Alaric turned and stopped in his tracks, looking at the dead bodies around me. I pointed to the one that was in fact, not dead.

"He wants to be the one that lives to tell the tale."

"That's not an option," Alaric growled as he walked closer to me.

"Yes, it is. You need someone to go running into the night, telling the world that he saw you and your group of only four take down what had to be upwards of fifty men that belonged to three drug lords. It sends word to the people that you are not prepared to accept this kind of criminal activity in your land. There's something else that he needs to tell them that he saw."

"What?"

Pulling him down by his shirt, I kissed Alaric hard. When his arms wrapped around me, I took a sneaky glance at the man that had risen from the ground. He'd seen the kiss and was now running for the trees. Silas was yelling that one was getting away, Alaric pulled out of the kiss and watched.

"You let him get away?"

"A strategic move."

"Well, you could have at least made him help us clean this damned mess."

Silas stomped off, moving to Nisha and Ilsen to help them move the bodies. Alaric turned back to me, his mood unreadable.

"We need to talk."

"Yeah, we do," I grumbled. "But the bodies need to be dealt with first."

I walked away, feeling his burning stare on my back. So many things could be said, I could spit them out in hatred or in sadness. Either way, it wouldn't be good. We'd come so close to getting there and in one moment, the truth had ruined it.

A tear slid free, I wiped it away before anyone could see it. Silas stood, huffing as he stretched his back.

"What's the plan?"

"Well, we can't just leave them in the woods."

"What's beyond the woods?"

"There's a farm beyond the woods. A river runs through the woods but unfortunately, it's not deep enough for this amount."

"So, why can't we just leave them in the woods?"

Silas shrugged, his face twitched with a vague look.

"Too close to home."

"Do you fear the police?"

He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"What police? The humans, pfft."

"Then why do you care about the location?"

It took a second for Silas but the smile broke out when he realized.

"Yep, sounds good."

Nisha cleared a path to a good location that was deep into the wooded area. Alaric and Ilsen brought the bodies over while I checked them for anything worthwhile. Silas removed their weapons, making a pile of them to one side.

When the path was set, we began dragging the bodies away. It took a good couple of hours and by the time we were done, the sun was starting to rise.

I wanted to fall into bed so that I could sleep for days but that was never going to happen. Aside from tonight, there was the burden of that conversation with Alaric.

Emerging from the bathroom, I frowned at the room. A secondary curtain had been put up, it covered the windows and the temporary effort of bedsheets was removed.

Alaric stopped at the doorway, looking at me uneasily.

"What's with the curtain?"

"I didn't know how things would end up so I thought you might like another option for sleeping."

"And if the curtain falls?"

"Well, I don't think it will but if you're worried then I can bring the other coffin in."

In the time that I'd been in the shower, Silas and Nisha had removed their coffins. I guess they thought that it was better if we were alone but I don't think it was. We were struggling and it was killing me. After such little time, Alaric could weave a powerful magic over me. I didn't want to admit it but knowing that I wasn't the only one he'd pursued for this partnership cut me to the bone.

It felt like I was back at the beginning. I'd signed up to a different program, still a breeder, just a different outcome for the world. Loveless, hopeless.

Alaric stepped forward and closed the door.

"What do you want, Emmeline?"

For that conversation to be taken from my mind. Blissful ignorance. I wasn't going to get that, I had to accept it and move forward.

"To know that I mean something to you."

"Of course you do."

"Do I?"

"Yes, you do. I know it because you sleep in my coffin, not in the one I bought for you."

Slowly he made his way closer to me, smoothing his hand over my jaw. It felt so nice to be touched in a way that was caring.

"I could have left you here to sit in the lounge and watch television but I didn't. I took you with me, I involved you with everything that I was doing. To do that, it meant that I trusted you with information. And if that isn't enough to convince you then you should know that there were exactly three on the list. I picked you and Nisha and Silas picked the other two themselves."

His hand smoothed down over my neck, settling into the curve. The other hand smoothed into the curve as his lips scraped over mine. Almost but not quite.

"I knew they wouldn't be good enough so I eliminated them first. Yes, you were the last but that's because they were insistent that their choices were given a chance too. I didn't want this to be a game, I just wanted to know the beautiful creature that had bewitched me."

I was pressed against the wall, his forehead pressed to mine.

"You weren't supposed to make me like this. I do stupid things to protect you, I make mistakes and risk our lives. I am vulnerable, you make me weak with nothing more than a smile."

Alaric smiled himself, almost like he wanted to laugh.

"And a frown, a look of loathing, it drives me crazy. You look at me like I'm stupid,"

"I do not." I interrupted.

"You do," The grin grew wider. "Your eyes narrow and your lips press just a little tighter. I see that and it's like I can hear you calling me an idiot. It's very cute."

I rolled my eyes, shifting to look away. It didn't deter Alaric, his warm breath moved over my skin as he traced a line to my neck, his lips gently brushing over the flesh. I thought that he might bite me but was surprised when he kissed me just below the jaw.

Slowly the hands moved over my shoulders, sliding down my back. I felt a playful kiss on my jaw, through the pleasure that began to rise, I looked at the creature that was watching me.

Dragging my hands over the firm muscles, I wrapped my arms around his neck, delving deep into a passionate kiss. Pulling my shirt free from the jeans, Alaric slipped his hands under the material. They smoothed over my back, teasing a path as high as my bra.

The warmth of his touch soothed me into a new world. I couldn't say that it was easy delving into it, I'd never been here before and, I wasn't going there just yet.

"The planning has to be done," I said as Alaric kissed over my neck.

His body was heavy on mine, pressing me against the wall, making me wonder what it was like to venture into the unknown.

"I suppose it does."

Alaric took my hands, moving them above my head, grinning madly at me.

"But only if we can find ourselves back here later."

"Maybe."

"You still don't believe me?"

I shook my head.

"Alright."

He let go of my hands, taking one lower. I gasped as he pressed his hand to the hard curve.

"Only you do that to me." He whispered softly in my ear. "No matter how much I tried, I knew that the other two would only ever be for convenience but you,"

Alaric pressed my hand against him harder. The curve strained against the material, begging to be freed.

"Only you."

He stepped back and it was then that I realized that my breathing was labored.

"Now, I'm late for a meeting with the shower. You're not invited."

The freak poked his tongue at me as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Going to hammer out a deal through intense negotiations."

I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Is that what they call it now?"

"Yep. You're not invited."

"You've said that twice now. Almost makes me think you're trying to convince yourself more than me."

The door opened partially, Alaric leaned one arm on the door frame, the other held the door to show a sliver of his body. Down to his jeans, he was delectably shirtless, the blood of the enemy stained his torso. I wanted to lick it off.

"I don't need convincing. You're the one that said that the planning needs to be done so to me that says that you're not interested."

"Getting you through tomorrow night is more important."

Alaric frowned softly, pressing his lips tight with a subdued smile.

"Can't get through tomorrow night if you look at me like you hate me."

Then he closed the door, I stared for a moment and waited for him to come back. When he didn't, I wondered what he'd do if I walked in there. I wouldn't of course but the thought was intriguing.

With a huff, I turned and walked out of the room. Nisha was walking into the dining room with an armload of blood bags, she tossed one at me and kept going.

On the table was a large plan of a building, photos of several men and women laid out at the top of it. Nisha walked around the table and handed bags to Silas and Ilsen before tossing one onto the table and keeping the last for herself. I guess she figured that Alaric wouldn't be too long in the shower.

"Do I look at Alaric like I hate him?"

There was a unanimous agreement to the question, I huffed as I sat down on the chair. Nisha smiled sympathetically at me.

"Maybe you should have gone to the meeting with him."

She had a sly smile on her face as she bit into the bag, draining it quickly.

"Did you hear him?"

"Nuh, he's always called it a meeting. So gross, like I need to know about it."

I said nothing as I lifted the bag to my mouth. Hunger wasn't bugging me but the second I smelled the blood, I felt it. Piercing through the plastic, I found relief.

Silas tossed the empty bag to the end of the table, his gaze turning to me.

"These are the other leaders."

He picked up one of the photos, on it was a sticker with information.

"Their name, where they rule which is color-coded to the map and any other information."

Ilsen pulled back the building map, revealing another one, this time it was of the country.

"This is us, uncolored. It has been this way since Maelen was murdered. Hendrick took over but was never officially documented as the ruler. The leaders wanted a culprit to be found and it is said that they believed that Hendrick was the one who ordered the murder. They were unable to prove it so they merely stated that until the crime was solved, he could never be placed as the true leader. They gave him a custodian role which he pushed to the extreme."

Silas moved around the table, shifting to the end next to me.

"What you need to learn is how important this province is. We are the only leadership that has a sea border,"

His finger ran along the coastline then moved to the other side of the province.

"Access to the largest human only settlement and the largest portion of land. These markers are human settlements. They've been contained in this corridor here, a mountain range on one side with another province to watch over the movement and the other side is this deep gouge."

Silas ran his finger along the line, it was wide and long.

"Haven't you ever seen the Rivarno Diablis?"

"No."

"Devil's River. It is said that if a person tries to cross it then the devil himself will venture out of hell to personally drag them down. Some have said that it is the true River Styx, others say that it is a vortex to hell itself. Personally, I think it's just a canyon with water at the bottom and the human government has spread these rumors to stop people from trying to cross into the north."

"Why would they want to stop them?"

"On the other side is a view of their failure. It is death at the hands of wild creatures. It is the unknown. They made this canyon for protection and to keep their soldiers in one area. No deserters, just mindless zombies that do as they're told. For us, it's ensuring that the humans don't go running off. We like to have the upper hand and we definitely have it here. This guy here,"

His finger shifted to a section of land that was colored red.

"That's the production center. We don't know a lot about the place but what we do know is that the purpose of it is to create life. As a whole, the vampires have bought information regarding the facility. It's not much but the security around the place is extremely tight, so that something is a lot of information to us. The government is close to figuring out how to create life without parents, without complications, and without diseases."

"They really are trying to create a super soldier. That's not possible, is it?"

Silas nodded and I frowned as I pointed to myself. He shrugged.

"Anything is possible."