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~~~He woke. She wasn’t in the bed.
He knifed up and frantically bolted out of the room. The door had been shut and that did not sit well. The bathroom door was open and it was empty. The other room was empty.
He couldn’t track her. Couldn’t sense her. Couldn’t even smell her.
Instead of going down the stairs he sailed over the banister and landed softly on his feet on the main floor, fear gripping his chest. He found her in the kitchen, staring out the window over the kitchen sink.
Relief flooded his veins. But then he spotted Adrian Constantin.
Constantin stood outside on the other side of the back patio and spotted Tristan behind Kyla. He waved at him hesitantly and then held both hands up defensively.
“Stay here,” Tristan told her. He heard her delayed answer of “Okay,” as he was shutting the door.
He was fucking pissed.
He stepped outside, giving no fucks that he was in boxers and nothing else. He folded his arms across his chest and leveled his gaze on him.
“Can we talk? I have a dagger. I don’t want to use it but want you to know I’m armed.” Constantin motioned to a dagger sheathed and clipped to his belt. It was ridiculous; Tristan knew he could disarm Adrian before the other vamp’d even blink.
“What do you want?”
“To run tests. Find out what’s happened with her. Figure out how to help.”
“You ever see a woman not turn after being fed vampire blood?”
“Never. I can see that the light has died in her eyes. I’m sorry.”
“She’s mesmerized. Completely. Doesn’t seem to regain lucidity when she’s alone, so far. I’ve watched for it. It’s like she’s in a permanent state.”
“It might not be permanent. Have you fed from her? What does her blood taste like?”
“Not since right after she turned. I only tasted my blood.”
“Can I examine her?”
“I have zero trust for you so thinkin’ no.”
The fucker stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“She was acting last two nights like she was in withdrawals,” Tristan added, accusingly. Did Adrian know this’d happen? Was this another game?
“Try feeding now. See if there’s a change. If that doesn’t work, try feeding her your blood again.”
“To turn her?” Tristan felt disgust bubble up.
Maybe she’s better like this. But was she? Would she want to be an empty shell or something evil? What would Kyla think was worse?
“If it didn’t work, it most likely wouldn’t. Scrap that idea,” Constantin scratched his temple, looking contemplative.
“Right.” He turned to go back inside, not sure he believed the sonofabitch and not caring to stand around while the fucker pondered things. The emotions coming off him were a little confusing. Fear, desperation. Tristan wasn’t sure what to think. He wanted to gut the bastard but in case he was able to help with Kyla, for now, he was watching.
Constantin’s voice stopped him.
“I need to check her. If you can’t detect ovulation, Tristan, it could come without warning. Or menstruation. I gather that with the fact that you’re still here that it’s not out of the question. But ovulation could happen soon.”
Tristan shot him a dirty look.
“I have always put my work first. I always will. Kyla is part of that work. I want all of this to work out. She wasn’t ready to be pregnant, not when we didn’t know if it’d kill her. I want you two to breed. I want her blood to make you strong. I want to see how strong she gets as this bond deepens with you. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I didn’t want her to turn this soon and I certainly didn’t think it’d fail. So we need to assess her blood, determine if she’s fertile, we need to---”
“How did he get your dagger? Why wasn’t it better secured?” Tristan snapped.
“Liam hacked into my systems remotely and found vulnerabilities. That dagger was in a hidden compartment in my desk. I’m in there a lot. He had camera feeds on me. I’ve had it out, as you know.”
It jived. Liam was VP of Information Technology for Kovac.
“He still daggered?”
“Yes.”
“I’m gonna want access.”
“You’re planning to kill him.”
Tristan didn’t hesitate, “Of course.”
“I could have him disposed of…”
“No. I do it. What about Claudio? Tell me what the fuck went wrong there.”
Adrian sighed.
“Answers. Now,” Tristan looked into his eyes.
“He knew I still had an untouched vial of her blood. He obviously let his curiosity get the better of him. His pets are no match for Kyla’s blood. And he’s had fertility issues. He wants his line carried on. I think he thought she was an alternate opportunity for that. I think that small taste of her blood made him want more and he became power-hungry. It’s the only logical conclusion. He was ready to retire. I had many conversations with him about that, about your future. But then just the few days before everything went wrong he was talking long term plans again, as if retirement wasn’t even on the horizon. I checked security feeds and he’d taken that blood a few days before things went wrong. It obviously altered his perception. He has used my lab before. He dabbles in chemistry still, was a chemist before he was turned. He knew I was equipped with a variety of gases. I’d commented about a gas that works through the ocular cavity that takes some vampires down but it didn’t take you down. It doesn’t work on me either and Liam was unaffected by it. I don’t even know if he used the right one because it’s odourless and there was a scent in the room that should not have been there. He was off. I think he wasn’t able to help himself. After tasting her blood, it called to him that strongly.”
