I had been sitting hunched over the screen in the dim corner of the archives for days with little to show for it besides a sore back.

"How's the search going?" Theo asked me. I rotated my shoulders and tried to work out some of the tension in my muscles as he walked towards me and asked, "No one on the list your guy?"

Though I had used the list, I hated taking her assistance.

"No, except there was one without an entry in the database and one did not have a picture."

I had committed every scrap of information about Conrad to my memory and that would be my first destination once I busted out of here.

Nelson was nothing but a name, no better than the sort of rumours and vague information I had discovered on my own amongst the humans. I had a good feeling about this one, but who could say what was true and what was imagination? The only feeling that would mean any of value would be the moment I finally took the bloodsucker out.

Literally out, into the sun, to burn to unrecognizable dust, if staking wasn't enough to take that demon bloodsucker out.

Theo made a humming sound. "Too bad. How much further?"

"I'm on T."

"Well, maybe you'll luck out and your vampire'll be named Ulrich."

"Uh huh."

He shrugged. "Well, enjoy your search." He moved to leave me be, but then he spoke. "Mistress?"

My back stiffened.

"How's the search going?" she asked. Her voice was light and curious, as if she was truly concerned about the state of my search.

"Fine."

"Did you find who you were looking for?"

"No."

"One of the names you suggested doesn't have an entry and another doesn't have a picture," Theo told her, reminding me that even though he was less annoying than the other leech lovers, he still would report everything I said and did straight back to her.

She asked, "Who?"

I decided it would not hurt to tell her. "Conrad has no picture, Nelson has no entry."

She moved and peered down at the screen, manoeuvring so that her cold body was right next to me. "I'm trying to remember last when we hacked the council database. Gosh, I think it was back when Wyatt still used to come along with me to the capital. He was so aesthetically pleasing back then..."

I tried not to let my irritation with her tangent show since that would probably be giving her what she wanted.

She finally continued. "It might have been thirty, maybe forty years ago. Perhaps we should update it again, Theo."

"If you wish, Mistress."

"I haven't paid much attention to what the security is like now. I suppose that means you should come along again this time, Theo. Maybe pick a couple of your more talented team members to bring as well, just make sure they fit the aesthetic. I'll still need feeders as well, so that means I'll have to bring even more humans along this time."

I tried to ignore her voice while I read through the next entry, but the sound entered my ears like a drill.

"Ugh, I can only imagine what the other councillors are going to say when I show up with ten supposed feeders this time. Well, no matter. I'll simply have to shock them into stunned silence with my delightful bill and my spectacular arguments."

"I'm sure you will, Mistress."

"I'll trust you to ready everything, with Wyatt's help. He'll tell you what he can remember about when he did it last time. Things might have changed, but probably not too much. The best time to get into the data will be while all the councillors are in deliberations. If you can figure out which slaves will be around I might be able to compel them to look the other way while you get in and out."

Theo nodded. "We should be able to work it."

She nodded. "We're only doing it if you're certain you can get in and out safely, Theo. I can't afford to lose any of my tech humans."

"I'll work with Wyatt and I'm sure we can come up with something."

"Shame we could not bring him, but his presence would only cause questions. He just doesn't look like he fits my collection anymore. But I'm certain you suddenly have much more to do now in preparation. You're dismissed, Theo."

"Mistress," Theo said and quickly left, leaving me alone with the bloodsucker.

Of course, once we were alone, her attention turned to me.

"So, how is your brand healing?"

The overwhelming desire to stake her rushed through me, under my tender flesh. I glanced around surreptitiously, but there was nothing that would be effective against the leech at hand.

It was not the right time, anyway. There was no point staking the bloodsucker only to be caught and contained by her army of human traitors. Besides, right now I needed her for the information she had gathered more than I wanted her destroyed.

"I'm told that there was no infection or anything of the sort."

I navigated to the next page, some light-haired female vampire named Tory.

The leech looked at the entry. "I suppose she doesn't fit your criteria. Still, she is quite awful, though, if you're in the market for other vampires you might like to kill. She has a particular predilection towards young humans that seems rather distasteful to my mind. And also short sighted, since humans produce much more blood in adulthood. A foolish farmer plucks his seedlings before they produce fruit."

"I'm not in the market," I muttered.

"Well, if you happen change your mind, I have a few suggestions."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, "But I'm pretty sure I'm going to be staying here for a while."

"Shame," she said and proceeded to watch me as I read through the entry. Having her looming over my shoulder was distracting, but I was not about to let her see that. I read through Tory's entry, and then moved onto the next. I made it through two more before she spoke again.

"So, I'm guessing this black-haired vampire you're looking for is the one who killed your family?"

I still regretted telling her about that. I shrugged, but of course my reluctance did not deter her.

"Do you remember anything else about him?"

Taking the leech's assistance bothered me, but I would be stupid not to. "He had very dark eyes, a narrow face, a thin nose, maybe more thin than average in general.

She thought about it. "It's probably not Nelson, then. His eyes are light, maybe hazel. Even in the midst of bloodlust they would be red, not black. It could be Conrad, but he just seems a bit too boring to be running around slaughtering groups of humans, but who can really say what a vampire is like behind closed doors?"

"Well, the screams might be a clue."

She smiled as if pleased by my observation. "Oh, you've heard my genius, have you?"

As if there was some way I could not have, especially in the capital. It was like the walls there were made of animal hides. "Some of the time." I frowned.

She chuckled, "What can I say, I happen to enjoy the sounds of my victims. I am a predator, after all, aren't I?"

"I don't doubt it."

"Do I make you nervous, Jamie?"

"No."

"Are you certain of that, Little Human?"

I could not resist. "Little is the last thing I am, Bloodsucker."

"I don't doubt that." She gave me a knowing look and an appraisal that I should have resented, but I did not.

With horror, I realized that I did not hate the leech nearly as much as I should. I still wanted to destroy her, but where was my passionate desire to see her end? She was a vampire, but she was working her way into my head.

Although there was nothing I could say to make her leave, I tried anyway. "Did you actually need anything here from me?"

"No, nothing in particular. I just finished my afternoon coffee and decided to come down and see how you were getting along down in this miserable pit of despair."

I did not bother to respond.

"It seems cruel to allow my humans such unpleasant working conditions, but apparently they're fine with this, although I can't quite fathom how," she continued.

"If you're concerned about cruelty, let your slaves go."

"Why?"

"Because you've no right to own us."

She smiled. "If I let you out, half of you will be dead in the next decade. Also, there aren't many old humans beyond my domain these days."

"I'm surprised that there are any here at all."

She laughed. "Why? Because I'm such a monster? I won't argue that point, because, let's face it, I subsist by sucking the fluid life out of sentient beings. But still, why would I kill them when I don't need to?"

"Because they offend your sense of aesthetics?"

"That seems a terrible waste of a resource. Competency is more important than beauty in some areas. Take this horrid little room. It's entirely functional, terrible to look at, but it serves its purpose so I would be a fool to burn it to the ground."

"So, what you're saying is you can still get blood out of an ugly human as long as they're alive."

She laughed. "Something like that. But of course I pick the pretty ones, all things being equal. But you know, Jamie, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but you aren't even the most attractive male I've seen down in the council dungeons. Although you might be the most attractive that I have bought."

"Wow, I'm flattered."

"You were in a pretty bad spot there, honestly. Nothing good comes from ending up below the council, but I'm sure you could see that pretty well from your wall shackles."

"If you're expecting me to thank you for purchasing me, don't hold your breath, Bloodsucker."

"Perhaps I will hold my breath, since it would do me no harm, Little Human. And you probably would have been fine. If you hadn't given me that exciting look of raw fury, I would have passed you by. Most likely, you would have ended up on the block since male slaves aren't that popular, some younger vampire probably would have bought you, and if you survived your first few forced feedings, your master might have let down their guard for long enough that you just may have had an opportunity to destroy them or escape."

Well, she was not wrong.

"Maybe you were unlucky to end up with me. I'm not going to torture you, at least not much, and your body will be nicely maintained, but you'll never get away. I know you've seen by now that there's no way out. I never let down my guard and you can't lull me into complacency. You'll be getting away from here over my dead body."

I did not bother to mention that she was already dead. Instead, I pointed out, "You trust some of your slaves, some of the time."

She nodded. "I do, but you're not the same as them. Will you ever stop fighting me, as things are?"

"No." I doubt she would have believed a lie.

"You understand, right? But I do trust you, in one way."

"How so, Bloodsucker?"

"I trust you to keep your promise to me." She winked and then she walked away. My eyes followed her unthinkingly until she disappeared through the door.

Her behaviour was as confusing as ever.

* * * * *

I continued to make my way through the databank archives, reading about one leech after another. I did not find my quarry in the rest of the T's, nor did I find him in the U's. The V's also came up short, although I did read through what was said about my own most problematic bloodsucker.

With no one observing me, I looked at her picture. She really would have been beautiful long ago when she was a human, full lips, wide eyes, and the curves of her body were quite intriguing.

But the leech's sweet appearance was ultimately irrelevant to me. I could ignore it. The one girl who had my love had been killed just as we had barely reached adulthood and I was hardly going to corrupt her memory by looking at any of the leeches kindly. Even this one, who seemed mildly less despicable in some minor ways.

No matter her occasional almost decent behaviour, she was a monster. She kept me trapped, she enjoyed human suffering, and she was aggravating and I was more and more certain it was intentional.

I was beginning to believe that she truly was disinterested in my blood but rather fed off of my frustration. But then, she let me see the database without any fight at all.

I frowned. She was a contradiction. Or maybe she hoped that if I found my quarry, I would be more frustrated than ever since she would also prevent me from hunting him down and taking him out.

Or maybe she wanted me to attempt an escape so she could stop me?

Or so I could succeed and she could have the pleasure of hunting me?

Or maybe she really hoped that I would destroy her?

I shook off my thoughts, and continued through the database. By supper, I made it through the V's. There were a ridiculous number of bloodsuckers who had names and aliases with the letter. Perhaps it was some sort of vampire cultural thing.

The dining area was full of her favourites when I entered, to my disappointment. I was not in the mood for dealing with the leech lovers, but there was nothing I could do but grab my food and sit down as far from the most talkative guards as I could get.

Unfortunately, a minute after I sat down, Leif came and sat down next to me. I had not spoken with the traitor since he had taken me to be branded and I did not acknowledge him now.

"I've heard you're nearly done with the database."

There was no response necessary.

"You'll be starting guard's training once you're finished."

I shrugged. "Great." I certainly had no desire to spend more time around these suck ups, but I would happily see if there was anything else I could learn to use in the future.

"Sweet, I volunteer to go up against him," Agro called from the other end of the table.

"Training, not settling vendettas," Leif said, sounding weary.

I craned my head to see past Leif down the table. "I'll try not to embarrass you too much in the training ring, Agro."

"Whatever you say, Little Human."

I found myself anticipating the training. A few more entries and I would be good to go.