(Faye)

  Faye stepped inside the ballroom, wincing as he saw Adrian leaning against the far wall waiting for him. There was practically no one left in the space and Faye knew that didn’t bode well for him. Given by the angry look in those green eyes, there was no chance he didn’t blame Faye for the fiasco; in fact, from the way he glared at the human, he completely blamed Faye for the glass shattering. Faye did his best to hide his fear as he walked straight toward the vampire, anticipating the pain to come.

  “You’re late, Baby Doll,” Adrian hissed, roughly grabbing the human as soon as Faye was within reach and pulling him close. Faye did his best not to flinch and forced a smile, closing his eyes as he faced the angry vampire. Adrian reached behind the human, digging his hand into the wounds in Faye’s back and forcing Faye to wince from the pain that ran along his spine. The imprints still hurt like hell, and Adrian knew it, digging his fingers deeper into Faye’s skin. “I thought I told you to hurry up–”

  “I think,” Faye quickly found himself pulled away from Adrian, now loosely being held by Addis, who he was surprised to see. Adrian scowled as Addis nodded at Faye, the vampire gently releasing the human as he stepped in front of him. “That is enough, Adrian. I made Faye late, although I would think two minutes is more than forgivable considering how late you have been sending him back to the shelter.”

  “And why are you interfering , Addis?” Adrian spat, shifting his glare over to Faye as the human quickly looked away, holding himself. He heard Addis whistle as he stepped forward in front of Faye again, forcing Adrian to look at him instead. Faye had no idea why Addis was here lying for him, but at least the vampire was taking some of the blame. “I don’t remember asking for Faye to be escorted.”

  “I am merely here to make sure Faye stays on the premises tonight. It is after curfew after all,” Addis’s voice was dripping with fake politeness and Faye jumped when Adrian hissed. Faye wanted to tell Addis to stop, as the growing anger on Adrian’s face was only spelling more pain for the human but he knew this was beyond him at this point. This was between vampires, and as usual, he was just a human victim caught in the middle. “Lena is tired of you interfering with her project by keeping Faye late, which I have to say is quite rude, I never would have dreamed that a man of business like yourself would do such a thing.”

  “You-”

  “I am here,” Addis interrupted the vampire, causally sauntering up to him and Faye felt his heart pound as Addis tapped his hand against Adrian’s chest. Faye couldn’t see Addis's expression but given by the way Adrian scowled down at his fellow vampire, it was a challenging one. “To ensure that Faye is returned to us on time from now on and in good condition. Surely that isn’t so much to ask, now is it?”

  “You and that fucking princess don’t have a right to-”

  “Oh, but I think we do, Adrian,” Addis chuckled, using his fingers to flick Adrian’s ponytail. The vampire scowled and Faye watched on confused as Addis withdrew his hand. Wait, was there something else going on that he didn’t know about? As far as he knew, Adrian had only agreed to Faye staying at the shelter because he liked the idea of not having to worry about paying for a place to stay for Faye and the other escorts. But the way the Addis spoke and Adrian’s frustrated glare seemed to hint that perhaps Lena held more power in the arrangement than Faye had realized. She was the princess after all, so perhaps there was something there he wasn’t aware of? A secret agreement between Adrian and Lena?

  “Why are you still standing there?” Adrian finally barked, turning his glare back to Faye as he sat down on the couch. Faye flinched, holding himself tightly as he quickly moved back to the vampire’s side. He sat on the couch next to his owner, doing his best not to flinch as Adrian draped his arm around him. “We’re gonna go for a walk once I’m done with Addis.”

  “Yes, Adrian,” Faye forced his smile, doing his best to seem pleased as he glanced toward Addis. The disgust on the vampire’s face was obvious as he watched them and Faye quickly looked away. It’s not like he wanted to be here at all; what right did Addis have to be disgusted with him?

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “You win this round, Addis, but Faye is mine,” Adrian reiterated, and Faye felt his heart constrict in his chest. Addis chuckled as this, seemingly unbothered by the vampire’s threat as Adrian continued. “I don’t know what you and that princess are up to, but at the end of the day, Faye will always come back to me.”

  “I couldn’t care less, Adrian,” Addis offered and Faye could imagine that dangerous look on the vampire’s face. It truly was terrifying to Faye how good the vampire was at hiding his true emotions; Addis was adept at hiding his intentions and na?ve vampires and humans alike would fail to read the subtle differences that revealed whether Addis was playful, or angry. “As I said, I’m merely here to make sure Faye does not leave the premises tonight and that you continue to follow the rules. After all, they are useless if you keep breaking them at your own discretion.”

  “And if he’s done early? You’re just gonna whisk him back to this joke of yours? He may be safer here than most places in Pavivani city, but this is not where he belongs,” Adrian warned and Addis chuckled. Faye jumped as he heard Adrian suck on his teeth, digging his nails more into Faye’s shoulder. “Am I not allowed to play with my dolls?”

  “You may do whatever you like with your ‘dolls’,” Addis smartly replied and Faye felt his heart sink at the vampire’s words. Addis chuckled, seemingly pausing from dramatic effect before continuing. “However, Faye is not a doll. He is a patron of our dear shelter, and I intend to protect the shelter’s interests, even from their vampiric employers if necessary.”

  Faye looked up to see Addis’s expression, surprised as silence filled the ballroom. Addis was smiling the same bright smile, and Faye felt his heart pound. Patron: usually whenever Addis was talking about the tenets of the shelter, and especially Faye, the vampire had a habit of simply calling them all assets. Was he just trying to make a point to Adrian, or… maybe Addis did see him as a person? The human shook his head as he sighed, looking back to his lap as Adrian began to speak again.

  “Since when have you cared about anything, Addis?”

  “Why, since I decided to help the Princess with this shelter. We all will be affected if she fails and my work needed a change of pace,” Addis replied, his voice taking on a slightly darker tone. “I do take my work quite seriously Adrian, something you should remember very well.”

  Remember? Did the two vampires also have a past Faye was unaware of? The more Faye heard, the more confused he became about the whole situation. Did he really know anything about what was going on anymore?

  “And where would you like to wait, Addis?” Adrian spat both syllables of the vampire’s name as if it hurt him to say it and Faye heard Addis hum thoughtfully, as if he was deeply considering how he wanted to keep an eye on the human. “The party isn’t over yet, and I intend to enjoy it fully before I leave.”

  “I think I’ll wait in my office, it is near the front door after all. Not to say I don’t trust you, but you are known to take advantage when it suits you,” Faye looked up as Addis began to walk away. He chanced a glance up at Adrian, who still had a sour expression on his face. He pulled Faye up by his injured arm, linking them together as they left the ballroom.

  “Don’t get used to it, Baby Doll. I’ll make sure you pay for that glass tomorrow,” Adrian promised darkly and Faye could only nod as he tried to smile. Simply delaying the inevitable; there was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight.

  “My my, Adrian is quite harsh isn’t he?” Faye nearly jumped as he heard Addis’s soft voice, and a quick glance down at his shadow showed the vampire’s red eyes. “Anything to get his way.”

  “Ain’t nothing new,” Faye whispered, gently moving his arm to a more comfortable position as Adrian started to walk toward some other high vampires that had attended the party. He glanced down to see Addis’s eyes watching him curiously and for some reason seeing Addis’s expression annoyed the human. There was more going on here than Addis just making sure he didn’t leave the shelter and if he was unsure about it before, he was certain of it now. “And I thought you hated humans.”

  “Hate is such a strong word and I loathe to use it,” Addis chuckled, his eyes blinking away as Faye’s shadow shifted, no longer allowing the human to see the vampire. Addis's voice was barely more than a whisper and Faye had to strain to hear it. “I’ll be paying just enough attention to tell whether Adrian is attempting to break the rules. Otherwise, I won’t interfere.”

  “Right,” Faye whispered, doing his best to look happy to be on Adrian’s arm as the vampire motioned to him. Even if it were only business to Addis, an act to keep the princess happy, to Faye, it was a relief to have someone watching out for him. No one besides Noemi had even attempted such a thing before, and well, she was a good friend, but no high vampire.

  “Well, have fun, little Faye,” Addis chuckled, his voice completely fading as Faye did his best to pay attention to the vampire talking to him. For some reason, that “have fun” sounded… different from how Addis usually spoke to the human, but Faye chose to ignore it. Thanks to Addis and Lena, he at least had the rest of tonight to mentally prepare for tomorrow.