the sound of rushing water. I tapped my knuckles on the door. "Adele?"

"Hmm?"

"I've arranged for a new suite."

Something garbled was shouted at me that sounded like "one second." I waited and waited and then there was a cascading clattering followed by a thud behind the door.

"Adele?" I tapped the door, but she didn't answer. I pounded the door, then. "Adele?" All I could hear was the water.

Opening the door, I found her in a heap on the floor, my dress shirt twisted and bunched around her body. She twitched and her eyelids flickered like lights that couldn't figure out how to stay on. In two steps I was next to her, sinking to my knees and picking her up. She didn't react to my presence.

"Adele." I infused her name with power, and still she didn't respond. Whatever was happening to her, it rendered my claim meaningless.

I gave her a good shake, but her head just lolled and her hand flopped to the floor. Her fingers splayed open on the bathroom tile, releasing an opaque amber bottle with a white label. Snatching it up, I examined the label. Vicodin. Prescribed to a Lori Williams. Quantity sixty.

Dropping the bottle, I slapped Adele's cheek. "Did you take them all?"

Only then did I notice how shallow her breathing had become. Her skin had gone from white to gray. She was dying.

I cursed under my breath. I needed her alive. If she died, it would distract Zion from what I needed him to do. But saving her also had consequences, and Adele would pay the highest price of all.

Growling with frustration, I put my wrist to my mouth and ripped open a vein with my fangs. Raising her head up, I pressed my blood between her lips and willed her to drink.

Lifting her hand to my mouth, I pierced her delicate skin with my fangs and took from her what no one should give. Her pulse barely throbbed against my tongue but I kept drawing more of her in, making my claim on her soul bigger and bigger.

Live.

Breathe.

Hold on.

I thought it all at her with everything I had inside me. It wasn't enough. Her heart stopped. The shell that had housed Adele went still.

I let her go and withdrew my wrist. I had failed. A silence full of dread settled over me. I sat in it, unable to let go and unwilling to do what needed to be done because that would mean admitting she was really dead. I didn't know her or understand her, but I also found the idea of never seeing her again more disturbing than not.

I was the vampire. I was the one who was supposed to get under her skin, not the other way around. Damn it. 

But then...she took a breath, a great gasping one that made her chest heave. A flush of pink warmed her ghostly skin. Her eyes opened and she looked at me, her gaze clear and steady.

"Davian," she whispered, one hand rising up to cup my cheek.

"What did you do?" I thrust her off me and stood up, backing away.

"I wanted to die. I actually did die. For a moment, but then you came and got me." She rolled onto her hands and knees and crawled toward me.

"Where did you get the pills?"

She sank back on her heels and watched me, her head cocked to the side. "I found them. I always find them."

"You can't do that again."

"You'll have to stop me, Davian. I think you're the only one who can." She pushed herself to her feet and came to me. "Make me stop."

I didn't say anything, and she laid a hand over my still heart and pushed into me. "You have to or I'll keep going."

"I'll make sure there aren't any pills."

"Then I'll find something else. I'd rather it be you." She pressed her whole body into mine. "You're the best drug I've ever had."

"I'm not a drug."

She laughed and tapped her temple. "To this brain you are. You're amazing. Absolutely amazing. I've never felt this good."

I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back, putting some distance between us. I should feel nothing for her. She'd puked her guts out, fouled the air with the stench of her choices and then tried to kill herself, yet every time I looked into her eyes, the light dancing there captivated me like no one else ever had.

But she was unstable. A liability. She needed to be controlled. Maybe after I'd dealt with Zion, I could sort out what there was or wasn't between us. Just then, however, I didn't have that luxury.

So, I stared deep into her eyes, drilling down into the darkest corners of her soul. I threw everything I had into my words, wanting to be sure the compulsion stuck. "You will not use anything ever again. Do you hear me?"

Her pupils widened, becoming black pools that soaked up all the power I pushed into her.

"No pills. No homemade drugs. Nothing. You will use nothing. Tell me you understand me."

She nodded. "Yes. Nothing. I won't use, not when I have you."

"Even if you don't have me, you will not use. You will stop this madness, Adele. Forever."

"Forever." She sighed the word and collapsed in my arms.

"Adele?" Nothing answered me except the sound of deep, even breathing. Shaking my head, I scooped her up in my arms and left the suite.