I bit my lip in frustration. “Me.” I hung my head. “I wanted you to see me. It may seem ridiculous, but when I’m not doing my actual job for the immortals or serving my sentence as I’d always put it mildly. I’m here. Reading. Relaxing.” I spread my arms wide, rejuvenating, pushing out the negative swirl of emotions that grate on a person like me—for doing what I did on a daily basis.
“I like it.” Stephanie finally said, her voice husky. “As far as lairs go yours is way better than Ethan’s. Much more gothic.”
I coughed out a laugh. “Yes well, we both know Vampires prefer light to dark.”
Stephanie touched my arm.
I flinched.
“Do I hurt you?”
“No.” I pulled away slowly. “I think it’s instinctual. Every time you touch me I shy away, not because it hurts, maybe it’s a deep rooted fear that all humans have, and now that I’m fully human…” I shrugged.
“Can I control you?” Stephanie’s eyes narrowed. “Technically, a Dark One can’t come into contact with an unmated human without them going insane with desire, lust— I mean, why aren’t you…?” She blinked and then looked down. “I can’t believe I just asked you that.”
“Why am I not overcome with insanity in your presence?” I chuckled. It was nice to see her uncomfortable for a change.
“Yeah.” Her chest rose and fell with even breaths, and I concentrated on her breathing; it made me calm, counting every inhale, every exhale.
“I imagine Sariel wouldn’t think it fair.”
“Fair?”
I clasped my hands behind my back. “But you’re welcome to try.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “How do you know I haven’t been trying?”
“Because I’m alive.”
Her eyes widened. “So if I try, I kill you?”
“Possibly, who really knows?”
“No thanks.”
“Take a chance.”
“No.” She stepped farther away from me, her back colliding with one of the book shelves.
I pursued, nearly slamming my body against hers, not because I wanted to force her but because I couldn’t help the aggression pounding through my veins. When she retreated I wanted to pursue. I couldn’t help myself any more than I could stop myself from breathing.
“Where’s your sense of danger and adventure?” I taunted, pressing my hands to her cold arms. “Try.”
“I could kill you.”
“I’ll try not to die.”
“Oh,” she muttered and cursed under her breath. “How reassuring.”
“Do it.”
“No!”
“Oh, so you’re afraid.” I nodded mockingly, “Don’t think I’ve ever met a Dark One who experienced fear.”
Her nostrils flared. “Don’t push me.” The room temperature plummeted.
I arched an eyebrow then very slowly leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Chicken.”
It was immature.
I knew that.
She knew that.
But it didn’t stop her reaction.
With catlike reflexes she pushed me across the room, I landed perfectly in the chair, she jumped into the air and pounced, straddling me with both legs. One tilt of her head and our eyes locked.
Hers turned white.
It was eerie, watching someone else do what I’d done thousands of times, this time with me being on the receiving end.
I was completely riveted by the way she looked at me—as if I was the only being in existence.
My breath came out in a gasp as the room dropped below zero. Ice crackled across the surface of the wood floor, moisture once clinging in the air frosted the windows.
“That all you got?” I licked my nearly frozen lips.
Stephanie leaned forward, her nails digging into my arm. “I’m not exactly practiced in the art of Dark One seduction.”
“The next step…” Why was I teaching her this again? When I was so weak? Right, because if I died, it would all fall to her. If I failed she was the last.
“Yes?”
“The Marking.”
Her eyes swirled back to blue then went white again. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea. How do I… what do I…?” Her focus wavered. She was unsteady, too new, too unpracticed. I imagined she wouldn’t have the concentration to actually kill me.
“Two choices.” The human side of me was ready to bolt out of the chair and find a weapon. I stayed put, even when her nails dug deeper. Warm blood started trickling from my arms. “You mark with your mouth or your hand.”
Stephanie nodded, the room got colder. Damn, maybe I’d just freeze to death. Clearly, I hadn’t thought through all the horrible scenarios.
“You take your palm and press it against the neck, cupping the human flesh, you simply force your will upon them, whatever it is. Do you need a slave? What about a task completed? How about undying love and devotion? What you need, you think, you force it upon them so heavily that it becomes the very air they breathe. Without you, they would die, you must believe it, so they will believe it.”
Stephanie nodded and pressed her palm against my neck.
The stirring of ice flickered through my veins.
“Or…” It was freezing, yet I felt cold and clammy, like being hot and cold at the same time. “You mark with your mouth… more personal, no drawing of blood, think of it as a love bite. It’s more personal because Angel blood is in every cell of your body, including your saliva, therefore, your blood comes into contact with the human. Regardless of how strong you are—it will work because human blood yearns for it.”