Page 12 of Vivian

He looked away, and my eyes were caught for the briefest moment on the strong edge of his jaw.

When Brendon looked at me again, his eyes were cold, shrewd almost. “A vampire’s bite doesn’t hurt humans. It causes them to be aroused. It isn’t a normal arousal either; I would say it’s almost like a drug to them. There are many drones that will do anything to stay with the vampires.”

A strange thought entered my head, “Do the vampires sleep with their drones?”

Brendon’s dark eyes never left my face, “Often, I would even say usually.”

I felt a sick feeling in my stomach.

“How long have you been alive?”

He raised a brow, “Nearly two hundred years.”

“And,” I cleared my throat, “How many drones have you had?”

His mouth tightened into a little line, “Dozens upon dozens.”

“Ace, too?” I choked out.

He nodded, “It is a part of our lifestyle, Vivian.”

“I think I want to be alone for a while,” I said flatly, trying to wrap my head around this new concept.

Brendon got up to go, and I couldn’t help but ask, “How many drones do you have now?”

He sighed, “Is that really important?”

I met his gaze, “If I am supposed to learn about being a vampire I will need to know how many drones it will take for me to thrive.”

I used his words, and he could tell he was caught. His hand tightened on the door handle, “You have no need of drones, we are giving you the bagged blood.”

I made a gagging noise, “It tastes like shit, and I am pretty sure that no other newbie has had to survive on it, alone. Am I right?”

He scowled, “We haven’t had a situation like this before.”

I took that to mean I was right.

“How many?” I repeated my earlier question. I don’t know why it was so important that I knew the answer, but I wanted to know.

Brendon narrowed his eyes, “There are two drones that report to me, Heather and Patricia. Is that all?”

I nodded, not brave enough to ask the questions that were lingering on my tongue. Did he fuck them when he took their offering? Of course, he did. Didn’t Brendon say that was the vampire way? The thought made me physically ill.

I wasn’t sure if I could look at Ace or Brendon the same way. But then, I would be in the same boat soon, wouldn’t I?

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