Page 32 of Cruel Destinies

My harshness didn’t faze her. Like all Initiates, Piper was used to being mistreated, believing that any attention was better than none. I took no pleasure in mistreating anybody—save for Marguerite, perhaps—but Piper had interrupted my piano playing. Nothing irked me more than being stopped mid-song, except for being stuck in Hadrian’s trophy room.

“Hadrian sent me to retrieve you,” she replied.

I doubted that. Hadrian would never speak directly to an Initiate unless it was about a genetic or technological discovery he needed to understand the science of. But choosing one to be a messenger? He held too high a station for such a trivial task. More than likely, Hadrian asked another vampire to send for me, and that vampire had asked Piper to do the job.

“He’s returned from his mission in Alberta?” I didn’t know what business the vampire leader had in Canada. Probably more recruitment. “What is it he wants?”

She shrugged her gangly shoulders. “Beyond meeting with you, I don’t know.”

Of course, she wouldn’t. Piper’s role in Hadrian’s plans was to help him in his quest to create vampire-shifter hybrids. She was a talented Harvard-taught molecular biologist. She was no geneticist, but apparently, her knowledge about macromolecules and how to get them to sustain hybrid vampire-shifters was extremely important. Most of it went over my head.

“But he did say he wanted to see you immediately,” she added.

I sighed. “Well, I best not keep him waiting.” I stepped out of my room, shut the door behind me, and turned to walk down the LED-lit hallway.

Piper ran to keep up with me. “May I ask you a question?”

“You just did,” I pointed out. “But yes, you may ask another.”

“Is my blood...?” she stammered, but those three words already revealed to me what she was going to ask. “Are you afraid of how it will taste?”

I had yet to drink from her in the time we’d been assigned together, and in truth, I had no intentions of doing so. After what happened with Shea, I was determined to never drink from a human ever again.

“I’m sure your blood tastes just fine,” I answered as we approached the stairway.

“Then why do you avoid me when you’re thirsty?” she asked in a whiny pitch that reminded me of a beginner violinist trying to play high notes.

I was already down several steps when I stopped and looked her directly in the eyes.

“I don’t trust myself with Initiates,” I said—or anyone. “Believe me, I’m doing you a favor by not drinking from you.”

Piper gave me a confused look, moving a few stray hairs behind her ear. “But all other assigned Initiates are taking care of their vampires’ needs. Don’t you understand how that makes me feel?”

My eyes widened with surprise. Her words were those of a married couple’s quarrel, not a master and his apprentice. And I definitely didnotwant either relationship with Piper.

“Piper, I’m going to be straight with you,” I said. “The last Initiate I drank from ended up dead. Completely sucked dry.”

This time, Piper’s eyes widened. “How? Is it something you... can’t control?”

“I can control it. What happened to that last Initiate—what I did to her—that was twenty years ago. I had a moment of distraction. Ihavequenched my thirst from humans since then, but I don’t want to risk relapsing. What I’m trying to say is that I value your life, and it wouldn’t be fair if you died for the sake of filling my belly.”

I watched as awe and gratitude filled her countenance, like a crescendo of music, starting softly, then steadily growing in volume.

“You...value me?” she stammered. “You care?”

“I care about all life,” I said truthfully, not liking where she was pushing the conversation; she was looking for acceptance. “Look, I don’t know you all that well. I know you’re a brilliant student who has achieved much in academics, and I know you want to become a vampire. That’s about it. I don’t know your family life. I don’t know what your other interests are. I don’t knowwhoPiper Adams is.”

I glanced up the staircase to see if anybody was within earshot. Then I drew close to her, placing my lips next to her ear and bringing my voice down to a whisper. “But I do know that you will never be valued like that by anyone else here. You’re seen as a resource. And like in the human world, resourcesalwayshave a limit on their value.”

I was taking a huge risk saying this to her. I knew that. But her need to feel accepted and valued... She needed to know the reality of her situation.

“But if I become a vampire, my value will increase,” she said. “Won’t it?”

“Your status will,” I replied. “But don’t confuse status with value. They are not synonymous.”

I turned around and took a few more steps.

“You wish you weren’t a vampire,” she mumbled in realization. It was strange hearing it come from her, and it caused me to stop again.

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