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“Remember—windows,” was the subject line. The email was blank.

Damn it! Like she didn’t have enough to do already. If Blackmore were here, she’d stab him in the eye with her pen.

She wasn’t his goddamned secretary. It wasn’t her job to schedule meetings.

“Tristan, give me a list of conference rooms with windows.”

“That is not a parameter for conference rooms,” the AI responded.

“Ahh!”

Tristan was an AI. He had no feelings. He couldn’t be mocking her.

“Is this a bad time?”

Leah looked up from her screen. Lucy Fontnaught, her trustworthy assistant, stood at the door. Though two years younger than Leah, Lucy had been working in Vegas for five years. With her dirty blond hair always up in a ponytail, she had an easygoing smile for everyone. Leah had never met someone as optimistic as the bubbly woman, who had been a treasure trove of information and an invaluable help. Leah didn’t know what she would have done without her.

Their caterer quit two days ago after a vampire seduced his daughter. It had been Lucy who’d found a replacement within a day. Leah had the unpleasant job of convincing the new caterers that no vampires would seduce them or any member of their family or staff.

She had tracked down Marek to keep that promise. She would’ve gone to Blackmore, except he had been unavailable. Talking to Marek, despite his outward friendliness, had made her hair stand on end. He’d been the one who’d tried to bend her to his will on her first day in the underground arena. Other than Blackmore, Marek was the scariest vampire she’d met. It wasn’t an experience she wanted to repeat.

With her attraction to Blackmore, sometimes it was easy to forget the fear. With Marek, she’d been fully aware she was discussing terms with an immortal with the power to end her life in the blink of an eye.

The Organization had very little information on Marek, even less than Blackmore. As Blackmore’s second, he stayed out of the spotlight, but the vampires respected him just as much as they did Blackmore.

“What’s up?” Leah asked, welcoming the distraction. “I thought you had the afternoon off?”

“Yes, actually—” Lucy fiddled with her hands. “Ugh, never mind. You’re busy.”

Leah put her pen down. It was unlike Lucy to be this distressed, not even when their caterer had quit. “No, tell me, what is it? I’d rather know now than later.”

“It’s not about the Gathering. Thank God.”Thank God, indeed,Leah thought. Lucy continued, “I’m supposed to drop off supplies at New Hope Center this afternoon. Kevin was going with me, but he’s sick. I was wondering if you want to go? Get some fresh air?”

“New Hope Center?”

“It’s a shelter and rehab center for VB addicts, and,” Lucy hesitated, “for recovering vampire slaves.”

Leah’s hands fisted above her knees. VB, short for vampire blood, had proliferated in the last three decades. It gave humans super strength and senses like a vampire. She’d watched videos of people lifting a sedan while on VB or recovering from a fatal wound with its healing powers.

However, despite its many uses, like cocaine and heroin, it was highly addictive. And like cocaine and heroin addicts, VB addicts destroyed their lives chasing after the next hit.

Humans became willing blood slaves to vampires. Their vampire master supplied them with VB in exchange for their servitude. Most of the time, vampires lured humans with sex before forcing them to become addicted to VB. When vampires tired of their human slaves, they killed the humans, or if the humans were lucky, the vampires abandoned them where someone might find and help them.

Shelters and rehab centers had popped up in response to the rising number of addicts. Leah had visited a shelter only once. It was among the Organization’s required field trips meant to show the employees the damage vampires wreak upon unsuspecting humans.

The shelter, on the outskirts of Miami, had been dirty and dingy with old cots for the addicts laid out in an open auditorium. She remembered empty eyes, people hugging themselves in corners, and screaming and crying. Crying for more VB. For their masters.

Look,the Organization had said,vampires did this. If they catch you, this is your future.

She’d had nightmares for days.

Lucy’s voice brought her back to the present. “Forget it. I’ll figure it out.”

“Wait.” Leah turned off her terminal. Screw Blackmore and his meetings.

Despite Dmitri hounding her every day, she’d made no headway in seducing Blackmore. The man was as elusive as a ghost. Every time she visited his office, he wasn’t there. She’d even stayed up till two a.m. twice, knowing he kept to vampires’ night hours, but she still couldn’t get ahold of him. She’d even tried to get his meeting schedule from Tristan to no avail.

Was he avoiding her? If so, why?