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Bowen sighed and took a seat on the edge of the bed, setting the cloth he'd been wiping Levin's head with into a bowl on the nightstand. "That was Brent. You know how he gets."

Yeah, he knew, and so did Bowen; and yet Bowen continually sent the man out to do his dirty work--kill a person here, kidnap a person there, threaten a family or two. Levin bit back the words that rose in his throat, knowing they would do him no good. Bowen didn't view himself as a monster, and he never would, regardless of whether or not he sent men like Brent around to hurt people, because he truly believed that what he was doing was right. Humanity hadn't been kind to the Immortalis, as Levin could attest, and Bowen sought a world where they could live without fear and hatred. It was almost noble--if that world didn't mean suffering for the rest of the people.

"What do you want, Bowen?" Levin asked, trying to remain calm, but the last time he'd been with Bowen had completely turned his world upside down.

The Immortalis reached a hand out to Levin, his fingers brushing against his dark curls and then settling on his cheek. His touch was gentle and warm, belying the prejudiced notion that the Immortalis were dead. His eyes were intent, so focused that Levin couldn't hold his gaze for long.

"You know what I want," Bowen said.

Yes. He'd known that for the past sixty years, although he'd fruitlessly hoped that the man had given up by this point, but just as all of Levin's other hopes had turned out to be a pointless waste of thought, so had this one.

He drew in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, and turned his face so that Bowen's hand fell away.

"I haven't changed my mind," he said. "You're wasting your time."

This response earned a sigh from his companion.

"Then you leave me no choice," Bowen said. There was a moment of silence and then a soft laugh before he continued, "Don't you think you've forgotten something, Levin?"

Levin blinked, turning to look at the older man in confusion.

Bowen grinned vindictively. "What about that pretty human you were talking to in that alley?"

Levin stared at him in horror and then his face twisted into an angry grimace. He shot forward, his mind turning red with rage, but Bowen merely slammed a fist into his gut, forcing him to double over on the bed as he hacked and coughed and tried to get his breath back.

"Relax, Levin. She's alive, and she'll continue to live as long as you cooperate."

Slowly, his breath returned, and he heaved in deep lungfuls of air before raising his head to glare at the man. "Don't you dare hurt her. I swear, if you lay a finger on her--"

Bowen laughed and got to his feet, standing with his back to the bed, though Levin was sure that he wouldn't be able to jump him even now. Bowen was far stronger than he would ever be because he indulged on blood every chance he got and the Immortalis Parasitus had grown fat and happy, supplying large amounts of energy to its host.

"It's a little late for that," Bowen said. He half-turned and motioned toward the door. "Come, and you can see."

Levin's face was pale, and he knew that whatever the older man wanted to show him, he really did not want to see, but his body rose woodenly, as if by its own accord and followed Bowen out the door. They walked down a brightly lit hallway, their shadows stretching obscenely across the floor. Finally, they came to a stop outside a door, which Bowen opened. Dani lay inside the room, the floor stained with blood all around her.

Levin stood frozen. She looked dead, her skin ashen, her hair pooled in her blood, and he was too afraid to get closer for fear that she wouldn't be breathing and her eyes would be gazing lifelessly at the red-stained tiles. He didn't know if he would be able to bear that, so he stood there staring until he saw her twitch slightly and let out a pained moan. He rushed to her side and drew her into his arms, feeling his breath catch in his throat when he caught sight of her face--dark bruises marred her skin and her bottom lip had been split open, but it was the words carved into her forehead that had stilled his breath: immortalis est parasitus--the parasite is immortal.

Levin had seen the same phrase carved onto the bodies of other victims of the Nekriki--a dark counterpart to the tattoo that the Immortalis like Levin--willing to bend a knee to the government for their protection--were forced to have.

"Dani," he breathed, and her eyes fluttered and then opened. She whimpered.

Trembling with rage, Levin turned toward Bowen who stood in the doorway, watching the exchange quietly.

"You--" He choked on the words as the pressure of tears burned his eyes. "How could--why--" He lowered his head so that it was near Dani's face and he could feel her exhales on his cheek.

Bowen sighed. "You're soft, Levin. I thought I taught you better. Humans are nothing more than insignificant scum; they're weak, transient, violent hypocrites, but I saw something in you--something that the other humans didn't have."

He stepped into the room, coming to stand above Levin and Dani.

"I made you into something more, something infinite, and yet you spat in my face and ground my generosity into the dirt. And still I waited."

Levin hunched over Dani, like he could somehow shield her with his own body.

"But I can't wait anymore. I will give you one final choice. You can leave, put the Nekriki behind you forever, and you will never see me again, but the human will die. Or..." Bowen knelt down beside Levin and Dani whimpered again. "Or you can join the Nekriki and we will let her live."

Levin's mind spun. Neither option was good. He didn't want Dani to die, but he didn't want to become a monster like Bowen. The Nekriki weren't like the average Immortalis, even those that enjoyed drinking blood. The members of Nekriki injected blood right into their veins, where the parasite could feast on it more easily; supposedly, it felt amazing--the greatest high of all--and made the Immortalis more powerful. Levin knew he couldn't agree to join and then skip out later because they would expect him to inject himself with blood, and if he did that...he feared he would never turn back.

"Why do you want me so bad?" Levin asked, his voice shaky.

"Don't let it get to you head, Levin. It's not that you're any more special than my other fledglings; I just don't like when people tell me no."

Levin knew that wasn't really the truth. If Bowen simply needed to get his way, he would have found a way to force Levin to join the Nekriki when he'd first infected him with the Immortalis Parasitus, yet he hadn't. In fact, Bowen had been entirely sympathetic, helping Levin with the sudden urges and easing him through the transition; and even when he'd chosen to leave, Bowen had only expressed sorrow and disappointment; there had even been a kind of love that he had trouble seeing in the man now.

Levin drew in a deep breath, the heady scent of blood nearly making him gag, and stared down into Dani's face. Her eyes were half-lidded and she looked barely conscious; she was probably almost dead anyway, maybe it would be more merciful to end her suffering now.

He squeezed his eyes shut. No. No way. He shuddered at the thought, that he had actually considered murdering her. He had no right to choose to take her life; there was only one thing he could do: save her by joining the Nekriki and hope that he was strong enough to fight the addiction.

He gently laid Dani on the floor and wondered why it always seemed to come to this. Why did he always feel the need to save those around him. He'd given himself over to the government to protect the Immortalis that he knew would follow him; and now he was giving himself over to the Nekriki to protect this woman--a near stranger--who'd simply had the guts to treat him with a little bit of decency. He turned his scathing glare on Bowen.

"Fine," he snarled. "You win. I'll join your ******** cult, but you had better keep your word and let Dani go."

Bowen smiled. "Of course."

He produced a syringe and handed it to Levin, who stared at it like he'd never seen one before, and then his attention slid to Dani, where he noticed for the first time, the small pinprick marks on the crook of her elbow. He shook his head vehemently.

"I'm not taking Dani's blood," he snapped. " No way in hell!" He thrust the syringe back toward Bowen, who sighed and pushed Levin's hands away.

"You don't need to take a lot. She'll survive, but it must be hers." He grinned. "It's your initiation rite."

Levin swallowed the lump in his throat and settled his eyes on Dani once more and then leaned over her. His hands shook, and he barely managed to get the needle in her vein before pulling the plunger back and filling the syringe a quarter of the way with Dani's blood. He wouldn't take any more than that; even this was too much.

He drew the syringe away, nearly dropping it in the process as his hands continued to tremble. Bowen grabbed hold of his wrist, steadying him.

"You won't regret it," he said softly, and Levin thought that he was probably right. Of course, that was the problem.

Levin didn't move, his heart pounding and his pulse throbbing loudly in his ears. He continued to simply stare down at the syringe of blood, long enough that Bowen reach forward and took it from his hands. Levin closed his eyes and after a moment, he felt the needle slide into his arm and then the warm rush of blood invaded him. For a minute, nothing seemed to happen and then the blood must have made its way to the parasite, and Levin's mouth opened in shock, his body arching backwards. Distantly, he could hear Bowen chuckling, but all he could really focus on was the sudden rush of pleasure and power that surged through his body.

His eyes rolled backwards and he nearly collapsed, but someone held him up. He felt arms wrapping around him and a mouth next to his ear, whispering softly, urging, insisting. His eyes slid to the woman on the floor. He could almost hear the rush of blood in her veins, and he wanted it, wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything before. And the voice continued whispering in his ear, gently telling him that it was okay, to let himself indulge.

He fell forward, so that he was leaning over the woman, and he panted harshly as he prodded at her skin, wondering how to get to the blood underneath it. As if in answer to his thoughts, he felt something press into his hands and looked down to find a knife, which he lifted and pressed against the woman's arm. He dragged the blade across her flesh, watching the red well up and seep across her skin, then he pressed his fingers into it.

"Le...vin...?"

His eyes flicked to the woman's face; her eye makeup was smudged and ran in streaks down her cheeks.

"What're you...what're you doing?"

The voice whispered in his ear again, and Levin lifted his bloody fingers to his mouth; and for the first time, he savored the taste of blood.

The woman's face twisted with fear and disgust and she tried to push herself backwards, but Levin moved over, straddling her hips and pinning her to the ground. She struggled and kicked and screamed, but she was weak and he was strong.

"Stop it, Levin," she yelled. "What's gotten into you?"

Blood, he thought. Blood had gotten into him, and he wanted more.

"Kill her," the voice whispered in his ear. "Take as much as you want."

Levin liked that idea, and so he lifted his knife and slashed it down. The woman raised her hands to block the blade and it sliced through her palm, earning a scream from her. Levin rose up slightly so that he could more easily get at her throat and swung the knife again, watching a second deep cut sweep across her hand, and then the woman's knee came up and slammed between his legs.

He choked, giving her a chance to push him off her and scrabble across the floor. Levin's eyes watered and the knife slipped from his fingers, clattering to the tiles noisily. He stared numbly at the bloody blade and then slowly lifted his head toward Dani, horrified at how close he'd come to killing her.

He struggled to his feet and faced Bowen. "You said you'd let her live," he said, voice unsteady.

"I wasn't the one trying to kill her," Bowen said.

Levin's face paled and he looked at Dani guiltily. "Let her go now," he whispered.

The other man sighed, as if greatly disappointed. "Fine. I will keep my word." His attention moved to Dani. "You can go," he snapped. "Quickly before I change my mind."

She scrambled to her feet, swaying and nearly crashing back to the floor. Somehow, though, she managed to maintain her balance and then she fled the room, faster than Levin thought would be possible considering her injuries, but apparently fear allowed people to do crazy things.

Bowen placed a hand on his shoulder and lowered his mouth to his ear. "Don't worry," he said, actually sounding genuinely concerned. "It'll get easier. Welcome to the Nekriki."

Levin shuddered, and as Bowen left the room, he sank to the floor, exhausted. As hard as he had tried to resist the parasite inside him, in the end he had failed, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had ever really had a choice at all.