"Because I never know what it is you will say next. You never fail to surprise me." Luther and Sebastian murmured words of agreement. "I have not called you here to discuss your actions of last night. I knew when I employed you that you were a livewire, and I knew that your reflex to a challenge is to accept it. I am told that the vampire in question attacked first, so I will look upon the incident as a matter of self-defence. This time."

The message was loud and clear: I'm letting you off with a warning, but don't go challenging my vampires again unless truly necessary. "Got it."

"Good."

"As much as I also enjoy our riveting conversations, I have to ask: what's with the summons if it's not to talk about Clark's unfortunate demise?"

His mouth twitched again. "Has your new gift manifested yet?"

"No, not yet."

"The suspense is painful," said Luther.

I turned to look at him. "Are you really that intrigued?"

"No Feeder has ever been given additional power before, no one would have dreamt of it. You are therefore somewhat of a..."

"Science experiment," I supplied.

"We are keen to observe you, yes. You must appreciate that when one has so much time on their hands and not much to entertain them, the smallest thing can become intriguing."

The creaking of the door behind me stole everyone's attention. I swerved to see Jared swooning inside and strolling gracefully toward us like an angel down an altar. As always, it took a lot of control to not gawp at his gorgeousness. Especially when he had that leather jacket on. Feeling a little intimidated, I suddenly became incredibly aware of my own appearance; I didn't exactly look very appealing in my simple white tank top and my hip-hugging sapphire-blue denim jeans with my hair in a high ponytail. Sigh. Oh well.

It was a good ten seconds before I stopped ogling which meant he'd probably noticed. I will not blush. I will not blush. I will not blush. I didn't. More so because I was distracted by his confused expression that mirrored my own. He repeatedly studied my face as if for some clue as to what this meeting here was all about. I gave a shrug.

"Sorry I'm late," he told Antonio after exchanging brief greetings with all the blokes. His dubiousness was apparent in his tone. "I had to find someone to cover the squad."

"It's quite alright," replied Antonio.

Feeling any better today? asked Jared as he positioned himself on Antonio's opposite side, facing me.

I went for nonchalant. Fine thanks.

He responded with a tiny nod.

"I wanted to speak with you about the Connelly gathering," Antonio said to Jared.

"What about it?" asked Jared, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. G.o.d he looked so good in that jacket. He'd probably look even better without it and any other clothes on. Not that I'm interested in finding out or anything now that I'm thinking straight again. Honest.

"It is tomorrow night, is it not?"

"Yeah," confirmed Jared, still dubious.

"And you will be attending, I a.s.sume."

"I do every year."

Antonio nodded. "I want you to take Sam along with you."

"What?" asked Jared, almost overriding my "Say again?" I didn't even know what this gathering was supposed to be, or who the h.e.l.l Connelly was.

"All those invited are welcome to take a guest," said Antonio. "From what I remember, you always do so."

"Why do you want me to take Sam?" Agitation streamed through his veins at the idea; I felt it as if it was my own. Oh, cheers Jared. I couldn't help snorting.

"It is a very worrying time. Soon The Hollow's walls will be attacked. You can appreciate why I would wish to take precautions with regards to your safety. And as you do not usually take a personal bodyguard with you, people would find it rather odd if you were to do so this year. If there are any would-be-traitors amongst the guests, this might tip them off to our alertness of the upcoming attack. Up to now, although they may suspect that someone within my counsel has had a vision, they will not be sure. So, I propose that you take Sam along as your guest, let her pose as your consort" I snorted again, to which Antonio smiled "or your partner, whichever. Then if you do encounter any trouble, you have her as back-up."

"Again you're insisting I need back-up and help and protection," grumbled Jared. "Antonio, I'm a Master vampire. I have a reputation that means most vampires wouldn't dream of bothering me. And any that have tried taking me on have only ended a pile of ash."

"Except me, of course." I couldn't resist.

Jared ignored me. "It's one thing to be concerned about me being targeted, it's another thing altogether to imply that I can't handle it myself."

"This is not about what you can or cannot handle," insisted Antonio. "This is about taking precautions. You are my Heir, I will do as I must to ensure your safety."

"Ensure my safety? So you're saying a young, female Svente vampire is all that's needed to ensure my safety. Hey, why not get rid of me and make her the Heir then."

"Oh we're back to that c.r.a.p, I see," I spat. "Honestly, Jared, you're like a little kid who doesn't want to hold Mummy's hand."

"It's nothing personal to you," said Jared.

"Your last words sort of contradict that. What's wrong you don't want to be seen out with a Svente?"

Antonio interrupted our dispute. "What if this was Evan, Jared? You know he can protect himself from any threat. But would you want him to go alone while such a threat is live?"

"That's different," argued Jared.

I snorted. "Oh, you know what? I'm gone. Antonio, if you want me to go tomorrow night I will. But I'm not staying here to listen to him sulk any more than I have to."

"Understandable," muttered Sebastian.

I was in so much of a desperate need to put a large distance between me and Jared that human velocity just wasn't good enough right now. Vampire speed had me at the office within seconds. I slumped down onto my seat. G.o.d, what was so wrong with me in Jared's eyes that made him so horrified by any idea that involved us working closely together? Oh I was good enough to s.h.a.g, though, wasn't I? I'll take that to mean that he'd s.h.a.g absolutely anything, even if he loathed it.

Worse still, I couldn't seem to shrug my shoulders about it all. I told myself I didn't like him that much. I told myself that what little attraction I had to him was purely physical. But if that was the case, why was I so bothered by what he thought of me as a person? Why did I suddenly care about what he thought of my appearance? Why was I jealous of his relationship, if you could call it that, with his consorts? Why when I needed comfort was he the only one I wanted around me? Why when Max was so cute and sweet and made an effort to spend time with me did I find myself thinking about Jared instead?

Maybe Jared was right: maybe it wasn't fair to Max that I responded to his flirtatiousness if it was Jared I wanted more. Well, time to remedy that. And not by pushing Max away or attempting any further seductions with Jared. No. Time to rid myself of this craving I had for Jared. Yes, it had somehow, without my even realising it until now, developed into a craving. How was I going to rid myself of that? Easy, because I wasn't a shallow person and I didn't believe that looks were more important than personality. So now all I had to do was remind myself of all his bad traits.

Of course there was the obvious one: he was outrageously s.e.xist, even to the extent that he hadn't been prepared to give me the job I deserved merely because I was female he wouldn't even work with me and we had to split the training hours for the squad and train them separately. Number two: he was prejudiced against Sventes, seeing them as inferior to him and horrified at the thought of being seen outside the walls with one. Number three: he placed so little significance in women that they were simply objects to him objects that he could claim and possess and tuck away in an apartment and vehicles for his s.e.xual pleasure. Number four: he was so much of a spoilt brat that he sulked whenever things didn't go his way, even going as far as to barely speak to me for days at a time. Number five: he was so unbelievably vain he couldn't grasp the concept that a woman might not want to be his consort.

To sum up, he's a d.i.c.khead.

And now my head feels so much clearer. Objective: Forget Jared, concentrate on Max.

(Jared) Sam wasn't in the office when I teleported there. She was always in her office during lunch hour, flicking through files and charting the progress of the recruits. It wasn't exactly cause for alarm that she wasn't there now, but I didn't like it. I had apparently gotten so used to knowing where she would be that this simple detail threw me off. I didn't know where she was. I just really didn't like that at all.

It would make sense that she wouldn't be enthusiastic about talking to me right now. I knew I'd hurt her feelings by protesting about taking her to the gathering tomorrow evening. It hadn't really registered until now that it was possible to hurt her. It should've done as I'd glimpsed what she hid behind that frosty exterior; the pain, the anger, and the shame at what her d.i.c.k of a Sire had done to her. And now I was the d.i.c.k, too.

It wasn't that I was ashamed to be seen with her like she thought. Okay, I admit, I didn't like the idea of everyone staring and whispering and judging, and if it was any other Svente I'd point-blank refuse to take her. But I didn't look at Sam and see a Svente. I saw a strong, determined, wilful, gorgeous, good-hearted person. A good-hearted person who I'd just hurt.

I had to see her. Not that I was going to say sorry or grovel. Pride and all that. But the idea that she was somewhere thinking horrible s.h.i.t about me or upset because of what I'd said...I just didn't like it. It was probably just that I knew it would make me getting her to admit that she wanted me even harder. Yeah, that's all it was. It wasn't like it could be anything else. Feelings weren't something I experienced when it came to women. I just didn't seem to function that way.

I guess that makes me seem cold, but after watching the way my parents were arguing, brawling, cheating I had never been able to see the point in relationships. Evan was the opposite of me. Witnessing the messed up marriage that our parents had had only made him want to seek out the right woman and not settle for someone the way our parents had. Personally, I didn't think there was a right woman for each and every guy. You either cared about them or you didn't, and it either lasted or it didn't. Like Sam said, sometimes you love someone for a little while and then it's over.

Odd how much it bothered me that she once loved someone. I wouldn't have thought it was possible to be jealous of a dead person. I couldn't even work out why I was experiencing jealousy over it at all. Nothing I felt or did when it came to Sam made much sense. I still couldn't believe I'd walked away from her offer of s.e.x last night. Evan would laugh his t.i.ts off if he knew. That was why I wasn't planning on telling him.

Shaking my head at myself and my inability to explain my weird responses to this woman, I picked up the phone and called Fletcher using the internal line.

He answered immediately. "Yes, Commander?"

"Fletcher, do you have any idea where Sam is?"

"Sam?" He sounded uncomfortable. "Well, er, Max came to take her out for something to eat for lunch."

My jaw suddenly hurt, and I realised I was grinding my teeth together. "Okay, thanks Fletcher."

Max had taken her out for lunch? Motherf.u.c.ker. I was really going to end up seriously hurting that guy. I'd never before felt threatened by another guy when it came to women. Mostly because it didn't really matter to me if the woman wasn't interested, there were plenty more strutting around. It wasn't really much different from me browsing through a shopping mall with a vague idea of what I might like and then choosing an outfit to try on for size.

This time it was different. Sam was different. I didn't want a woman like her, I wanted that woman. But if all I was doing was just trying her on for size and had no sense of ownership then that meant other people could try her on for size too. And that nettled more than I'd have expected it would have. In which case Max really needed to get the h.e.l.l out of the picture. Could she be right and my ego was really that swollen that I couldn't stand the idea of someone else beating me to it? It had to be that.

And now all I could do was wonder what they were doing, if she was enjoying herself, whether his little lunch date would amount to anything. I didn't believe that Sam was the type to be dazzled by dates or anything soppy, but she would appreciate the fact that he was making an effort. I really didn't appreciate his efforts at all. In fact, I'd like to shove them up his a.s.s along with any objects I could find.

But as much as curiosity was chewing on me, there was no way I was going to walk around looking for the two of them. I wouldn't let things get that bad that I needed sectioning. Common sense told me that seen as she'd be at the arena within the hour I might as well just sit, eat, drink, and then head over there shortly.

Needless to say, the time dragged. It was worse because I had nothing to do to occupy my thoughts. It only occurred to me as I was making my way to the arena that I didn't actually have anything to say to Sam that would seem important enough to warrant me walking over there. I'd have to say I was going to observe the training again. I'd actually enjoyed watching last time. Instead of wounding my ego that I'd been wrong about her capabilities, it made me proud of her.

When I arrived at the arena only a few of the recruits were there, chuckling like a bunch of high school kids in a locker room. I waited in the spectators' box. A few minutes went by before she walked in. I'd have been mesmerised by how snug her simple clothes were against her body, hinting at her toned figure, if it wasn't for the fact that Max was walking beside her and they were laughing loudly you know the kind of laugh that tells you that the joke was private between the laughers and you'd never get it?

Sam was two recruits short and the training session wasn't due to start for a further ten minutes but, to her credit, she ushered Max away; conveying the message that now she was his superior and he'd get the same treatment as everyone else whether he'd taken her to lunch or not.

I was about to telepathically alert her to my presence when she did something that again had me mesmerised: she removed the bobble from her hair, letting her dark hair fall loose from the ponytail, and then smoothed it back before gathering it together to style it into a higher, tighter ponytail. Now I was stuck thinking about how soft those strands were and how good it felt to scrunch them in my hand last night. Just as it had felt good having her lips on my neck. If she'd have sank those teeth into my skin I'd have been inside her before she could even swallow one gulp of my blood.

Didn't expect to see you here. Her tone was flat and emotionless. I guessed that she had sensed me seen as I knew she hadn't glanced up.

It's called keeping a close eye on the progress of our squad. I almost said my squad' but I figured that wouldn't help me get back into her good books.

As long as you don't interfere that's fine.

That was exactly what I would have said to her had our positions been reversed, so although I'd had no intention of interfering I resisted being defensive. Just as I was about to make a throw-away comment about her lunch date with Max, the final two recruits entered and she quickly rounded them all up like sheep.

Throughout the entire session, I watched her. I couldn't take my eyes off her; she conducted herself so confidently and had such control over her gift that I was in total awe of her. She basically commanded the entire arena and everything in it just with her presence. Not once did she become unsure of herself. Not once did she lose control of the situation. Her husky voice echoed and teased my ears, hypnotising me almost.

She had the recruits repeat the same exercises of last session, making them practise their gifts on one-another, but this time she acted as a distraction; she threw energy b.a.l.l.s or thermal beams or tapped into the natural elements.

"During any kind of battle, the odds of you getting a fair spar with another vampire are slimmer than Commander Michaels' favourite consort," she said to them. I had to laugh a little. "There'll be other vampires coming at you from all angles, even from behind you. It's important that you're able to defend yourselves and attack despite these distractions. I've been serving as that distraction, but I haven't attempted to hurt any of you. In a battle, it will be different; the vampires coming at you will have every intention of hurting you. So, we try this again. This time I will aim at you don't start whining like girls, I won't be too harsh. Yes this isn't fair but battles aren't fair. The only way you'll learn to dodge is if you experience what will happen if you don't. So, let's go."

G.o.d, she was amazing to watch. The way they all hung off her every word...It was a situation that only an extremely good leader could create and sustain. I had to agree with Antonio I agree begrudgingly though that she would make a good co-leader in a battle, and that the squad would benefit from having her there. I'd benefit from having her there.

Was I in any way surprised that the second the session was over Max dashed toward her like a puppy to its master? No. By the looks of it, neither was Sam. When uncertainty flashed on her face, I strained my hearing to listen to their conversation.

"You said you'd never tried eating there and that we could go together some time," Max was saying to her. "So I just thought, hey no time like the present."

"You're not content with whisking me off to eat lunch, you now want to commandeer my entire night as well?" She was laughing but there was awkwardness in it.

"Oh come on, it's gotta be better than sitting in your apartment munching on c.r.a.p while Fletcher turns up to eat half of it."

She smiled in surprise. "How do you know he does that?"

"Sam, please," oh he's begging her now? Pitiful "put me out of my misery, come out with me later. Please?"

She rolled her gorgeous eyes. "Alright, fine, we'll go out. You'll have to give me an hour to change clothes and stuff."

Motherf.u.c.ker. I was down there in a second before he could propose anything else like, oh I don't know, him going to her apartment for coffee' after the meal. This was so like the feeling of someone trying to take something that was mine. She'd whip me to death if she knew that. She looked up at me, waiting for some kind of comment. I tried really hard to gather the words together to form a compliment about her coaching, but nothing would come out. I just wasn't practiced at compliments. Her growing smile indicated that she noticed my inner struggle. I could actually feel her amus.e.m.e.nt.

"So, I'll come to your apartment in an hour then," Max said to her. His eyes then darted to me and he shot me a self-satisfied smirk. Yeah, he knew I wanted her and he was sending me a message that it was too late. He really believed that? I almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost.

"I'll just meet you in the lobby," Sam told him.

Then it was my turn to shoot smirks at him. He can't be doing that well with her if she's not taking up the opportunity to have him in her apartment. If I was childish, I might have mouthed I've been in there'. Maybe I could be childish just this once.

She turned to me, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I'm a.s.suming you noticed that I didn't leave the files on your desk like I usually do." I hadn't noticed. "I actually didn't get a chance to finish updating them -"

"That was my fault, I took her to lunch." Could he have made it more obvious that he was trying to mark his territory?

"- but I'll sort it at dusk." She had ignored Max, which he didn't like.

"It's okay."

"Say again?" She seemed astonished. Did she wonder if I'd come here just to make snide remarks about trivial things? Well I had done trivial stuff in the past.

"It's okay," I repeated.

"You're being reasonable." Suspicion entered her eyes. "You've either done something you shouldn't have or you're after something."

I gave her a devilish grin. I'm only after the same thing I always want.

What would that be? My blood, or my body?

Put those two together.

She shook her head at me, stifling a giggle.

Max snickered. "I'd say he's done something and feeling guilty about it."

"Jared doesn't do guilt," she told him.

Except with you, I almost said. Christ I'm losing it.

The playful banter continued as we all strolled to the apartment building. Max got increasingly agitated about it and tried further marking his territory by touching her or complimenting her. She only giggled each time. I was pretty sure that she knew what he was trying to do and she was just humouring him. But even that didn't make me want to pound him any less. Max saw that and so done it all the more. Therefore I was already beyond incensed when he turned up at my apartment door forty-five minutes later.