High Stakes

Part Seven

Part 7

OWEN:

I hear the key slide into the lock and the knob turn, but I don’t look up. I know it’s Sean. He comes and eats lunch with me in the office everyday. Instead, I keep my head down on the table, trying to maintain my calm breathing--in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Mr Lee and Sang Sorenson left about five minutes ago. Why did he have to bring her in here? And why had I agreed to teach her the fucking violin in replace of her study hall? That meant a whole forty-five minutes of alone time with her every school day. I had barely held it together the six minutes they were in my office. Had Kota not been here? Who knows what I would have done.

Actually, I know what I would’ve done--what I’d like to have done. What I’ve been thinking of doing, fantasizing about doing. Like, say, grabbing her, pinning her tiny body between me and a wall, threading my fingers through her hair, then pulling her head to the side, exposing the soft column of her neck, and sinking my fangs in deep. My fantasy shifts, and now her legs are wrapped around my body. And she’s naked. And I’m naked. And I’m about to--

“What the hell are you doing?” Sean’s voice cuts into my vivid daydream.

I sigh, “I’m moping.”

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like. You don’t mope. What’s going on?”

I finally pick my head off the desk, “I’m trying to be good.”

Sean makes an “O” with his mouth, finally understanding, “Sang Sorenson,” he states matter of fact, and I nod.

He takes the seat across the desk from me, running a hand through his short hair. Then he smacks the desk, “We need to find out more about this bond.”

Pulling out his phone, he presses a couple buttons then sets it between us on speaker.

The call connects, “Dr Roberts.”

“Hey, Doctor. It’s Sean Green and Owen Blackbourne,” Sean greets the elder Academy man, once a prolific hunter, now he spends most of his time healing the rest of us.

Roberts chuckles, “And to what do I owe this magnanimous pleasure?”

I lift an eyebrow at Sean, encouraging him to continue. This was his idea. Dr Roberts and I don’t get along all that well. Honestly, not many of the Academy hunters get along with me. There’s too much deeply ingrained animosity between my kind and theirs. They don’t care that I’m different. That I’ve never taken an innocent life. That I don’t take thralls. Fucking bigots.

”We want to know everything you’ve learned about the vampire blood bond,” Sean winks at me, like he didn’t just give away our hand in one short sentence. The old man is wickedly smart. I don’t want the Academy knowing anything personal about me, especially about a potential bond.

There’s silence on the other end, until, “That’s widely considered a vampiric legend.”

“And what do you think? Do you believe it’s just a myth?” Sean asks, and we both lean forward, waiting for his answer.

“After everything I’ve seen, there’s not much that I would believe impossible. So, for argument’s sake, let’s say it’s true. Why do you ask?” Roberts’ voice is sharp, curious, always eager to absorb more information. The man’s a genius, truly. His attention to detail and ability to retain information even greater than my own team member, Kota Lee, who has an eidetic memory.

I speak before Sean can, “We’ve come across some new developments, and don’t appreciate not being completely informed in all matters. You understand, of course.”