(Addis)

A coincidence. That’s all it was. All it could be.

At least that's what Addis was telling himself as he leaned against the wall, watching the others flit about the ballroom. He wasn’t one for such parties himself, but if he was going to help the princess as her business partner, he knew it was the best way to raise interest in the shelter. Most high vampires loved an excuse to flaunt their wealth and power, and such parties were often the stage for such flexes. And Addis knew despite the rule of “donating” a human, there were few in Pavivani city who would give up a chance to get closer to the princess and potentially find a weakness for Addis. 

The vampire scoffed as he raised the glass to his lips, sipping the synthetic blood as he kept glancing around the room. Many were taking their blood with alcohol, but at the moment, Addis wanted clarity. After all, he needed to make sure he was wrong, that what he thought had just happened hadn’t happened. Because it had been a coincidence and nothing more. 

The focus of the vampire was Faye, the annoying human sitting on a couch next to Adrian. The human was smiling but even from his position, Addis could tell it was forced. Adrian had his arm wrapped around Faye’s shoulder, forcing their bodies to be in close vicinity while he spoke to Lena and another vampire. His fingers kept playing with the collar around Faye’s neck and the human flinched every time his owner flicked the material. Addis scoffed softly as he took another sip from his drink, annoyed by the pricks in his own neck that mimicked Adrian’s hand. 

Since Adrian had already allowed Faye to stay at the shelter, he had a free pass to the event, and mostly had shown up to make sure none tried to take advantage of his absence. After all, despite his business of “renting” out blood escorts, Faye was off limits, and Adrian’s personal toy. Addis frowned as his vision of the pair was temporarily blocked and he stretched his own neck, wishing that the phantom pains would stop. The more it insistently prickled his skin, the angrier Addis grew; he knew there was only one explanation for why and it couldn’t be that.

Addis hated the idea of drinking from humans; not because he had once been one, but simply because he found it inconvenient. Synthetic blood was more nourishing for day to day consumption, and vampire blood was better for power. Most high vampires exchanged blood for favors, but Addis had gained the majority of his power by drinking from anyone he could over power. None were worth his blood, and he took what he needed from those who could not stop him. It was his ruthlessness that had earned him the despised title of “Emperor of Blood”, although most knew better than to ever say it to his face. 

Addis sighed heavily as he noticed Lena waving him over to where she was talking to Adrian, and Addis took a deep breath, letting his normal smile grace his face as he joined the princess. Faye subtly tried to put more distance between himself and Adrian, but a quick squeeze put an end to that thought.

“Adrian was saying he might be willing to let more of his escorts stay here, considering how much safer Faye has been,” Lena beamed, her blond curls bouncing and Addis nodded, turning his pleasant smile to Adrian. The vampire was doing little to hide his intentions, still playing with the white collar around Faye’s neck. 

“After all,” Adrian started, his smooth voice and crooked smile only causing Addis’s to twitch. His maroon hair was loosely held together by a golden band over the vampire’s shoulder and Addis watched as Adrian subtlety adjusted it. “My dolls deserve so much better, and there are few in Pavivani city willing to rent to humans and turned.”

“Then it seems Lena is offering you quite the deal,” Addis beamed, watching as Adrian’s hand moved from Faye’s neck to the man's shoulder. Faye did his best to fake acceptance, sliding closer to his owner as Addis continued. “It would be such a shame should one of your ‘dolls’ be hurt.”

“Indeed it would, Addis,” Adrian cooed, his eyes not matching his smile as he tried to size up the vampire. Addis merely kept his bright smile, not allowing Adrian to intimidate him. After all, as far as power, Addis and Adrian were about equal rank among high vampires, and Addis knew he had the money to drown out Adrian. Despite his business renting out blood escorts, there was a “forbidden fruit” aspect to Adrian’s work, and it limited his ability to expand his business, despite the money he made. By running his radio station and occasionally opening others throughout Dephus, Addis had unlimited room to grow. 

“So, I was thinking Roma could make sure we have enough rooms ready for Adrian’s guests!” Lena interjected, picking up on the silent fight the pair were having. Addis turned his bright expression to her, giving the princess his full attention as her blue eyes shined. “Adrian said he’ll send out the memo tomorrow, so we should be expecting them over the next couple of days.”

“I’ll let her know immediately.”

“And while you’re at it, tell Ruben to stop spiking all the blood,” Zélia scoffed, causing Addis’s smile to twitch. He hadn’t noticed the princess’s girlfriend and he did little to hide his disdain as she spoke dismissively. She was a turned like him, but being the partner of the Heir Apparent of Dephus offered her a status no other turned could ever hope to reach. “Not all of us are trying to get wasted.”

“Noted, dear Zélia,” Addis enjoyed the glare the dark-haired vampiress gave him as he started to walk away, off to find both his thrall and human servant. It would give him the much needed excuse to step out of the party, and he closed the door to the ballroom quietly as he stepped into the hall. Without saying a word, both appeared in front of him, Roma rushing down the hallway ahead of Ruben. 

“Yes yes yes?” Roma bounced, barely able to keep her energy contained as Addis chuckled. Her short red bob bounced around her face perfectly as her blue eyes sparkled, eager to receive whatever order Addis had for them. For his part, Ruben was avoiding the vampire’s gaze, not even attempting to hide the bottle of vodka in his hand as he waited. 

“It seems Adrian wishes to increase his patronage of our dear shelter,” Addis began, chuckling again as he saw the excitement in Roma’s eyes. The girl truly enjoyed being able to work and loved being Addis’s thrall thanks to all the excitement and work he had for her to do. With her vampiric speed, the quantity of her tasks was far more important to Roma than quality and while she was no longer his only thrall, she was still his favorite. “We’ll need more rooms prepared andI do believe there should be enough sheets and pillows cleaned by now unless–”

“SomanyI’llgogetstartednow!” The girl spoke so quickly that Addis barely understood a word before she bolted off down the hallway. The vampire then turned his attention to the human, but Ruben merely huffed. 

“Yeah, yeah, I already know. Adrian was the one who asked for more spiked blood. Something about making the night interesting,” Addis felt his smile twitch again, but honestly, he was barely surprised. It was the type of underhanded tactic the snake would try and he merely shook his head as he smiled at his human servant. 

“Well, I suppose I should tell you not to spike any more blood,” Addis’s red eyes flashed slightly in the dark, and for a moment, Ruben’s green eyes lit up with red. Now that he had received an order from his actual master, he was no longer bound to Adrian’s suggestion and Addis sighed heavily. “And please, check on the food in the ballroom while you're at it. I'm sure your fellow humans would appreciate it.” 

“As if I care,” Ruben huffed and Addis hummed softly as he watched Ruben take a long drink from his bottle. “Fine, whatever, I’ll–”

“Oh there you are!” Addis turned as the door behind him opened, and his smile became more genuine as he saw who stepped out. She was a tall, beautiful vampire, her blond hair shaping her face perfectly as she beamed. Her all black eyes shone with both warmth and cruelty, and Addis turned to give her his full attention as Ruben left, grumbling as he made his way into the ballroom. “Trying to leave your own party?”

“I do believe this is Lena’s party, Rosie.”

“And we all know you’re the one who suggested it, Addis,” the vampiress shot back and Addis chuckled in response. Rosie was a born vampire and one of the highest ranking vampires beneath the Princess, and having her here had given Lena’s shelter more credit than even Addis had. She had even made it a point to donate a healthy sum of money on top of the required human, pressuring the other high vampires to do the same. 

“And of course, you are here to make all the rest of us look bad,” Addis offered, enjoying the laugh as Rosie pulled out her fan, hiding her devious expression. 

“Is it my fault that there is so little gold in this city of trash?” She chuckled, and Addis’s smile merely grew. “You are lucky you are such interesting company, little Addis.”

“Indeed I am,” Addis agreed, offering the vampiress his arm as he moved to re-enter the ballroom. Rosie took it with a mischievous grin, and the pair stepped back into the party, drawing looks as they re-entered. This night would be over soon enough, and Addis reassured himself that the night would merely be a boring chore.
Until he heard the glass shatter and felt white hot pain run through his right hand.

Addis paused, turning to see that Faye was holding his hand tightly, cursing at the glass that had shattered in his hand. Adrian had a scowl on his face, as if he was annoyed that the human had broken the glass, and quickly stood up from the couch. Lena was quick to approach the bleeding human, trying to access his wound, but all Addis could do was stare. His hand pulsed with pain as he watched Faye pull away, refusing to let the princess touch him.

“It’s nothing! Don’t worry about it. I’ll fix it myself!” With that, Faye stomped off from the couch, walking towards the frozen vampire. He passed by him silently, and Addis kept his eyes glued on the shattered glass where it lay covered in blood on the floor. His hand… had begun to hurt at the exact moment Faye had cut himself on the glass. At the Exact. Moment.

“Addis?” Rosie called out to the vampire and Addis shook his head, smiling brightly as he unhooked his arm from hers. He nodded his head politely and left, making his way to the safety of his office. Once he was behind the closed door, Addis clutched his throbbing hand tightly. There was no way he could deny it now: the human’s injury proved the connection beyond a doubt. Addis began a nasty laugh as he brought his hand to his face, pushing himself off the door. Of course, fate had a sense of humor after all. He walked over to his floor length mirror, dragging his hand along the reflective surface.

An image of the human rippled across the mirror, showing Faye as he attempted to bandage his wounded hand, cursing as tears ran down his cheeks. As soon as he was done, the human threw himself into his pillows, clutching one tightly to his chest. It seemed he was delaying returning to the party, as if he knew the punishment Adrian would be sure to inflict on him. If the pains that had been bothering Addis were any indication, then the poor human would be lucky to survive the night after such humiliation.

“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Addis heard Faye whisper, and he dismissed the vision, sliding into his chair as he stared at the far wall. He had felt nothing while watching the human, meaning no emotions were being shared, but it was only a matter of time. The vampire was once again tied to another soul in the way he hated the most, sharing in their pain and emotions through a bond he had never asked for.

Addis… was Soulbound.