Page 81 of Petals and Fangs

“Lily, I can hear your heartbeats. Calm down. You are staying here.”

“Ethan. What do we do?” she whispers, her voice trembling.

“Stay in the car. I’ll handle this,” I tell her firmly.

Before she can protest, I am out of the car, moving with the speed and grace of a predator. Lily watches, her eyes filled with horror.

I walk closer to Demetrius. My muscles tense in preparation for any inevitable attack. I am ready. His breathing sounds heavy, and he reeks of alcohol. The closer I get, the stronger the stench becomes. Demetrius staggers, trying to take another step forward, but he suddenly stops.

“Ethan Rothschild. Long time no see,” Demetrius says, his voice raspy and mocking.

“Finally, we meet, right, Demetrius?”

I can't help but notice Demetrius' gaze shifting back and forth to Lily, with a cruel smile across his face. His smile is so cruel that it spreads all across his face.

“The human girl. She smells wonderful. Just perfect.”

“She is under my protection, Demetrius. That means you'll have to go through me first to get to her.”

“I was hoping you'd say that” he smirks, and his eyes turn from red to the normal brown color again, his fangs bared.

“Name your price, Demetrius.”

“Pardon?” he tilts his head.

“I will give you whatever you want, as long as you stay away from Lily and my company.”

“That is not the reason I'm here.”

“Then why did you follow us? What is with the letter, the excessive buying, reporting to the FDA, and all of that? What is it that you want from me, Demetrius?”

“The FDA?” he says, confused.

“You've been misusing tons of our products and reporting to the FDA. Now, they won't stop coming after me.”

“I have been buying from you, yes. I needed your products. And I will keep needing them, but I am a vampire, so I don’t get involved with federal agencies.”

“You haven't only been buying for yourself, yes?”

“I have not. I am new to town. Tough weather in New York.”

“That still doesn't explain purchasing an entire container of products.”

“I have many vampires to take care of.”

“Vampires? You are not on your own, are you?”

“I have a clan, Ethan Rothschild. You don't think I came here to mess with your business, right?”

“A clan,” I echo after him. I want to comprehend what sort of game he is playing.

“I have a lot of vampires that need my care.”

“Why did you come here? You could have settled anywhere else, you know that?”

“My family and I derive from Romania. Not that it is any of your business why I decided to settle here, but the environment is tricky. I need to feed. We all do.”

“So, you want the same arrangement we have with the others?”

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