Rex stared powerless at his CEO's back. She did not turn to look at him, her cold eyes fixed on the two guards who had attacked him.
"He was already leaving," she said. "There's no need for violence."
"We have other orders," one of the guards said. He took out a flashlight and pointed it at the vampire. "Get out of here quietly, or we'll sunlight you."
"We were leaving anyway," Eve said. "And you will let us both go, or I will sue your corporation so badly that there will be no money left to pay for your wages."
She turned to leave, and finally threw a glance at Rex.
"You'd better be able to walk," she said, "because I'm not carrying you."
She left without making sure that he'd follow her. Rex pulled himself together and ran after her in the dim corridor. The guards did not follow them, and didn't turn on their flashlights, though they kept them pointed at the vampire until she rounded a corner and was out of sight.
***
Eve had smelled the blood all the way from the other end of the corridor. A sumptuously delicious smell, better than any flavor of synthetic blood she'd ever invented. And yet, instead of insatiable thirst, she felt concern. Her bodyguard wasn't by her side. Had he gotten himself in trouble?
She rushed back. And, sure enough, there he was, pinned against the wall by two guards, delicious blood flowing on his face. She wanted to lick it so badly, to taste it, sample it, catalogue it, find a way to replicate it, to synthesize that perfect aroma. But that was a weakness she could not afford.
Her punches were so quick and so powerful that the guards were instantly projected into the opposite wall. This was something she could allow herself to do. The weakness would have been to not punish them. Anyone who disrespected her bodyguard was, in a way, disrespecting her. And this, she could not allow.
***
Rex followed his CEO meekly to the car. So much for being a bodyguard. Instead of being able to protect her, he'd been the one being protected, not once but twice already. He was so ashamed of himself that he forgot he was supposed to open the car door for her. This time, she did not get into the car and leave him behind. She stopped in front of the car, rummaging into her purse.
"Am I fired?" he asked. He expected he should be, for failing to protect her.
"I am unharmed," she said. "There's no reason to fire you."
She took a silk handkerchief out of her handbag and handed it to him.
"You'd better wipe that blood off before we get to Blood Lust Tower. The girls from the mailroom will be all over you if you don't. Probably Amy from Recruiting as well. You don't have enough blood to feed five or six desperate vampires. They'd kill you."
Rex dabbed at the blood on his face. The handkerchief smelled of roses and jasmine and something else. Orchid, perhaps?
"Can you drive?" Eve asked. And he suddenly realized that he was supposed to open the door for her and get into the driver's seat.
***
She didn't say anything else for the rest of the long drive to Blood Lust Tower, and Rex didn't dare say anything either. The silence felt heavy, making him slouch in the driver's seat. Finally, when they'd arrived in front of the tower, she spoke again.
"Drive on," she said. "Take a right turn at the next traffic light."
He didn't ask why, and she kept telling him where to turn, guiding him down streets that were increasingly familiar. They were entering the werewolf part of town now, and he began to worry. When she finally had him stop the car, his heart skipped a beat. They were in front of his family home.
It was a large building, as all buildings were on this side of town. Werewolf families liked to stay together, several generations packed into large houses with reinforced outer walls and lush interior gardens that reminded them of their home in the woods.
"Get out of the car and open the door for me," she said.
He wondered, for a moment, if he was fired after all. But immediately he forgot about it, worrying for her safety instead. Vampires were not welcome on this side of town. Still, he did as he was told. He was certain she had a plan.
Passers-by were beginning to stop and stare when she got out of the limo. She stared back, majestically, and they shied away from her cold gaze. But still, a small crowd was beginning to gather around them, and the werewolves didn't look all too welcoming.
Unconcerned with the passers-by, Eve leaned closer to Rex's face, so close that he thought, for a wild moment, that she was going to kiss him. He instinctively closed his eyes. But what he felt on his lips was not a kiss. With one cold finger, she wiped a drop of blood off his splintered lip. The strange touch made him open his eyes.
"You missed a spot," she said. "Make sure to clean yourself up before you come in to work tomorrow night."
She licked the blood off her finger absentmindedly.
"I can drive myself home," she continued. "My car keys, if you don't mind."
***
When she finally drove away, leaving him in the middle of the street, Rex's shoulders slouched again, and he realized just how tense he'd been. He wasn't sure what he was worried about most, that the passers-by were going to attack her, or that she'd want to come in, and his grandmother would eat her alive. As it turned out, it was his grandmother that he should have been more afraid of, though for his own safety, not Eve's. The moment he got into the house, she was ready to pounce on him, and angry as hell.
"What do you think you're doing, running around with that vampire?" she yelled. "Bringing her here, no less! Letting her taste your blood like it's nothing. Don't you know girls like that will eat you alive?"
"She's my boss," Rex tried to defend himself.
"Boss?" Grandma Fidel asked, her eyes widening so much they seemed to fly out of their sockets. "What have I done so wrong to have one of my grandsons work for the enemy? Did I not raise you right? Did I not get grey hairs from teaching you better when you were a little pup? This is all your mother's fault. She's the only one with a soft side in this house. I told my son not to marry her, but when that boy gets something into his head..."
Rex bore the lecture quietly. No matter what pack or team they ruled in their office life, all the Fidels cowered in front of Grandma Fidel. At home, she was the ultimate alpha, and even the CEO of Bones R Ours wasn't more feared.
When Grandma Fidel was done, and finally sent him to the kitchen to eat, Rex hoped the incident was all behind him. He wasn't that lucky. His older brothers were waiting for him in the kitchen, and Rolf had evidently got home before him.