Page 4 of The Monster and the Last Blood Match

“How is the new system different?” she asked.

The doctor smiled once more, and her fingers dug into the paper on the bed. “Now the Sponsor requests a blood type match and a certain profile, and the subject stays with the Sponsor…permanently.”

Chapter Two

“Permanently?” Reyna gasped.

“Yes. The new system would place you with a vampire match. You would be placed in the home and share living quarters with your Sponsor.”

“Forever?” she asked in disbelief.

“Well, not forever, as if there is no other option, Miss Carpenter. The system is supposed to fix some of the issues with the previous functions within Visage. It allows less fluctuation and gives the subjects a better lifestyle.”

“So, we could never leave?”

“Of course not. If the subject or Sponsor deems that the relationship is no longer functional, then another Permanent would be located and your contract made void. We have no grounds to hold you against your will. We are merely trying to find a more suitable lifestyle for our Sponsors. And if it makes you feel any better, all Sponsors who are selected into this program are top-echelon candidates. You will be well taken care of.”

A permanent placement with a vampire. She couldn’t think of anything she would want to do less. It sounded like an easy way for vampires to take advantage of humans and eliminate the checks and balances of the previous system.

“It’s a better situation for the Sponsors, but what about us?” she demanded. “How do we know that we’ll truly be taken care of when there is no one to check in with once a month?”

“I can guarantee that every Sponsor has been carefully screened. They are very high-ranking officials within the organization. We would never place our employees in potentially dangerous situations.”

“Of course not,” she said dryly. “So, these Sponsors are bigger and better than the other ones. Does that mean the pay is better?”

He chuckled and then recovered his expression. “Straight to the point, I see. How does double the monthly salary sound for this Permanent position?”

Reyna’s eyes were as big as saucers. Double? To stay at one vampire’s house indefinitely?

That was incredible. She wouldn’t have to work for Visage as long if she was able to make double the income they had originally reported. With double the pay, she could save up to go to college. With a shiny new degree, someone might even employ her. It all depended on how everything actually went once she was there. She could handle that. And it didn’t matter what Brian or Drew said, she had to do this.

“Are you interested in this new program?” Dr. Washington asked her.

“I—”

She was about to say yes, but the doctor’s eagerness stalled her. Why did he want this so bad? And what was it about the situation that put her on edge?

It wasn’t the obvious things. She was surrounded by vampires and about to give her blood up to one on a regular basis. She had more or less come to terms with it, but something else bothered her.

“Why was I selected?” she asked instead.

He pursed his lips. “You fit the profile.”

“And what profile is that?”

“Young, fit, and the proper match.”

“You said something about my history in my file.Whatabout my history?”

Dr. Washington narrowed his eyes and then pulled up her file on the computer.

“It says here that your parents are deceased. Car accident. You were only ten. Your brothers, Brian and Drew, were fourteen and twelve. Both are currently employed at Cartwright Warehouses. Your uncle is your only other living relative. He left you at age eleven and as far as our records show disappeared completely. No death has been reported. Your history, Miss Carpenter, shows that you are entirely alone other than two brothers who despair having another mouth to feed.”

Reyna defiantly raised her chin. Hearing her bleak history spelled out before her in such terms made her heart constrict. “I know my own history well enough. But it doesn’t explain how that makes me a good match for your Permanent program. Do you want someone without family? Someone that if things go south for you, there is no one who will be blowing up the papers in anger over my disappearance?”

He laughed. “I already told you that you will be perfectly safe. You’re hesitant. I understand that, but you have the wrong impression of our organization.”

“Do I?”

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