When I was younger, my mother and I used to move around a lot. It wasn’t like we moved far. We mostly moved around the same areas: New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, and possibly some other neighbor states. She never explained exactly why we moved, though I began to suspect it had something to do with my father. We’d live our lives normally. I’d go to school, make friends, study, and occasionally stay the night over at someone’s place. Then one day or night, we’d be packing and in a car on our way to a new place.

For some reason, as I followed Aveline I felt like I was reliving one of our moves. The confusion was familiar, so I didn’t ask too many questions. Only this time everybody was dressed formally and I was being led to certain danger. When we approached the front lobby area, a woman was standing in wait with clear impatience. She turned her form as we approached and I was greeted by Corentine’s angry eyes.

Corentine was stunning. Her dress was to the floor, silky and the color of shimmering gold. She looked beautiful. Normally, I would have thought her type of beauty to be an innocent, sweet kind. The hatred ruined her profile, though. Instead, she looked dangerous and unpleasant.

“Why is she here?” Corentine hissed viciously.

Aveline narrowed her eyes in response. “She’s mine. I’ll do with her as I please.” I shifted uncomfortably between them, wondering if I should inch slowly away from Corentine or if that would be a sign of weakness. I’d heard if you ran from a predator, their instinct was to attack you. I wasn’t sure why I was so afraid of her especially now that I was claimed and unable to be harmed by her. But then, what if she only wanted to leave the coterie so she could specifically be able to kill me again?

“Ladies, our ride awaits. Let’s save the bitch fight for later,” Wyatt appeared, wrapping his arm around a very pissed Corentine with a smirk. He looked down at Corentine with very devious intentions in his eyes. “How about you ride with me so we can get a little friendly before you leave us, Cor?”

Corentine smacked his arm away in annoyance. “Not. Interested.”

“Oh right, I forget I’m not your type,” Wyatt chuckled teasingly. As Corentine rolled her eyes, he grasped her hand lightly, his expression softening sincerely. “While I understand your reasoning, I wish you’d reconsider.” At first, I thought he meant her lack of wanting to become “friendly” with him. But then I realized he meant for her to reconsider her wish to leave the coterie. Corentine blinked at him, her rage dissipating quickly to be replaced by vulnerable sadness. I quickly looked away, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate me witnessing anything other than her anger.

“Let’s go,” She answered sharply. When I looked up, she was already gone from the lobby. Wyatt glanced at me only for a moment before following her out the doors. I waited for Aveline to move ahead of me before I followed her. As I walked into the darkness, the memory of the last night I had been outside crept into my thoughts. I recalled Jacobi’s hand aligned with mine, his spirit touching me for the first time. I remembered the statues of the dead next to the lake and the haunting beauty that had spoken to me in my dreams multiple times.

My eyes moved over the front of the Headquarters, where an oval driveway circling a fountain was just a few feet from the end of the stairs that led to where I was now standing. In the driveway were multiple vehicles, all as black as the night around us. Aveline moved towards the vehicle at the back, gesturing for me to follow. It was a small limo; the larger one being in the front. I considered that the reason I wasn’t being led to that one was because that would probably be where they held the human “gifts”. For a moment, I wondered just who those humans were. Were they abducted like me, being held against their will and considered slaves? Were they bad people, unwanted by their human society? Were they vampire-worshippers who reveled in the drug that was a vampire’s bite? Or did they wish to become one of the night? I’d probably never know.

A random man, apparently the driver, opened the back seat of the vehicle I was brought to and waited for me to enter. I hesitated, remembering how I had been shoved into a similar vehicle when I had been so violently taken away from my life. Would Corentine be waiting in there to threaten me as always?

“Go on,” Aveline coaxed softly, “Don’t be afraid, Elysia. Xander and I will be close by.”

I swallowed uncomfortably. “You’re not coming with me?”

“I have to go in a separate car,” She explained, patting my hand, “I have to get there before everyone else, in order to begin the process properly. You’ll be one of the last to arrive, if Noland McElroy approves of the gifts and token.” I didn’t want to be alone, but I also knew from my glances at the laws involving entering other Master’s territory that they were complicated and if I didn’t let them do what they were supposed to, I could end up as dead as the rest of them.

I submitted and moved into the vehicle. When the door closed, I looked around the interior slowly. I was alone thankfully, though I didn’t like how eerie it felt to be in such a quiet unfamiliar space. I scooted away from the door and moved to the length of seats across the way. When I was settled, I glanced at the mini bar to the right side. For a moment, I just tapped my fingers against my knees nervously. Then I snatched one of the paper napkins being presented next to the bar.

As I absently twisted the napkin, the door opened again and I nearly jumped out of my skin. A figured moved into the limo in silent brooding. I tensed as the door shut behind him. Jacobi’s eyes almost glowed in the darkness. When they landed on me, his eyes narrowed but he didn’t seem to be surprised. I quickly looked down, fiddling with the napkin with new determination.

The car started and began moving from the driveway. I abruptly looked up, searching outside the car window almost desperate for the view of the moving scenery outside. I watched with near fascination as we moved further from the Headquarters where I’d been imprisoned for probably months by now. As the trees began to breeze past, I thought about how much I missed the concrete jungle that was the city life. I missed the insane drivers and the bustling to and fro in the daylight.

I suddenly remembered that Aveline meant for me to try to “charm” Jacobi and the whole reason why she’d have me alone in a vehicle with him would probably be to help me achieve this. The thought alone made me shift uncomfortably in my seat. I was good at charming some people, say in an interview for a job for example. I could make my education and work experiences seem more impressive than they were. I could make myself seem like a wonderful people person with great personality and work ethics. But I didn’t think I could actively work to make myself seem likable to someone as dangerous as Jacobi in order to prevent my death. It was kind of like putting a gun to my head and ordering me to tell a funny joke.

Still, I did agree to the entire thing even through my doubts. I should at least try. So how did someone like me charm someone like Jacobi? I glanced at the mini bar. Maybe he liked alcohol? Or should I actively prevent him from drinking in case he gets drunk and decides to kill me? Honestly, Aveline should have probably told me a little bit about him so I knew what I was working with.

“Do you want… a drink?” I lost my confidence before I even began to speak.

“Are you offering?” Jacobi answered almost immediately. I hesitated, glancing up to look at him. He was dressed impressively in a black suit, a brown multi-gold printed shirt underneath that intensified his eyes. There was no tie or cufflinks with the outfit, making it appear less formal that what you’d expect in this situation. For some reason, I suspected this was on purpose on his account. I’m sure Jacobi could easily dress as formally as the rest, but he seemed like the type of man who liked to offend people’s sense of respect they believe they’re owed.

“I…,” I wasn’t sure at first what he meant until those hungry eyes cued me into the possibility that he was expecting the drink I offered to be me. I promptly paled, looking away quickly. There was no way I was going to be offering my blood to vampires for a snack randomly. I didn’t even care if that counted as being charming.

“You’re a little too far away for those purposes,” He continued, a smirk in his voice. I hesitated and looked at him again. Was he teasing me? Or was he being serious? When I didn’t say anything or move to offer him my veins, he made that noise in his throat like a half-laugh and looked out his window absently.

I considered going the rest of the trip and the entire visit with this other coterie in complete silence. After all, it wouldn’t do anything to harm my standing at the moment. I’d be in just as much danger as I had been before we left. I knew it would disappoint Aveline, but I just couldn’t do special acts of charms in order to convince people to not hurt me. The only thing I could do was cower in fear and run away when the opportunity was present. Most of the time, I cowered instead of running away.

I got angry at myself, realizing again I was taking a coward’s path. What happened to the little girl that bit the cow who called her a bastard in grade school? When did I become the woman I was now, who silently accepted her poor fate with tears in her eyes and fear in her heart?

I looked down at the napkin in my hand, which I had absently folded into my own version of art. Perhaps the best way to charm Jacobi would be not to try so hard. I thought of the trip we were making and how Corentine would be leaving the coterie soon. I remembered Wyatt asking her to reconsider and the sadness in her eyes that followed. It reminded me of her crestfallen features when she had accepted Jacobi’s terms. Jacobi, whose own expression was soft and affected by her wishes, obviously didn’t want this as well.

I took a deep breath and shifted from my seat, moving over to sit next to him determinedly. When I settled in the seat, I glanced at him to see he hadn’t looked my way, but his tense form let me know that he knew I was there. I held up my napkin origami in front of him innocently.

Jacobi moved his eyes from the window down to my hand in front of him. My fingers were pinched lightly around the stem of a napkin origami rose. As he narrowed his eyes at the rose in front of him, I wondered if he was considering attacking me for bothering him so directly. My hand trembled at the thought, wanting to retreat immediately. This idea was interrupted when Jacobi’s hand clamped firmly around my wrist. I released the rose in response, gasping lightly in fear. It fell to the floor of the limo alone in the dark.

“What was that for?” Jacobi asked me suspiciously, not releasing his strong grip.

I hesitated. “It’s an apology,” I said quietly. “For causing Corentine to wish to leave you.”

“I would think you’d be happy about that, considering how much she’s been pushing for your execution,” He responded darkly. He obviously wasn’t in a good mood. I wasn’t even sure why I had even tried to apologize; except that I remembered his apology to me for something he couldn’t control either.

“I… well, I’m not happy that she hates me,” I faltered, looking away from his intense eyes to his grip. I wanted to pull away, but I knew it would be useless against his strength. Besides, he wasn’t hurting me. It was more like an absent grasp, light enough to be pleasant but firm enough to prevent escape. “I understand… she’s hurting. I think, sometimes when I see her, I can see the anger… it’s not really who she is.” I shook my head at my weak explanation, but I found it hard to explain.

Jacobi let go of me abruptly. I held my hand to my chest, feeling the heat where his skin had been on mine. Now that I was released, my mind screamed for me to run back to my corner before I got myself hurt further, but I held still as he reached down and picked up the paper rose I had presented him. After looking at it between his own fingers intensely, he placed the stem in his suit pocket. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it was better than him stomping on it repeatedly while hissing.

“Did you know her mate?” I asked quietly. I was curious about a lot of things when it came to Jacobi, but I was very much afraid to ask because I knew one wrong question could result in my discomfort. At this particular question, his eyes found mine. Rage was building in them, but behind the rage I could see now there was pain which fueled it.

“You may have saved my life once, Elysia, but my decision will not change,” He abruptly told me, no doubt guessing the entire reason Aveline wanted me to come along and to keep him company was for this very purpose. Only I had already figured his decision wouldn’t change and at this point I wasn’t thinking I could do anything about it. I was just simply… curious.

I took a deep breath, trying to avoid the fear crawling through me at the reminder that I was talking to the man who would one day end my life. My thoughts approached the memory of when I’d first seen his terrifying form. I quickly rushed it away, trying to keep my courage about me.

“If your decision is set,” I finally convinced myself to answer bravely, “Then it shouldn’t matter if you talk to me.” As I watched his form tense further, knowing I spoke truth, his response was halted by the limo parking. I glanced out the window to see we were in a large space, the other vehicles missing.

“We’re at the coterie’s private airfield,” Jacobi stated before opening the car door and leaving. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what I should do, but then my side of the door was opened and Jacobi stood waiting for me to get out.

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Song: Ways To Go by Grouplove