Byron was dumbfounded. What exactly had she done wrong? She stood up and called after her lover but she never turned around. Then she heard the bedroom door slam shut.

The flight staff who had been preparing drinks and snacks for them looked at Byron nervously. She doubted they had ever seen anyone talk to her like that, and they were probably expecting anger from her. Instead she straightened her tie, and said, “Carry on.”

* * *

By the time Byron walked to her conference room at the front of the plane, some of her anger and annoyance had dissipated, as she took on board what Amelia had said. She did cancel plans and put the bank and clan business first, and realized she wasn’t giving Amelia’s job the same respect.

When she opened the conference room she found her Duca—the clan second in command—Alexis, and her chief of the Imperial Guard, Bhal, looking over security plans for the Debrek Monte Carlo estate.

They stopped talking immediately and both bowed their heads in respect. “Principe.”

Bhal looked to Alexis and said, “I’ll leave you both to talk, Duca.”

“Thank you, Bhal,” Alexis said.

Bhal bowed again on her way past Byron. Alexis must have felt the simmering frustration and anger from Byron, because she signalled to one of the human servants standing in the corner.

He walked over to Byron and without a word unbuttoned and rolled up his shirtsleeve and offered his wrist.

Byron shook her head. “Thank you, but no one has fresh while Amelia is so close, not until we get to the estate. Bottled will suffice, Francis.”

While he went to get Byron a drink, she said to her Duca, “Sit with me. I’m sure you heard our first little squabble.”

It was difficult to have secret conversations or arguments when you were surrounded by vampires with exceptional hearing.

“Yes, Principe.” Alexis sat beside her and Francis placed two crystal whiskey glasses in front of them.

He poured out what to outsiders might have looked like dark red wine but was, in fact, human blood. Although the Debrek clan fed from their trusted human staff and consenting humans, they always needed a supply of freshly bottled blood to drink when feeding straight from a human was inconvenient or inappropriate.

She lifted the crystal glass to her mouth and closed her eyes, allowing the deep, sweet scent of the blood to fill her nostrils. Her hunger for blood was always bad, and was getting progressively worse, being in Amelia’s company. The more she cared for her, the more she wanted to taste her blood. She had managed to cope and control her hunger and cravings so far by feeding from others, but it got harder every time. Amelia was like a drug, a temptation constantly laid in front of her, but one that she couldn’t take.

Being with Amelia was like being a recovering drug addict, but living with and loving the one drug your body craves. If she did indulge, Byron didn’t know if she could ever stop.