Ghosts Ch. 03

We were eating across from each other in a bizarre imitation of a happy couple sharing an evening meal. Occasionally he would stop and simply watch me eat, amused, but I was dutifully ignoring him. I had learned to appreciate the small pleasures when they presented themselves, and the food was amazing. The toast was drenched in honey, the bacon was crispy, the eggs were yolky but not undercooked, and it was the best meal I'd had in years.

"You are enjoying that entirely too much."

I shrugged. It was made and I was eating it and he wasn't going to take it back now. He started laughing.

"I promise you, I will make you French toast again."

I glanced at him. I didn't believe or disbelieve him. He could be an unusually considerate Vamp...his actions thus far were certainly more generous than they could have been. But for all I knew he was toying with me and any moment I would be locked in a room and isolated except for periodic feeding and fucking. For the moment, I was trying to remove myself from such considerations with the soul-warming flavors of bacon, and he was distracting me. I shrugged again, and wished he would shut up.

He did, actually. Only when every bite was scraped from the plate did I turn my attention back to Lex, who was studying me in that unnerving, detached manner.

"Peiyla." He leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table, his tone suddenly serious. "You give me these three months, and I will give you freedom. I'll take you back to the States with me."

I momentarily choked on my orange juice. Had I heard that correctly?

In that instant, everything was on the line, and I dropped all pretense, all appearances of subservience, sitting up straight and looking him as close to in the eye as possible without actually making contact. In the dimly lit apartment, the black had receded from his irises, leaving them a smoky gray that was slightly more human in appearance.

"I don't believe you. Why would you do that?"

He looked surprised, then amused. "Why not? It's easy enough."

I shook my head. "No. It would be so much easier for you to tell me that to gain my compliance and then drop me at the end of your stay."

He smirked. "I don't need your compliance."

"But you'd like it."

A silence hung between us and he shifted in his seat. And there it was. A moral vampire? Not quite. But it was true, he hadn't been pleased with the center, he didn't like feeder-slaves, at least not this country's version of them. What had he said? Willing victims. That was his preference.

"Tell me why it benefits you to take me back with you."

He shook his head. "Cynical, much?"

"Extremely."

"Alright." He stood and walked around me, his movements far too fluid to pass for those of a man. "Maybe I want to keep you a bit longer than three months."

"Why am I so special?"

He raised a brow. "Your blood's top shelf, peiyla." He gave me another of this unsettling, toothy grins.

Admittedly, I had heard that before. I wasn't blind to the fact that I was different from most of the Ghosts...whatever genetic changes they had undergone in the shift from human to feeder, I had more of it. I didn't even look entirely human, though I was sure I could pass.

"How much longer would you keep me?" I asked, having no reason to believe whatever he told me. But even as I asked, I knew it didn't matter. He could intend to keep me forever or drop me naked with no resources at the airport, and the truth was I would still have a better chance at freedom than I would in the hellhole that Australia had become. Any plan that would involve escape ultimately ended in a plane trip out of the country...because of what I was I would never have rights here, and I couldn't fake DNA to get a job or relocate. No, my only options involved being elsewhere...and if he could just get me that far...

This was why it was extremely important he not be bluffing. If he was telling the truth, my plan must be altered entirely...instead of looking for the first possible window of escape during my time with him I had to stick it out and play the part for three months- and not only did I have to cooperate, I had to hold his interest so he didn't change his mind. Fuck.

"I would keep you there legally. The typical time for a feeding contract is one year, during which time you would receive a substantial salary. Enough to start your life over, after the year is up." He spoke evenly.

I was vaguely familiar with the more civilized Vamp-feeder slaves of other countries, and that actually sounded about right. I sighed.

"The better you make it sound the less inclined I am to believe you."

He barked a laugh and spread his hands in a gesture of hopelessness. "There's really nothing I can do about that, peiyla."

I struggled with a sudden sense of frustration. I didn't know how the hell to process this. He was playing with me, he had to be."And what do you want from me, exactly?" I cringed at how my voice cracked. Out of all that had happened to me, it had been a long time since I'd felt this genuinely vulnerable. This was real hope. My fate was his whim.

I had a moment of disorientation, because suddenly he was holding me by the waist and I was sitting on the counter in front of him, our faces almost touching. His gaze was intense, but his mouth was still quirked in his slight, almost ever present smirk. "Your submission."

"I don't know what that means."

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against my neck, teasing, and I shuddered at the feel of his hot breath against my skin. I felt him smile, and his voice deepened. "Oh, you will."