12. TOBIAS

TWELVE

tobias

She’d addicted me and I’d only tasted her once. Drinking her blood felt like sunlight caressing my skin. I shouldn’t have been able to recall the sensation when it had been centuries since I was human.

The sweet taste spreading on my tongue, rushing through my system, like lightning sending electrical pulses through my psyche. My cock stiffened; the sensation foreign. I’d felt desire for blood and feeding, but never had a woman’s body tempted me as Catalina’s did. Having her under me as I fed on her . . . Lord forgive me, but I hungered for her.

I tapped my thigh, waiting for her run-down van to exit the drive thru.

I didn’t understand human’s obsession with caffeinated drinks, or their need to have one daily, they behaved as if they had to live off it. There was a store every other block of some chain or another hosting the same product, nonsense I couldn’t wrap my head around. The thoughts I’d heard from humans craving the substance reeked of addiction.

Catalina rolled out of the drive-through—another luxury humans took for granted. Everything was terrifyingly easy for humankind, and they didn’t understand true suffering. The horrors of war, plagues . . .

I snapped back to the present, revving out of my parking spot to follow before she was out of sight. I followed a distance behind until she pulled into a large, wide building with red blinking lights at the front.

Though fearful, she picked herself up each time she’d been slammed down.

Humanity was the Lord’s creation while I was an abomination, something dark and sinful that should have never been, so I’d abstained from feeding directly from humans once I became a monster, feeding from animals and then blood banks when they surfaced. Until the curvaceous human appeared and saved me. I watched said human disappear through the swinging glass door of the building.

Knowing other’s thoughts, forced me to be more conscious of their emotional state. Reading human minds were easier than reading the minds of other vampires which always seemed shrouded in a layer of fog. Furthermore, any emotion humans felt at a powerful level leaked into my conscious. I understood the emotion from an outsider perspective, even if I couldn’t feel it as they did. When thinking back on human memories, they remained behind a hazy curtain. Present, but not fully formed. Little details faded, like smells, tastes?—

You two always get on me , but no, when you want to stalk the human, it’s fine.

I narrowed my eyes at the door.

The voice was?—

“What you doin’,” Asher slipped into my vehicle and slammed the door shut.

“How did you get here?” He hadn’t driven up.

Asher’s seat creaked as he scooted it flat so he reclined and he hooked his arms behind his head.

“Compelled some human.” Asher smirked. “What, you didn’t see me following you because you were so honed in on the pretty little ass?”

I stiffened, offended. “How dare you?—”

“I feel like we’re bonding with this whole stalking thing.” Asher’s grin widened.

“This is not stalking,” I snapped. “I volunteered to keep an eye on her.”

“Let’s stop the bull, we can have our hired humans, or one of my progeny could have watched her if we truly wanted eyes on her.”

“Nonsense.” I left it at that, not bothering to try to make sense of it all. We’d kept our relocation silent to all under our coven. Neither them nor the humans could know where we’d relocated. Jax sent them the girl’s location virtually with strict instructions to notify us of her every move, and if the time came where she attempted to leave within a twenty-mile radius from this address, then she would be detained until we collected her, yet she hadn’t tried to flee.

The front door opening dragged our attention to Catalina as she sped to her car, peeking around her. She popped the door open and bent inside, reaching for something I couldn’t see.

“I want to fuck her.” He groaned, rubbing his crotch.

I eyed him. “Tone down your vulgarity.” He only lifted an eyebrow. Catalina retreated from the vehicle with a bag swinging in her hand.

“Whatever you say,” Asher scoffed. “So, has Calliope contacted you to complain about you offing her child?”

“No.” And I was as surprised as he looked. It lent itself to our theory that she had Ren. In any other instance, she would do whatever possible to be as much of an annoyance as she could.

Calliope likely played her little games . . . I counted on this because if it were another, more volatile enemy making a move by taking Ren, he may not be alive.

We could not storm into her territory without her being able to call a hearing, turning all vampires against us. Many would gladly take the chance.

It would be a bloodbath from both sides and humans would be the collateral.

Toe the fine line. Play the long game. We would prevail but we had to take care when moving the pieces.