Jamie looked at me warily, apparently aware I was about to say something hilarious, and he was not wrong, clever human that he was.

I pulled out the well made dagger I had given him previously, and held it out towards him once more, handle first. He looked between it and me a few times, before taking it with a frown.

"I believe you forgot this in my chest," I said, forcing my face and tone to neutrality.

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly at my words and my smile managed to sneak out in spite of my best efforts to keep it contained. He was inspecting the blade as if lost in thought. I couldn't resist pushing him just a little bit further. "You're not going to give it back to me between my ribs again, are you?"

His eyes flew to mine and it was obvious he was not amused, which was the plan. Why should he wallow in misplaced guilt when he could be angry instead?

"You're doing it again."

"What?" I asked. I widened my eyes and blinked innocently.

"Trying to push me. Stop it, Vienne."

Shock hit me hard that he had actually used my name. I had not expected it, although I had told him that he should. I covered my reaction by teasing him further. "What are you going to do if I don't?"

Jamie moved closer to me until he towered above me, and my mind instantly went to the pre-staking kiss and the similarities between the two situations, then and now. Jamie was closing in on me, dagger in hand. A wise vampire would consider this a threat, but I was willing to gamble that he did not mean me any harm this time. Still, a cautious vampire would at least disarm him before letting him so close.

Instead, I simply could not take my eyes off of his. My chest felt oddly empty, as if there was some deficit of movement there. He was mesmerizing, as if it was he who had an ability of compulsion and I was being pulled into the depths. He came so close I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

He tilted his head down towards my face with a completely blank expression.

Then, before we had any actual contact between us, he stepped back and sent me a challenging half smile. "What am I going to do? Absolutely nothing."

My mouth dropped open for the briefest moment before I could collect myself. I blinked at him, completely at a loss for what to say.

He was such a delight. My surprised amusement was exceeded only by my disappointment.

* * * * *

After Jamie's little trick, my mind was in unusual disarray. He had dangled something I desperately wanted in front of me, only to snatch it away deliberately at the last moment. Unusual human behaviour, they usually gave me exactly what they thought I wanted.

My shock had not even completely worn off by the time I was in my chamber and the darkness of noon rest claimed me. I awakened refreshed and with a determination to win the next round of this new game with Jamie.

How was I to gain what I wanted? I could pursue him like the predatory creature I was, but I rather doubted that would give me the results I desired.

But I knew another way to capture prey besides the chase, and that was to lure the prey to me. He was certainly intrigued by me on some level, and I well knew that he found me attractive, so teasing him in a different manner might yield the results I wanted better than the hunt.

Unfortunately, I would not be able to play hooky from my home nearly as much as I would like, both because Leif would incessantly scold me and because I really did need to be there for the sake of the strategy of appearances. The last thing I wanted was for other vampires to go to my home when I was absent. I could probably make it back in about a half an hour on my own at full speed, but if they realized I was not there, there might be questions about where I was.

Questions were the last thing we needed at the moment, and so, I only had a few hours to begin my new campaign before I really had to leave. It was a shame.

Jamie was not in the main residence, and the sun was too strong for me to risk going outside, so instead I drank coffee that was sadly devoid of blood and chatted with the humans I now rarely saw about what had been happening around New Haven, about their recruitment efforts, and about their lives. They helped the hours pass until I could go outside relatively safely.

Finally, before I went looking for Jamie, I wrapped myself in a heavy cloak to protect myself from the early evening rays and hunted down Lucas. He was at the clinic with Rene and they were talking to the onsite doctor about her inconvenient pregnancy. I rolled my eyes. Their child had better grow up to be even better than its parents in order to make the fact that he chose his little family over me sting a bit less.

I let out a breath of useless air and tried not to listen in to the voices that were too loud not to reach my ears. It was expensive and took a lot of effort to soundproof buildings to the level of shielding voices from vampire ears, and coupled with the fact that I was the only vampire occasionally around, it just was not worth the trouble.

Finally, the voices stopped and the door cracked open, and Lucas and his female walked out of the examination room. They looked happy, and then their eyes landed on me their expressions faltered.

I faked another sigh. "Whatever is the matter, Lucas? How's your adorable little progeny coming along?"

"The doctor says everything looks good." He could not stop himself from smiling a bit. It was quite cute, but so sweet I was fortunate vampires could not get diabetes.

"When's it due?"

"Five weeks."

"I see." Rene did look like she was ready to erupt at any moment. Perhaps there was one singular good side to the council's annoying rule that had forced me to fake their deaths. Labour was a messy business and located here she was away from my attractive home. Did I really want human bodily fluids potentially spilling all over my floors? I thought not. If the human breeding faction got their way and swept away the ridiculous rules, I could perhaps have a special hospice built for breeding females so they would not mess up my flooring. I did love blood, but blood stains were a different thing entirely.

But, I was sidetracked again. It was time to get to the point. "Lucas, I'm hungry." I made fake puppy dog eyes that would help me get what I wanted. Rene was unmoved and did not look at all impressed with my request. Was the human female jealous? She had no need to be. Lucas was nothing more than my beloved meal, servant, and friend, if it were truly possible to form friendships between predator and prey with such a huge power differential.

He looked at me warily, and then grinned at my expression. Lucas was good at appreciating my jokes in a way that most other humans were either too scared or too serious to manage. I missed seeing that smile around my home. He glanced at his displeased female, and she consented with pursed lips and a nod. It was interesting to watch their silent communication.

"I'll meet you in the general living area?" His voice rose at the end and turned what started as a statement directed towards me into a question.

"Indeed." I smiled back, but I kept my lips together to hide my fangs. No need to cause the breeder any more stress than she already was experiencing as a vulnerable human in an uncertain world. "Excellent. I'll meet you there."

* * * * *

Once I was well fed on Lucas's blood, I started my search for Jamie. It was not hard to find him since he was outside in the training ground, standing and talking to Connor against a background of training fighters about some intricacies of plans that did not particularly interest me. Their voices came to me from almost the moment I left the residential building and I simply followed my ears.

Neither of them noticed me coming towards them, engrossed as they were in their conversation. I paused for a moment and just watched Jamie talking with the older man. His posture was easy and he seemed more engaged interacting with another human than he had when I had first acquired him. It was understandable, and it solidified my belief that letting him go had been the right move, even beyond honouring the terms of the choice I had laid out for him.

I continued forward and they finally noticed me, Jamie first, giving me cause to believe that perhaps he was as aware of me as I was of him. I smiled at both of them, and spoke first to Connor even though he was far from the centre of my attention.

"Connor, I just wanted to double check that you don't need anything more from me before I head home.

"I think we're doing just fine. We've had more contact with you in the last couple of months than in years."

He was correct, but did he actually need to point that out? Maybe he was trying to make some know-it-all sort of point. I forced myself not to look at Jamie's reaction to the comment.

Instead, I said, "I trust you to handle everything in my absence."

"Of course," Connor was quick to assure me.

I smiled at my former guard and then looked towards my guard that never quite was. Although it was hidden, I spotted Jamie's dagger upon him. Perhaps that lent him security in his mind. I hoped he did not think he needed it against me, but there was little doubt that he remained aware of the outside dangers.

I hoped he would come to see New Haven a bit like I did, a refuge from being entirely on guard, a place where I did not have to pretend all the time. I enjoyed my games, but even I eventually needed breaks from playing.

My humans had well named the location. Perhaps it had become such a place to all of us.

I considered what I should say to Jamie, but then Connor interrupted my thoughts. He turned to my favourite human and said, "Well, I'll leave you to settle in." Then, he shifted his focus to me. "Vienne, safe travels." With a final nod of the head he left the area.

I was not alone with Jamie, although the people going through their evening training seemed to be paying us no mind. I was certain that could change easily enough if we had interesting interactions. "Walk with me?"

"Sure," he said. I tried not to smile at his easy agreement. Apparently I did not miss his amusing hostility as I had feared I would, since these small interactions were undoubtedly pleasing.

"So, how was your first day here?" I asked him.

"Good."

"Anyone bothering you about the staking incident?"

A quick glance showed me his frown. "No. You're the only one who mentioned it. Multiple times."

I grinned. "All I did was quickly rip off the bandage for you. You're welcome."

"Thanks." His delivery was utterly deadpan. I had no idea what he was thinking, but it amused me nonetheless.

I could not help but laugh even though I really was trying not to overly annoy him.

He looked at me as if he had something to say, so I stifled my amusement. "No, I really meant thanks. Your methods are severe, but I don't think all this would have happened without you."

I shook my head. "No, I'm not actually necessary. I know they all act like I am, but all I did was have brilliant inspiration that got the ball rolling. I don't do much more than provide a cover for all the other activities now, and meddle with the council a bit in the most glorious way, of course. I've observed humans for long enough that I believe eventually someone would have been pushed too far. That, or the idiot council would have inadvertently wiped out all of humanity and all that would be left would be a bunch of crazed animalistic vampires trying to eat each other. I like the former idea better, so I gave everything just a little push in my preferred direction."

"It likely happened sooner than it would have." Was he trying to encourage me? I had witnessed such behaviour from my other humans before, but I had never truly dared to hope that he might one day see me as anything beyond an emotionless bloodsucking leech.

I played it cool. "I suppose that's true."

"I've wondered something," he said.

"Oh? What would that be? Ask me anything." I was curious about what he might care enough to ask me.

"That time in the bloodsucker's capital, you said you were trying to get the nature reserves decreased. That was you messing with me, wasn't it?"

I could not stop myself from chuckling. "I almost never stop messing with you, Jamie. Of course it was."

"Then what was the secretive bill you wouldn't talk about?"

I shrugged. "I tried to convince the council to mandate proper feedings for their humans, but it was defeated by a hair. A shame, there would have been more humans to eventually join me."

"Are you expecting all these people to fight?"

I considered him. For as hostile as he had been originally to my humans when he had considered them traitors, Jamie did care about the others, perhaps as the inverse of his hatred for vampires. "No, there's no point in sending people who have no chance against them. It's a better strategy to only send those who are capable of possibly holding their own and teach the others to defend themselves if it comes to it. Everyone else will be protected, to support the warriors and raise the next generation of humans."

"Seems fair."

I met his eyes. "It's going to be bloody, when the time comes, and not in the way that I like to see things bloody."

He nodded. "I understand that."

Well, there was no point dragging things out now. It was late enough that even outside the natural barrier the sun would not significantly bother me. "Well, it was delightful talking to you again, but I have to go."

I slipped forward before he knew what was happening and brushed a kiss across his cheek.

He froze, apparently as surprised by my actions as I had been by his. Turnabout was fair play. "Until next time, human."

And I left for the exit before he even had a chance to respond.