"Quinn," the ever-present voice hissed in my head. "Is it today? Our treasure comes today, yes?"

"You have a very strange sense of what's important, Helmin." 

The worm undulated across my body. Its mouth was attached to a spot on the back of my neck while its sinuous length was wrapped under my left arm and around my torso four times before it terminated in a connection to my navel. 

I sat up from my bedding and stretched. Helmin slid along my abs the way a boa constrictor would tighten, then loosen again. Not quite agitated yet, but slowly reaching a point where I would need to feed us both. 

I dressed in linen pants, a shirt, and canvas sandals and went to the employee cafeteria. Once my plate was full, I selected an empty table with eight seats. At Firebaugh Resort, I was known for my calming "energy." Those seeking to adjust their moods for the day often sought me out at mealtimes. The more anxiety, fear, or general worry they had in their lifeforce, the more calming pheromone Helmin created. 

"I've never once seen you eat anything that looks remotely unhealthy, Quinn. Why is that?" One of the luggage porters asked as they ate pancakes with enough syrup to make a small lake on their plate.

"I have never craved sugar. It was not something I grew up with. So it doesn't interest me as much." The porter was worried about something, and it leaked out in the lifeforce they radiated around them. I sipped at it until their worry tapered off due to Helmin's influence. 

Others came to the table, made small talk, and drifted away as they finished. Helmin was sated for now but protested all the same. 

Helmin was blunt, and their insistence that I do more than assist our steady client annoyed me. "We've had this discussion. Clients and staff are not allowed to act intimately toward each other. So you will have to suffice with our usual limitations." The familiar discussion was no less annoying now than it had been the first time we'd attended Mateo. 

I had other clients with similar mental afflictions that regularly attended the resort and the spa. I led meditation classes that were able to ease most mild sufferers. They left feeling refreshed and continued with their own practice. In addition to the classes, I also assisted the spa with clients that could tend toward violence. While the resort was a safe haven for many magical individuals, those same individuals were often apex predators. Most managed with only a passing influence from Helmin so that they remained calm in the spa area. Others needed more attention. As they were often territorial, especially in their natural form, Dragons were the ones I managed the most. Vampires were the other.

Mateo Valentino arrived at night, as his kind usually did. He would visit the resort once every few months to spend the week with me in private meditation. During those times, Helmin would gorge itself on Mateo's darker emotions and produce so much paralytic pheromone that I had to be careful about where we practiced. While Mateo remained calm and in control on the surface, his emotions were often in turmoil.

A vampire's lifeforce is only present after they feed. Mateo would often bring a companion or two to keep himself in a higher state of bodily functioning. It was my only request when we began these sessions. It helped him connect with his emotions and allowed me to help manipulate his lifeforce. 

Tonight was different. I received a call from the front desk. Felven, our head concierge, melodic tones were less pleasant than usual. "I apologize for waking you, Quinn, but Mateo has checked in alone. He's asked to see you immediately. I tried to dissuade him, but he offered to pay whatever compensation you might require."

I blinked. Something must be wrong. "Felven, how did he seem to you?"

"Very agitated. Mateo said barely a word upon entry, then came to my desk and asked for you. He did not wait for a reply."

"Is he in his usual room?"

"Yes. I hope you are able to assist him, Quinn."

"I hope so as well. Thank you, Felven." I dismissed the call. Helmin made a delighted noise in my head. 

"Yes, I understand, you glutton. But, first, we will assess his situation. Agreed?" It did not answer my question and only became more insistant. 

"Hurry, Quinn. Hurry!" I dressed even as the greedy worm repeated its litany. 

We arrived at the corner suite, high in the resort's south tower. Usually, I would meet Mateo in one of the gardens at night. Only high concentrations of the calming pheromones would affect Mateo. Because of his affliction, Helmin produced large quantities of the substance when it fed from his lifeforce. While I have a higher tolerance for Helmin's pheromones, the concentration Mateo needs would dose me into unconsciousness in a closed space. 

"Mateo, it's Quinn." I did not speak loudly, nor did I knock. Vampires had exceptional hearing. If he needed me, he would be nearby.

The door to the room opened, and I took a few steps inside. I did not sense Mateo or his lifeforce. I took a few more steps into the room and was greeted only by the spectacular view of a seemingly peaceful desert by moonlight. 

"Quinn." Mateo's voice was merely a rasp as the door shut behind me. The advantage of having Helmin was that it ate my own fears and anxiety, which made me an excellent individual to handle predators. It undulated under my shirt, which it usually didn't do. The movement threatened to disrupt the charms that kept it hidden. 

One moment I stood alone. The next, Mateo stood next to me. He was shorter, decently built, with black hair and brown eyes. Those eyes told stories about his current state and his past.

He'd been taken captive in the Necromantic War and made to do horrible things against his will. Mateo had belonged to a monastery. He was a scholar that had studied all manner of topics and writings. When Florentine's armies swept through his area and raided the monastery, the entire coven was swept into Necromantic War. Their collected knowledge was scattered or burned. An allied necromancer broke his conditioning and warded him until they could move him away from the fighting, but Mateo was the only survivor of his coven. He had spent much of his time and resources to regain his coven's knowledge. 

The man that stood next to me in the dark hotel room was not the Mateo I knew. "Mateo, welcome." I hoped Helmin and I were not too late to help him. 

The predator relaxed slightly. He forced himself to take a breath and then another. It was Helmin's work certainly. But Mateo would need more lifeforce to make the calming effect last longer than my own anxiety and fear would in this situation.

He moaned his distress. "I am denied."

"Denied what, Mateo?"

"The covens I live near, in New Amsterdam. They wanted my collection, my loyalty. I refused. They have denied me companionship."

"How?" This was curious. I had never heard of a vampire being denied those that wished to be companions.

"They marked me with a compulsion. My companions cannot come near me. I've subsisted on charity blood stores until I could be by your side."

That phrasing struck me as odd. "Have you not fed?"

"My resolve is weakening, Quinn. My anger and rage threaten to consume me."

"There is a blood store…."

"No! I cannot stomach any more stale substitutes. With each sip, it drives me more mad. I need flesh and blood. I need my companions." The sob that followed was filled with sorrow. "They cared for me, and I cared for them. The covens have no right to keep us from each other."

I had suspected his companions were lovers, but this confirmed it. They had been an encouraging force for him. Protective to a fault, but happy. Mateo thrived in their affection. He had told me once that they were why he visited the resort and sought help. I had initially thought it was to protect his food source, but it was more than that. I should have realized it. Without the trauma, Mateo was a kind soul. 

"Mateo," he looked at me. I did not move. There was tension in the room. While I was not prey, I could not deny that his mental state affected me. "What would you have me do?"

"Help me."

"How?"

He took a step closer, leaned toward me, and placed a soft kiss on my lips. I was stunned. Helmin hissed with glee in my head. 

"We need to be careful. He is not stable." There was a slight pause before it answered. 

In all the decades I'd been a host, I now understood the worm more. It saw a kinship, or a likeness to itself, in Mateo. Other than hunger, Helmin's other emotions were not always clear to me. Until now, I didn't know it could express infatuation. It was now clear that Helmin had one for Mateo. 

Mateo tried to kiss me again, and I endured it for a moment before I gently pushed him away. "Circumstances as they are, I wish to help you first. Once your mind is more clear, we can talk." Mateo nodded in agreement instead of lashing out at the rebuff. 

"Will my wrist be sufficient?" I'd never fed a vampire before, nor had I ever put myself in a situation where I needed to. I wouldn't have without Helmin's persistence. The anticipation I felt was not my own, but my body responded to it thanks to Helmin's connection to my nervous system and spinal cord via my neck and navel. I rolled up my sleeve in preparation and tried to recall the room's layout to determine where this might be easily facilitated. 

"I can smell your arousal." Mateo's hand ghosted over my body, but he did not touch me. 

I sighed. "It's complicated."

"From my experience, arousal is the least complicated thing a body can do."

"I assure you, it is not as simple as it seems." I decided I'd had enough of the dark. "Living area, lights, five percent."

The dim light was enough to see by, and I slowly moved to the couch and sat. Mateo slowly followed. "I am ready when you are."

He sat next to me, blinked slowly, then tilted his head. "Have I offended you?"

I shook my head slightly, "No." I swallowed. "Much the opposite. However, before anything else, I wish you to feed first. Please." This was outside of the bounds of client privilege. I could not continue to allow Mateo to stay at the resort in his current state. The emergency warranted the action, so I told myself.

Mateo gently took my left arm in his hands, bent his head over my wrist, and gave it a gentle kiss a moment before he pierced my skin with his fangs. 

The pain was fleeting. As Mateo drew from me, Helmin vibrated, which caused me to convulse slightly. A groan escaped my lips as pleasure and lust flooded my system. It was not mine, but it became mine as Helmin swept me along in its desire toward Mateo. 

"Our treasure," I whispered as my other hand caressed Mateo's head as he fed. He slowly stopped, licked the wound, and pulled away. The crotch of my pants was soaked with my seed. 

Mateo blinked slowly, the blood filling him with lifeforce. I watched as his sanity asserted itself. His gaze, along with a sly smile, was my first indication that he did not plan to let my verbal slip go nor ignore the condition of my attire. 

"How long have you fancied me, exactly?"

I shook my head. "It's not me, exactly. While I do find you attractive. I work and live here. It is not permitted to be intimate with a guest."

"Is that all that kept this revelation from me?" He leaned forward slightly. "I would have met you anywhere you would have liked. I have enjoyed your company and often wondered if we would be compatible."

Compatible. Mateo was serious. It had been a very long time since I'd had a suitor. Because of Helmin, my lifeforce and aura looked troubling to most fae, so they didn't venture near me. I took a breath and blinked. Helmin's paralytic. "Living area, increase airflow, fifty percent." 

My request was slurred. The system asked again, and I tried to respond. Mateo spoke up, and that's the last I remembered before I found myself laid out on the couch with Mateo patting my face, his brown eyes intently focused on me.