Logan cast a glance down her body and grinned, even as heat flared in her cheeks. On both flats of her hips there were four distinct bruises in the shape of a semi circle. And she was willing to bet, though she couldn’t see them for herself, there were two more just above her ass.

But, oh, how she’d enjoyed earning every single one of them.

“Did he bite you?” Trinity asked, sounding a tinge appalled.

Logan looked up, grin still firmly in place. “He taught me a lesson about the cravings of the beast. And yes…there was definitely some biting.”

Trinity clucked her tongue in rapid fire bursts. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “at least you know how it feels to be a Neck.”

Logan frowned at her. She didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What the hell is a Neck?”

“A slang term for a human a vampire feeds from.” Her red lips parted in a wry grin. “I bet you understand why most don’t fight now.”

She laughed at that. She’d gladly be Kerestyan’s Neck anytime he asked, as long as he kept the poetry to an absolute minimum. “Yeah, you could say that. It makes all kinds of sense now.”

“Alright, enough with the girl talk.” She curled her index finger at Logan, wielding the age old gesture like a professional. “It’s time you become mine.” A flash of concentration lit her face before her fangs elongated.

A small ripple of nausea rolled through Logan’s stomach as Trinity bit her wrist, and with another focused look, blood welled up in the puncture wounds. If this were the movies, she’d kick her head back now and let out a really bad laugh.

Luckily, although Logan thought she was more than capable, Trinity spared her the dramatics.

It’s now or never. Logan drew in a deep breath and slowly moved towards the Dominatrix, who would soon become her Master.

“Come on, Logan,” she whined like a five year old. “I’ll be as old as Kerestyan by the time you get over here. I’ll tell you what, just close your eyes and open your mouth, okay?”

Logan did exactly that. She closed her eyes, opened her mouth and stood there waiting. Yes, she was being difficult. Yes, she was being a chicken. She’d even agree that after living on the street for as long as she had, blood was not the worst tasting fluid in the world.

However, even for as detached as she knew she was…the concept of drinking someone else’s blood was still foreign and disgusting. She remembered health class. Diseases lived in the blood. She knew Trinity couldn’t have any viruses due to the whole healing factor Vouclade said she’d have herself, but still…

She squeezed her eyes tighter as Trinity’s warm wrist touched her lips. The hot fluid filled her mouth in a gush, sliding down her throat with the same cold burn of alcohol. But the taste…the sweet taste wasn’t anything like what came from the bottle. There was only a slight metallic tang, a small coppery hue.

Trinity’s quiet voice, chanting in a language Logan didn’t understand, echoed in her mind as a feverish sensation coursed through her veins. She felt a surge of power, as if the introduction of Trinity’s blood into her system unlocked some long lost magic that’d always been inside her. But at the same time, something dark and heavy curled deep into the pit of her stomach and made itself at home.

She opened her eyes when she felt Trinity’s wrist leave her lips. Part of her was glad the experience was over, but another part, a strange and angry part, wanted to grab Trinity’s bloody wrist and keep drinking.

Trinity licked her wrist, an action that shoved an unexpected spear of envy straight through Logan’s gut. “Give it a minute. Take a few deep breaths and let everything, for lack of a better word, marinate.”

Logan followed her advice and drew in a series of deep breaths then slowly blew them out. After a few minutes, the room took on a brighter tone, filled with new and vibrant colors she’d never noticed before. Her body felt strong and agile, her mind, sharp and focused.

“Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” Trinity asked.

She nodded but stared hard at Trinity. Odin had said something about a monster in his stomach. Did she have one now, too? “What the hell is in my stomach?”

Trinity smiled. “That’s a discussion for a different day.” She pointed at the bed. “Get dressed. Then we’ll go have breakfast and talk about the physical limitations of being a Servio.”

Logan quickly dressed then turned around and nodded at Trinity. “I’m ready.”

She blinked and shook her head. “That was unnaturally fast.”

Logan brushed off the sleeve of her t-shirt and laughed. “I used to hide and wait for guests to check-out of motel rooms so I could sneak in and take a shower before the maids came around. I learned to dress and undress pretty fast.”

“Impressive. Come with me.”

She obliged Trinity’s request and followed through the doorway Syn had made. After winding through a few hallways filled with paintings and tapestries, Trinity pushed open a set of plain wooden doors and held them open until Logan passed.

Stepping out into the warm night air had never been such a welcomed feeling for Logan. The whisper of leaves rustling in the wind filled her ears, while the same floral scents from before filled her nostrils.

She smiled as Trinity walked her over to a table set with plates and silverware. She could only imagine this was what the world looked like thousands of years ago and completely understood why Kerestyan admitted he missed it at times.

If she was him, she would, too.

She moved to take the seat across from Trinity. “So is it always night time here?”

Trinity unfolded a white linen napkin and dropped it in her lap. “Always. Outside of the castle walls the sun is rising right now. Dad doesn’t like the big ball of fire in the sky so he blocks it out. He’s never been a fan of not being able to walk through his home at any given moment just because a star doesn’t like him.”

“I don’t blame him.”

She cracked a grin. “A man’s home is his castle.” She relaxed back in her chair as her features sobered a bit. “So here’s how it goes. The blood I feed you is what sustains your ‘life’ and power as a Servio. As soon as my blood passes your lips, it bonds to yours, since you obviously can’t have more blood in your system than your body can hold. Right now, all of your blood is charged from the power of mine. But every time you call on your blood to perform feats of magic, be it running fast or picking up a car, some of my power dissolves.”

Trinity picked up the glass sitting in front of her plate. “Because you seem to be a fan of comparisons, think of your body right now as a full glass of purified water. Now, let’s say you decide to get up, walk into my Dad’s throne room and punch him in the eye. Naturally, you’re going to call on the power of your blood for speed so you can run away, right?”

Logan shook her head. Had Trinity lost her mind? “Hell no. First, I’m going to pull my fist out of the man’s eye socket and apologize. Then I’m going to smack myself as hard as I possibly can, and ask myself what the hell I was thinking.”

Trinity’s loud laugh echoed all around them. “Okay. But the point is, you call on your blood for speed, and even though the glass remains full the purity drops.” She set the glass down. “If you ever get to a point where you’ve used up all the power in your blood, you’ll grow fangs and only have twelve hours to feed from me, or a vampire older than me, or you die.”

Logan took a deep breath. Well that was a damn good thing to know. “Do I get a warning or something when I’m running low?”

“No. It’s something I’ll be teaching you how to recognize over the next few weeks. The only real warning you get is when your fangs grow. Now, depending on how strong the bond is between us, if you pop fangs I might be able to feel it. Then, of course, I’ll come get you and feed you. Try not to worry about running out of power though, because it rarely happens unless you get severely injured or just aren’t paying attention.”

“Well, I don’t have any intention of stepping out in front of a Greyhound or playing Hot Potato with grenades, so I think I’m safe.”

“You will be.” She snickered. “I mean you’ll be safe, not playing with grenades. But that leads right into the next topic. Healing. If you sustain a fatal wound or internal injuries, even if you’re unconscious, your body will automatically begin to heal them. If for some reason you catch a disease, the same happens. I’ll be teaching you how to heal other injuries during the course of your training.” She folded her hands in her lap. “And, that’s it. In regards to your physical condition anyway.”

Logan nodded. So far, it all sounded relatively straight forward. “So then, what’s next?”

Trinity shrugged. “We’ll eat breakfast, then probably wander around the castle and talk about what vampires do all night. I’ll teach you about politics, how to play the favor game, how to survive in general, and how to keep yourself ahead of the competition. To be honest, the last part should be pretty easy for you considering your former lifestyle.”