Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖞 𝕹𝖎𝖓𝖊

• 𝓚𝓲𝓽𝓮 •

I couldn't focus. Every time I thought I got a handle on my thoughts enough to work, my mind strayed to my father. To Mae. To Zero. To all the bullshit.

How hadn't I seen it? I wasn't exactly close with my father but I hadn't expected him to do half the shit he'd done. I knew someone was turning their back on me. I'd known that for months. But for it to be my father? I would have guessed Doyle. The man was power hungry enough and could move his little pawns around. He could get Zero to do anything he wanted. With his powers, he could damn near get anyone to do what he wanted with enough incentive.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples. I had Noah and Luca leave me earlier. Their constant talking didn't help with my inability to focus, and I just needed to be alone.

Why did I even bother trying to work? Why did I bother doing my father's bidding still, now that he's made his intentions clear? He didn't want me. He wanted Mae.

How long had he wanted her? How long had he been planning this? Did he tell his guards around South District to turn a blind eye to Zero killing Mae's kids? Did he know she'd run? That I would go find her because being under his rule was better than her being under Lucifer?

Was all of this his plan?

Unfortunately, I believed it was. Everything was too coincidental. Only he - and maybe Doyle - had the power to rule the guards. To tell them not to inform me of the poisoning. Of the deaths.

When I heard the district's alarms that night, calling her name, I'd looked at Noah and Luca first. But when I looked at my father, he was already looking at me. Gauging my reaction.

Since her escape, we hadn't had another gathering.

I stared down at my desk, a rough breath escaping my lips.

He'd known. He gave her an opening to run.

How long had he been planning this? What else was he planning?

She threw a wrench in his plans when she forfeited her fight with Zero. She would have won. And if what Zero had been saying was right...

I sighed, then closed my eyes.

It didn't matter. My father would figure out a way around it. He always did. If he wanted something badly enough, he would get it.

When I opened my eyes, I about choked on a gasp when I saw Mae standing just inside my office. I hadn't even heard her come in, too focused on thoughts of my father.

She raised an eyebrow as she clicked the door shut. "Jumpy?"

She came out of fucking nowhere of course I'd be jumpy. The hell? Was she a ghost too now?

I schooled my features like she hadn't almost scared the soul out of my body. "Not at all."

She smiled a bit. "You are a terrible liar."

I laughed a bit, leaning back in my chair. I motioned for her to come closer, and watched as she slowly rounded my desk to sit against it near me. She glanced down at the paperwork, her eyes scanning them without really reading anything, before looking back to me.

She really was too pretty for words. Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, giving me full view of her face. As a human, she'd had a bit of rosacea that caused her to look like she constantly had a small blush on her face. It had been cute, and might be one of the biggest things I missed about her being a human. But as a vampire, her skin was smooth and pale, unblemished and beautiful. Her hazel eyes had brightened somewhat since her change, just around the pupils. So in the right lighting, they looked like they had a bit of a glow.