What was there not to like about a damn sandwich?
“Do you need mayonnaise or something?” I asked her.
“Mayonnaise?” she repeated. “I don’t know. What is it?”
I waited for the punch line, yet it didn’t come. Because she was one hundred percent serious.
Wow. I knew Lilith was a bitch, but this took it to a whole new level.
“You’re probably not familiar with chocolate either, are you?”
Her blank stare gave me the answer before she whispered, “No.”
I shook my head and focused on my sandwich. She did the same, the two of us falling into a comfortable silence with her on the stool and me standing across from her. Having company was a little weird, but not entirely deplorable. Although, we definitely had to work on her exposure to old-world things.
No mayonnaise.
No bread.
No carbs.
“This is exactly why I wanted nothing to do with the new world order,” I told her conversationally. “While some part of it makes sense from a regulation standpoint, it’s a bit overstated and, frankly, boring as fuck. There’s no chase anymore. No excitement.” I sighed and set my empty plate in the sink just as my watch buzzed.
Frowning, I glanced down at the notification, then went to the monitor hooked into the wall beside my fridge to pull up the display.
Screen number one fourteen showed me the reason for the alert.
Damien.
He gave me a wave, knowing I’d see him on the camera, then he jogged up the walkway to my front door. I hit a button on the panel next to my screen, unlocking it for him.
When I turned toward Willow again, I found her gaping at my security system. “You should see the one in my office,” I told her. “This is just the baby version.” I had one of these in every room of the house for easy access.
Most vampires invested in a security team.
I preferred technology.
“Now that you’re aware of my penchant for security, you’ll hopefully adhere to my suggestion that you not venture anywhere without my permission. Those cameras are just the tip of the iceberg, little pet. You don’t want to know what I have rigged outside.”
Damien stepped into the kitchen as I finished the last sentence, his golden-brown eyes immediately going to the blonde beauty at my counter and her half-eaten sandwich. “She cleaned up nicely,” he mused.
“She did,” I agreed, not bothering to introduce them. He knew where I found her. Until I decided what I wanted to do with her, there was no point in providing additional details. “I assume you have news for me?”
I phrased it as a question because there really was no other reason for Damien to stop by again so soon after our last meeting. And we’d just chatted on the phone yesterday when I informed him of his new Sovereign title.
“Yes.” His attention remained on Willow, his pupils flaring with interest as he took in her nude state. “It seems there are those who are not taking your candidacy seriously. I’ve received word from Silvano City of several potentials stepping forward to take over in the interim.”
“Oh?”
He hummed a confirmation before adding, “I think a show of force may be required.”
“Did Jolkin not accept your newly appointed title?” I questioned.
“He did not,” my best friend confirmed. “I considered killing him to make a point but thought you might want to do the honors.”
I considered the old sovereign of former-day Houston. “You have, what, five, six hundred years on him?”
“Seven, actually,” Damien drawled, finally taking his gaze away from my pet and shifting his focus to me. “But the pup still fancies himself king.”
I grunted. “King of Houston.” What an unfortunate title. “Do you want to remain in Houston as sovereign or take another area?” Offering a switch was the least I could do for Damien. He was the only being I trusted in this world.
Well, that wasn’t true.
I trusted one other person, but I hadn’t spoken to her in over a hundred years. Most considered her to be dead. However, she was very much alive. Just hiding and biding her time.
Similar to me.
Only I chose to hide alone.
“I would like to accompany you to Silvano City,” Damien said. “That’s where all the fireworks are going to occur, and you know how much I enjoy a good show.”
My lips twitched. “You’re just as sadistic as I am.”
“Perhaps slightly less,” he replied, moving to stand right beside Willow. “Have you tasted her yet?” He reached for her hair, pulling the strands back to expose her throat.
I approached her opposite side, repeating the action to arrange all of her blonde hair at her back.
She didn’t move.
She barely even breathed.
But I caught the flicker of fire in her gaze, even while her body openly submitted.
I leaned in to inhale her scent, my nose grazing the pulse point of her neck. “Not yet,” I admitted softly against her tender skin. “She’s still recovering.”
She swallowed, her nerves spiking just enough to tell me we were making her uncomfortable. Yet she remained obediently still, ever the trained human.
I sighed against her throat. “She needs some work.” Because I didn’t really care for subservience.
“Seems pretty perfect to me,” Damien countered.
“Because you’re into the mind manipulation Lilith has orchestrated.” Which I couldn’t fathom at all. It was a fucking travesty that defied nature.
Damien brushed his knuckles over her erect nipple. “Nothing wrong with teaching humans their place.”
I couldn’t fault the logic; I just felt there had to be a better way to go about it.
“What do you plan to do with her?” he asked.
Pulling away from her neck, I stared at her profile. “I don’t know yet.” I drew my finger down her arm, then refocused on him. “I need you to make me a list.”
“Of ideas?”
I snorted. “No. I have plenty of those. I need a list of who needs to be brought to heel in Silvano Region.”
“Hmm.” He shifted his attention away from her tits to meet my gaze. “I can do that.”
“Excellent.” I pressed my palm to Willow’s lower back. “Do you have anything else to report on, Damien?”
“No.” He glanced at my proprietary touch and took a step away from my pet. “I’ll work on a list for you.”
“Good.” I drew my thumb along Willow’s spine and admired the goose bumps pebbling down her arms. “Also, evaluate the sovereign territories. Let me know which one you fancy, and I’ll make the appropriate arrangements. After we’re done with Silvano City, I mean.” Because I wouldn’t turn down his offer of help. I’d need his alliance.
Vampires valued loyalty.
Alas, I’d turned my back on this new society, opting to live within the borderlines of two conflicting regions. No one fucked with me because I kept to myself. However, claiming temporary royalty had changed that.
I wasn’t naive. I knew I would have enemies as a result of my decision. And I welcomed those assholes to step forward and try to dance with me.
Lilith accepted my self-nomination for a reason.