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And that was probably as good as she was going to get. “Thank you.”
Chapter 22
Consciousness slammed back into Gavin, and he scanned the building from the hidden hidey-hole in a hidden room. He was actually under the parking lot in a basement area only his predecessor and top people knew about.
Which meant it wasn’t as safe as Gavin would’ve preferred, but it would do until another secure underground in the valley could be constructed.
He had no choice but to wait for the agony ripping through his body to dissipate, and then he rose and prepared to face the evening.
Lauren was up and talking to the choreographer about a new show they’d be bringing to town. This was one of his people, so he had every right to shadow the other woman’s mind and listen to the conversation, but he only did so for a few minutes because he knew Lauren would be upset with him for — as she considered it — spying.
He exited the secure compartment, put the clothes on he’d hung before taking his repose, and sat to tie the leather laces of his dress shoes. He was wearing bespoke trousers, a plain silk shirt made by his favorite tailor, and the most comfortable dress shoes money could buy. He stepped out of the tiny, secure room and entered the sitting area that befitted a Master Vampire. Queenie was seated at the heavy wooden desk, working on a paper-thin laptop, and a female bear shifter sat nervously on a settee.
“What do I need to address before I feed?”
“Lauren wants to talk to you as soon as you’re up. Before you feed.”
Which meant she wanted to feed him, but he needed Lauren to be at full strength.
“What else?”
“Nothing pressing. You’ll look through my memories and see how the day has gone. It’s fine to fast-forward. Nick pushed a little, but nothing I couldn’t easily ignore and work around. We knew he’d have to do something.”
Right, because cats have to be difficult.
He turned to the bear shifter and noted her anxiety was rising. “No sex or pain, today,” he assured her. “If I hadn’t drained myself multiple times yesterday, I’d be fine from the sips I’ll be taking from everyone in the building, but I need a solid base in me before I become sated from taking a single sip from nearly two hundred people. Your bear energy will be the perfect foundation.”
She gave the tiniest of nods, and Gavin listened closer to her thoughts. He wasn’t picking up a fear of being discovered, so he didn’t think she’d turned traitor.
Another couple of seconds in her mind, and he understood she’d never fed a vampire before. She worked on the costumes, and preferred to be alone with her fabrics and needles, creating and fixing and mending. She’d signed an employment contract that said she could be called on to feed a vampire up to four times a year, but she’d only been employed for a few months, and hadn’t come up in the rotation yet. He’d taken a sip to blood bond her when she’d arrived, but that was her only experience.
Gavin sent soothing energy to her and told her, “It shouldn’t hurt, unless you want it to, but I don’t believe that’s the case.”
He sat beside her and touched her arm. “Did you know, a thousand years ago I’d have enjoyed your fear. I’d have drank it down while creating more and more fear. Lucky for you, today I want to soothe you and help you through your first time.”
Truth be told, a mere two years ago he’d have ramped her fear up so he could drink it down, but it was also true of the vampire he’d been a thousand years prior.
The bear shifter’s fear levels rose higher with every second, but she followed instructions until she was leaned against him, her head at an angle so he could bite her from behind.
Once his teeth were in her and she was relaxed, her fear mostly dissipated, Gavin took his time making it a pleasant experience. Her mind told him this was a valued employee — a behind the scenes worker who helped keep multiple productions looking good on stage. Gavin needed all the loyalty he could manage, even from the least of his people.
Fifteen minutes later, Queenie walked the young woman into the hallway so someone else could escort her back to the non-predatory shifter room. Despite the fact this woman was a bear, she got along best with the gentlest of the shifters.
“You realize, Master, you terrified her by pointing out you’d have once enjoyed feeding on her fear?”
“Once I said it, I did, but I didn’t beforehand. I’d intended to try to put her at ease.”
“Do you think this new version of you is here to stay, or do you think it’s temporary, Master?” Queenie asked.
“There isn’t a new version of me. I still kill. I’m still lethal. I still take pleasure from other’s pain when they deserve it.”
“It’s absolutely still you, Master, but…” She shook her head. “If I were being smart I’d drop this, but it feels as if you don’t understand, and it’s important you do. So, Master, with respect, you’re what the head-shrinkers call a high-functioning psychopath now, I believe.”
“While I certainly fit many of the parameters of antisocial personality disorder, I do not fit all of them. Psychopathy is but one version of this disorder, and I do not believe I fit enough of the bullet points. Individuals labeled thusly tend to not plan ahead, and not to fulfill financial obligations. Also, I’m generally honest with those who are important to me.”
“All true, Master, and yet, you once had zero emotions around torturing other people for fun, and this new version of you seems to only…”
She trailed off, and he wished he had time to take a knife to her skin to show her he could still fully enjoy someone’s screams of pain, but it wouldn’t happen today.
