Ready

Delivery

**Theo**

I leaned against the door of the taxi and lit my third cigarette. Perhaps another person would have found my actions today juvenile, but I was in need of the distraction and today's errand appealed to my inner mischievous youngster.

It was two more cigarettes before the front door opened and I was lighting another as the shriek pierced my ears. It wasn't like I was going to get lung cancer.

"Ugh, Lydia...!" Amara was spitting as she shook out the envelopes covered in fruit punch flavored Kool-Aid. I chuckled and walked closer to Amara, letting my presence be known. I was nearly behind her when she noticed me, turning with a furious look.

"You..." she seethed. "You can tell Lydia that I get the message, okay? Between the bar the other night and this, I understand. She's a dangerous, holier-than-thou vampire and I should watch my back."

The cigarette dangled from my lips as I laughed again. "That she is, my dear. That she is. And you should watch your back. But that message wasn't from Lydia. The necklace is from me."

Amara's eyes widened just a little, "That was my grandmother's! It was nearly a hundred years old!"

"Whatever." This was boring. How had Lydia put up with this? Jesus. "I was probably nearly sixty when the jeweler set those stones. Besides, it's Kool-Aid. As long as you don't leave it out to rust, the thing isn't ruined. Now..." I stomped the cigarette out and leaned into her, resting my arm against her mailbox. "Back to the issue at hand, you should definitely be watching your back, but not for Lydia. No. She's done with you. You were an idiot to break her heart, but let me tell you something... more than a hundred and twenty years of heartbreaks make you well accustomed to dealing with it. She's fine."

I was lying, of course. Lydia was better than before, but was also probably alternating those good nights with nights spent inhaling caffeine that wouldn't give her a buzz and marathoning every horror movie ever produced.

Amara was leaning away from me, trying not to be obvious about how uncomfortable I made her. It was endearing. "Now," I continued, "something that time doesn't seem to have taught me is how to let it go when people hurt my family. Lydia is a fucking sister to me. Closer than a sister. We have a friendship too deep to be described by the minuscule limitations of human emotion and time. And I can't fathom seeing someone I love so much torn to shreds by a girl who was too stupid to see that she had the world in her hands and pushed it away because she wasn't ready."

I leaned back and put my hands in my pockets. "You don't get to be ready for the greatest things that life has to offer you, you ninny. When that shit shows up at your door you hold your breath and you dive right in and if you don't... then you miss out. And that makes you a fucking idiot. I don't have patience for idiots, Amara. Or people who hurt my friends. I think you know that by now, yes?"

I could see the girl's body language go from zero to fuck-this-shit as soon as her brain processed my veiled threat. She was taking slow, almost backward steps toward her house. And really! How laughable. I knew for a fact that Amara had been out with us enough times to know that I could bench press a man three times my size (don't ask, or maybe do? It's a funny story), did she really think that if I wanted to get at her, layers of wood, plaster, brick and paneling were going to stop me?

Eventually, she'd made it up to her shaded front porch and, being a gentleman, I'd walked her to her door where I raised my hand in a signal for the taxi driver to come join me. I had talked him into coming along with me on my errand, and he'd been under my control, of his own volition, for a few hours. Amara didn't need to know he'd consented though, did she?

When the tanned, admittedly pretty, human made his way to us, he kneeled and I laced my fingers through his hair, much like I would an obedient pet's. It's what he was for the time being, more or less.

"Running would be a mistake, Amara," I said without breaking eye-contact.

"You can't do shit to me, Theo. It's against the law if I don't consent. You'd be up on charges in a heartbeat; I'd see to it." The fear in her voice was almost palpable, it was was making me hungry.

"True, if you'd survive. But tell me, do you think that cells made of brick and mortar and cement and iron can hold an unkillable thing for long? Do you think there is an officer than could restrain me long enough for us to find out?" I stroked my hand down the driver's exposed throat and flashed my fangs. With one hand, I pulled my guest up and in front of me. I made him stand face to face with Amara as I stood behind him and sunk my teeth into his neck. The urge to close my eyes and enjoy my snack was strong, but I had a point to make. My green eyes never left her brown, and I could see a tear crawling down the side of her largish nose. Had she never seen Lydia feed before? I didn't think I was laying it on that thick.

After a moment, I pushed my new friend to the side and crowded my best friend's ex against her door jamb, pressing my right hand lightly against her stomach, which, for her, must have felt like a steel beam keeping her in place. I knew there would be blood on my mouth as I spoke to her, I'd been a messy eater - on purpose.

"You should treat predators with respect, my friend. They, or their packs, will not hesitate to rip your throat out if you insult them. Would an antelope dare insult a lion? Would a rabbit make light of a timber wolf? No... And to be clear, Amara. You're the rabbit. Look how you're shaking." I smirked and licked my lips a little. "No doubt, you will come to miss Lydia. You'll regret leaving her, especially in such a disrespectful way. And when you do, you will live with that hollow ache. You will watch her from afar as she moves on, goes out, gives others the pleasure of her company that you threw away like trash because you were stupid... you were unready. You will watch from afar because if you ever call her again, text her again, speak to her again, bump into her on the train, shop at the same grocery store that she does again, I will make you understand the true differences between predator and prey. And you will see it coming. Are we clear?"

Amara nodded and reached for the handle of her front door and I let her. Leaning back with a smile on my face and lighting another cigarette, I pulled a crumpled hundred dollar bill out of my back pocket and tucked it into her bra, right next to her heart. "Excellent. Thanks for your time. Sorry about the necklace. Have it cleaned. On me."

With a tip of my nonexistent hat, I beckoned toward my driver companion and turned away, back toward the taxi. That had been a fun distraction. Now onward to deal with real problems... like Daniel and the questions that always surfaced when we were together. I would rather threaten ex-girlfriends any day.