Lying on a bed with red silk sheets and wooden posts on four sides on which hung gauzy white curtains, he looked lovely. He was wearing only his pajamas and the furs lazily spread over his torso. The room was lit with dim light of a chandelier that was hanging low in the corner of the room. The red and white carpet on the floor was blending with the ambience.

Lazarus grazed her neck with his fangs and licked the droplet of blood from there. He closed his eyes, as he tasted it on his lips and tongue. It was exquisite like a drug, only for him. "You know that if I will latch on to you, I will suck you dry," he said in a hoarse voice. "I won't be able to get off you."

"I don't care," she almost bucked with pleasure when he grazed his fangs on her. "Suck me dry, but get well."

His grey eyes had started to become red after three weeks of sucking blood from the blood vassals. But their blood was like mud sludge. Yet he had to take it from them.

Lazarus was beginning to get well. He had hot, eerie looks that added the air of mystery and darkness around him. His flawless skin, now blooded looked like marble. The bold jawline, with a cleft in his chin was sexy beyond words. And Emma… she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame… always. The man had ruined her for life.

He smiled against her neck and nibbled it slightly. "No Èama, you are too precious for me." He laid back on the propped up pillows and gestured to her to come and lean on his chest. She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He supported his chin over her head and said, "We have many blood vassals in our kingdom. We have given them protection and some of them even have lands in exchange for them to blood us, then why should I suck my wife."

The Kingdom of Wilyra wasn't heavily populated. It was situated in the middle of northern mountain ranges that were permanently covered with snow. With a dwindling population of no more than a thousand vampires who rarely left their land, Lazarus had started recruiting blood vassals. These were mostly people of Lore who needed protection from their own people or who needed lands to live for their families. Amongst the dragons, Lykaes and the Faes, most of them were demons. Only a few were wizards, but they were usually avoided. These people would allow the vampires to suck their blood in exchange for Lazarus' protection.

He stroked her hair and smelled her every now and then only to be assured that she was with him. When she had said that Dawn, a neotide, had forced Sedora to give up the necklace, he was in her debt. He had to pay a visit to the neotide and thank her personally. A knock on the door disturbed them.

"Who is it?" asked Emma, turning her head towards the door.

"The soldiers patrolling the southern boundaries of the kingdom have found a neotide, Jason, who seems to have lost his way in the Lore. They caught him and have sent him to the dungeons," said the handmaiden from outside the door.

Lazarus smiled. "Okay," he replied and the servant scurried off.

"You seem to have a penchant for neotides," he said to Emma without losing the smile. "That neotide in our dungeons, Azura is pretty strong. I have sucked almost thrice a week from him and yet he still holds strongly. Why did you turn him into a vampire?"

Emma lifted her head and removed the strand of hair from his forehead. "He was about to die the last time I met him. So I turned him into a vampire and threw him in the dungeons. I was collecting blood vassals for you."

"He isn't a vassal," Lazarus corrected her.

"Yes, he is a slave and I don't intend to give him the status of a vassal. At first I thought I should but I heard that he wasn't on good terms with Dawn Silver," she said. "And that he tried to kill her."

Lazarus raised an eyebrow.

"On Sedora's behest!" she informed and pursed her lips. "She instigated him and rest is history. I don't want to talk about it!" She cupped his face. "Are you hungry my lord?"

"I am," he sighed. The vampire needed to be blooded at least once in a day.

"Then let us try Jason, our newest catch?" she suggested.

Lazarus chuckled. "Sure! Get him here."

---

Dawn had cashed two gold bond certificates and the money that flowed was more than enough to cover almost seventy-five percent of their debts. Dawn let the remaining debt stay like that because that way banks would stay happy. After all, even the banks had to earn the interest. With finance consolidated, Dawn moved forward with new energy. The first department that she pushed forward was the IT department. Before she started working with Wyatts, she had her own software Companies and that had helped her to secure connections. She used those connections to get business for the Company.

It was overwhelming to see that the software division got as many as three software development projects within a span of seven days. There was a fresh wave of excitement within the employees. She appointed a team, which was headed by David to oversee the new business and turned her attention to other departments.

Daryn was asking her to take over the chain of jewelry back from him because he realized that they were never into this kind of business. They still owned the mines at Arc of Orinico and he just didn't know what to do with all the gold other than to let it go to Ixoviya.

Dawn was contemplating on taking back the Company but on a joint venture basis.

Right now the couple was standing at the airport to receive Caleb and Elize.

And Canton was standing in Ensmoire along with Quetz for Daryn.

Dawn had a wide grin on her face as her eyes sparkled. She was trying to cover her eight months pregnancy with her overcoat, but it wasn't helping. The December winds were gusty and cold. She was short of squealing as she anticipated seeing Elize after a long time. She was babbling nonstop with Daryn by telling him about her days at her university. There was a lightness in her chest and must have smoothed down her dress a number of times. The fact that Elize was suffering from brain tumor was shoved back in the happiness of the occasion. The girl had agreed to come to Bainsburgh along with Caleb finally.

"Are you so happy to see her?" asked Daryn, feeling a little jealous. She was never so happy about his coming back home.

"Yes!" Dawn bobbed her head cheerfully. "I am elated!"

Her answer added fuel to the fire and Daryn's face became stiff. From the past half an hour she had been yapping about Elize. Not done! He narrowed his eyes, and then he had to say, "You never seem so happy when I come back?"