Chapter 4 Episode four

"Are you sure she hasn't run away? No sane human would want to work for someone who tried to kill them."

"True," Adrian replied, nodding at the chauffeur, who held the car door open before stepping in, "but she's not human. And she's desperate. You and I both know how far desperation can drive people to consider odd choices.

Besides, I need her around. She knows something about my mother. I should be the one watching my back."

"Not to be presumptuous," Fabian got into the back seat through the other door, "but are you sure you heard right? It could have been the effects of the night before, you know-

"I'm sure I heard the name perfectly well," Adrian cut in. "Freya Waite. My mother has one of the most uncommon names around here. It's not a Jane Doe or a Mary Sue. She knows something."

"And you think she'll tell you?"

That, he wasn't sure about. All he was certain of, was that being polite wouldn't cut it. Neither would the subtle hint of an underlying threat. He tried both of them at once and she didn't bulge.

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I do not wish to torture anyone, even if it is to get back at my mother. So, I will give her what she wants the most. Humans-

"You said she wasn't human-

Adrian rolled his eyes at the correction.

"Werewolves are just like humans. You dangle their desires, and they run to the finish line. Which is why I will resume at the office starting today."

Fabian, someone who had never been surprised in decades, had his eyes widening.

"You? The office?"

Adrian nodded. "Yes. I considered hooking her to you, but if I need answers, I better do it myself. Let them know that I'll be coming in."

"You're going to have to face humans. And werewolves. The lot that you have been hiding from, all your life."

Adrian tsked, even as the car pulled up to the house where Eva had spent the night in.

"You talk like I'm going to faint. I'll be fine. Can you go see if she is in, or if she's run away? Or, never mind. I'll do it myself."

About thirty minutes later, Fabian came out of the house alone. Although Adrian had offered to go in himself, since vampires couldn't enter a house unless asked in, they found a loophole.

The welcome mat his butler bought on a whim to scare a rogue werewolf who was hell-bent on living in the house, despite Adrian's insistence that he wasn't selling, was still in front of the door.

So, it was easy entry.

"She left?" He put his head through the half-rolled down window. Not that he expected her to stay- given that she thought he wanted to kill her- but Adrian was a little disappointed.

Out of everyone he had come across, excluding Fabian, she was the only one that stayed past a reluctantly offered greeting. He thought she was brave, a little reckless yes, but certainly brave.

And there was the matter of his mother. He had to know why she had muttered the name in her sleep. If his mother was still alive, or if she was Freya's reincarnation. One couldn't rule out any of the possibilities.

"No," Fabian said, approaching him. "She was asleep when I got in, and it took quite some effort to rouse her. However, she declined to ride in the same car as you because you might try to go back on your word.

I tried to offer my word, but it held very little weight. Until you get a lawyer and she signs the agreement."

Adrian sighed.

"Do you think I would have killed her? If you hadn't stopped me?"

"Do you want the truth?"

He nodded.

"You are unstable, unpredictable, and erratic, and there's no telling what you can do when you shift. I have had to forcibly restrain you in the past, and I still have scars to show for it," Fabian replied.

"You're a vampire. Shouldn't you have healed by now?" Adrian asked, ignoring the part where Fabian said he almost committed murder on many occasions.

"Scars, Master. I didn't say I have open wounds."

"Sure."

"Oh, there she is. I believe she might be riding with us after all."

Adrian looked at the house, and saw her coming towards the car. And realized that he still didn't know her name. Oh well, it didn't matter. All he wanted was answers, and he was willing to give anything in return.

After that, she would be like every other face, guaranteed to fade away from his memory over time.

Eva got to the car, ignored Fabian who had the door to the backseat open for her, and opened the passenger side instead.

"Wouldn't you rather sit at the back of the car?" Adrian found himself asking.

From the rearview mirror, he could see the little shake of her head and her doubtful expression. "No thanks. Sitting at the front provides enough advantage to jump out of the car if I sense danger. I can also put the driver in a headlock and take control of the steering. But-" she turned to look at him then, "there's also the disadvantage of you choking me from behind."

Adrian was amused. The fact that he could tell she really thought he was going to kill her, but she didn't run away at the first chance, amused him. He chuckled and decided to play along. After all she would never believe him no matter how many times he tried to assure her that she was safe...until he had his answers.

The answers would tell if she was an enemy or not.

"I admit," he began with a slow drawl, "that I thought about all the ways to kill you last night. Thought about slitting your throat, poisoning you, asking Fabian to inject his vampire venom into your bloodstream and watch life drain from your eyes. The thought," he grinned at her through the rearview mirror when their eyes met, "of watching your skin go pale might be among my top fantasies."

"I knew it," Eva said, her shoulders rising and falling." You made all that speech yesterday just to make me drop my guard. Huh. I don't mind that you want to kill me, but I'd rather you make it painless- you can do the gruesome stuff when I'm dead- and not until we have signed that agreement and fulfilled it.

Alright?"

Adrian shrugged. "Sure. I will have signed today at the office. I hope you get to them quickly though, because I do not know how long I can wait until you're mine to do whatever I please with."

"I knew I chose sitting at the front for a reason," Eva muttered, but his wolf ears caught it.

A tsk from beside him had Adrian looking at the disapproving glare his butler. Fabian had his arms folded. "Oh, you know I didn't mean it. But, it was fun playing along, wasn't it?"

Fabian did not respond and the rest of the trip was spent in silence.