Chapter One: Necessary

~ Marie ~

This was way too simple. Marie took a sip of her coffee as she tried to figure out his motive.

“What don’t you understand?” Adrian had plenty of people he could take to something like this. Why ask someone outside his clan? Why ask her when he didn’t even trust her?

“Why invite me?” His polite smile didn’t give anything away.

“This is a vampire affair. Most of the guests will be vampires. The person who goes with me needs to be able to take care of themselves.”

“And that’s the only reason?” His people should know how to defend themselves against a vampire as well. Maybe even better than her since they’d be privy to secrets she wouldn’t be. The only reason she could come up with was her knowledge of magic and demons. Was something going to happen there that he needed her help for?

“I didn’t think you needed reasons for a favor.” She frowned. Marie knew she shouldn’t have agreed to that. “The party will be held from October tenth to the seventeenth. The opening ceremony will be held on the tenth. The rest of the week will be fine dining and dancing.” She stared at her coffee as she counted the days until then. There shouldn’t be anything scheduled between now and then that should be affected. “There’s one more thing you should know.” She looked up and stared into his eyes. “I want you to attend as my companion.” Marie narrowed her eyes at him.

“What does that mean?” This was not as simple as she thought. Companions were treated only as well as the vampire wished them to be. Based on her reading and what little Micheal had directly shared on the matter, companions were little more than food.

“You will need to obey me while we are in front of others. With an event like this, your rights will be...limited.” She wouldn’t be able to count on someone else helping her if something went wrong. The other vampires would only see her as prey.

“And donating?” It was the only word she could think of to describe what she was asking. His smile held a tinge of amusement.

“There will be occasions but I won’t take more than what's necessary.” Marie pressed her lips together. They had very different definitions of what was necessary.

“Anything else I need to know?” Since she’d be going as a companion, the rules for conduct would be different than if she was going as a Guardian.

“Since you don’t know how to dance, I will need to teach you.”

“Is dancing required?”

“For my favor, it is. I will also provide you with the appropriate clothing for the event. I assume you don’t have any floor-length dresses for a black-tie event.” Marie shook her head.

“Anything else?”

“Not for the moment.” Since she was going as his companion, she’d have to obey him which meant he could always add things later. “Do you agree to everything we’ve discussed so far?” Marie frowned. This might be her only chance to refuse. Once she got to the party, there would be no one there to help her if she had second thoughts. It would be a whole week of her having to listen to him.

She glanced back at him. He was calmly drinking his coffee. There must be more to this than just a party. Why else would he use his favor for this? His eyes met hers over the rim of his cup. They stared at one another for several moments before she looked away. Only by going would she find out.

“Yes.” She’d given her word and it was better to get his favor out of the way now. As long as she stayed inside her territory, there was still a chance she could use her Guardian status if she ever needed it. Adrian turned the cup in his hands.

“The first thing we need to do is get you measured for your dress.” Measured? Why would she need to do something like that? There must be places she could go to to buy a dress. “I have people that can get the work done in the time we have left. They won’t be elaborate but they should work well enough.” Adrian then gave her additional details about the party. He mentioned that she’d need to rearrange her sleep schedule since this event would only be happening at night. Adrian also mentioned that she wouldn’t need to bring money and that he’d pay for anything she needed. Marie noticed he kept his details vague and didn’t really explain anything about the party beyond talking about the food and dancing.

He spoke for several minutes before he glanced down at his watch. She glanced at hers and noticed that it was a quarter past midnight.

“I need to get going but I’ll see you tomorrow around eight.” Adrian went into the kitchen and put his mug in the sink before leaving. Marie checked the door before she went back to the coffee maker. She refilled her cup before leaning against the counter and taking a sip. Once this favor was done, she was definitely going to stay away from him. Every time she worked with him, things became more complicated.