Basic Needs

St. Louis was a blur of gold halogen streetlamps, red brake lights, and neon in every color. City lights reflected off the overcast clouds above, turning the sky a mottled orange. It was a dreary night, at odds with the upbeat jazz playing from the radio.

Elizabeth stared out the passenger-side window of her maker’s black Mercedes, absently wringing her hands. Her stomach hurt, but not in a way she’d grown accustomed to yet. She hadn’t eaten food in almost a year, not since she’d woken up dead and starving, and dwelling on that for too long stirred a deep, instinctive dread in her. But this wasn’t that kind of hunger.

It was something worse.

Josiah cast her a glance from the driver’s seat. “I’ll take you to that bar we went to a couple of months ago,” he said.

Elizabeth shook her head, brushing a wavy strand of pale blonde hair out of her face. “No. Too many people. I don’t want to fuss with that.”

He glanced at the fledgling vampire’s hands, clenched in her lap.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded. “I just got spooked earlier. That’s all.” Elizabeth crossed her arms, anchoring them there to keep herself from fidgeting. “I don’t even know when it’s happening. I feel like myself, and then suddenly I realize I haven’t been myself at all.”

Josiah nodded, his expression tightening. “You should have told me sooner that you needed to hunt. Our clan already has a reputation for being unable to control ourselves, and until you’re released from my Accounting, your mistakes reflect on us both. The hungrier you are, the more that hunger will control you.”

Elizabeth sank deeper into the seat. He was right. She’d avoided hunting because she was afraid she’d make a mistake, or lose control, and hurt someone… or worse. But she needed to feed. And the longer she put it off, the more likely that fear was to make itself a reality.

Again.

“I just don’t want to get wound up again before we go see the Prince later.”

Josiah hummed gruffly. “Tell me where to go. We’ll do whatever you want.”

Elizabeth thought, then said, “I want to go to the park.”

Minutes later, the Mercedes pulled to a stop along the street outside the university campus. Elizabeth checked the time: 8:47 p.m. The park officially closed in twelve minutes, but there was little to stop anyone from wandering in after hours.

This was an unusual choice for her. Elizabeth had grown comfortable with more seductive hunting methods, favoring crowded places where options were plentiful. She was pretty—blue-eyed and willowy for her apparent age—not someone people would consider threatening, much less a predator.

Since becoming a vampire, she’d learned how easily mortals could be nudged into fascination, if not outright infatuation. The power was in her blood, and it answered when she reached for it. A demure smile and the promise of a little affection were usually enough to lead someone somewhere quiet for a quick bite.

But at this hour, in this park, that approach would be harder to manage.

Elizabeth paused on the sidewalk at the edge of the park, scanning the darkness ahead. Her shoulders were tense, her mouth set.

“Not sure what you’re planning here,” Josiah said. “Do you need help?”

“No, I’ve got this.” She stepped onto the path, following it as it curved to the right. Halfway in, she glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Stay close, though. Please.”

Then she disappeared into the darkness between the lights.

Elizabeth followed the path deeper into the park. She let her senses open, and the blurry darkness snapped into sharp focus. The city pressed in on her all at once—the hiss of distant traffic, the rustle of leaves, the mingled scents of exhaust, damp earth, and cold stone. She felt the city’s vibrations through the ground beneath her feet, even through the soles of her sneakers.

A chill October wind cut through the thin fabric of her shirt and would have gone straight to the bone if she were still alive. She called the blood to the surface, coaxing warmth back into her skin, chasing the blush of life just to feel normal.

From the deep shadow of a glass-and-brick building overgrown with creeping vines and wildflowers, Elizabeth watched the park. She ignored the cold and the city’s constant noise, focusing instead on her quarry: a young man sitting alone on a bench. Fit, but not athletic. A college student, if she had to guess, ineffectively cupping a joint in his hand as if anyone passing by wouldn’t smell it.

She crept up behind him without so much as brushing a dry leaf.

“Excuse me,” she said, leaning into her Southern accent in a way that usually disarmed people on the spot.

The man nearly jumped out of his seat, then remembered the joint and fumbled to hide it up his sleeve.

“Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me,” he said. His heart hammered loud and fast, but some of the tension drained from him as he took her in. Young. Unthreatening. Alone.

“I’m so sorry, sugar. I didn’t mean to scare you.” That much wasn’t a lie. “I was just wonderin’ if maybe you’d be willin’ to share?”

She sat beside him on the bench and let her presence soften his apprehension, reaching out just enough to make him want to please her. “But if you’d rather not, I understand. I’ll leave you alone.”

“No! I mean, yes. I, uh…” He scrambled for words, clearly afraid she might disappear if he chose wrong. “I’m happy to share. Here.” He held the joint out to her and shifted to give her more space.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth smiled sweetly and took a drag, knowing it would not affect her. She wasn’t sure yet whether the drug lingering in his blood might. The thought of his blood stirred something sharp and ravenous in her. “My name’s Liz.”

“Liz…” He looked at her the way a dog looks at someone it hopes will decide to keep it. “I’m Jake.”

“Nice to meet you, Jake.” She handed the joint back and scooted closer. He smelled like burger grease, stale sweat, and a too-heavy cologne that didn’t quite belong on him. “Just you out here all by your lonesome, huh?”

He stared at her for a beat too long before answering. “Yeah. I like coming out here at night, just to chill in the dark. It’s… really pretty.” He hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she sat down.

“Me too.” She smiled, then let her gaze drift toward the trees. “I don’t come here much anymore, though. I miss bein’ out in the woods back home in Mississippi. Used to quiet things down in my head.” She looked at her shoes, surprised at herself. He wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow. Maybe that was all the more reason to talk. “Since I came to the city, it’s just been one hard thing after another.”

Jake nodded, a little startled by the sudden intimacy. “It’s rough at first. I grew up in the Upper Peninsula, hours from anything. When I moved here, I couldn’t sleep for weeks. All the lights and the noise.”

Elizabeth smiled and kept the disappointment off her face. He thought he understood her, and there was no way to bridge the distance between what he meant and what she actually was. If she opened her mouth again, it would show, so she stayed quiet.

“Whereabouts in Mississippi are you from?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s just a little town. You wouldn’t have heard of it.” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “It’s not even important anymore. I’m just passin’ through.”

“I guess I got lucky, I was here when you stopped,” he said, trying a little too hard to sound charming.

She smiled and shifted closer, resting her arm along the back of the bench behind him. His attention followed the movement without effort on her part.

“I guess you did,” she said softly.

Jake stared at her, utterly focused.

“You smell really nice,” he murmured.

“It’s my favorite perfume. My daddy bought it for me.” Not that Josiah was her real father, but he’s all she had now. She leaned in close and whispered, “You wanna smell it up close?”

He couldn’t find the words to answer as she brushed her breath against his collar. His scent rose to meet her, sanguine with faint phlegmatic undertones from the marijuana.

It’ll do, she thought.

She took him by the hand and led him toward the gray brick restroom building at the edge of the park, somewhere they could have a little privacy. Jake followed wordlessly as she shoved him back against the sink and kissed him, all urgency and heat. He wrapped his arms around her thin waist and pulled her close. For one aching moment, she remembered what it felt like to want something other than blood.

His hands slid down her backside, gripping her there as she let his tongue slip past her lips. He tasted like smoke and nerves, and she let herself linger in it longer than she should have, breathing him in, letting the closeness make her feel human again.

Confusion crept into his expression as entrancement began to loosen its hold.

“I don’t really know what’s happening right now,” he breathed, though he didn’t sound like he needed an answer yet.

Elizabeth dragged her lips up his neck, feeling his pulse against her skin. “I’m sorry I didn’t chat you up a little more first, darlin’. I’m just in a hurry.”

He arched his neck without thinking, offering himself. The moment her fangs pierced his skin, every thought but pleasure slipped away. She braced him against the sink as his body went slack in her hands, and the world narrowed to the hot blood rushing across her tongue.

Even as she sated it, the hunger clawed at her, rattling its cage like a trapped beast, urging her to feed until he was dry, heedless of the consequences. She knew it was wrong, but in the moment, the restraint it demanded felt almost unbearable.

Then her senses snapped outward.

Leather work boots scuffed against the cement floor. The smell of dirt and animal musk flooded the room.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and caught his reflection in the mirror behind Jake. A pallid, disheveled man stood in the doorway, lips peeled back from his fangs, eyes bright and feral.

Another vampire.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing hunting on my turf?”

The words came out as a snarl.

Elizabeth backed away, shoving Jake to the floor beneath the sink as she searched for a way out that the intruder wasn’t blocking. He stepped toward her, talons tipping his fingers, fangs bared and gleaming.

“I’m gonna take back every drop of blood you just stole from me, you stupid cow.”

Elizabeth screamed.

***

Josiah finally spotted Elizabeth, standing stock-still in the shadow of the botanical garden. He followed her line of sight to a young man sitting alone on a bench. Not her usual choice, but at least she wouldn’t linger.

He watched her approach, a faint huff of amusement escaping him when she startled the poor bastard half out of his skin.

His attention shifted back to the grounds. He scanned for movement, for anything out of place. It could have been an animal, or just the park settling into itself, but the unease didn’t fade. The park was unclaimed territory, hemmed in by the domains of other clans. If something else was lurking out here, it wasn’t being careful.

Still, the feeling persisted.

Elizabeth led her unwitting victim toward the restroom building, farther from where Josiah waited in the shadows.

Movement flickered to his right. Two dark figures slipped out from the trees, angling toward the same building. They moved low and fast, hunched and prowling on all fours.

Vampires. Clan Gangrel, from the look of them.

“Shit,” Josiah muttered as he started through the darkness, keeping low, moving fast. If he rushed them now, he’d give himself away. If he didn’t, he might not reach Elizabeth in time. Gangrel were dangerous. Two of them even more so.

They reached the building before he was halfway there. One vanished inside. The other crouched beside the door, coiled and waiting, blocking the only way in or out.

Josiah broke into a run.

The Gangrel at the door bristled, eyes shining red in the dark as it caught sight of Josiah crossing the lawn.

Then Elizabeth’s scream shattered the night.

Josiah forced blood through his body, heat and power flooding his limbs. The world slowed around him as he surged forward, tearing across the grass toward his progeny’s assailants at the speed of a bullet.

The Masquerade be damned.

***

Elizabeth shrank into the corner as the snarling vampire blocked her escape. She crouched beneath the sink, every instinct screaming at her to tear his throat out for daring to victimize her. The beast inside her snapped and clawed, urging violence even as panic threatened to drown everything else. Her thoughts scattered. Control slipped through her fingers. Whether fight or flight, a frenzy was overtaking her.

A heartbeat later, someone shouted outside the building.

A body hurtled through the doorway in a blur. It hit the far wall with a meaty thud, wood splintering and glass exploding outward as it collapsed into the wreckage of a shattered toilet stall.

The vampire attacking Elizabeth spun around, fangs and claws bared.

“What the fuck!?”

Josiah stepped into the room like a predator given form, boots crunching through debris, dark eyes blazing. He fixed his gaze on Elizabeth’s assailant and spoke.

“Get the fuck away from her.”

The words hit like a truck. The Gangrel’s body lurched backward, limbs jerking as it scrambled away from Elizabeth, obeying the compulsion against its own will. There was nowhere to go but toward Josiah. Cornered, it raised its talons defensively, already knowing how useless that was.

Josiah tore a wooden handrail from the concrete wall. In an instant, he closed the distance and slammed the makeshift stake through the vampire’s chest. His body went slack. Immobilized.

The second Gangrel had just regained his footing. One look at his companion, nailed to concrete by a wooden spike, and he bolted.

Josiah let him go, turning back to Elizabeth. She had her arms over her head, fangs bared, a low growl rumbling in her chest. Her eyes darted wildly around the room, hunting for threats that were no longer there.

Somewhere behind her, Jake stirred.

Josiah took Elizabeth by the chin and forced her to look at him. Her eyes were wild and unfocused.

“Look at me, Elizabeth,” he said, firm. “Right here. Focus.”

Her gaze snapped to his. She snarled, fangs bared. She was struggling, but she was still present.

“No one’s going to hurt you,” he said. “They’re gone. You need to rein it in right now, kiddo, you hear me?”

Jake groaned and pushed himself up on one arm, clutching his head where it had struck the floor. He took in the wrecked restroom in a slow, dawning horror. Shattered stalls. Elizabeth’s fangs. A vagrant pinned to the wall. Josiah, watching it all with thinning patience.

“Holy fucking shit!”

He scrambled to his feet, slipped on broken glass, and collapsed back down with a yelp.

“Son,” Josiah said without looking away from Elizabeth, “you need to stay where you are. Do not run. One of us will chase you down if you do, and trust me, you want it to be me.”

Jake froze. After a moment, he crawled backward beneath the sink and curled into himself, shaking.

Josiah held Elizabeth’s gaze until the growl in her throat broke into a sob. She collapsed against him, burying her face in his chest. He let her cry for a few moments, then steadied her and helped her back onto her feet.

“We have to deal with this and get out of here,” he stated.

Elizabeth looked at Jake, still huddled in the corner. “H-he saw—”

“I’ll take care of it.”

She gasped, but he cut her off with a raised hand. “I won’t hurt him. But I need you to get the car. Can you do that?”

Elizabeth nodded and took the keys from Josiah. She left the restroom without looking back, her steps stiff and hurried.

Josiah turned to Jake, who seemed to fold in on himself under the attention. Hunger tugged at him, urging a faster, bloodier solution, but he pushed it aside. Elizabeth had already been through enough tonight, and melancholic blood left an astringent taste in the mouth.

“It’s almost over, kid,” he said quietly. “Look at me.”

Jake lifted his head. Josiah hypnotized the boy with his gaze, smoothing the panic away. Jake’s breathing slowed. His eyes went glassy as the terror drained out of him.

“Go back to your dorm,” Josiah said. “Don’t talk to anyone. Take a shower and go to bed. Never think about tonight again.”

Jake stared at nothing for a moment, then blinked as Josiah released him. He pushed himself upright and stumbled out of the restroom without a word.

Josiah hefted the staked vampire over his shoulder. By the time Elizabeth pulled the car around, he was waiting. He slid the body into the trunk and shut it firmly.

He checked the time on his phone. Almost nine thirty.

He dialed.

The line rang five times before it was answered. The delay was deliberate.

“This is Talbot,” a haughty baritone said.

“Meet me on the parking level in ten minutes,” Josiah replied. “We’ve got a problem. The Prince will need to be informed.”

He heard a scoff before the call was ended.

“Prick,” he muttered.