Blue Flames

Chapter 5

The office was slightly dark, the only light a soft orange glow emanating from a floor lamp in the corner near the desk.

I walked in, closing the door behind me and keeping my eyes carefully down. Whoever was in this office made my survival instinct scream at me to get out of here. If I want to keep my secrets, I shouldn't catch their attention.

Irene stood on the right of the director and slightly behind, I mirrored her position on his left.

Vampire. My senses picked up on a vampire in the vicinity. But the vampire was standing on my left, leaning on the wall. I focused my senses carefully on whoever was behind the director's desk. But I couldn't pick up anything. Nothing at all. There was only this awful void of energy.

"Hmm... so this is the human."

Coming from behind the desk, the deep voice was almost hypnotizing in how low and peaceful it sounded. I was not fooled, though. Underlying that serenity was a feeling of unmatched raw power that made goosebumps break all over my skin.

"Yes, Sire."

The director's reply made my entire body lock.

Crap.

Crap, crap, crap, crap.

I'm in the deepest load of crap I've ever been in my entire life.

Sire. There was only one person who the director would address that way. Very few people knew what he looked like, but I kind of did. Uncle Robert had described him to me one day, after he had told me very explicitly to avoid being in his vicinity for as long as I wanted to keep my true nature a secret.

Well, too late for that. Might as well take a peak. Just a quick glance.

I looked up, but couldn't take my eyes away. It was like being sucked in by a vortex. Dark, dark eyes were riveted on me with an intensity that made my breath catch. I had the impression that this was what a rabbit felt like meeting the eyes of a lion.

I was no rabbit, I thought to myself. My stubbornness got in the way of my better judgement one more time. I tilted my chin up, keeping my eyes locked to his. The rest of him blurred, along with everything and everyone else in the office. Only those dark orbs remained clear in my vision. Meeting his gaze was all that mattered.

His lack of magical presence didn't matter. The sense of age and power oozing from his eyes was so heavy that it threatened to crush me under. Dear Lord, how powerful was he?

He blinked, and the spell broke. Everything cleared up again around me. The tense silence in the office and the vampire on my left who had taken a step closer to me. This was bad, I hadn't even noticed him moving. It never happened before, I was always extremely aware of my surroundings.

I glared at the man behind the desk. His hair was jet black, glossy enough to tempt a saint into running their hand through it, pushed back to reveal a face with clean cut features framed with a light dark scruff. He looked like barely tamed wilderness. His skin had a healthy golden glow from being under the sun often, and his wide upper body was crammed into a plain white t-shirt that did nothing to diminish the air of authority around him.

So this was Arthur, one of the Five, an original vampire. Uncle Robert described him as a tall, muscled man, with dark hair, dark eyes and pale skin. Typical uncle Robert. It was like describing a lion as a kitty cat.

He leaned back in the director's chair. His gaze, still fixed on me, held a note of taunting amusement.

Oh, great, I've amused the devil. Lovely.