Reign of the Vampires by Rebekah R. Ganiere Page B

send out an email letting everyone know that you are my new assistant. Oh, I also need you to call the receptionist downstairs for the number for Angelo Parizi. Call Angelo and tell him we need a man sent over today for a fitting. Lastly, please call shipping and get the phone number for our courier. Call and find out when my package is being delivered.”
    Two hours later, Danika got up and stretched. William had been working at his computer the whole time.
    “Oh, hello, Lord Danika.” He looked up. “I made the calls. I sent you an itinerary update for your meeting. The fitting is at one-thirty, and the courier said the package will be here by three.”
    Danika smiled. Yes, she decided, he would be a very quick learner.
    “Wonderful. Why don’t you take a break and order yourself something to eat. I want a Thai cucumber salad from Pho’s please. And Chase will be joining us soon. He’ll tell you what he wants.”
    William stared at her in confusion. “I didn’t think . . .”
    “That we ate human food? We can. We gain no nutrition from it, we need to drink blood for nutrition, but I still enjoy how it tastes.”
    Chase returned to the office around midnight, and they sat down together to have a meal. William had been shaky as Chase questioned him about his life, skills, and the encampment he’d lived in before the slave auction.
    “He’s a good match for you, and I think in time he’ll become a great asset,” Chase said when William left to clear the food containers. “Well done in your choice.” He smiled and gave her a light hug.
    Chase’s approval of William was almost like a confirmation from her parents that she was forgiven for the failure of Xenock. Mason would not receive quite the same welcome.
    * * * *
    Danika and William spent the last couple of hours with Angelo fitting William for a new wardrobe, which would be delivered the following day. When her package arrived William called down for a car. They closed up the office and headed to the lobby.
    “Is this how it always is?” William asked.
    “You mean is this how my nights go?”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    “For the most part. My life is the same as everyone else’s. I go to work, I work hard and do my best, and then I go home. Sometimes I have meetings. Once a month I hold court. Occasionally I meet with the three kings of America. Other than that, my life is as boring as the next Vampire’s.”
    William shook his head. “It is amazing. You’re living the life that humans want to live. And now humans are living, well...like animals.”
    Danika’s brow furrowed. She’d never thought of it that way. She’d never seen humans as much more than food before the awakening. But now, there were so few of them, they were a hot commodity. She wondered if the humans hadn’t attacked the Vampires the way they had, if the V2000 would’ve been developed at all, and if the world would have changed. They still didn’t know who’d unleashed the virus that had been meant to make Vampires impervious to sunlight, but had backfired instead. She doubted they ever would. She studied William and her heart softened a bit toward him. It was hard to think of him with his gentle nature trying to make it out there in the harsh environments the humans lived in now. It was good that he’d been brought in. He’d be happier now in her care. She smiled to herself for having saved him.
    * * * *
    When they reached home, Danika flung her jacket on the floor of her bedroom. Then undid her belt and dropped her skirt as well. She kicked off her shoes and hose and stood in her slip. She unbuttoned her light blue shirt and tossed it as well. Letting her hair down, she threw on her green silk bathrobe. When she emerged from the bathroom, William stood in the doorway, eyes wide.
    “Is something wrong?”
    He cleared his throat several times. “No, no, my lord,” he managed to croak.
    Danika laughed. It sounded strange. It wasn’t something that she’d heard from herself