The board meeting had been boring, and she spent most of the time sipping on blood from a cup like a toddler would a bottle. Periodically, Sylas’s thumb rubbed the back of her neck and had a calming effect whenever she became tense. For the most part, the meeting was like any other you’d expect to find in any office building. It talked of profits, losses, and targets for the next quarter. Once the meeting was over, Sylas took her to his office, which was a hacker’s dream. Wall-to-wall computers and keyboards. It was astounding to watch Sylas move so fast that he became a dark blur. He told Cassandra that even with the best upgrades money could buy, the processing speed of the computers couldn’t keep up with the speed he could type on the keyboards. He periodically stopped beside her as he waited for the computers to catch up with everything he’d inputted. While he did this, he taught her how to speed read. 

As in, she could read so fast, the pages were a blur in her hands. Her jaw dropped in shock as she was able to read and remember what she’d read in a book called ‘An Introduction to Computer Code’. Apparently, vampires weren’t just leeches when it came to sucking blood from a vein, but also knowledge from a book. I almost wish I was a vampire when it came to my high school exams. Damn. Cassandra read several books that afternoon, and Sylas quizzed her on them while zipping from computer to computer. Davon and Nessa appeared halfway through the shift. The blonde vampire handed Sylas a note, and his spawn shuffled over to Cassandra to hand her a cup of blood. Keep your strength up, fang-baby, she said. Cassandra wondered if perhaps Nessa’s offer to talk to a fellow spawn was an olive branch she could trust. She still hadn’t decided how she felt about being a vampire, after all. On the one hand, Sylas was a monster, killed her, and turned her into a monster. He clearly had high hopes that she would one day become his bride. On the other hand, he was doting on her and seemed to be determined to care for her. His promise to get her a job and for her to earn a wage seemed legitimate, within working for a digital security company run by vampires. Run by vampires who were very intense, over-the-top, and scary as fuck. But then there was Nessa, who seemed nice, and her sire Davon wasn’t an asshole like some of the others. He spoke up for her and Sylas, after all. By the time it came to end their shift, she was feeling a lot better about working with vampires. Well? Better than she had when she first arrived at DataNet Inc, at least. 

“So?” For the first time since she’d met Sylas, his tone seemed very unsure of himself, which was the first red flag. “Our nest is going hunting tonight.” Sylas sighed and held his hands up. “I know Electra is intense, but trust me? She’s not a bad vampire. She is trying to help you settle in, and going hunting tonight is the traditional way to welcome a spawn into their new nest. But?” He took a step towards her and wore a charming smile. “I promise you don’t have to learn to feed from a person tonight. You can just dress up, have blood from a cup, and enjoy some live music. Maybe even a dance, if you want one.” He lowered his hands to offer them both to her. “I will not pressure you, or allow you to be pressured into anything you aren’t comfortable with.” 

“What if I don’t want to go out with your nest?” She half turned away from him and narrowed her eyes. 

“Then we’ll go straight home.” He gently took one of her hands in his left, and his right rested on top. 

“Won’t your Vampire Lord, er, lady be pissed off?” 

“She’ll probably flash her fangs at me and say so, but she won’t be. Like she wasn’t really cross this morning.” Sylas tugged at her hand and brought her closer. His eyes turned red and he oozed with confidence. “Either way? You are all I care about. If you want to stay home, we’ll stay home. If you want to go to a night club to show our face and just talk, we can do that.” He leaned down to get close enough to whisper to her. “And if you do decide you want to learn how to feed, I’ll teach you.”

“I-I don’t want to hurt anyone.” She shook her head, and Sylas released her hand to embrace her. He held her close and rested his cheek on top of her blonde head. 

“Then you don’t have to.”

“As simple as that?” 

“As simple as that.” 

Cassandra felt herself sinking into the embrace and holding him tighter. I believe him. I believe he’ll take me back to his place if I ask him to. She also believed him when he said that Electra wasn’t really angry, like it first appeared. It must be one of those vampire nuances, or instinctive behaviours Sylas told me about. The way she acted like a maniac when Sylas turned up late and she pinned him to the wall. She sighed, knowing she was just going to have to trust him. “So…would you like to join our nest and see how modern, well adjusted vampires hunt and have fun? Or would you like to stay home with me tonight?” Cassandra pursed her lips together and knew what she wanted to do. 

She wanted to go back in time and never run up to the nice man outside the haunted house attraction to hide her from her stepsisters. Well, that’s not an option, so I guess I’ll need to learn how to live as a vampire. 

“Let’s go out.” 

“Are you sure?” He wasn’t expecting that choice, but he would respect it. 

“I’m sure.” Cassandra awkwardly untangled herself from his arms and put on a brave smile. “I need to learn how to be one of those modern, well-adjusted vampires too, right? And you’ll show me how to hunt without hurting anyone?” She folded her arms and shrugged. “I won’t learn that moping at home.” The sooner I learn how to control my hunger and hunt safely, the sooner I can escape this nightmare. 

“Okay. If you’re sure that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.” He offered his arm to his spawn, and did his best to hide the hungry glint in his red eyes. After all? James said it was hooker theme tonight at Oscar’s. Sylas was a gentleman, but he was also going to see his spawn looking like sire-bait. I can’t feast on her yet, but she’ll be a feast for the eyes. He was also looking forward to teaching her how to hunt, and revelling in the bloodlust that would bring. “We’ll just head home to change clothes, and then we’ll meet everyone at the club. After you.”