Chapter 2
“On me! On me! I’m being targeted on the west side of the warehouse.
” Ji-Su took cover as on the monitor, the opposing team tried to eliminate him.
The game play on this level of Delta Combat Force was fast-paced and absolutely unforgiving.
If you weren’t quick and skilled enough to keep up, you’d be eliminated before you could blink.
It had taken hundreds of hours of practice to get to this stage as a gamer, where he could go up against some of the top players in the world.
“We’ve got your six,” Lawrence assured him.
“I see the sniper,” Iesha said low and focused. “I’m taking him out.”
After Iesha took out the sniper, Ji-Su rose from his hiding spot and threw a grenade to blast the enemy blocking their path forward.
“Yes!” Iesha cheered.
Lawrence whistled. “Right on target. That’s how a real team gets it done!”
Ji-Su grinned at his teammates’ celebration. He’d started to move forward when someone knocked on his bedroom door. “Come in!” he called out while he continued to play. The door opened and Ji-Su cast a quick glance over his shoulder to see the head servant standing in the doorway.
“Master Cedric requests that you join him in the living room at this time for his feeding.”
Ji-Su frowned. “He knows it’s my practice time with my team, right?”
“He is aware. However, this is the hour that works best for him.”
Ji-Su clenched his jaw in annoyance. He always gave Cedric plenty of advance notice for his gaming and streaming schedule so that he could plan his feeding needs around it.
But it never worked out that way. The vampire always seemed to need to feed when he was busy. “Fine. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I’ll let him know.” The servant bowed and closed the door.
“Sorry everyone. I have to go,” Ji-Su said into his headset mic.
“Don’t tell me Cedric wants to suck your blood right now,” Iesha said in her thick Brooklyn accent.
“I’m afraid so.”
Lawrence groaned. “I know taking that position gave you the money to upgrade your gaming setup and quit your day job but damn. That guy is the worst.”
Ji-Su held back a laugh. “It’s okay. I’ll be back online in a couple of hours if anyone is available for a run then.
” Taking off his headset, he exited out of the game.
He left his room and went downstairs, the white carpet on the steps thick and soft beneath his bare feet.
In the living room, Cedric was waiting for him on the red leather sofa.
“Took you long enough,” he snapped when Ji-Su walked into the room.
Ji-Su didn’t bother to explain that he’d been gaming, since Cedric was well aware that he’d been occupied. And he didn’t apologize either. “I’m here now.” He started to remove his oversized hoodie to make it easier for Cedric to feed.
“Don’t bother.”
Ji-Su stopped with his hands still on the hoodie’s hem. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. This will be quick. Sit down.”
Ji-Su joined him on the couch and tilted his head to the side.
He’d done lots of research before he signed up to become a blood pet.
From it, he’d learned that a vampire’s bite could be one of three things, extremely painful, pleasurable, or mildly uncomfortable.
With Cedric, Ji-Su experienced the last of the three options.
He always felt the initial pain of the bite.
It was like being pricked with two thick, sharp needles.
After that, the pain faded into a dull, almost imperceptible ache until the feeding stopped.
He didn’t enjoy the sensation but it didn’t bother him enough to want to back out of his contract.
Cedric grabbed him by the back of the hair, using the grip to move his head into the position he wanted. But he didn’t bite yet. He looked at Ji-Su, an expression of disgust abruptly taking over his handsome face.
“Sometimes I look at you in your ridiculous, too big, fucking pastel hoodies and wonder why I ever found you attractive enough to buy.”
Ji-Su blinked at the unexpected insult. “I’m sorry you don’t like the way I dress.”
“You’re so simple to think that’s the only problem I have with you and your below average tasting blood.”
Ji-Su opened his mouth again but Cedric cut him off before he could speak.
“Be quiet so I can feed.”
Now he bit, sudden and hard, making Ji-Su wince and gasp at the sharp pain.
Thankfully, the hurt quickly receded into the expected mild throb.
As Cedric fed, Ji-Su sat there listening to his loud, deep gulps and heavy breathing, while the rude things he’d said ran through his mind again and again.
Cedric didn’t always talk to him that way. But when he did it hurt.
He didn’t understand why the vampire seemed to dislike him.
Cedric had been the one to make the winning bid when there’d been plenty of other humans at the auction for him to choose from.
Ever since his arrival at the town house, Ji-Su had done his best to be pleasant and accommodating to the vampire who was financing a year of his life in exchange for his blood.
But Cedric disregarded all his efforts and treated him like he was an unwelcome nuisance that he only grudgingly put up with.
After what felt like an unusually long period of time, Cedric released his bite and the hold he had on Ji-Su’s hair. He shoved Ji-Su away.
“Now you can go back to your little video games,” he said before he got up and strolled from the room.
Ji-Su stood, swaying a bit when he took his first step.
He was woozy. Cedric must have taken more than usual.
He started to go to the kitchen to get himself water and a snack to recover but for some reason, he turned toward the foyer instead.
His keys and wallet were on the entryway table.
He grabbed both and let himself out of the town house.
Outside, the late spring night air was warm and still.
He went down the front walk and crossed the private parking lot to where his car, a white Kia Stinger, sat under the yellow glow of a street lamp.
Moving on autopilot, he opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat.
The car’s dash was slightly blurry when the car started.
Ji-Su blinked a few times. The dash wavered—the speedometer numbers appearing to wiggle—before it finally gelled into focus.
Ji-Su backed out of his parking space and left the exclusive gated housing community.
As he drove, he felt... odd. Lightheaded from the feeding.
And Cedric’s words had left a deep ache in his chest, as if he’d been kicked right on the sternum and hadn’t yet regained his breath.
He put on his turn signal and took the entrance ramp to the highway.
When he turned his head to check that there was an opening for him to merge, he realized his neck was wet.
Cedric hadn’t sealed the bite and blood trickled from the wound.
Ji-Su started to shake. The lights of the other cars were too bright and he couldn’t tell how fast he was going. It seemed as though he were speeding, but other cars were honking at him as they passed. Again, he put on his blinker, this time to pull over on the right shoulder.
Easing the car to a stop, he put it in park. He shouldn’t drive like this. In this state, he was a danger to himself and everyone else on the highway. But he needed food to recover from Cedric’s careless bite. And water. His mouth was so dry it felt as if his throat was on fire.
Ji-Su turned off the car then got out and started walking.
There had to be at least one fast food spot off the next exit ramp.
He would eat whatever he came across. He’d only gone a few steps when something sharp cut into the heel of his foot.
Looking down at the unexpected pain, he saw his bare feet, pale against the black top of the highway.
Ji-Su stopped and stared at them in confusion.
Where were his shoes? What was wrong with him?
The hot exhaust from a big truck whizzing past wrenched him out of his daze. Ji-Su started walking again. He needed to get something to eat and drink. Then everything would be okay.