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They did have their moments, but where we lacked in numbers, we made up for in strength, speed, and everything else. They werepetrifiedof us, and rightfully so. It wasn’t a surprise when our human counterparts gave in so easily. I’d have executed the entire world, but alas, I was not on council. Those that were, were old and weak, and outlawed the genocide of the human race, with reasons that were unknown to me. I dropped my cigarette onto the ground and stomped out the ashes with the heel of my doc.

With a fragile understanding of the truce now single handedly holding this society together, the only time we were able to feed was when they werewillinghosts. Donation centers were to be the only source of food for the entire immortal race.

Where the fuck was the fun in that?

The humans that crossed me now were oblivious as they strutted, falling over one another in loud, boisterous stupors. My fingers crawled up my face, tracing my lips and touching the points of my canines. The burn in my throat tightened as I scented each individual that walked by, their veins pounding loudly in my ears. My eyes flitted to each delicious one, as if I was just as easily choosing items off a restaurant menu.

What called to me was the tall man that was entering the casino,our casino, with long fawn colored hair that was pulled up in a not-so-neat bun, muscles rippling under a white t-shirt. I stood from my spot against the building, body tense and ready to follow.

I was invisible when I needed to be, camouflaging into the busy morning crowds that inched their way towards the casinos. They were all already drunk at half past noon, pockets full of coins and dreams and secrets. They were terrible creatures, humans. Disgustingly pitiful and overwhelmingly ordinary. My prey stopped not far past the sliding doors, getting chips at the front counters from another vampire, his fangs covered by a tight lipped smile. Where it was unusual for my kind to be out during the day, inside all bets were off, especially in a place like Sin City.

Casinos were an ideal place to be if you were a vampire, devoid of light from windows, big spacious rooms that seemed to only get larger the further in you went. Even with the size, the rows of endless tables and machines led to private quarters when necessary. There were hundreds of vampires in a place like this, all waiting, watching, preying on their own. All thanks to Mercy.

She owned this city, owned every building and each vampire within it. She built this place, and where she succeeded, I succeeded. There was no weakness that leaked from her, Mercy was power incarnate. And while each vampire here was grateful for her hospitality, for the donated blood that came through this building walking on two legs— tasting so much better from the source than it did from a bag—they would just as easily fold in her presence. Because she was absolutely terrifying.

I followed the man from close behind, although he was too ignorant to notice. The closer I got, the more his scent washed over me. I needed him, needed to taste the blood that flowed through him. I was this close, reaching out my hand to run a nail along the back of his neck, before I could feel the vibrations coming from my back pocket.

I cursed silently to myself, grabbing the phone from my pocket and instinctively raising it to my ear without looking at the caller ID, letting the man walk away from me. It was unnecessary, there were very few people that called me regularly, and one, I was avoiding. For reasons.

“Narcissa,” the male voice echoed through the receiver, and I felt my lips curl over my teeth in a snarl.

“Warren.”

“Where the fuck are you?”

I didn’t quite like that tone. Warren always assumed he had out-ranked me when matters involved Mercy. Mercy said she had never slept with him, but I wasn’t sure I believed her. She would sleep with anything that walked.

“You are depriving me of my meal,” I snarled angrily as I watched my prey sink back into the crowd, “and last I recalled, you were not mykeeper, rodent,” I could hear his chuckle from the other end, and the sound made me want to wrap my pretty hands around his throat and squeeze until there was no more breath coming out of him.

“Ah, yes, but lastIchecked, Mercy wasyours. She told me to get in touch with you, something about you not answering her calls?”

I felt the blood from my last meal rise like bile, but I swallowed it back. I couldn’t believe she called him, and told him about our business. Why the fuck was he calling me?

“My relationship with Mercy has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh my, you have arelationshipnow? I was not privy to that information!”

“Fuck off, Warren. I don’t know why you give a fuck about where I am.”

“Mercy wants us in the office in ten minutes. Think you can do that?”

“And why are you there?”

“I follow Mercy, I answer her calls,” he said simply. There was always something about Warren that rubbed me the wrong way. He was nothing but trouble, in Mercy’s back pocket like a slimy rodent that couldn’t keep to himself. I had no idea why she kept his company. “Something you haven’t seemed to be doing lately.”

I could feel the rage ready to explode from me, but knowing Warren, he was nothing but a tease looking for a rise; I despised him for it. Mercy would be hearing my opinions on the matter.

My word meant something in this God-forsaken city, whether Warren knew it or not.

He would not be around for long.

* * *

My stomach wasempty and my attitude was not checked by the time I sat in one of the chairs that now adorned my boss’ office. Warren sat next to me, grinning like a moron. I chose to ignore him. My legs were crossed and I sat back, picking at my long fingernails.

When the door opened without notice, I turned in my seat to face it. Mercy stepped forward, pushing the door open with a frown settled on her face. There was a glow about her that I recognized as lust even despite the morose expression, and it made me narrow my eyes in frustration.

I couldn’t believe she tasted thehumanlast night. My hand raised instinctively to my neck, tracing the small scars from her fangs from when she drank from me. I was still thrown by her declination of my services last night, opting instead to finish herself off thinking about the girl.