Blood Type (Blood Type 1)

All that was before her was Beckham.

A predator luring his prey.

And she was trapped.

As thoroughly as a rabbit in a snare.

Beckham abruptly dropped his hand. For a moment, she had completely forgotten where she was or what she was doing. She shifted in her seat and tried to get herself back under control.

The car stopped in front of Visage, and the driver, Gerard, hurried around the car and opened the door for Beckham. Gerard then offered her his hand, assisting her from the vehicle. She tottered for a moment then regained her balance. Her head tilted up at the enormous Visage building in utter awe of the sheer magnitude of the all glass façade.

When she saw that Beckham hadn’t waited for her, hadn’t even looked back to see if she was coming, she jumped and made a dash to catch up. Luckily her high heels held traction on the concrete steps, and then she was breezing into Visage Incorporated right behind Beckham. As she walked into the tallest building in the city, her feet stilled again.

The entryway was a sight to behold. Glass upon glass upon more glass. And everything else was beautifully clean white marble and porcelain and polished granite.

“Reyna,” Beckham said sharply.

“Sorry.” She hurried to his side. “It’s just…incredible.”

“Follow me through the security screening.”

“The what?”

He sighed. “Pass through the body scanner.”

She looked at the glass box that she hadn’t noticed in her distraction. “What are they looking for?”

“Anyone and anything that doesn’t belong. I’ve already had you signed in.”

“Okay.”

She walked forward uncertainly. As she passed into the scanner, a red light blinked and then passed over her body. A duplicate image materialized before her. The light blinked blue and then posted a message: Human subject Reyna Carpenter. Identity confirmed. Approved.

She continued forward and shuddered as her body image disappeared. Beckham was waiting for her on the other side.

“What the hell was that?”

“A security measure.”

“What happens if you aren’t approved?”

“Don’t ever find out.”

Reyna rolled her eyes at his non-answer and then looked around at the Visage building. Everyone in attendance was dressed in a black suit. Even the women were in black skirt suits, with stark white blouses. Everything was crisp and orderly. Not a thing out of place.

Reyna followed Beckham to the elevator. “Is everyone a vampire who works here?”

“Of course not. You work here.”

“You know what I mean, Becks.”

His hand stopped before pressing the button, and he looked down at her. “Becks? Is this my new nickname? Is Beckham too long?”

Reyna shrugged. But she had a small measure of victory at throwing him off for a moment.

When the empty elevator opened before them, they stepped inside and Beckham selected his floor.

“Do any humans work on your level?”

“Why do you always ask so many questions?” he growled in irritation.

She shrank a little in on herself, but still said, “Because you don’t give me any answers.”

He reached instinctively for his phone in his pocket. “You have all the answers you need.”

“Fine.”

Beckham ignored her by focusing on whatever was going on on his phone. The elevator stopped on his floor, but before she could exit, Beckham reached out and stopped the doors from opening.

“What?” she asked, exasperated.

“Try not to bother anyone.” Reyna narrowed her eyes. “Not everyone is as…kind as I am.”

“Kind?” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice.

His eyes hardened darkly. “Yes. And do be sure to remember that.”

Unceremoniously, he opened the doors once more and left the elevator. She grumbled under her breath but followed him. There was clearly a reason for him to give her that warning. Perhaps she needed to be more careful at his work, surrounded by a sea of vampires. She stuck close to his side as they made their way to his office.

“Becks?” she whispered when she felt eyes on her from all directions. “Does everyone know?”

“Know what?”

“You know…”

“That you are human?” he asked. “Yes, I think that’s quite obvious.”

Of course, that wasn’t what she had meant. She wondered if they all knew that Beckham was her Sponsor. Did they all look down on her for becoming a human employee? They needed people like her to make any money and keep the company afloat. But that didn’t mean they didn’t judge the humans who worked for them. She had seen worse behavior from her own kind. She couldn’t imagine how much she would be shunned by the vampires.

But she didn’t voice any of her concerns as they walked through the corridor.

Unsurprisingly, Beckham had a corner office on the top floor. The heights were dizzying and she quickly looked away from the window. She wasn’t afraid of heights, but it was still intimidating.

Beckham walked to a big black desk facing a giant wall of screens. He tapped a few things on his computer and seemed to zone out to his work.

“Anderson!” someone called from the doorway.