Instead of replying or reacting like any other normal human would, Teru stared. If they could project the racing thoughts in his head outside, everyone would see several numbers and mini clips of memories flashing around. There was something oddly familiar about this vampire, about those amber eyes.

Blaise tapped one of his pointy nails on Teru's forehead, slightly amused by his silence. "Hello? Do you remember me, you tiny thing? And don't furrow your eyebrows. You'll get nasty wrinkles early on in your mortal life."

Teru continued to analyze their scent, frantically opening every mental box to find where he has smelled it before.

Blaise leaned down closer. Teru could feel their breath tickle his lips. "I want to know what you're thinking. Why don't you let me in? I'm curious about why everyone is talking about you."

Let me in...

Teru found the box he had been desperately searching for. It was when he was in heat and Kieran was entering his rut:

The door pushed inward, slamming into Kieran's face and Teru's side. Blaise's sin wanted to join. "Let me in, big brother," Lust cooed.

Teru clung onto Kieran's leg and buried his face into the sweatpants, whimpering from the bruise that would show later from being smacked with a heavy door.

Like a viper, Teru sunk his teeth into Blaise's hand. He felt a crunch of bone. Blaise let go and seethed, "The same freaking spot, too, where your damned owner almost bit my perfect finger off!"

As he complained, Teru lurched forward but his legs had enough of the week's stress from getting over his dominant influence, having too much of his blood sucked at one time, and running around this god-forsaken place. When was the last time he had a proper rest?

His two limbs tumbled, landing on all fours on the carpeted floor.

As he crawled away, Blaise grabbed him by the back of his shirt's scruff and hoisted him in the air like a bad puppy. Don't let his chic wardrobe consisting of a bright red suit and black heels fool you into thinking Blaise was weak; he was scary strong. Teru gasped at how nonchalant he was, lifting him with just his pointer finger and thumb.

Teru's feet weren't touching the ground. He kicked and punched, but it was no use hanging there – he wasn't a match for a dominant alpha, let alone a deadly sin who was the strongest of the strong. Even his inner omega had respect for their genes.

"Let go, you bloodsucker!" he growled, bringing back the slur he no longer called Kieran.

He grinned, showing his bedazzled fangs. "Okay, first off, I go by Blaise. Aaaaand you remember! Amazing! There are not many who can recall such distant memories during their heat. Their first heat, at that. I can tell you're the innocent type when sober but absolutely nasty under the bedsheets. I smelled it from my quick visit."

Teru's cheeks and ears reddened. The way this vamp talked about something so intimate with someone he didn't know was distasteful.

"You can tell me all about it, you know. I can give you pointers as the expert of sex. Have you tried sucking his test–"

"Stop! Just stop!" Teru yelled, covering his face from sheer embarrassment.

"Shh!" Blaise hissed. He smelled the air, much more serious now. "Tristan is still on this floor. And I am not in the mood to fight him today, or any other day, that tart swine. Just where exactly were you trying to go? Surely not here, alone, without Kieran. He wouldn't let you come here over his dead body without an escort...and a collar."

Teru bit his bottom lip. He didn't know what side Blaise was on, if vampires even had sides. Did he really intend on helping him or was he going to have his way with the sole omega?

Blaise chuckled. "Jesus, you two were made for each other, I swear. Both of you are like an open book. I know you don't trust me."

"I obviously have a reason not to."

The vamp set him down on his feet and released his shirt. "Touché." He started walking in the direction of the elevator and glanced back. "Well? Are you coming? Or do you want to wait for Envy?"

Envy. Tristan was Envy.

Anyways...

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Blaise popped his hips out with sass and pointed at Teru. "You need this one reason only, so listen good. You," he swirled his finger around in circles at the omega's getup, "are not my type."

T-Type? What does that mean? Type of what?

Upon seeing Teru's confusion, he clarified, "Right, you've lived in the woods your whole life. You probably don't know this sort of modern talk. In other words, I don't find you attractive. Yes, you're cute, but I wouldn't pin for you. That one time at Kieran's place was just my sin overstimulated by the beautiful concoction of sweaty, immoral scents. I prefer more masculine looks. Someone untamable. Maybe someone with a tragic backstory but is still virtuous. Omegas are too fragile for my tastes."

Blaise sneered and strode back to Teru with clicking heels. He whispered in his ear, "I like someone who can take me from the back."

Teru shoved him away. He understood. That last part wasn't necessary, either. There was no point in trying to explore the reason why a dominant alpha wanted to be bottom. "I get it. I...need to see Dr. Charles."

"Wrath? What for? Don't you want to return to Kieran's floor? He needs to take responsibility and lick the wound on your neck. You'll keep bleeding, otherwise. How rude of him."

Wrath! Seriously! I let Wrath examine my body? Just how many deadly sins have I met already? Is Kieran's driver Greed or something? Jeez.

But he wasn't wrong. Slow trickles of blood had never stopped seeping from the bite holes; the side of his shirt was dark red. At the mention of it, he did feel kind of dizzy.

"Dr. Charles needs to help Kieran. He's..." Teru's sentence trailed off and toddled to the side. His mind was swimming.

Blaise caught him instantly. "Kieran is what?" His voice deepened, meaning business - no more jokes or discussions about the birds and the bees.

"He drank my blood...and he went crazy," speaking in between breaths. "Something about hunters...and not smelling pride on me."

In milliseconds, Teru went from wobbling on his legs to being carried over Blaise's shoulder. The vampire took out a tiny phone and pressed the buttons.

Kieran doesn't have one of those, Teru thought, watching the floor spin below.

"Charles. Pride is having an episode. The PTSD thing...I know, it's been a long time since this happened...no I'm not with Kieran. I ran into his omega on the king's floor. The pathetic thing is getting delusional from blood loss...I'll explain why he was there later...Is Greed or Sloth around? Envy is being a pain right now...Just you and me? Ugh." He hung up.

The next thing Teru knew, they were in the elevator.

Teru groaned.

"Hey there, pretty human, don't die on me. Kieran would burn the city to the ground if he hadn't already by now."

"Are we...seeing the doctor?" he huffed. His head hurt like heck.

"Nope."

The doors pinged open to reveal Kieran's floor. Charles was already there, waiting near the front door. It reeked of musky pheromones. In fact, you could see the pheromones festering around like a heat mirage in the distance. The air was violent and threatening.

And Teru didn't like it. Not one bit. It made his body hairs stand up. A shiver trembled down his spine. He wiggled on Blaise's shoulder, wanting to escape and hide.

Charles looked at Teru with pity. "He shouldn't be here. Not this close to Pride."

"And let Envy get him instead? This is the better option, unfortunately. As much as we need Envy here, I think he'd abandon us to steal the omega away." Blaise set Teru down on the small sofa in the hallway, which was meant for guests.

Charles gently poked around the inflamed area on Teru's throat. "TSK. This needs to be disinfected. Is...this pheromone venom? Kieran still has his sac?"

"Yeah, yeah, sac and all the dangly parts, too. You can help him when we're done," Blaise snapped. "Let's get this over with. I have a date in a few hours."

Teru watched the two prepare for...something. Charles carefully took off his glasses and placed them on the side table next to the sofa as well as his lab coat. Blaise tied his hair in a ponytail and removed every piece of expensive jewelry. When he slipped off his last one, a pure gold bobby pin with minuscule diamonds on one side, he saw Teru's sad state on the couch. He smiled and placed the hairpin in the side of Teru's hair, showing his ear.

"Keep it as an apology for my interruption during your first heat. Omegas like sparkly things for their nest, right?"

With shock, Teru couldn't look away. The two were literally transforming in front of his eyes. It wasn't a significant change, but it showcased the characteristics that made the stories of vampires so terrifying for humans – their fangs not only grew much longer in length but in thickness, too. Their mouths couldn't hold in the size, so the beastly fangs had to rest over their lips. They had taken their socks and shoes off because each nail extended like switchblades. After their pupils narrowed into cat eyes, their faces developed extra muscles, particularly in the forehead and cheeks.

They were monsters.

Blaise's snake symbol slithered on his skin as if it was real. Teru couldn't see the bear on Charles, hidden under his clothes somewhere.

But their auras were the most sinister. Teru felt his body freeze from terror, literal terror. He couldn't even gulp. Did he just relieve himself in his pants? Intense emotions infested him – yearning, anger, horny, fury, longing, vehemence, desire, violence. Teru felt these too quickly, switching on and off.

And the pheromones...

Let's not get started on the pheromones. His nose was plugged up as it was from it.

Charles saw Teru's reaction, upset about it. "See. Humans can't handle seeing our true selves. It must be worse for him because he can smell our sins, too, in its purest form."

"There's nothing we can do right now, but hope he doesn't go into shock that much." A deafening sound boomed inside the penthouse. "Tell me why we agreed to keep each other in check again?"

The ground shook. Like, actually shook, similar to the movies he's been watching lately with Kieran about earthquakes and natural disasters.

Charles popped his knuckles. "Because that's why. Did you forget what happened to the Chrysler Building? When Pride went berserk and caused fifty floors to collapse in ten minutes? That's why Abaddon ordered heavy-duty installments around this floor just in case, but it seems he's able to break through that, too."

The blonde vampire arched his spine to crack the bones. The movement was demonic, seeing the vertebrae threatening to poke through his posh suit. "You don't need to remind me, Wrath."

They looked at Teru. Blaise said with his control pheromones, "Stay in the hallway. Don't come in no matter what."

After Wrath pressed the sequence code to get in, he and Lust closed the door behind them. Teru was alone.

They forgot to set the lock to keep everyone out.