Lucianus I didn’t smile as she looked truly haunted. She looked devastated. I couldn’t guess what she was thinking, but her expression gave me a sense of pending victory. She needed something. I could feel her fear and desperation through the blood-slave bond, and it felt absolutely delicious. I couldn’t wait to have her that desperate for more than just money and whatever she needed it for. It didn’t feel as though she just needed money to survive, but it was something else. An unexpected expense, I supposed. “Yes,” I said. “Why?”She hesitated and looked down at the ground. “What would I have to do?”I eyed her. “Blood.”She frowned and looked up at me. “Blood?”“So long as you provide a cup of blood for my friend’s company every ten days, you’ll be paid 50,000 per donation.” Her eyes widened. I felt her hope and apprehension spiraling through my blood and took hold of it, tugging at it gently to get a better sense of how much she needed and what it would take to get her to agr

Trinity Mark got back into the city a few hours after he called based on his text message. I wanted to ask where he’d been, but I didn’t get a chance, and based on how he’d left, I doubted he would tell me. Maybe it had something to do with my case, but I had a feeling that if that were the case, he would have just told me. I took a taxi back to his house, where he said we’d meet. His patrol car was parked in front, so I headed inside. The scent of alcohol and blood was faint in the air. I closed the door and walked into the living room. I found him lying across the couch with his feet up and an ice pack on his head. He was shirtless in just a pair of pants. I hadn’t ever realized how chiseled he was. It had been years since I’d seen him shirtless. He wasn’t the little boy down the hall anymore but a full-grown man. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered why I didn’t find him more attractive. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attractive. He was pretty handsome, but I felt no stir

TrinityLucian stood as I adjusted my bag. Mark came back with a plate full of food and sat down, glaring at Lucian. “When will you be back?” Mark asked stiffly. “Soon,” I said and shook my head as my phone rang. It was the hospital. I turned away. “I’ve got to take this. We can go right after.”“Of course,” Lucian said, seemingly relaxed in his set. Lucian didn’t seem bothered, but there was definitely tension between the two of them. I sighed and shook my head. I couldn’t do anything about it right now. I answered the phone. “Hello?” “Is this Trinity?”“Yes.”“I’m calling about your father. He’s woken up.”I gasped and turned to look at Lucian. “I’ll be there soon.”I shoved my phone into my pocket and grabbed my jacket before turning to Lucian and Mark. “Could we make a stop at the hospital? Dad’s woken up.”Mark stopped midbite and looked at me. “I could take you.”“You need rest,” I said, shaking my head. “And I was already heading out. We can go together later. I’ll call yo

Lucianus It had been so easy to seduce her. So easy to push and prod her fragile human heart. I didn’t even have to use the blood-slave bond to make her willing. She’d been excited by the prospect of giving herself to me. Had I realized this back at the resort, I would have had her that night with her full knowledge of the event. It didn’t matter now. Hearing her say she loved me sent a thrill of triumph through me. She was gullible. So easy to manipulate just like all humans. The sound of her voice saying those words stirred up memories that warmed me, yet that feeling felt so far away. Unlike before, I knew she wasn’t my wife. I had full control of my mind, my powers, and my memories. She was a pretty little trinket. A human. A food source in a beautiful container. And just like all humans, she had been so easy to manipulate, so willing to give herself over to me for money and sex. I licked my lips as I walked away from the house towards the car. It wouldn’t take much longer be

Lucianus I waited for a time, keeping track of Stella, and waiting for her to make her move. She may not be human, but she was just as stupid as many of them if she thought that I wasn’t going to keep a close watch on her and just trust that my threat was enough. My wife told me more often than not that once Stella had decided to do something, there was almost no stopping her, even if it was a bad idea. She turned and headed out of the park. I glided through the shadows, following her silently for the rest of the night as she went around the city. I followed her this way for three days. She wasn’t active during the day, but she moved her place of rest seemingly sporadically. There was a hotel, a few apartment buildings, and a few houses that she frequented, but most of the nights, she spent her time wandering around the city. For a while, I thought she was simply lost and looking to learn the layout. She captured someone to feed on and dumped their body carelessly in an alley. I a