"You are out of your mind if you think I'll do it."
Zaide stared at the woman curiously as she shook her head at him. It was a rare occasion in which he was told no, and on those rare occasions, the unfortunate being was shown the full extent of his temper. That the one person he needed alive very seriously told him no made him confused. He couldn't kill the human; she was too valuable. Beating her was out of the question because he knew that she would prefer that to what he asked her. "My sanity is not the subject of this conversation."
Charisma narrowed her eyes at Zaide as she shook her head once more. The sight of him confused her; he wore nothing but black, down to his alligator shoes. Only one color was present in his impeccable ensemble - the red tie that enhanced the startling color of his eyes. She didn't know much about the Mordecai, but she knew that his eyes weren't supposed to look like his. They were black, but there were odd red chips within them. If she hadn't been told that his being the first made him different, she would have figured it out on her own simply by looking at him.
He was another looker. Long blonde hair tied back in a sexy queue emphasized the sharp lines of his face and the colors of his eyes. He looked like the kind of man you saw on the cover of magazines, not the leader of soul-sucking demons. "I won't do it."
Zaide let out a small breath of exasperation before he used his powers to teleport two people into the room. The first was a young boy, no older than eighteen, and the second, was someone his precious tool would immediately recognize.
"Nadia!" Charisma took a step forward to embrace her friend but stopped when Zaide wrapped an arm around Nadia's shoulders. Fear coursed through her body, but she found herself calming down when she looked at Nadia. The Daemis looked extremely calm, almost as if she knew that nothing would happen to her. Had this been part of her vision?
"Other than the stench of demon she has on her, she smells lovely." Zaide stopped to press his nose against the redhead's neck and inhaled deeply. "The raw power in her blood is quite tempting."
"Get your hands off her," Charisma commanded. Watching Zaide toy with Nadia sent her into a rage. Had she the power, she would have killed him with her bare hands.
"So there is a way to tame you." Zaide looked to the young boy who stood paralyzed, thanks to his power. "All I want is his power."
"No."
Zaide took another frustrated breath before a dagger materialized in his hand. "I won't ask nicely again." To emphasize his point, he brought the tip to Nadia's neck and pierced her soft skin just enough to draw blood. He was impressed by the woman's silence; she didn't even flinch or cower in fear.
"No! Stop it!" Charisma took a pleading step forward. Nadia wasn't supposed to be caught in the middle. She was innocent and had nothing to do with Zaide's plan. "Stop."
"Give me what I want and I won't kill her."
"And I'm really supposed to believe that?" Not after what he just did. "You're the bad guy, remember?"
"She is of no real use to me."
"All the more reason for you to kill her to get what you want."
Zaide paused for a moment, impressed by her thorough logic. She was right; he could kill his expendable hostage at any time. "You're absolutely right, darling, but you have the power to make her transition to the afterlife painless."
Charisma watched in horror as he used his knife to cut the collar of Nadia's shirt just enough to bare her shoulder. A second later, he bit into her tender flesh. Charisma screamed and tried to rush forward, but found that Zaide used his powers to keep her locked into place as well. She could only scream at him to stop as he drank from a very quiet Nadia. Why wasn't she screaming? There was a demon sucking the blood out of her body and the only thing she did was stare off into space. Charisma found herself quieting the longer her eyes remained locked on Nadia's and before long she felt the tension seep out of her body.
Zaide pulled away from the woman he fed on and pressed a hand to his forehead to calm himself down. Bursts of energy rolled through his body and while the shocks were uncomfortable, they were also extremely arousing and euphoric. "You have the most delicious blood I have ever tasted." He leaned down to lick the drops of blood that seeped from the wounds and took care to close her wounds before she bled out. "What are you mixed with?" When the woman only continued to stare at his gem, he placed his fingers beneath her chin to force her to look at him. "You aren't completely human. What are you?" Still, the woman remained silent. She was terrified; the furious beat of her heart could be heard. He looked at her neck and licked his lips at the arousing movement of her carotid artery as blood rushed through her veins. "She's quite the delectable creature," he said aloud. Zaide looked into the woman's grey eyes and found himself held captive by her stare. Her emotionless gaze made him lean closer to her to better search for some kind of weakness. She held her ground, however, even when her eyes momentarily flashed like lightning. "You'll be worth the pain that comes with eating your soul."
"No!" Charisma shouted again. Tears streamed down her face, but she could not move to wipe them away. There was nothing she could do to stop him, to protect Nadia as she had her. She was completely helpless. "I'll do what you want. Just... Just Stop. Please."
