“You owe us reparations, Taylor.” Charles says over the phone.

“What the fuck? For what?” Taylor asks as he sits and ignores Johan's solemn stare. Taylor was currently flying back home and Johan was not pleased with how this trip turned out.

“We brought your buddy into our family out of respect and he took our gift and spat in our faces. He refuses to pay, so unless you want him dead, you'll have to pay the price.” Charles says, his tone heavy.

“Fuck's sake.” Taylor responds with an exasperated breath. Everywhere I look, there’s problems… Taylor thinks, taking a quick glance at Johan before looking away.

“What do you want exactly? How much is a fresh vampire even worth?” Taylor asks, not expecting much.

“It’s not his worth, Taylor. It’s his potential. Do you know how many tries it takes to birth a new vampire? Actually, for that matter, you happened to have killed our youngest before Daryl!” Charles says with some anger.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Taylor’s eyes open wide. Fuck, I forgot about that. He thinks with some urgency. Now that I think about it, they’ve been pretty lenient with me… Taylor thinks, considering the effort he wanted to put in repaying them.

“Just name a price.” Taylor says, coming to terms with his responsibility.

“Every single one of our vampires is precious.” Charles begins to explain. “And it just so happens that we’re being asked to do a lot for the war effort. You’re going to have to pick up the slack for some of our youngest. A few years of work and we’ll call it even.” He says, hoping Taylor wouldn’t make a fuss; this was already pretty good.

“Fuck. That sounds pretty dangerous. I’m not sure it’s worth a couple years of Mountain Climber hunting…” Taylor says, reconsidering the matter.

“Say yes! Say yes!” Jesse immediately says with some excitement, causing Johan to give her a bitter look.

Taylor looks to Jesse with a raised eyebrow. Oh, that’s right. She wants to see vampire blood… He thinks, recalling their conversation.

“Alright. I’ll take on a few missions. But you said your youngest, right? Try to pick out some easy ones if you could.” He says, not hoping for much.

“You’ll do what you’re asked.” Charles says with a chuckle. “Call us when you’re back. We already have a job waiting for you.” He says before hanging up.

“Fuck.” Taylor says with a shake of his head. Work is such a bitch… He thinks as he puts his phone away.

“Also, Taylor, speaking of reparations... I’ll also need a moment with you when we get back…” Johan says as he rests his eyes. His words were casual, but all that was not expressed caused a shiver to run down Taylor’s body.

“Fuck.” Taylor says as he slumps in his chair. I have a feeling this is going to hurt… He thinks with a sigh.