My Boss Is A Vampire

Mireya Solis was twenty minutes late, and she didn’t care.She pushed through the doors of Nocturne Capital Group with a lightness in her chest she hadn’t felt in months. The morning had been quiet. Peaceful. Mark had passed out drunk on the couch before midnight, which meant no screaming, no broken dishes, no bruises to cover with makeup. She’d woken up to sunlight instead of dread, made Elvin breakfast without rushing, and even hummed while braiding her hair.It was a good morning.The kind that made her believe, just for a second, that things could get better.The lobby stretched wide and polished before her, all glass and steel and cold elegance. Her reflection caught in the mirrored walls as she hurried toward the elevator bank. Dark hair pulled back tight. Modest black blouse tucked into gray slacks. She looked professional. Put together. Like someone who had her life under control.She didn’t.Maura, the receptionist, didn’t even look up from her computer as Mireya rushed past.

The rent money sat in Mark’s back pocket like a prize.He’d found it tucked inside one of Mireya’s old purses, the one she thought he didn’t know about. Three hundred dollars in cash. Probably saved up over months, skimming a little here and there from the grocery money.She thought she was so clever.Mark laughed, alone in the living room, the sound echoing off the walls. The house was a wreck. Empty bottles lined the coffee table. Dishes piled in the sink. He didn’t care.He pulled the bills out and counted them again. Still three hundred.Enough for a few bottles. Maybe a card game at Benny’s bar. He could turn this into six hundred if he played smart.But first, he needed a drink.He grabbed his jacket and keys, stumbling slightly as he headed for the door. His vision swam. His stomach growled. When was the last time he ate? Yesterday? Two days ago?Didn’t matter.The car started on the third try. He threw it into reverse and backed out of the driveway without checking the mirrors

Mireya’s heart was pounding, drowning out everything except the scary sight unfolding only a few feet ahead of her.One moment Mark was yelling at her, gripping her, humiliating her in the parking lot, then the next, Lucien was suddenly there, moving with supernatural speed, grabbing Mark by the throat and slamming him against the wall.Mark couldn’t breathe.His feet dangled uselessly above the concrete. His hands clawed at the iron grip around his throat. His vision blurred at the edges, darkness creeping in.But nothing could save him.Not from ‘this’.The man holding him didn’t even look strained. He just stood there, arm extended, like Mark weighed nothing.“Please,” Mark tried to say. It came out as a choked wheeze.The man’s eyes were wrong. Too pale. Too cold. And when the light hit them just right, they glowed green. And as Mireya stared harder, she saw it: the terrifying length of fangs coming out slightly when he exhaled.Mark’s bladder nearly gave out.“Stop!” Mireya’s voi