Page 10 of Eleazar

Andrew was too gorgeous to be ignored. Everyone in the room would notice him, smell that he was human, but they would also know better than to touch him. Still, Eleazar wasn’t sure he wanted eyes on his servant. Jealousy struck him, something he hadn’t felt in centuries, and that bothered him.

Now he was starting to believe that Andrew really might be his mate, which would make Eleazar ten times more lethal when it came to the human’s safety.

“You are not to leave my side.”

Andrew frowned. “But you just said to blend in.”

“While staying in the same room,” Eleazar clarified. “You are not to leave, not even the room, with anyone but me.”

“Gotcha.” Andrew nodded. “No midnight strolls with strangers.”

The human was teasing, but Eleazar was dead serious. “I want you to start acclimating to night hours, Andrew. You will be of no use to me if you’re dead on your feet.”

“But what about my daylight errands?”

“They’re minimal,” Eleazar said. Besides, he wanted Andrew with him, and not just for safety reasons. He couldn’t recall a time when he was this insanely attracted to someone, let alone a human. Eleazar kept telling himself to keep this professional, but with the way Andrew looked right now, the way Andrew studied him or the pout of his lips, was too much of a temptation. Eleazar wasn’t sure he would be able to ignore that temptation much longer.

* * * *

Maximus was seething. He already hated Eleazar. The vampire was growing too soft, too weak. He’d come to Maximus two hours ago, threatening to punish him if he didn’t leave Andrew alone. Humans were cattle, and the smart-ass way Andrew had talked to him couldn’t be ignored.

Maybe it was high time Maximus joined Lazarus’s coven. At least those vampires didn’t blindly obey their leader, something Eleazar demanded.

Maximus would look into leaving, but not before he made Andrew pay. Not before he showed the human that he was nothing more than fodder by draining the very life from him.

* * * *

To say Andrew was nervous would be an understatement. He had no idea what sort of situation he was walking into. The meeting could be nothing but vampires. Now that he knew the truth, Andrew was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that vampires were real and that he was working for the most powerful one.

Any sane person would have walked away already. But as dangerous as this was, there was something about Eleazar that made Andrew stay. It was more than just the man’s good looks. There was a strange, mesmerizing quality to Eleazar’s gaze that Andrew couldn’t explain. It made him feel like he was under a spell, unable to look away.

As Andrew followed Eleazar into the meeting room, he felt like a gazelle walking into a lion’s den. The room was filled with a dozen or so people, each one more imposing than the last. Andrew felt their eyes on him, assessing him like prey. But he held his head high, reminding himself that he was here to do a job.

Eleazar led Andrew to a chair behind him at the head of the table. Andrew tried his best to remain unnoticed, a fly on the wall, as Eleazar had instructed him to be.

The meeting went on for what felt like hours, and Andrew struggled to keep up with the discussions. They were all revolving around some political issue in the vampire community. Andrew had never even heard of a vampire community until two days ago, and now he was sitting right in the middle of it.

Though the men in the room hadn’t said the word vampire, Andrew knew that was what they had to mean.

As the meeting wore on, Andrew noticed the way Eleazar commanded the room. He spoke in a calm, measured voice, but there was no mistaking the authority behind his words. It was as if everyone else in the room was waiting for his approval before they could speak or move. Andrew couldn’t help but be drawn to him, despite the danger he could sense emanating from the imposing vampire.

Finally, the meeting came to an end, and Eleazar stood up, dismissing the others with a nod. As they left, Andrew caught sight of Maximus, who gave him a cold smile that sent shivers down his spine. Maximus was up to something sinister, and Andrew planned on staying as far away from the prick as possible.

Eleazar turned to him, and Andrew jumped, realizing he had been staring. “Did you get everything?” Eleazar asked, his voice still calm and collected.

Andrew nodded, suddenly feeling very small beside the towering vampire. “Yes, everything. Is there anything else you need me to do, sir?”

Andrew felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Shayde behind him.

“Excuse me,” Shayde said, his tone polite but his eyes hard. “I need to speak to Eleazar privately.”

Andrew felt a wave of unease wash over him. He’d been specifically told not to leave Eleazar’s side. But before he could protest, Eleazar spoke up.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to Andrew, eyes lingering on him for a moment longer than was necessary.

Andrew nodded, but the feeling of unease only grew as Eleazar walked away with Shayde. He had a distinct feeling that he was in over his head and that he didn’t even know the half of what was going on in the vampire community. But he also couldn’t deny the strange attraction he felt toward Eleazar, even amidst all the danger.

As Eleazar and Shayde disappeared through a small door off to the side of the room, Andrew felt like he was being left out of something important. He was just a human, after all, a mere servant in this world of powerful vampires. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more going on here, something that Eleazar wasn’t telling him.

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