Danika had cooed over the ring when Olive had emerged for breakfast the next morning, curious to the shifting properties. Like the necklace, it would bond with her body and it would stay with her forever. For a short while she would be able to remove the ring if necessary which she was grateful for, she feared it slipping down the drain in the shower. Olive wished she could remove the necklace for the same reason but she couldn't. Phabel had told her that she didn't need to fear it falling from her body, it would never leave her. With time the ring would settle to her, binding the metal to her flesh and then she would never need to fear losing it. 

Olive had spent the week trying to tempt Phabel to stay the night with little luck. She was timid and unsure of it but she wanted their love to progress. They were engaged now, they were almost there with all of the memories. She wanted to tell him but knew it was important that he remembered them for himself. For all that she tried, Phabel was his usual self, insisting that the weekend would be more relaxed. Islana visited her regularly of an evening, looking over the design pictures that Olive drew. She couldn't get over how talented she was, thinking that there was a very good chance that her own wardrobe would soon be stocked with many of Olive's creations. With gentle persuasion, Islana convinced Olive to sketch out a few ideas for a wedding dress. She remembered Danika's words about Olive and that her mother had died a few years back, leaving a teenager with a drunken father who hit her regularly. She was thin because she barely ate due to there being no money and her abusive father held control over what she ate when he was around. Of course he didn't know that she would eat the fruit that grew on the trees that lined the path to the stream. Islana looked upon the sweet young woman, understanding why her son fell in love with her. She was very lovable. Even Islana was taken by her, she lit up the room with nothing more than a shy smile.

Friday morning Olive was greeted by her unwanted visitor. She wanted to cry, gone was the weekend of their love. Now all she would get was the same teasing and tempting as last weekend. Olive couldn't help but wonder if there was someone conspiring against her, wanting her to remain a virgin for the rest of her life. Annoyed and frustrated at her life, Olive packed her bag for the day ahead and went in search of Danika. At the door to the corridor, she stopped wondering what it was like for a house full of vampires that lived with a human woman. Tentatively she opened the door wondering if there was going to be a sea of fangs salivating, waiting for her to step out. One hazel eye peered through the crack, the corridor beyond was void of life. Olive wished that she had thought of this before, wondering what all of the female staff did when they got their periods.

'They generally avoid us.'

Olive shrieked as Danika sneaked up on her. She gripped her heavily beating heart, turning to a grinning Danika.

'You are easily spooked.'

'It's easily done when I fear that I am walking around smelling like walking lunch.'

Danika shrugged as she took the first step on the stairs, casually glancing back at Olive. She wanted her to be relaxed, to not fret that the vampires in this castle would salivate for blood at every single moment.

'It's not as bad as what you think. I am standing right here and I wouldn't be able to tell if your mind wasn't screaming it.'

'Don't you have a heightened sense of smell?'

'Not that heightened.' she said dryly. 'I suppose if I got on my knees in front of you I could but up here, no.'

'So I'm good to go then?'

'Absolutely.'

They walked to the kitchen where Elena was setting breakfast on the table. Lucian was frowning at the paper he was reading, engrossed in a story about a human girl being punched in the middle of High Street. His eyes darted to his lovely wife who sat at the table with a smug grin.

'Would you know anything about this poor girl being beaten?'

Olive ducked her head, hoping not to be obvious in her facial features. She tried to obsess in her breakfast, hoping that Lucian wasn't on a fact finding mission in her mind.

'I don't know, should I?'

'The timing was when you two were out shopping with my dear aunt. I suspect that if she saw something newsworthy happen she would tell me, being that she likes a bit of gossip. But she didn't. Not even a mention of a crowd. So that leaves me to wonder about it. Care to elaborate on who you punched darling?'

'Someone that deserved it.' she grinned.

Olive inwardly rolled her eyes, so much for it being a secret she thought. But it was almost a week ago, nothing had been said in the days in between, she wondered about the timing of it all.

'That's taken a long time to get to the paper.' Olive frowned.

'Nah, Lucian always reads them several days later, such a snail.' she turned and poked her tongue at him. 'There was nothing poor about Shelly.'

'The girl that was harassing you? She will need to be removed then.'

'Already done.'

Lucian looked at Danika who was hiding behind her glass of blood, trying to avoid the conversation.

'By who?'

'Your mother signed off on it.'

He huffed folding the paper and tossed it onto the table.

'Why was I not involved?'

'Because you threatened to execute her Lucian, she might be a total bitch but it doesn't mean she should die because of it.'

'Oh I wouldn't kill her. Jeez Danika you take me too seriously sometimes.'

'Look, the agreement that she signed stated that she would be shipped to another kingdom if she broke the rules that were set out. That meant that I had to get your mother to approve of the move anyway, so keep your snappiness to yourself thanks.'

'Fine.' he sighed 'Where did she get sent to?'

'Olthri.' Danika grinned.

Lucian couldn't help but grin as he shook his head. His mother was a good woman for the majority of the time but she had moments where she could be vindictive.

'What's wrong with Olthri?' Olive whispered.

'No designer shops, no boutiques, not even a thing that would be considered remotely upmarket. It's middle class all the way. Personally I wouldn't mind living there, it's a nice place but Shelly is going to hate it.'

Olive smiled trying to hide her amusement at the situation. She ate her breakfast in quiet elation, her morning annoyance was forgotten, replaced with a humourous turn of events.

Olive looked at the clock, trying to urge Danika along. She was still stuck in the land of love. Yet again she had cooed over the love that would bind Olive's ring to her, she was now all gushy to Lucian. She quietly excused herself, not wanting to sit at the table feeling like a third wheel to the love fest. It was increasing by the second and she thought that if she didn't escape soon she would see something she didn't want to. She sat on the steps by the front door, feeling the glorious morning sun warm her. The castle had pockets of warmth in rooms, the corridors were cooler and left Olive feeling a mixture of warm and cold that she knew wasn't good for her. Their offer for her to stay had been generous, Olive had no hesitation in understanding that, but it wasn't a place that was equipped to handle a human. The vampires that lived here didn't feel the extreme differences in the temperature like she did. It made her wonder what Phabel would be like, if he was like the vampires in this place. She knew more about him now but still there had to be a lot more that she didn't. Danika stepped down the few sandstone steps and sat beside Olive, soaking in the rays.

'Does Phabel drink blood?'

'He does, though not as often as what we need it.'

'I've never seen his fangs.'

'Oh.' Danika raised her eyebrows.

'Are they like yours?'

Olive could see that Danika was trying to avoid the subject, she wondered what his fang were like if she was like this.

'Kinda.'

'Are they bigger?'

'Not really, more of a similar size.'

Danika had only seen his fangs once, out of morbid curiosity she made him show her. She now regretted it. It was true, he had fangs that were roughly the same size as a vampires. The difference was the amount of fangs they had. All of his teeth changed shape with blood lust, turning it from a mouth of pearly whites to a salivating mouth of sharp fangs. They were razor sharp, like the werewolves they could tear flesh with them. That wasn't where it stopped either, their eyes coloured an iridescent red that swirled with black as the blood lust rose in them. The luminous skin tone that made them a stunning creature faded away to a sickly pallor and highlighted their veins. Blue veins that would rise to the surface, looking like a varicose vein that bulged at the layer of skin. The once pale blue would turn to a darker colour as the lust rippled through them. Danika had watched the blood lust turn her professor from a handsome man into some beast readying for the attack. With horror on her face, she focused on him as he slicked his tongue over his fangs. He must have broken the skin, when it had passed the fangs were covered in a reddened layer of saliva. Sweat trickled down his temples as he barred his mouth full of fangs, his gaze permanently pinned on her. She had watched the muscles of his body twitch with excitement as he gorged his senses with the smell of her blood.

Lucian had been watching the situation closely to ensure it didn't get out of hand, he had been her saviour that day. She knew that if it wasn't for the bucket of blood that he had ready, she would have been subjected to a row of razor sharp fangs sunk into her body. He had calmly passed the bucket to him when he had reached peak lust and waited with a second bucket if it wasn't enough. Danika, who had only been a vampire for a few short weeks at the time, watched Phabel greedily drink from the bucket. She was almost sick at the sight, blood was gushing down his chest as he drank it like it was water. The bucket was tossed aside, bouncing along the tiles until it settled by the gravel edge. She looked over Phabel, drowned in the blood that had escaped, it pooled around his feet, a sickly red sheen over her beloved sandstone tiled courtyard. His eyes were still pinned on her. The soulless black of his gaze that made her want to shrink into the house and lock the doors, fearing the monster that was before her. He took the next bucket, engorging himself as it flooded through him, his insatiable thirst seemed relentless.

Danika shuddered as she remembered the events. The two buckets had not been enough, he had let the blood lust go too far and was losing control fast. Lucian had to pin him to the ground, holding his shifting centre tight. It was all he could do to stop Phabel from shifting into a bug or a bird and flying out of his grip. His knee was pressed hard into his navel, the centre of his life force, the place where he had once been connected to his mother. The pressure was all that could stop a shape shifter from changing, pressing into the organ that did all of the work when they changed.

'Everything ok?'

Danika roused from the nightmarish memory with a feigned smile.

'Yeah. We should get going otherwise we're going to be late.'

Olive nodded and stepped up to the car that had just been brought out from the garages.

'Do you think he might show me the fangs if I asked him to?'

Danika could feel her body tighten, not wanting to relive that day again.

'Olive, I...' she sighed 'I don't know. Shifters generally don't bring their fangs out unless they are needed. They rarely drink blood because they weren't going to have humans in their realm.'

'Oh.'

She could hear the dejection in her voice, Danika didn't know what to say. Come straight out and tell her that she had seen it and had nightmares for a week afterwards? She knew that wasn't wise, if Olive knew of the horror of a shifter and their blood lust, this timid creature would have nightmares for a year and would likely become a member of the local psychiatric ward. Danika wondered if she should pre-warn Phabel that Olive was asking about his fangs. Neither of them would want to frighten Olive, but one look at the rows of fangs and she would be.