Chapter 8
She stared at him, trying to figure out what he was answering.
“Who does not?”
“Your flock duties will not start again. I do not wish for you to continue fucking my vampires.”
The words hung in the air like a challenge.
“You don’t wish for me to…” Emmy repeated slowly. “So what, I’m just … what? Kept? A pet dragon in your suite?”
“You’re my girlfriend,” Zander said evenly. “The Master’s girlfriend doesn’t serve in the flock.”
“I’m also the Dragon King’s daughter, and I’ve been taking care of myself since I was fourteen. I don’t need you to—”
“I’m not trying to control you.” His voice stayed calm, which somehow made it worse. “I’m trying to protect what’s mine.”
Emmy’s temper flared hot, but she didn’t let it out. “ Yours ?”
“Ours. Mine and Spencer’s, just like we are yours.
The three of us are an item. When in public, you’ll be more of a target because my enemies could get me to do most anything if they had you in their possession and started mailing pieces of you to me.
Never mind I know you can grow those pieces back, I would be terrified and devastated if anyone was hurting either you or Spencer.
You’ll also have more security, as a result, but Delaney will be by your side, as before. ”
“One thing at a time. I made a ton of money this winter, but I don’t want to go through it. I was considering that something of a nest egg, and I was planning to invest it. I need to make money, and I have a contract that says I can do so by being a feed-and-fuck for vampires.”
He walked to a table, opened a folder, and pulled a stapled stack of papers out of it. He turned to her and tore it up. She focused on it and saw it was her contract.
“You are no longer flock. I want you here with me, so there is no room and board. I can give you an expense account to use as spending money, and—”
“Absolutely not.” Emmy put her hands on her hips. “I’m not taking handouts.”
“It’s not a handout if—”
“It is. I felt worthless when I didn’t have my trust fund money coming every month anymore, and then I felt like I was standing on my own two feet when I came here and could earn my own money.
I’m not going back to not having an income.
I need a way to earn until I get my master’s degree.
If you’re firing me, I’ll need to get a job somewhere. ”
Shit , she didn’t want to wait tables, but she doubted anyone had part-time evening work for a geneticist. Maybe she could work in a library somewhere, or something.
Zander and Spence exchanged a look.
“What?” Emmy demanded.
“I have a few things you could do,” Zander said carefully. “Paid positions. The first is tutoring flock members who are struggling academically. When I’m paying for their education, I expect results. Several would benefit from help with calculus, algebra, chemistry — subjects you excel in.”
Emmy wrinkled her nose. “I’d so much rather fuck people than help them with algebra.”
“I’m aware.” Zander’s mouth curved. “But you’re not fucking my vampires anymore unless I’m part of it.”
That brought her up short. “Wait, what?”
“Though he isn’t allowed to submit willy-nilly, Spence is allowed to have sex with certain staff, and in some cases, flock members,” Zander continued.
“And you will be too, once we’re more settled.
Sex with flock members will be less problematic for you, since you won’t be submitting to them, and since you aren’t in charge of them.
However, for both of you, my vampires are off-limits unless it’s a scene with me involved. ”
Emmy’s brain scrambled to catch up. “You’re … are you asking me to be monogamous? Because that’s not—”
“No.” Zander rose, crossing to her. “I’m asking you to be smart about who you fuck.
As Master Vampire, I sometimes have to dominate other vampires through sex.
Part of maintaining the vampire hierarchy means I regularly fuck the vampires under me, simply because I can.
Also, I routinely fuck flock members while feeding from them, but not always, and only the ones Spencer doesn’t object to.
I need a variety of shifter blood to maintain the balance of my power. ”
“Okay,” Emmy said slowly.
“I can’t offer monogamy, so I have no right to ask for it.
However, it’s important for my power base that you don’t fuck my vampires, or any visiting vampires, unless I’m part of it, and to give me veto power over who you fuck outside of that.
As an example, one of the professors at the college is the head of a powerful bear clan, and it would be messy politically if you were to fuck him.
You should talk to people before you fuck them and make sure they aren’t in a position of supernatural power.
If they are, I’d appreciate a check-in. It might be fine, but Alaska is a little more complicated, supernaturally speaking, than it appears on the surface. ”
Emmy hated that it made sense. But since it did, she told him, “Okay. Thank you for explaining. Does that mean I get veto power, too? Because I don’t want you fucking Rhea or Maren. It would just be … weird.”
“You do, and noted. I will still feed from them on occasion, but no fucking.”
She nodded. “Okay then.”
Zander tilted his head. “Anyone else?”
Emmy thought about it. She didn’t mind him fucking Felix, and she’d have to think about why it didn’t bother her later, but it brought her to Chase.
He’d been an important person in her life before she’d left, and a pretty good friend.
Fucking had been part of the friendship, and she wasn’t sure they’d spend much time together without it. “What about Chase?”
“He’s my vampire,” Zander said neutrally. “I’m aware you had a connection. Do you want to continue it?”
Did she?
Emmy turned the question over in her mind. Chase had given her what she needed — someone who didn’t dominate her but also wouldn’t let her dominate him. It balanced out what she got with Felix. But now she had Zander and Spence. Now the triangle, her men, gave her everything she needed and more.
“No,” she said finally. “I needed what he gave me, to balance what I got from Felix, but I get that from both of you now. I mean, I want to be friends with Chase and Felix, but I don’t need to fuck them anymore.”
Something in Zander’s expression softened. “All right.”
“So.” Emmy sat back down. “I tutor flock members in academic subjects. Is there a better option?”
“Web design and maintenance for some of my businesses,” Zander said.
“You hacked into a bank when you were eleven, so I assume you can handle updates for a complicated website. I actually have a guy who handles most of that, but I’m in need of a graphic artist. Any chance you can help him out with the web stuff when needed, and work with the marketing team to provide the graphics they need? ”
“Yes. I’ve been doing art on the computer since I was four years old. If I didn’t want to figure out the genetics puzzle so badly, I’d probably be trying to make a living as an artist.”
“You’ll find the available jobs as well as what they pay per hour in the folder beside you.”
She looked down, saw a folder she hadn’t noticed, and opened it.
Six hours per week doing graphic work would pay about what she’d been making as flock, but… “What kind of deadlines will there be? Is this something I can do on Saturday or Sunday, or will I need to do a little bit every day?”
“The firm we’re using now works on a forty-eight-hour turnaround,” Spence said.
“But in reality, they get started on it in forty-eight hours. Something easy, they can get it to us quickly, but for the complicated things where questions need to be answered, it’s sometimes three or four days.
If you can beat that, it shouldn’t be a problem.
And if you can’t get to something, we can always send it to the firm we’ve been using, just let them know up front, so they can get the process started. ”
Emmy closed the folder with her temper back in check. This wasn’t a handout. This was real work, real money, real respect for what she could contribute.
“Okay,” she said. “I can do that.”
“Good.” Zander glanced at Spence. “One more thing. Security.”
Emmy groaned.
“You had one guard before, but I’ll be sending a team to back Delaney up — in the background, so you shouldn’t notice them day-to-day. There’ll be coordination when you go off-schedule, but otherwise, they won’t be close.”
She shook her head. “I can handle myself. Delaney is there to spot a problem I might not see right away. Once I know there’s an enemy, I can handle them.”
“Your options for how to do that are limited when there are cameras, and the campus has them everywhere. I’m aware you can handle yourself at a place like Mordnik, but a college campus cripples how you can react. Also, I’d rather not put you in a position where you have to defend yourself.”
She met his gaze and gave another small shake of her head. “I accepted Delaney. I don’t want more than her.”
“Emerald—”
“I was the Dragon King’s daughter before, heir to the fucking throne, and I still am,” she said firmly.
“One guard is fine. The same guard. Delaney and I have a good working relationship. If you have reason to believe the threat level rises, we can revisit it. But I’m not going to class with an entourage. ”
“One more person. He rides in the backseat and stays in the distance once you’re on campus.”
“I hear you trying to be reasonable, but you have to understand that I feel as if I’m being reasonable by accepting even a single guard. I would love to be able to drive myself and not have to deal with security at all, but I’m not fighting you on Delaney.”
Zander considered that, then nodded slowly. “Okay. I don’t like it, but…” He shook his head. “However, if I have reason to believe you need additional protection—”
“Then you’ll tell me why, and we’ll discuss it like adults. I’m not going to fight you on legitimate security concerns. I just need you to talk to me first and not make unilateral decisions about my safety.”
“Fair enough. If I send more security to you during the day without talking to you first, please assume there’s a problem that couldn’t wait, and we’ll discuss it when you are home.”
“Okay,” Emmy said quietly. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”
Zander pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We will.”
Spence joined them, and their three-person hug felt like home even in this new space.
“Bed,” Zander said finally. “You’re exhausted, and it’s late for you.”
Emmy wanted to argue, but her body betrayed her with a jaw-cracking yawn.
“Come on,” Spence said, guiding her toward the massive bed. “I’ll hold you until you fall asleep.”
“Let me put everything I’ll need to get ready into the bathroom first,” she told him. “So I can get ready without disturbing you in the morning.”
Zander gave her a kiss and left, and she figured out how her morning would go and got everything ready, including her school bag.
Within ten minutes, she was crawling under the covers, once again appreciating Zander’s mega-thread-count sheets, probably made of the finest cotton, and curled into Spence, his familiar scent lulling her into slumber.