~Send me your schedule... Let's meet~

Kieran’s POV.

Two weeks ago, I turned twenty years old. But my vampire hasn’t shown up. And since then I’ve been pondering on why she hasn't reached out to me.

The intermediaries between humans and vampires send the details of every human consort to their vampires once they are of age.

So, what could be stopping my vampire from reaching out?

A thought crossed my mind.

“What if her consort just died?”

History says they also miss the blood of their previous consort and that could be stopping her from reaching out to me.

Beau finally arrives and slides into the booth with a cup of coffee in his hand as steam rises out of the opening. He drops two cubes of sugar into it and shakes the cup, stirring the liquid.

“Anything?” He asks, taking a sip from his cup.

A few strands of his long hair fall into his face and he tucks them behind his ears, exposing the translucent holes on his wrist.

“Not yet.” I finally answer, a sigh following.

“Don't worry about it. They are the ones who need to feed every time. When he's hungry, he'll get in touch with you.”

“Why do you have to address my vampire as a ‘he’?” I say, slightly irritated by what he had said. “Our vampires are usually the opposite gender to us. Of course, my vampire is a hundred percent female.”

“For years, I wanted my vampire to be a male,” he pauses, locking his gaze on mine, “but look at where I am now.”

“Stuck with a wild female vampire.”

“Seriously, man. I just wish you could break history.”

“I’m not breaking history with such an absurd thing.” I say with a smile.

Beau laughs as if the thing is a big fucking joke.

I remember the first time he got summoned by his vampire who turned out to be a female. The opposite of what he imagined. In the end, he said she was as cold as a corpse with glowing skin even though she was old.

“When was the last time you saw her?” I ask.

Beau’s grin slips.

“Probably a month or… two maybe. I think she doesn’t miss the blood of her own consort.”

I nod, unsure of what to say.

Then I squeeze my hands together, the tip of my fingernails jabbing into palms. I chew on my bottom lip, wondering what giving my blood will be like.

Will I be chained up and gagged?

Will it be in a way that I'll have no choice but to offer my body months after months while she has a fill of my blood?

I shudder at the thought. How exciting it would be.

Beau reaches over and covers his hand with mine. “Kieran, it's going to be fine. Think of it as a charity.”

“A charity for the devil.” I say glumly.

As if on cue, my phone’s screen lights up with an email notification. Quickly, I swipe up to unlock my phone, holding my breath while I open the message.

###

From: Caius Thorne.

To: Kieran Noctis.

Subject: Feeding.

I officially call upon your services as a consort in the next 24 hours while I have a little free time. Send me your schedule and I'll tell you where to meet.

Caius.

###

I read the mail over and over again, memorizing the name of the person I'll be chained to for the rest of my life.

Caius.

Is that not a man’s name?

And who the hell names an email subject as ‘Feeding’?

My breathing picks up speed, sending my heart into overdrive.

This must be some kind of confusion. Maybe, my vampire borrowed a phone to message me? At least, she never introduced herself.

“Hey, what's that message about?” Beau asks, noticing my nervousness.

I hastily shove my phone into my pocket. “It's n-nothing. It’s just a notification from my email.”

“Just a notification from email?” He arches an eyebrow. Then his eyes brighten all of a sudden. “Wait…”

My breath seizes.

“Was that your vampire?”

The words ring in my ear like a doorbell, almost snatching the last bit of my breath in me.

“No… I'll be back in a bit. I need to use the rest room.”

“Okay…” Beau’s voice trails off as I already rushed out, heading towards the restroom.

Once I enter one of the stalls, I log into my email app and I send a quick reply back to my vampire.

###

From: Kieran Noctis.

To: Caius Thorne.

Re: Feeding.

I'm available right now. We can meet anywhere you want.

###

I get a reply almost immediately like she was also waiting for my text and I feel an air rush to my head, making me dizzy.

###

From: Caius Thorne.

To: Kieran Noctis.

Re: Feeding.

Meet me at the woodshed in the eastside, closer to the Beacon Hill Academy.

###

Woodshed east… she typed?

She’s even closer to this place?

Has she been stalking me?

The intermediaries always release all the human consort’s information to their vampires while the human never gets to know anything about his or her vampire until they are contacted.

What an absurd tradition!

I feel terror rush through my veins as I imagine how calculative she had become due to the process of identifying her partner.

I hope I don't end up with a vampire like Beau’s.

I shove my phone into my pocket and jog out of the restroom back to the booth.

Beau smirks. “Is someone chasing you, man?”

“Oh… uhm.. I just remembered that I have a study session with my course mates and they're waiting for me.” I say while avoiding his eye contact.

“But we were supposed to spend time together this weekend,” Beau says with narrowed eyes.

“I'm sorry… I'll meet you back at our room.” I say.

Beau nods stiffly.

I sighed and I started my walk towards the woodshed.

Fear twists my stomach into hard knots as I pace the floor of the abandoned woodshed while checking the map to make sure I'm in the right place.

Why would she tell me to meet her in this abandoned place?

I wished I had told Beau where I was off to. He would have sent some snarky remarks to me, “Hang in there, CONSORT.” At least that would have helped reduce my anxiety and calm my nerves.

With a heavy sigh, I turn on my phone to check the time. It's five minutes past the time she said we would meet. What if she stood me up…

I freeze.

My breath gets caught in my throat as a figure flashes across the window. That's the only warning I get before the front door opens.

A hooded figure stands at the threshold. Their height is intimidating and with my 5ft9 height, my fear is justified. She's a really tall woman.

Oh no! Beau’s got me cursed.

I straighten my height and step forward but my confidence is shaken as I wait for what comes next.

No one prepared me for this kind of thing. What am I supposed to do? Should I raise my wrist up? Should I wait for her to hook me to a blood extractor?

Fuck Beau. He never completed his lessons about the blood transfusion.

I watch as the figure closes the door gracefully behind them.

“You're my human?” The figure says, with little respect, the tone cold.

My brain hasn't even had the chance to process the voice before a slender finger rises up to push the hood back and I watch in shock as an elegant male with red eyes stares back at me.