“Daylight?”

“Will burn you, weaken you, and, with prolonged exposure, kill you.” Sylas brushed his raven hair back off his face, only for his natural middle parting to make it slip back into place. He leaned forward and used the middle finger of his left hand to lower his lower eyelid, so he could use guyliner to frame his brown eyes. “Even being awake during daylight hours under cover is exhausting, but not impossible.” Cassandra fussed with her frizzy blonde hair and wasn’t sure about her new look one bit. Her fringe and bangs seemed messy, in her opinion, but at the same time, they suited the frame of her face. The rest of her hair was swept back into an explosive bun of frizzy hair. 

“Garlic?” She asked while she made sure the delicate chains on her black blouse were correctly in place. They resembled the shape of ribs when worn properly, and her cuffs were neatly held together with silver bone cufflinks. 

“Smelly, but not an issue.”

“Running water?”

“You’ll get wet, but that’s it.”

“Silver?” She pointed to her cufflinks. 

“Pretty, but benign.” He chuckled and finished with his eyes to work the buckles lining the front of his black shirt closed. 

“But mirrors don’t work?” She pointed to the plasma screen and webcam they were using to preen themselves. 

“No reflection in a mirror, I’m afraid. Isn’t technology wonderful?” He chuckled and bumped his hip with hers, but she was stiff and unreceptive, so his chuckle tapered off uncomfortably. “No, mirrors don’t hold our reflection. Avoid them wherever you can, but don’t forget we appear on security footage.”

“What about entering homes?” She turned from side to side and checked her reflection on the screen. Her black skinny jeans were stretchy, so they were comfortable, and the boots she wore were short, chunky, had a small heel and had chains on either side to match her shirt. 

“Not without an invitation, but we have free reign in places with public access, or that aren’t residential in nature.” Sylas wore jeans that were baggy and four chains looped down from his belt on either side to rest on his outer thighs. His platform shoes had steel caps and buckles running up the sides. He turned to face Cassandra and tugged on a pair of black, fingerless gloves. 

“So, I don’t have to be invited into your workplace.” Sylas appraised her look and smiled. She’s so cute when she’s pretending not to be nervous. He turned and waved for her to come closer so he could apply eyeliner for her. She huffed and indulged in a moment of rebellion by not moving, so Sylas approached her instead and gently applied the eyeliner. 

“DataNet Inc. is a large security firm and handles data protection and data recovery for many other companies across the globe. We have to maintain the integrity of our client’s servers and respond to attempts to hack into their systems.”

“I don’t know how to do any of that.” She deadpanned him. 

“Yet.” He countered with a chuckle and moved on to the other eye. “As my apprentice, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” She chewed her lips, mulling over everything she had learned. Garlic and silver were false myths, but mirrors didn’t hold a vampire’s reflection, and they couldn’t enter a home without an invitation. Sylas gently touched the side of her hand and waited for her to look at him. Once he had her attention, he slipped his fingers around her hand to hold it. 

“Speaking of work? We should get going. Your first day and first step towards financial independence awaits.” 

“How come your boss is okay with you suddenly bringing an apprentice to work with you?” She grumbled, but Cassandra didn’t argue when he led her by the hand towards the front door. “Won’t that be suspicious? Do you even have the authority to bring a new employee to work?” Sylas paused and turned to look back at her with a smirk she didn’t like. 

“The only way to join a vampire nest, is through your sire. Any new employee at DataNet Inc. is the spawn of another employee. My nest would be concerned if you didn’t join me at work.” 

“Wait.” She would have paled further if that was possible. “You said there were vampires at your work.” She gulped. “But you make it sound like they are all vampires.”

“That’s because they are.” He chuckled and put his other hand into his jeans’ pocket. He would wait for as long as Cassandra needed him to, and take the flak for their tardiness. 

“A-all of them are vampires?”

“Yes. Vampires either live alone, which is risky, or they are part of a nest and gain the protection of being one of many. An Archon, a very old and powerful vampire we call a Vampire Lord, leads each nest and answers to the Underfolk council.”

“…” Her mind was still reeling at the knowledge that she was about to walk into a building full of vampires. 

“How many vampires are in your nest?” 

“Oh, hundreds, but we don’t all work at DataNet.” He chuckled and tugged on her hand to reel her closer. She was anxious about being surrounded by monsters. Blood sucking, heart stopping, neck ripping monsters. Sure, Cassandra was also a vampire, but that didn’t mean she no longer feared for her life. What if she looked at one of them the wrong way, and they decided to snap her neck? She subconsciously took comfort in being closer to Sylas. She did, however, resist the urge to huddle into his arms. “My nest mates are dying to meet you, Cassie. When I filed for a leave of absence to become a creator, they put a welcome basket together for you.” Cassandra’s left eye twitched as she tried to imagine what a welcome basket from a bunch of vampires would look like. If there was a baby in that basket, she’d lose her shit. “Are you nervous?” He tipped his head and sought out her gaze. As he expected, her eyes had turned red. It was part of the fight-or-flight response for vampires. The first sign of getting emotional was found in the eyes. “I promise you will always be safe with me, Cassandra. As your Sire, I will always protect you. I swear, you’ll like our nest mates once you get to know them.” 

“Are they all ‘modern, well adjusted’ vampires like you?”

“Yes.” He chuckled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “You are only allowed to drink blood from a bag or a cup when at work, and I expect Electra will have you added to the group chat in no time. Oh, which reminds me?” He smiled brightly and walked her over to the front door. He lifted a silk red hanky from a side table like a regular magician. “This is for you.” He presented her with a new smart phone and her eyes widened. 

“This is for me?” 

“Yes. My number is already in there, of course.” As well as his most sophisticated monitoring app. Cassandra held the phone and tapped her thumb across it to see she had the internet, unlimited data and phone calls, and no passwords locking her access. “You know you can never contact anyone from your human life ever again, but you should still have independence wherever possible.” She lifted her red eyes to regard her sire, and wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling her. Sure, she wouldn’t be calling her stepfather or brat-sisters, but she could call the police. She could tell them Sylas kidnapped her and is holding her hostage. No, I couldn’t. She sighed and put her cell in the pocket of her jeans. I wouldn’t be able to prove it. I also wouldn’t be able to get by without Sylas giving me blood. I’d probably end up biting the officer who turned up. Besides? Where would she even go? Back to Dwayne and her stepsisters? No. That’s why he felt he could give me a phone. I have nowhere to go, and no way of surviving without him. 

For now, at least. He says he wants me to have independence wherever possible? Well then, my plan hasn’t changed. I need to save up enough money to move out. Before, it was to move out of Dwayne’s house. Now, it’s to move out of Sylas’s place instead. 

Beep. 

Cassandra’s train of thought was distracted by an alert on her new cell. She took it back out of her pocket and saw she had a text already. One quick tap, and she saw a cartoon bat flying across the screen with the words ‘time to fly’ underneath it. Cassie raised a brow first and then lifted her eyes to look at her corny as hell vampire sire. He chuckled at her sour look and shrugged unapologetically at her. “We shouldn’t be late for your first day at work. Electra detests tardiness.” 

“Who the fuck is Electra?” 

“Our Vampire Lord and Archon.” 

“Wait, so our boss is a woman?” Sylas nodded. That was a welcome surprise. She imagined a crusty Dracula sort of character lording over the nest. A woman called Electra didn’t sound so scary. Perhaps a female vampire leading the nest meant that she’d get more support and freedoms from Sylas. Like she’d be sympathetic to her plight. “Cool. Lead the way.” 

“Are you, my lady.” Sylas dramatically bowed and kissed her hand, alerting her to the fact she’d left it in his gasp this whole time. She didn’t get time to grumble or take her hand back out of spite. He led her through the front door, and instead of stepping into the corridor of the House of Horrors, Cassandra found herself facing a wall of glass. There were a set of double doors before her, and through the glass she saw a long wooden table with the most gothic board meeting she’d ever seen under way. “Oh no, we’re late.” Sylas pushed the doors open and dragged Cassandra inside. “Keep quiet and let me take the blame.”

“Huh, why would-AAAAA!” Cassandra screamed as Sylas was suddenly no longer beside her. In a blur of white and black, something launched across the room, tacked Sylas, and pinned him by his neck against the glass wall. “SYLAS!”