Six Months Later
Bree handed the sleeping young vampire to Mitzi after he had fed.“Will you please put him down for his nap?I promised Chloe I’d have coffee in the park with her today.”
Mitzi humbly took the sleeping bundle and left the room.She didn’t speak much to Bree after that day that Zane had caught her walking with Bree in the gardens, she was too afraid.Bree, also, feared what would happen should she befriend Mitzi again like she had before.It angered her more each day and she wanted to speak to Zane about it, but she knew she would get the same reaction she always got… not to meddle in the business of his slaves.
“Bree.” Chloe entered the room without asking permission.Bree looked up from where she sat on the gold gilded rocking chair.Bree still wore her nightdress, a lovely yellow silk dress with many folds and layers.There were golden flowers and jade green leaves embroidered around the neckline.“I don’t want to go to the park.”
“No?” Bree’s gentle voice was tinged with irritation. “Where would you like to go?”
“You said a few times that you wished to visit your friends that you worked with when you were a slave.”Bree sat up, her eyes wide and her face beaming.But why would Chloe suddenly suggest this?Chloe had seemed to grow jealous of any other human interacting with Bree.It was like she thought she – owned her or something, that she should have her all to herself.Bree tried to shrug it off, Zane usually had good judgment about things and he had been the one to bring Chloe to Bree as a companion.But lately Chloe had been acting, well… weird. She kept her distance from Zane, but Bree had caught her eyeing him recently.Mitzi had seen it too.Although Chloe was not in charge of caring for the baby, on many occasions she would interrupt Mitzi and move in to care for the small vampire.She had even been caught by a house slave giving him her blood.
Bree really did not want to go to Zane with this.She didn’t want to see him angry, she didn’t want to see him harm another human.He hurt slaves nearly every week and ate nearly as many in a month, but she refused to think about it.She married him knowing that he was a very powerful and cruel vampire, she loved him enough to see the side of him that was capable of kindness and love.Zane listened to her and took what she said heavily, except when it came to his human slaves.Sure, there were times when she had begged him to spare Mitzi and he had agreed.But when it came to everyone else, she got nowhere.
“Chloe, what a surprise.I never thought you liked any of my old friends.” Bree could only reply with this as the sudden change in Chloe left her baffles.
Chloe smiled and Bree was too naive to see the wickedness in her eyes.“I want you to be happy.That’s why Zane gave me to you, isn’t it?”
“Well, I guess…”
“They all want to see you.It is still morning and they are all still in the kitchen.Will you allow me to take you there?”
Bree remembered how Zane had told her never to go and visit her human slave friends again.She would be disobeying a direct order from him.But he said it was because he cared for her and feared for her.He had said that her slave friends would not be friends anymore.He was afraid that they would see her as a traitor, much how his mother’s tribe had seen his mother as a traitor for marrying a vampire…. the enemy.She was still human, she was still vulnerable.But Bree was getting a little sick of how overprotective he was of her.Until she was turned, unless she was with him she was nearly forbidden to go anywhere except for the gardens or the park where she could be seen easily by either him or his parents or other vampires.
Bree became excited.She didn’t want to upset Zane, but he didn’t have to find out, right?She was sure that her old friends wouldn’t say anything.They never spoke to Zane anyway, he’d cut their tongues out if they spoke unless spoken to.
