Page 32 of Flock This

It wasn’t that I ever thought being a housekeeper for vampires was my dream job, but now I knew for sure it wasn’t for me.

* * * *

Sweat dripped down my back and I had no doubt dark spots stained the fabric of my black dress.

It was eight at night, meaning I’d been at this for eleven hours.

It made me wonder if there was a Spirit equivalent of workers’ rights, because this seemed awfully unfair.

I snorted at my own idea. I had a feeling any complaint jar would be rewarded with nothing more than a deep bite.

I scrubbed the table in the large lobby area. It was a shared reception space for multiple vampire offices. I hadn’t stepped foot into the offices—my clearance wasn't nearly high enough for that. Instead, I’d worked hard on the shared space—lobby, conference rooms, bathrooms, and a small kitchen. None of it was that dirty, but Honor’s standards of cleanliness were so high that it took a lot of time and effort.

I stood, stretching my back, looking at the large space. It used to be that I enjoyed clean spaces like this. They’d made me relaxed, feeling centered. Then I’d changed and those feelings had followed suit. Now, too much order made me unsettled. It created this sense in me that I needed to knock something over, that I needed to add some chaos to the space.

Now was so not the time to indulge in that, however. Still, the desire too great to fully resist, I twisted the magazines on the table so they sat crooked.

“You aren’t finished yet?” A male voice floated through the room just before the speaker appeared through the entryway. The man walked in wearing a stylish suit in a dark color, his walk that of someone used to being in control.

Danger bells rang in my head, screaming not to play with this vampire.

And fuck did I want to listen to those bells just this once.

“I just finished,” I said, trying to keep my face down and hidden. I didn’t recognize the vampire, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t recognize me. “Excuse me.” I gathered my things and went toward the exit, more than ready to lie down. I needed to find things out, to investigate, but thus far I’d spent all my time working.

The vampire didn’t move from his spot, which forced me to slide past him. When I did, however, he snapped his hand out and grabbed my arm. His grip was strong and just this side of painful.

“Yes?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even. Vampires were predators through and through, so the last thing I wanted was to sound like prey. I had no desire to play kinky games with vampires—especially this one.

“My office needs some cleaning.”

“I’m supposed to be off,” I said, trying not to sound like I was arguing. “If you place a request—”

“I am placing a request. Are you telling me no?”

Fuck was that question one hell of a threat. There was only one correct answer, after all. “Of course not.”

“Good girl.” The praise came out a purr, one that might have even made me interested if it wasn’t for the whole bloodsucker thing. He walked deeper into the lobby, then down a hallway, all without releasing my arm. Instead, he dragged me behind him, the action suggesting nothing good.

He stopped in front of one of the larger offices, this one even having a desk outside for a personal secretary. It told me this was not some nobody.

He had to be high up in the vampire hierarchy.

He opened the door, all but throwing me inside. I caught myself against a chair sitting in front of the huge oak desk.

I spun, but the vampire hadn’t moved from the doorway. He leaned his shoulder against the frame, staring at me. It felt like having the muzzle of a gun pointed at me.

“The room doesn’t look messy.” In fact, I didn’t spot a thing that appeared to be out of place. It all seemed perfectly neat and organized.

He let out a chilling laugh before moving into the office. He didn’t touch me, however. Instead, he walked past me and sat in the chair behind the desk. “I have work to do, and I find I work better with a pretty thrall around for morale.”

“Pretty sure I work in housekeeping, not the morale department.” The words left me before my brain could stop them.

“You’re new, aren’t you? When did you get here?”

“Yesterday.”

“Fresh meat indeed. I can always tell when thralls are new. They still have this little bit of fight in them. I think it happens from the venom, before they accept their new reality. I rather enjoy that period of time.”

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