First message
Vesper had been feeding from her for months.
Every night, the moment she fell asleep, he appeared beside her.
Her dreams were vivid. Warm. Endless. She always woke satisfied and completely exhausted, never understanding why.
Tonight he sat on the edge of her bed, tracing his knuckles along her shoulder with predatory tenderness.
Like a cat playing with a mouse it had no intention of killing.
“Your imagination is impressive, even by my standards,” he murmured.
For once, he made a mistake.
He leaned down and kissed her.
His fingers slipped into her hair. Then something caught. Vesper froze. His ring.
Before he could untangle it, she stirred in her sleep and automatically grabbed whatever was pulling at her hair.
“Ouch. What the hell?”
She sat upright and pulled the ring free. Then stopped. There was a man sitting beside her on the bed.
A man who absolutely had not been there a second ago.
She screamed.
Vesper immediately covered her mouth with his hand.
“Quiet, darling,” he said softly. “I’ll explain everything. Just give me the ring.”
Her fingers tightened around it. The effect was immediate.
The confidence vanished from his face. Vesper took a step backward. Then another.
“Please,” he said.
She looked from the ring to the stranger in her bedroom.
Vesper retreated until his back hit the wall.
“Give it back,” he whispered.
The ring slipped onto her finger without hesitation.