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potatoes, and vegetables before her. She thought he might have ordered everything on the menu. It was delicious and she couldn't stop the small moan of pleasure that escaped her as she devoured it. They didn't speak again until she had finished every last morsel on her plate.

"Are you still hungry?" Braith inquired.

She did want more, simply because it had been so good, but she was completely stuffed. "No, I'm full." He squeezed her knee gently as she focused on Gideon again. "Humans and vampires live together in peace here?"

Gideon signaled for the woman who reappeared with a bottle of something. She topped off Braith and Gideon's drinks, though Braith required far less of a top off than Gideon did. "They do," Gideon confirmed when the woman was gone. "We do not have blood slaves and we do not force people to give their blood."

Gideon's gaze latched onto her neck. She hadn't realized her hair had fallen back until Braith tugged it over the marks he had left upon her.

"Most give it willingly, either by allowing us to feed from them or by donating their blood. Just as most vampires don't like the intimacy and vulnerability that the exchange of blood can produce, neither do some humans." Braith didn't move his arm, but his firm jaw flexed as Gideon's gaze dropped to the bite marks on his inner wrist. Gideon's left eyelid ticked. "Though, the connection between a human and a vampire is never as strong as it is between two vampires. I've never allowed another to feed from me, and I have never fed from another. I don't know many vampires that have."

"What do you mean by donate?" she inquired. She knew what "donating" meant in her world. The people who were not purchased as blood slaves were taken to be drained of their blood, and their bodies were callously discarded afterward.

"It is given willingly here. If they do not care to give, they do not have to." A small smile played at the corner of Gideon's mouth as he lifted his goblet and swirled the liquid inside. Aria frowned and leaned over Braith's shoulder to peer at the contents of his goblet. It was the color and viscosity of blood as it gleamed in the candlelight. She glanced up at Braith, who nodded briefly, confirming what she suspected. He didn't seem to be enjoying it very much though as he'd only taken a few small sips. "There is enough for everyone to go around here, and we live in easy, relative peace."

Aria sat back. "Relative?"

Gideon frowned as he nodded firmly. "There are always those that break the rules. I think you encountered a few of them on your way here." He glanced pointedly to the bandages on her arms showing from the edge of the cloak that had slid back. "Humans are not to be hurt here, not unless they ask for it, of course."

"So those humans in that section of town back there, and that girl at your home, they were... ah..."

"They are willingly there. We do not force humans to do anything they do not want to do, some simply have lustier needs than others, and they like to fulfill those needs. Besides, most of them are vampires, not humans, and we have far lustier needs, don't we Braith?"

Aria fought against the blush creeping up her neck and across her cheeks. She was well aware of Braith's needs, even if she hadn't satisfied all of them yet. "Gideon," Braith warned.

"She's a big girl Braith, she can handle it, stop being such a bear." Braith's jaw clenched, his hands fisted on the table. Aria grasped hold of his arm; his biceps bulged beneath her hand as he fought the urge to punch Gideon. "There is a no tolerance policy here against hurting humans that are not willing and eager. Those offenders are dealt with swiftly. We do not kill our own kind, but we do not allow them to stay either. Although, most of them would probably prefer death to the banishment they are given."

Aria glanced at her bandaged arms. Gideon was probably right, those pitiful creatures probably would have preferred death to the life of starvation and struggle they now endured. "And what are the rules for the humans?"

"They are the same for both species. Do no harm to others, no stealing, and no false accusations are to be issued. Our justice system is swift and decisive. The humans are also banished; most of them end