CHAPTER 2

Violet grey eyes watched the amber liquid swirl in the thick crystal glass. Every now and then they shifted to the busy boulevard outside the limousine. 

He smiled to himself; it was a typical Friday night in Portland Oregon everyone and their dog were out tonight. That’s one of the reasons Damon liked living here because the only difference between the night and day was the light. Then the crowds would shift from the streets to the clubs and provided him the cover he needed.

Damon was on his way to a late gathering himself but it wasn’t a nightclub. At least not this time.

He took a drink from the glass and shifted gaze shifted to a group of four young men walking along the sidewalk, obviously with too much liquor in them by the way they clung to each other to keep themselves upright.

He gave a faint smile at the lewd whoops and hollers they emitted as they passed by a group of young ladies. Physically Damon looked about their age, when in fact he was much older, and usually he liked to enjoy life the way they were, but unlike that group he didn’t intend to enjoy himself tonight. It would be business meeting not a social event.

Normally, he did attend public appearances and social events to keep suspicions’ eyes looking in the other direction because he’d built up quite the name for himself over the years and reclusive tycoons were targets for bloodthirsty journalists. This didn’t mean he still wasn’t in the camera lens, but it kept most sneaking paparazzi out of his bushes. The other reason, and main reason why he kept a false front, was much darker.

His father, Amon had always frowned on his career choice, telling him that he drew too much attention to himself and he could get noticed by sayans, but Damon couldn’t cut off all contact with the population as Amon and the rest have. His own kind wasn’t enough for him. What he and the others didn’t understand was that he still needed to be around them. It was a grave recognition of his last coveted grip on mortality and he refused to let it go.

In the past, Damon had been criticized for being sympathetic towards them, which wasn’t far from the truth.

Although he never harbored any ill will towards the race, he did not see them as a mere means of survival either. Humanity had endless reasons for why he wanted to remain attached to them and even though his father may not have liked his rationale for walking among the living, at least he never forbade him to do it.

Damon turned his gaze to his companion across from him.

Originally given to him as a gift from his father as a Protector when the vampires had conquered the werewolfs, Damon also considered him a close friend. Even though Damon loved his father, and would give his life for him, he didn’t completely trust him. Nathan on the other hand, was the only one that Damon trusted implicitly with his dark secrets and his life even if he was a ruthless predator.

Right then Nathan turned his attention to Damon and cocked his head in question as he felt his eyes on him, “What is it?”

Damon silently shook his own indicating it was nothing before returning his bluish-purple stare to the lighted busy streets outside and let his thoughts roam again.

It had been centuries since he had savored daylight, but his world was now lived in darkness. More than seven hundred years had passed since that fateful night. He could still easily remember the terror he’d felt upon seeing Amon for the first time. It was a horror that could not easily be forgotten. Seeing Amon’s terrifying form in the moonlight would have stopped the most fearless of men in their tracks frozen with fear. However, Amon brought him a new life and opened up an unthinkable world to him. He never regretted it or Amon because he was young and was the victim of a quicker sword on the battlefield. He wasn’t ready to die. Of course he also didn’t expect to live as long as he did either. Amon had a way of eliminating those who gain too much power and are stupid enough to try and overthrow him. Damon never had that ambition and therefore outlived his brothers. Maybe it had something to do with the love he had for Amon and the thought of losing him, horrified him. Also, living as long as he did gave him the opportunity to learn so many things and he still yearned to learn more. He’d mastered a multitude of different languages, some now extinct, played many different musical instruments, studied with world renown scholars and lived and traveled all over the world. Amon had told him once that the urge to know everything will stop after a few hundred years, but it never did. He was still just as eager today. Religion fascinated him most of all, especially when there are thousand year wars being waged in the name of God. Such hypocrites, He thought.

He was distracted from his thoughts as he saw Nathan glance over his shoulder at the driver. His protector was hungry. Damon knew he wouldn’t harm the man, he needed Damon’ approval. Nathan’s kind was fiercely loyal and that’s what made his race ideal to protect Vampires.

No one knew how long werewolves protected their race, but they weren’t like the books written about them. Nathan used to get angry at some of the presumptions, but now he just accepted them stating the human race was just plain stupid. Although Damon did understand his frustration, he felt differently. The human race was naïve, because they didn’t live as long as he did to gain the intellect they possessed. Nathan only scoffed when he relayed this to him, making him smile. He had expected that. Nathan was arrogant, and rightly so. His skills were virtually unsurpassable and his intolerance for anything inferior to him was common to the breed for they weren’t just predators, they were a highly intelligent race and the books written about them never portrayed that. Instead they were portrayed as bloodthirsty savages and Nathan found it insulting.

As for the Chauffer, Damon was thankful for the present day conveniences that prevented senseless brutality that had been necessary in the past. However, there was still the rare need to take live prey to sustain his power. His quarry only consisted of those the world could do without. It somehow made what he was easier to live with. The driver wasn’t in that group; therefore, he would live this night. Therefore Nathan wouldn’t harm him because he didn’t wish it.

He would have used his own driver, but this man insisted on sending his own. Damon didn’t want to lose the deal over such a petty thing and he was hungry, so he agreed. He figured it was just a control issue Michael Randy had.

Suddenly, his thoughts were violently interrupted by an emotion. It was a powerful alluring feeling that enraptured his whole body like an electrical current. He shot forward in his seat, “Pull over.” He spoke calmly to the driver despite his inner turmoil.

“But sir, Mr. Randy said to…” The driver began to politely protest while looking over his shoulder warily.

“I advise you to listen.” Nathan immediately warned followed by a chilling stare at the driver. Fool, he thought.

Damon knew from Nathan’s menacing protective behavior that he flashed his eyes from dark brown to their animalistic amber. It was confirmed by the man paling several shades and instantly complying without another protest followed by ‘yes sir’ with a tremor in his voice as he eased the car to the curb. Despite the darkness in the Limo, Damon could see as clearly as broad daylight. A whiff of adrenaline reached his nostrils and Damon smiled. The hormone is released instantly following fear. Fight and flight, he thought with amusement. If he was any younger and less experienced he would take the man’s life unable to resist the aphrodisiac-like lure the odor of adrenaline gave off. As it was his mouth became lubricated with a flush of saliva, but he was able to resist for his original reasons. The man was an innocent in all of this.

A cabby honked behind him at the sudden change of direction, and screeched his tires as he sped by the limo. From the chauffer’s thoughts, Damon knew he was still unable to shake that stare Nathan gave him and didn’t even hear the Taxi. That and the fact that his knuckles had turned white from gripping the steering wheel so severely which made Damon feel a sense of pride that a small look from Nathan was so highly affective. Damon smirked at the Man’s previous belief that he actually thought Nathan was gay by the looks he was giving him since he picked them up. However, the more time passed with Nathan sitting behind him he could feel the hair on the back of his neck raise whenever the he addressed him or glanced over his shoulder to look at him. The driver didn’t even have a rear view mirror to sneak looks at him because Nathan popped it out of its holder on the windshield and tossed it on the seat behind him without saying a word and they kept the lights off in the back. Nonetheless he could still feel the heat of the Nathan’s hungry stares on the back of his head and he began to feel very helpless. He was resisting the urge to reach over and push the little button to raise the divider between the cab and the back, but somehow he knew the bodyguard would be offended. He was right, Damon thought, He would.

Nathan returned his attention to Damon, “Now what do we do?” There was obvious concern in his voice.

“We wait.” He tilted his head as if trying to see something clearly in a distant field, “…It is close.” It wasn’t the sensation itself, he was used to it from his kind. The assault of emotion only occurs when one of his own was near. This was different. While his own kind gives a sense of presence or warning, this was sudden, powerful and…alluring, one that only took him back to his dream.

“Do you want me to look around?” Nathan directed his attention to the busy streets

Damon knew Nathan was unsure of what he would look for. He wasn’t quite sure what Damon had picked up on, but obviously he didn’t miss the slight mix of emotion that passed over Damon’ expression when he felt the surge. “No, it wouldn’t do any good.” Whatever it was he sensed, wasn’t close enough to see.

Nathan was perplexed. He had never seen Damon react in such a way to a feeling. It had him curious. No, more than curious, he was fascinated. Damon never allowed his emotions to grace his handsome expression. Yet, something stirred within him to elicit such a response. Nathan was quite happy tormenting the driver up until that point. Now, he was distracted with Damon’ physical disturbance. It meant that Nathan had to be on alert for any threat that Damon may encounter. If this was a threat. By the look on Damon’s face, he wasn’t sure what it was, but he would be ready.