Thea

I smirked at the vampire, expecting her to refuse. Instead, though, she nodded once to Bryce then turned towards me. “Dia’Thea, daughter of Inim, and servant of Lilith, I apologize for any perceived disrespect, whether it be intended or otherwise. I thank you for your willingness to make amends for the attack on my ward, and hope that our future dealings may end as amicably.”

She wasn’t actually supposed to apologize, and it kind of caught me off guard. Then I remembered what Bryce had basically just told me about having to kill Aoyama’s whole crew if we went to war, and sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair. “It’s Salinthea. If you’re going to use my titles, you may as well get my name right. And yeah, I’m sorry, too. It seems like Bryce is pretty set on at least being friendly with you, so I guess we should probably try to get along.”

“Salinthea, then. Do you have any additional terms or concerns?”

I had seriously run out of ideas on how we could avoid this, so I shook my head. “No, I think Bryce pretty much has it covered. I guess, just be careful.”

“She won’t be in any danger.” Aoyama turned back to Bryce with a serious expression. “Are you ready, Captain Virra? This meeting was rather sudden and I have other issues that need to be addressed today.”

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.” She pushed herself off the couch and bunched up her hair before tying it in a loose bun. Aoyama stood and carefully approached her.

“This is going to hurt,” she warned, then before I could object, bit down into Bryce’s neck. She cringed, then clenched her teeth, and I had to grip the couch cushions just to stop myself from leaping to her defense.

Aoyama didn’t stop, and after a few really long minutes, I went from being angry to just being worried. I looked at Zen, who also looked worried, which made me even more worried.

“That’s enough,” Bryce demanded, but the captain didn’t show any sign of slowing. That was the last straw, and I shot up from the couch to pull her off of Bryce, but Zen held up a hand to stop me.

“Wait, if we’re not careful, this could get a lot worse. Let me try something.”

“Thea, I’m okay. Zen, if you’re going to do something, please, do it quickly.”

“Fine, but if it doesn’t work, I’m killing her.”

The human nodded before pushing against a panel on the wall above the couch to reveal a hidden door. He reached down into it and pulled out a syringe filled with a dark brown, almost black, liquid.

“What is that?” I asked, and Zen pulled the cap off the needle before replying.

“Dead man’s blood. It’s lethal to most vampires, but the captain is strong enough that it should only weaken her.”

“Should?” Bryce asked, but I interrupted before Zen could respond.

“It doesn’t matter, just use it.”

The human nodded before inserting the needle into his captain’s neck and emptying the entire syringe in one quick motion. Aoyama reeled back, releasing Bryce, and looking around the room with lifeless, wide eyes. I took the opportunity to guide my girlfriend away from the vampire and back to the couch. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a bit woozy. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

I nodded and turned on Aoyama, who still looked kind of vacant. “What the hells is your problem? That wasn’t anything like what we agreed to!”

She didn’t respond, so Zen stepped up and gripped the back of her head to force her to look him in the eyes. “Captain, are you with us?”

“I, uh, yes. I’m-I’m here.” She licked her lips, then delicately moved Zen’s arm away from her before turning towards where we were sitting on the couch. “That was likely a mistake.”

“Which part? Bryce letting you feed on her or you trying to fucking kill her?” That came out a bit more aggressive than I expected, but I was mad damnit.

“Both, and neither,” Aoyama replied. “I should have never suggested it in the first place. I’m entirely at fault here.”

“What happened? Why did you lose control?” Bryce sounded tired, which made sense, because a vampire had just drained like half her blood.

“The experience was… more than I expected. I was overwhelmed by it.”

“It’s not going to happen again, is it? We’re not going to find you looming over us at the foot of our bed?” I asked, and she smiled dangerously at me.

“If I were to ever ‘loom’ over you, then you wouldn’t find me.” Her smile faded, and then she shook her head. “But no, this will not be happening again, and should I ever attempt to take your life, it won’t be in your sleep. It will be public, it will be excruciating, and it will be the only thing you have left.”

“Thea?” Bryce looked to me, and I sighed.

“Pointlessly dramatic, but not a lie. Although she also wasn’t lying earlier when she said you wouldn’t be in danger.”

“That is… a valid concern,” Aoyama admitted. “I hadn’t lost control like that in centuries, and had no reason to believe I would. However, now I know better and can take the appropriate precautions.”

Bryce shook her head. “No, that’s not good enough. I need to know what precautions you have in place, and what assurances I have that you won’t try to feed on me without my consent. Additionally, I won’t be wearing this mark until the end of the week. Instead, I’m going to allow it to heal after the upcoming council meeting, and I’m only waiting that long because it benefits me as well.”

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“Benefits you how?” Zen asked before Aoyama could say anything, so she answered for Bryce.

“She's planning on using the mark to show the other captains that she’s willing to be held accountable for her actions. It’s why she was so adamant about controlling the narrative, isn’t that right?”

“It is,” Bryce agreed, so Aoyama continued.

“Your terms are acceptable, considering the circumstances. As far as the assurances, I long ago swore a binding oath to never feed from a living creature without their consent, and the consequences for me breaking it are rather extreme.”

I confirmed that she wasn’t lying, so Bryce looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. “And the precautions? I’d like to know that this sort of thing is never going to happen again.”

“Obviously, I rescind my offer of renewing the mark. Should Zen’s oil prove insufficient, then you’ll need to find another way to extend it. Additionally, when I request to feed from you in the future, I ask that you refuse.”

“When? Not if?”

Aoyama hesitated, but then nodded. “I believe it’s inevitable, and I’ll likely offer you something substantial in exchange. When that happens, I’d like for you to refuse, then contact Zen. We have procedures in place, and will probably be adding more.”

“You understand the sort of position this puts me in?” Bryce asked, and again, Aoyama hesitantly nodded.

“I do, and while I would be disappointed if you didn’t use it to your advantage, I believe you’re clever enough to know what would happen if I ever thought you were abusing it. I’ve lived twice as many centuries as you have years, and during that time I’ve slain countless would-be masters. Many of which had far greater leverage than you do now. ”

“Peace, Aoyama, please. I didn’t mean that as a threat. If anything, it was a complaint. Perhaps we should wrap this up? I’m exhausted, and I have to imagine you’re feeling pretty vulnerable after what Zen gave you.”

“Perhaps you’re right, but before we do, were there any other urgent issues that needed to be discussed prior to the council meeting you scheduled?”

I raised my hand, and Aoyama nodded towards me, so I turned to Zen. “Hey, how much do I owe you for the bar? And the whiskey Les sold us on the way up. Also, do you accept iron? I have some credits, but if it’s too much, then I might not be able to cover it all.”

He seemed reluctant to agree, but Aoyama answered before he could. “I’ll purchase up to thirty-thousand iron coins at the rate of ninety credits each. Zen, feel free to adjust your own rate in order to profit from that in future transactions, but not this one.”

“Understood, captain. In that case, the total for damages is ninety-thousand and three hundred credits. Plus, another seventy-two hundred for the whiskey, which is including the three individual bottles at no additional cost.”

“How much is that in iron?” I looked to Bryce, and she answered.

“A little over one-thousand and eighty-three at the rate Aoyama was offering. Throw in thirty credits, and it should be even. Zen, would you mind itemizing that for me? I’m not disputing anything, not yet anyway. I’m just curious.”

“Sure. The largest expense was the bartop, at seventy thousand. It’s a single slab of real wood and will have to be imported from a colony on the outer edge of the network. Finding a crew to do that on Paradise isn’t cheap.” That seemed like a lot, but Bryce nodded for him to continue, so I didn’t object. “After that was the lost revenue that you offered to cover. I estimated in your favor, and only charged fifteen-thousand for that, then another five to cover the staff’s wages.”

“The triple overtime you offered, right? Does that include the people who weren’t working that morning?” Bryce asked, and he nodded without hesitating.

“That’s right. Living full time on Paradise is expensive. While I pay my staff more than fairly, a lot of them still need tips to get by, and if they aren’t working, they aren’t earning those tips. We didn’t reopen that night, which means none of them were working.”

“Don’t worry about that part, Bryce. I’m fine with paying it,” I assured her, and she nodded.

“Alright, but you’re still short, about three hundred credits. Where is that coming from?”

I was also kind of curious about that. Ninety-thousand and three hundred credits just seemed like too specific to round to, but not so specific that it was an exact amount.

“Um, captain, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take this one?” Zen looked to the vampire, and she nodded.

“Anali got blood on my favorite couch, and I was feeling petty at the time. The three hundred credits are for cleaning both her clothing and the cushions.”

“What? No way. That was her fault, not mine.”

“Thea, please don’t make us argue over three hundred credits. Besides, you can just have Sora deduct it from whatever job they plan on giving Anali in our sector.”

“Alright, fine. Here.” I held out a hand towards Zen and conjured a large black bag. Then I filled it with exactly one-thousand and eighty-three iron coins, adding the thirty credits on top. “But I’m going to tell Softie to take six hundred credits off her next job, not three.”

“No skin off my back.” Zen took the bag and nearly dropped it when I let go.

“And with that, I believe we’re finally on equal terms, Captain Virra,” Aoyama declared. “If you’ll excuse me, there’s another matter that requires my attention. Feel free to use this room to recover for as long as you need.”

Aoyama left without waiting for a response, and Zen turned toward Bryce. “Captain Virra, I’ll need to send someone to get the signal oil for you, which will take about an hour. I can either have them leave it with Les if you’re planning on staying for a while, or deliver it to your ship. Which would you prefer?”

“Leave it with Les,” I answered for her. “And is there any chance we could get some food? Lots of whatever type makes elf blood come back faster.”

Zen grinned at me. “I’ll send somebody up with a menu. Feel free to order as much as you want, it’s on the house tonight. Drinks are half-off.”

Bryce thanked him. Then the moment the curtains closed behind him, she all but collapsed onto my shoulder. “Careful what you say. They probably record everything that happens in here.”

“So, clothes on, then?” I joked as I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in closer.

“Yeah, probably, unless you want to put on a show for Zen.”

“I don’t know. He’s pretty hot for a human.”

Bryce laughed. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“How’re you feeling?”

“Honestly? Not great. That was a lot of blood to lose in not a lot of time. I’ll probably be fine in a few hours, then back to normal by tomorrow night. Until then, though, we should probably avoid starting any fights.”

“Well, good thing all we’re doing tomorrow is hanging out with Lysc and Es. Shouldn’t be too hard to keep things peaceful.”

“Thea, they’re about to fight in a death match.”

“Well, yeah, but Lysc already said she wasn’t going to Kill Es.”

“You really think he’s going to lose?”

I hesitated. “I have no idea. If he was at full power? Never. But I don’t actually know how much he’s recovered. He spent a lot of time in Elysia dealing with his new gender, but I didn’t actually ask how long he was there. He could already be fully recovered. Although it didn’t really feel like he was when we saw him in Hel.”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to ask him tomorrow,” Bryce suggested, just as a sheepish man poked his head in through the curtains.

“Um, Captain Virra? I brought those menus Zen promised.”