Page 46 of We Were Eternal Once

“Why are you following me?” I ask instead. I do not wish to explain the boring details of how easy it was to notice her and slip away undetected. I also do not want her to use the tactics on me.

“I wanted to join you in your evening hunt,” she says.

“I hunt alone,” I say, unable to keep my lip from curling at the thought of hunting with her. I do not dislike Dione more than any of the others in the Five—if anything, she is the one I dislike least. That does not mean I want her following me and watching me eat.

Hunting is something you and I do together—or, at least, we used to. Since the Five came into our home, we are very rarely alone together except to sleep.

“Indulge me,” she says.

I should leave her, but I don’t. She is one of your disciples, one of the creatures that’s chosen to follow in your footsteps. If I turn her away now, will I upset you? Disappoint you? You’ve never said I had to entertain any of the members, but isn’t that an unspoken rule?

I still work to be worthy of you, though tests like this try me.

I do not answer Dione, I just continue down the street. She falls into step beside me. Fewer humans stare at me because I am no longer a woman alone, but a woman with a companion. Dione doesn’t speak, and for that I am grateful.

I move to a tavern, and she hesitates at the threshold.

“What?” I ask.

“In here?” she says, confused.

“It is where the humans are,” I reply. She frowns and follows me inside, hesitating again as I sit at a table. Someone comes to serve us but I wave them away, waiting. Dione’s gaze darts over the scene, so unlike the woman who lounges on the fountain during the meetings. Yes, the tavern is loud, but it is like any other building in Alexandria.

“A drink for the lady?” asks a man at last. He is large enough for the both of us to drink from, so he will do.

“Follow me,” I say. He nods, his gaze vacant. I stand and I’m nearly to the door when I realize Dione is not with me. She remains seated, her nervous expression replaced with shock. The human stops just behind me, but he does not turn to look. Dione stands at last and moves quickly to join me into the night.

We wind through a few streets until we find a quiet alleyway, one where we will not be disturbed.

“You will remember none of this,” I tell him.

He doesn’t flinch as I bite into his wrist and take the first long draw of his blood. His blood is the type I like best—a light buzz of drink, thick and warm from his work outside. I dislike the drunks, their blood is like water, and I need much more of it to feel sated.

“How did you do that?” Dione asks.

I don’t understand her question. How did I feed? I’ve seen her do the same in our courtyard, her teeth digging into the flesh of a human’s forearm. The human moaned its salacious moan, silenced only by its proximity to death.

“Do what?” I ask, collecting the bits of blood around my lips with my finger and sucking on it.

“Get him to…” She trails off, her gaze sweeping over his form. He is tall and broad—were I human, he could harm me easily. But I am not human, and he is coerced into silence.

“Compulsion,” I say simply.

“I don’t understand.”

Dread sours the blood in my mouth. She doesn’t know about compulsion or coercion. I drag my fingers through my memory, trying to find when you taught me it. Did you ever say it was a secret? No, it was centuries before I met another of our kind. You didn’t mention it when we began to attend the meetings—that I would recall.

You never told me to keep it a secret, and thus I assumed it was something we all knew. An inherent trait. Dione knew her maker, they spent several decades together before he abandoned her. In all that time, did he never teach her this?

“It is a way to frame your words so a human is forced to listen,” I attempt. Do I downplay the strength of this act, so as not to alarm her? Or do I lean into it, another show of your power and also mine? If her creation can do this, think of what she can do.

“Can you teach me?” Dione asks.

“I don’t know,” I say, and it is mostly the truth. I have never tried to teach another, so how could I know if I am able to teach it now?

But I want to hold this close to me. If Dione does not know this, then neither do the others. You and I are bonded in this, a secret only we share. The others cannot subdue their prey until they bite them. You and I are not restricted by such ridiculousness.

“It took me decades to learn,” I say.