I entered the coffee shop and squinted into the darkened room to see if Tanner was already there. He was sitting at a table in the back. I ordered a flavored mocha and then sat across from him.

"I'm not in the mood for games," I said. "Just tell me what you know."

"Hello to you too," he said, smiling.

"What was the name of your little friend?"

He sipped his iced coffee. "Her name was Samantha Erikson and we were good friends for about a year."

"How good?"

Really good. "We had a great thing going and that's what I want to talk to you about."

I was glad that I could read his mind, because I needed to find out for sure if Samantha had anything to do with the Morettis. "Did she introduce you to any other vampires?"

"No, she wanted to protect me from harm." And give me indescribable pleasure.

Suddenly, I wasn't so sure that I wanted to keep reading his mind. "She didn't mention any other vampires? Any Italian vampires?"

He gave me a funny look. What is she getting at? "No, she was the only one. She knew some others, but she had broken away from a family, a coven. They were all newly changed, and she thought they were too immature. She wanted to live on her own."

"You're sure that she wasn't involved with any other vamps?"

"She hated being a vampire and hated all vampires," he said. "She was changed against her will. The vampire who was going to kill her thought she was beautiful and hoped that she would be his partner, so he changed her. She was hiding from him." I know he killed her. That's why she disappeared.

"Do you know anything about him?" I asked.

"He was some loser redneck vampire. Who would have even thought it was possible? Can you even imagine a redneck vampire? Do they seal up their victims with duct tape?" he asked.

I couldn't help laughing out loud.

I want nothing more than to get my hands on that loser for what he did to Samantha.

"So what is it that you need from me?" I asked. "And did you seriously pick up on what was going on just from my running?"

He put up a hand. "So many questions. One at a time."

I sighed. "Fine. What do you want from me?"

"I want something that will benefit both of us," he said. "Samantha used to feed on me, and it's been very difficult on me since she stopped."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you get out of being a human volunteer?"

"So your friends did tell you about that," he said. "You've got the vocabulary down. Have you ever fed on anyone?"

"Nobody that's lived to tell about it."

"Was that you who got that farmer over in O'Dell?" he asked. "The way that you reacted to that blood yesterday, it was obvious that it was your first exposure. It's too big of a coincidence that the farmer was drained of blood just hours later."

"Watch out or you'll be next." I threatened.

"I knew it was you. Anyway, if you feed in smaller intervals you won't need to go out and drain a body. You can stay on the down low and blend in easier."

"I just love how everyone knows more about what I'm going through than I do," I grumbled. "Even you, a mere mortal."

"I only know because Samantha and I spent hours and hours talking, and she shared everything she knew with me," he said. "She even told me when she started to notice that you were beginning to transform. She'd seen several transformations and recognized it immediately."

"How long was she a vampire before she met you?" I asked. "It sounds like she knew a lot about vampires."

"She was young as far as vampires go," he said. "She had been a vampire for about twenty years. She spent too much time as that redneck's plaything."

"So you think that he eventually got her?"

He gave me a funny look. "Yeah, I do."

"What did she tell you about me?"

"She noticed little things about the transformation process, things that were so small I couldn't see," he admitted. "After she disappeared, I kept my eyes on you to see if what she said was true. When I saw you running at the speed of light, I knew it was true."

"What do you get out of being a human volunteer? I don't see what could possibly be pleasant about it."

He smiled. "The vampire venom that goes into my system is at such a low level that it ends up working like a drug. It makes me feel amazing, more alive than ever before. It even gives me a little extra strength, which has helped me a lot in football."

"That's definitely interesting," I said. "I can see how that could be useful since someone has thrown my whole life off course by exposing me to a huge amount of blood. I was supposed to have been exposed to one drop at a time."

"Okay, that was my bad. It's only right if you use me to regain some control in your life," he said. "Would you like to start today?"

"Did you see the size of that guy?" I exclaimed. "I'm not going to need blood for a while."

Dang it! "As soon as you start to feel the need for blood, just give me a call," he said. "You don't need to deal with the headaches or urges. Just call me, feed a little, and feel normal."

"Is it really that easy?" I asked.

"It is, and it's the perfect solution for both of us," he said. "I need the small doses of venom to boost my football game and you need the blood fix without turning into a monster."

"That does make a lot of sense," I admitted. "I'm sure you like it because they don't run a vampire venom panel when they do drug tests for the team."

"Yes, that's definitely a bonus."

"I'll let you know when I am ready," I said, standing up.

"Good, I'll drop whatever I'm doing when you're ready." I can't wait for that incredible high.

I smiled at him. "It was nice doing business with you."

"Today was nothing, just wait for next time. It will be unbelievable," he said, standing up also.

"For you," I said.

"You might get a bigger high than me," he said. "Don't you remember how it felt this morning with that farmer?"

"Point taken."

Just as I was starting to drift off to sleep, I felt that someone was in my room with me again.

"Who's there?" I asked, unafraid.

"It's me," Cliff said right next to my bed.

"You can go through walls too, can't you?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied. "Why are you in bed? We have a meeting to get to."

"Oh yeah, that. I ran into Tanner in town and talked with him this evening. I can fill you in if you'd like."

"You ran into him? That sounds very convenient," he said. I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and I felt bad.

I flipped my light on and looked at him. "I'm sorry, Cliff. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just felt like I needed to talk to him on my own."

"You could have put yourself in danger."

"But I didn't. If I had been, Brooke's vision-radar would have gone off like a four alarm siren."

"That's not the point, Alexis. You are the future leader of our entire kingdom. You really need to be more careful. We are trying to protect you, but we can't when you go behind our backs."

"Don't get all high and mighty with me when you guys locked me in a room." I narrowed my eyes.

"It was for your own safety."

"A lot of good that did," I said.

"There is still so much that you don't know or understand yet. We need you to trust us."

"Why don't you guys just tell me what I need to know? Just a few days ago, I thought that vampires weren't real, and now I am one. Not just that, but I'm going to be leading all of vampire land. It's a lot to take in, especially with everything that this transformation brings."

"You're right," he said. "It's a lot to take in and it's been a very short period of time. We have barely had the time to fill you in on very much at all."

He sat down on the edge of my bed and grabbed my hand. "I can see that you're frustrated and confused. What can I do to help change that?"

I looked into his eyes and felt my heart soften. What was it about those chocolaty brown eyes that turned me into a puddle?

"You could take me some place that serves dessert and tell me how wonderful I am," I told him.

He smiled at me, and I melted even more. "I'll give you a few minutes to get dressed while I call Steve. Then meet me down the road at my car. We'll grab some dessert."

"I'll be down there in a few minutes."

We were eating at another restaurant that I had never been to before. We were having some very exotic cake that sounded awful, but tasted like a dream.

I looked into his eyes and got lost, as if I had literally left where I was and gone somewhere else.

"You wanted me to tell you how wonderful you are?" he asked with a grin.

My heart fluttered. "I don't know what you see in me. I love that you do though."

"I've known you since the day that you were born," he told me. "I was seven years old, so I was old enough to remember meeting you. I fell in love with you that very instant. You were the most beautiful and innocent thing that I had ever seen. I vowed then and there to always love and protect you. I failed when you were stolen from the castle, but I will not fail you again."

I put my hand on top of his. "You didn't fail me, Cliff. You were only a boy, and not even my parents knew what was going on. I remember your love, and even though I had forgotten it living in the human world, it never left me. It was just waiting for you to come and find me."

"I'm glad you don't hold it against me, but I have never forgiven myself. I won't stop until I make it right."

I pointed to my necklace and said, "Cliff, this is proof that I've always loved you and have never forgotten you. I had been told my whole life that this was just a piece of costume jewelry. Yet it's the one piece that I never got rid of because I was waiting for you. I just didn't know it at the time."

"It's not over," he said with fire in his eyes. "The Morettis are still out there and they want our lines wiped out. They were behind your disappearance, which was supposed to be your death."

I shivered when I saw the fury on his face.

"They will suffer for what they've done," he promised. "I will see to it myself and it will happen at my own hand. You may be the one to ultimately defeat them, but I will make sure they suffer first. They stole years from us, and they tried to kill you. They will pay."

I looked into his eyes. "We have each other now."

"We have lost so much," he said. "All those years that we should have spent falling deeper in love and training together. We can never get those back. That was our childhood."

I wanted desperately to help him calm down. "But we have centuries ahead of us. A few years will seem like a blink of an eye two hundred years from now."

He smiled at me. "That will be better than anything that I've ever dreamed of, my love. I cannot wait for the day that we put the Morettis behind us and we can truly start our lives together. I will give you the best life that you could ever dream of. Anything that you want will be yours."

"Finding you is all that I could ask for," I said. "Tell me more about the time we spent as children."

"Those were the best three years of my life. I spent every possible minute with you from day one. As you grew, I taught you as much as you could learn from me. I played the games that you wanted to play. Everyone said that I was wrapped around your finger," he said, smiling.

"From what I can remember, that went both ways," I assured him. "One thing that is strong in each of my memories is that I completely adored you."

"I hope to be able to earn that back," he said.

"It never really went away. The first moment that I saw you before the dance, everything came back in a way that I didn't yet understand."

"You think that I'm trying to control you now though."

I frowned. I couldn't deny that. "I know you think you're protecting me, but I don't want to be protected. If I'm going to be a leader, then I need to learn and grow and figure things out on my own. I need you to trust me to figure things out. If we're in battle and I need it, then protect me. But for now I need some space to find my own way." I had no idea how desperately I would later regret those words.

He was silent, and I wished that I could read his thoughts.

"I hate acting like a rebellious teenager," I told him. "But I am royalty and I am destined for greatness. It only makes sense that I will go against being controlled or protected beyond necessary. That's why I reacted so strongly against the favoritism of Natalie, although I obviously didn't know it then."

"You have some good points," he said. "I don't think we've been giving you enough credit. Yes, you have been raised as a human, but that's not what you are. You are the Sonnast."

"Thank you."

"I should get you home, my princess. It's after midnight, and we both have school in the morning," he said. He picked up my hand and gave it a kiss.

I sat up in bed, drenched in sweat. I had just woken up from a dream about the crows chasing me.

In the dream, I was unable to run, and they were pecking me and tearing me apart.

When my breathing returned to normal, I felt a strange sensation pulsating through my body. It started at the bottom of my feet and made its way up, and when it got to my mouth I knew immediately that I needed more blood.

"I thought that draining the farmer was supposed to hold me off for a while," I muttered.

I waited a minute to see if it would pass. Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with waking up from a bad dream.

Images of the blood from the volleyball game shot through my head, my mouth watered. Thoughts of gratifying a craving on that smelly farmer filled my body with a desire to get more right then.

I grabbed my phone and called Tanner's number.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding as if he was still asleep.

"Now," I ordered. "Meet me in that field right now."

"What? You're serious? That was fast."

"No small talk, get moving." I shut the phone off and grabbed some clothes.

Once dressed, I decided it would be faster if I just ran. I opened my window and decided to jump even though I was on the second level. I landed beautifully and ran to the field.

I was faster than any car, so I got there before Tanner and started pacing around the field, burning with the need for more blood.

"Have a little patience," Tanner said, laughing. "You look like a caged animal."

"Now's not the time to make fun of me," I glared at him. "What took you so long?"

"I'm just a mortal," he said. "Now let me explain to you how to do this so that you don't kill me."

"I have no intention of killing you," I informed him. "Unless you don't hurry up with your explanation."

"Your eyes are glowing red," he said with huge eyes of his own. "I want to make sure that you don't go overboard."

"Just make it quick."

"The best spot is right here on my neck," he said, pointing to the base of his neck. "The vein that you will hit will let out enough to satisfy you but not too much to put me in danger. Once you notice the flow begin to slow down, you must stop. I need to trust you to do that."

I nodded my head. "When it slows down, I stop. Got it." I could feel my teeth growing again.

He took a deep breath, smiled and asked, "Are you ready?"

"I sure am." I leaned in and bit down on the exact spot that he showed me.

The warm blood came into my mouth and tasted even better than it had with that nasty farmer. This was like fine cuisine compared to the other blood. It was even more filling too. When the flow started to slow down, I was able to stop. I had an intuition to lick the wound, and it healed before my eyes.

He stood there looking like he was in some kind of coma.

"Um, are you okay?" I asked.

He blinked a couple of times and said, "That was amazing. That felt even better than it ever did with Samantha. You must have some special super-venom or something."

"I come from a special line of vampires," I said, not wanting to tell him that I was going to be a leader of all vampires someday.

"We definitely have to do this again," he said. "I can't get over it."

I looked at him and felt some kind of pull. It was strong enough that I knew it had to be something significant, but I didn't know what it was.

"It was definitely something," I said.

"Do you feel satisfied?" he asked.

Why did he care? He got what he wanted. "Yeah, I do actually. It's strange, because I drained that other guy and only felt full at the very end."

He smiled. "I clearly have a better quality of blood."

I rolled my eyes. Did his arrogance know no end? He had a point though. If I had been used to Tanner's blood when I drank the farmer's, I probably would've spat it out.

"Be sure to give me a call next time," he said. "I'll be back in a flash."

I stared at him, surprised that I didn't want to leave. I wanted to smack myself. I reminded myself that he was a conceited football player who just wanted me to get him high.

"Sure," I said. I started running and was out of his sight before he could have blinked.