After I left Vienne, I spoke with Connor, but he had no tasks for me, so I spent some time in the gym. It wasn't the time I had typically gone when scheduled even if things had not been shuffled around, so there was a different group of people working out.

"Long time, no see," Theo said when we ended up on neighbouring machines.

"Yeah." I had spotted him in the crowds, but I hadn't talked to him.

"How are things there?" he said.

"Good. There's a lot to be done every day. I've been training some of the younger people there," I said. There were a lot of potential eavesdroppers around and it was still better to be vague.

"I heard you completed your quest."

"I did."

"Bet that felt good."

"Better than good."

"She's happy you're back."

"Oh?" I couldn't help but be a bit curious about that topic.

"Yes, she seemed pretty depressed while you were gone."

I could not understand why she was so interested, but I didn't hate it now.

Theo continued. "Sounds like your attitude about 'the leech' has changed."

"Yeah, it has. She's not what I thought she was."

"She's not," he agreed.

"You were right." Admitting it was not galling. She wasn't the entirely evil vampire that she had tried to be, and I found I enjoyed her affections now that her guard was down. A strange surge of protectiveness towards the female who surely did not need any such thing from me was growing inside me.

Theo changed the topic. "I've never seen a vampire die before. Is it always like that?"

"More or less. Usually I did what I had to do and then ran. I never waited around afterwards."

"That makes sense. It felt good, though. Those three were monsters."

I remembered reading the information Theo had given me their first visit. "Yeah, they were. What did they do with the ash?"

"Dumped it all over in the wilderness. No one will ever find it."

"Like they never were." I smiled at the thought.

"Exactly."

It felt damn good.

* * * * *

After darkness fell, I searched for Vienne. It was not entirely a conscious decision, but if I was leaving the next day, I wanted to see her again. I found her in her chamber, sprawled out in her usual position. She smiled as I entered.

"Jamie. Why don't you join me?"

I remembered her messing with me when I had first been brought here. I would have been furious at the offer, but now I simply went over and sat beside her to see what she would do.

"So, what did you do today?" she asked.

"Not too much. Spent some time in the gym, ate with the others. You?"

She smiled. "I compelled more than twenty humans today not to give away my secrets, and I'm exhausted."

"That bad?"

"Yes. I'm actually waiting for Marcel to arrive and feed me."

I stiffened at the idea of dealing with his mouth, but I was not about to retreat.

"You two just can't stand each other. I thought you two were getting along better after the fight."

"We were."

"He was pretty unhappy about the whole staking incident," she agreed, sounding highly amused. I was apparently going to have to deal with reminders of what I had done for the rest of my life, since she was clearly not about to let it go.

"I'm not thrilled about the way they ran me down and held me at gunpoint before knocking me out, either."

She smiled. "I did warn you to run."

"You did." I paused. "Did you really think I wouldn't stake you?"

"I—"

We were interrupted by the sound of my least favourite guard walking inside. Marcel was the same as ever, and his expression of disbelief when he saw me sitting with her was almost funny.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Talking." I shrugged nonchalantly.

Vienne smiled. "Please, try to get along. We're all on the same side here now, aren't we? You both have more in common than differences between you."

Marcel did not like that comparison. "I never tried to destroy you."

Her voice was teasing. "I bet you would have, before you knew the truth. You hated me as much as he did. You two should also make friends with Travis."

Marcel didn't look happy with anything she said.

"See? You both have so much in common."

I didn't have a problem with Travis, but Marcel was another matter. I did not bother to argue, though, because it was an obvious provocation.

Marcel apparently decided not to make his distaste at the idea known either. "Don't you need to feed, Mistress?"

"Good point, Marcel." She glanced at me. "You can wait here, if you want, Jamie. I won't be long."

She got up gracefully, and Marcel's smug expression made me want to punch him in the face. They exited through one of the back rooms, leaving me alone in her favourite spot alone and somewhat conflicted. The guards at the door had neutral expressions on their faces.

I debated leaving since I was sure she could find me if she wanted me, but I suspected that Marcel would view it as backing down and I was not about to give him any ground. Instead, I leaned back and relaxed, finding the elaborate chair to be more comfortable than it appeared. Perhaps its purpose was more than theatrics.

A few minutes passed, and it was impossible to miss the irritation on Marcel's face that I was still there. Good. It was worth the wait. Vienne looked pleased to see I had remained, which was an added bonus.

I was looking forward to her dismissing Marcel, but instead she said, "Feel like playing some games before I get back to work?"

* * * * *

I found myself with Vienne in the middle of her games room, along with Marcel of all people. I had not seen many of the various frivolities before, although Marcel seemed more familiar.

We ended up playing darts, which was a simple enough game once she explained it, and the skill sets I already had leant themselves well to the task. She took her shots blindfolded, and Marcel beat us both.

She didn't seem to care. "I wasn't lying that you two really have quite a bit in common," she commented as we started another round. I took a dart and aimed and it landed not too far from the centre.

Marcel's already stiff form, tensed further. "Mistress, I know what you're trying to do, but he freaking tried to destroy you. I said I would not attack him, but I can't forgive someone who is putting you and our cause at risk."

She sighed. "Are you sure, Marcel? Could you at least try to get along?"

"I'll be back at New Haven soon, so does it matter?" I asked.

Her lips tilted downwards. "Well, it would be nice. Marcel, imagine if you discovered which vampire had killed your father, and I gave you the choice of either staying willingly or going through me, before you knew anything. Wouldn't you have been tempted to stake me and run?"

He scowled. The departure from his usual subservience was interesting.

"Maybe."

"You hated me as much as Jamie did when I first brought you here, fresh from the slave cages."

"But I didn't do that, and he did."

She frowned. I was entirely conflicted, because I had no desire to make peace with Marcel, but if it would make things go more smoothly, it could be worth it. "I regret staking her," I told him.

Marcel's eyes swivelled to me. He scowled. I was surprised he did not growl like a guard dog.

"I'm not going to hurt her again."

"You'd better not."

I stared him down, until he finally looked away with a long resentful exhale. He swore under his breath, but if I heard it, so did she.

"I'm going to go get back to work if that's fine with you, Mistress," he said.

"If you wish," she agreed, watching him closely.

He left swiftly with a nod of his head. Once the door on the far side of the room shut, she finally turned to me.

"Thank you," she said with that smile that was nearly a smirk.

"What for?"

"Trying to smooth things over. Discord can be entertaining, but it's not advantageous right now."

I shrugged. "Well, I thought you wanted us to try to get along to make things easier."

She smiled wider. "Really? You said that for me?"

"Sure?" Not exactly, but she seemed happy.

I thought for a moment she was going to move into my arms and initiate contact between us, but instead she said, "Want to learn how to play pool?"

* * * * *

Playing pool, while a new experience, was actually entertaining, although every time she leaned over to take a shot I had difficulty focussing on the game, as other ideas wandered into my brain.

We played until she announced that I needed to eat. "Proper human maintenance is incredibly important, surely you understand."

"I'm not a piece of equipment."

"Your body is." She tossed a teasing glance over her shoulder at me. "Don't worry, I like what's on the inside, too, and I don't just mean your blood. You're an impressive human, very determined."

Ignoring a feeling that was uncomfortably similar to embarrassment, I turned it back on her. "Wouldn't that make your body a piece of equipment, too?"

"Absolutely. But vampire maintenance is much simpler than the human variety. All I need is a little blood to grease these gears and I'm good to go. You're all much more complicated."

I scoffed at her. There was no way I was more complicated than this convoluted woman before me, with her mazes of games and plots and disguises.

"What, you don't agree?"

"Your maintenance is the only part of you that could be described as uncomplicated."

She laughed at my response as she pushed into the dining hall of her favourites. "Touché, Jamie, touché."

She put her hand on my arm and began moving me in the direction of a group of her guards. I withheld a groan at the idea of more socializing; playing darts with Marcel had been far more than enough. I couldn't think of a good way to get out of it, though, so I simply got my food before rejoining her.

"Jamie, this is Tim, one of my latest acquisitions." She indicated a young man who still looked malnourished. He was clearly early in her human maintenance process.

"Nice to meet you," he said, extending a nervous hand. I shook, and then turned to my food. "I've heard about you," he commented.

"Oh." I had the sudden realization that this Tim was going to be the new Lucas. I would never be able to escape the malignant friendliness if she kept collecting these sorts.

Then, I wondered what he had heard about me. I had done more than enough that might be considered worthy of rumours around here.

"All good things, I hope?" Vienne asked lightly.

Tim faltered. "Well, in a certain light..."

"It's fine, people can think what they want." I felt sorry for the kid. She was obviously scaring him in spite of what I suspected was a fearless mouth.

Vienne smiled at me with a little eye roll. "We are hoping for some unity."

"You don't have to force them to like what I did."

The conversation was interrupted by Soren sitting down across from me with a happy smile. I could have groaned, he was a decent kid, but this Tim was more than enough for one meal, not to mention all the other guards scattered around. I longed for the days when I would eat alone.

"How are you doing, Jamie?" asked Soren, completely unaware of my thoughts.

"Fine."

"What's New Haven like? I've never been there."

Vienne cut in. "Don't worry about it. You'll get there eventually, I'm sure."

The younger guard looked disappointed so I answered in spite of her dismissal. "A lot like here, just rougher."

Vienne looked amused that my comment had gone beyond her own. "So, how are you settling in, Tim?" she asked in a surprisingly gentle tone. She had certainly never spoken like that to me, her words had always been either teasing or harsh, and I wondered if she had a soft spot reserved for young humans. I doubt she would admit it if I asked her straight out, so I just listened.

"It's okay."

"Good. Your health seems to be improving."

"Um, Mistress?"

"Vienne is fine, unless there's someone around to worry about. I usually vet humans more thoroughly, but we've moved into the fast lane, apparently."

He nodded, looking confused and unsure of how to read her.

Good luck with that attempt.

"What do you want to know, Tim?" Her gentle prodding was such a strange departure from how I was used to seeing her act that I watched transfixed as she spoke to the young men. Soren, for his part, seemed completely at ease with her, another reminder that she was not who she liked to portray herself to be.

Or maybe they were all sides of her.

I probably would never understand her. I tore my eyes away and back to my food.

* * * * *

After supper, Vienne and I parted ways, because she said she had work to do. I ended up outside, talking to Raoul again, and even participated in some training that was happening, which kept me busy. While I was active I was not waiting for her, at least not consciously. On some level, it bothered me that my resistance had faded, but I just could not bring myself to care enough to maintain it. There were more important things to do than to disagree with her for the sake of disagreeing.

She found me, before I had a chance to search for her. She walked across the training field, and I abandoned the spot where I was watching to walk over to her.

Her movements seemed slightly slower than normal, and there was some absence of vitality I was not accustomed to seeing.

"Are you okay?" I asked when I reached her.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"Don't you need something?"

"Perhaps you're right. I probably should feed. I can feel the craving pushing at me, and you don't want to see what that's like when it gets bad," she said. "Come with me, my kitchen stash will tide me over." We started walking towards the entrance.

She really looked more pale than normal. "I'll let you feed from me."

She looked at me in surprise, and then smiled. "Nice try, Jamie. I said I wasn't going to drink from you, and I'm not going to."

"You're being stubborn."

"No, rather, the game's still afoot. I still have a point to prove."

"Not everything is a game."

"That's what you think." She smirked at me as she took hold of my arm.

The kitchen was empty, and walked her to a stool by a counter and went to open the refrigerator. The air was surprisingly cool considering I had never chanced to be close enough to one to really inspect it.

I did now, looking at the contents. I found her creamer full of viscous red fluid.

"There should be a couple of bags in there, too," she said from where I had deposited her.

I found three tucked in the back. "How many? There's three here."

"One to start with, Jamie."

I grabbed one and took it to her. She bit off the corner with her teeth, and started sucking out the blood. "Ugh, cold blood is the worst. Your blood would be so much better in every way."

I shrugged. "I offered."

"My point proven will taste even sweeter. I just have to hold out. Ugh. Get me some coffee, will you, please?"

I filled up a cup and watched as she poured the remaining contents inside, and then sucked out the dribble that was left.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "What? Waste not, want not. I'm pretty sure my humans don't want me tossing out their hard produced blood. The least I can do is drink it all."

We had survived the same way in the wilderness. Everything was used and reused in service to survival, in contrast with the way the bloodsuckers simply consumed and disposed of their victims.

Except this one. She was different, so maybe the fact that I cared about her was not so entirely wrong.