Curiosity got the better of me, and I reached for it, removing it from the shelf and taking it over to the desk. There was something about it; a feeling I got that told me there was something important in this box.
Lifting the lid, my suspicions were spot on. Within the box were a small group of items, one of which really peaked my interest. Laid among a group of small glass vials, some filled with blood, was a tracking device.
Tracking devices were used for one reason, and one reason only in the vampire world.... to keep track of an Owned.
The Owned were humans that belonged to a vampire or group of vampires. I wasn’t a fan of vampires keeping humans as pets or possessions, but I had been paid a very high price every now and again for the return of an owned human. Finding a tracking device hidden away here in Gideon’s office – one still stained with old blood – could be held as evidence against him in the future if I failed to find out any information on his and Denton’s fight. Stealing another’s Owned was a big crime in our world, one that could lose you your fangs if you stole from the wrong person.
Taking one of the vials, I unscrewed the lid, lifting the small bottle up to scent. It wasn’t unusual for a vampire to keep blood around for consumption, but an amount that small and not kept refrigerated was strange. The smell of the blood was strong, refreshing, potent – very potent saying that it was old, cold blood – and it had a slightly familiar scent to it. What was this stuff?
Deciding to take the risk, I shoved one of the vials and the tracker into my pocket, before returning the box to its place. I’d have to send the small bottle off for testing. There was just something about it that felt a little off to me, and I wanted to know what. For all I knew it wasn’t human, and the last thing we needed was for another vampire to become addicted to feeding on their own kind. Once was enough. I also needed to find out who the tracker belonged to, who was missing an Owned.
Removing my phone from my pocket, I called the one person I knew would be able to get me the information that I wanted. “Brad?”
“You do know what time it is?”
The sun was rising. Most of my kind, Brad included, would be heading to bed around now if they already weren’t. “Sorry about that, but I need a favour. I’ve found something I want checking out. A vial of blood. I’ve just got this funny feeling that it is more than what it seems.”
“Okay, send it to the hotel and I’ll get it check out.”
“Thanks, mate. There’s one more thing… I found a tracker, one that’s been removed from its host. If I send it to you, any chance you can find out who it belongs to?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“All I ask. But don’t let on as to where it was found. The last thing I need is for some stick-up-his-ass vampire to come strolling in and bust my cover.”
Hanging up, I got back to work, rigging up my own secret set of cameras around the room. Hopefully, I’d be able to get some information in the footage.
I made one more call before returning to the cellar room. Eve was still sound asleep, curled up tightly in a ball under the mountain of blankets I had piled upon her. She was human, fragile. I didn’t want her catching a cold or anything from being down here all night. Being a vampire, the cold didn’t affect me; I was comfortable with it.
Looking over at the spot where I’d made my bed on the other side of the room, I had the urge to move it closer to her. It was almost as large as the urge I had to climb into the bed with her. Giving in to that first urge, knowing that even though she had held on for dear life to me earlier, she wouldn’t appreciate me jumping between the sheets, I dragged my makeshift bed along the floor, placing it only a few feet away from the futon. If she asked anything about me moving it when she woke up, I would just say that I thought it would be better if I were closer,
Lifting the lid, my suspicions were spot on. Within the box were a small group of items, one of which really peaked my interest. Laid among a group of small glass vials, some filled with blood, was a tracking device.
Tracking devices were used for one reason, and one reason only in the vampire world.... to keep track of an Owned.
The Owned were humans that belonged to a vampire or group of vampires. I wasn’t a fan of vampires keeping humans as pets or possessions, but I had been paid a very high price every now and again for the return of an owned human. Finding a tracking device hidden away here in Gideon’s office – one still stained with old blood – could be held as evidence against him in the future if I failed to find out any information on his and Denton’s fight. Stealing another’s Owned was a big crime in our world, one that could lose you your fangs if you stole from the wrong person.
Taking one of the vials, I unscrewed the lid, lifting the small bottle up to scent. It wasn’t unusual for a vampire to keep blood around for consumption, but an amount that small and not kept refrigerated was strange. The smell of the blood was strong, refreshing, potent – very potent saying that it was old, cold blood – and it had a slightly familiar scent to it. What was this stuff?
Deciding to take the risk, I shoved one of the vials and the tracker into my pocket, before returning the box to its place. I’d have to send the small bottle off for testing. There was just something about it that felt a little off to me, and I wanted to know what. For all I knew it wasn’t human, and the last thing we needed was for another vampire to become addicted to feeding on their own kind. Once was enough. I also needed to find out who the tracker belonged to, who was missing an Owned.
Removing my phone from my pocket, I called the one person I knew would be able to get me the information that I wanted. “Brad?”
“You do know what time it is?”
The sun was rising. Most of my kind, Brad included, would be heading to bed around now if they already weren’t. “Sorry about that, but I need a favour. I’ve found something I want checking out. A vial of blood. I’ve just got this funny feeling that it is more than what it seems.”
“Okay, send it to the hotel and I’ll get it check out.”
“Thanks, mate. There’s one more thing… I found a tracker, one that’s been removed from its host. If I send it to you, any chance you can find out who it belongs to?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“All I ask. But don’t let on as to where it was found. The last thing I need is for some stick-up-his-ass vampire to come strolling in and bust my cover.”
Hanging up, I got back to work, rigging up my own secret set of cameras around the room. Hopefully, I’d be able to get some information in the footage.
I made one more call before returning to the cellar room. Eve was still sound asleep, curled up tightly in a ball under the mountain of blankets I had piled upon her. She was human, fragile. I didn’t want her catching a cold or anything from being down here all night. Being a vampire, the cold didn’t affect me; I was comfortable with it.
Looking over at the spot where I’d made my bed on the other side of the room, I had the urge to move it closer to her. It was almost as large as the urge I had to climb into the bed with her. Giving in to that first urge, knowing that even though she had held on for dear life to me earlier, she wouldn’t appreciate me jumping between the sheets, I dragged my makeshift bed along the floor, placing it only a few feet away from the futon. If she asked anything about me moving it when she woke up, I would just say that I thought it would be better if I were closer,
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