"Immortal?" I asked and looked at her confused.

"Yes." She said but elaborated, once she noticed how confused I must have looked. "James built this hotel." She said and I nodded. "Y/N, that was 1925."

I smiled and waited fro ehr to laugh. But she never did. "My goodness..." I looked into her face, searching for anything that would reveal the joke to me. But there wasn't anything. "But, how come he is still so... formal?" I asked.

"Well. His is a different curse. You see, he can't leave this hotel. Almost none of the other residents can either." She said and looked down my body.

"What exactly do you mean by curse?" I asked and waited patiently.

"It sounds better than disease." She said but quickly continued talking. "An ancient blood diseas, that was given to me by my first love. Once you contract it, there is no going back. You stop aging, but sunlight is cruel to you. It won't kill you, but avoiding it is for the better."

"It sounds like you're a vampire." I said and smiled at her in awe.

"You might call it that." She said and smiled back at me.

"What is the downside? It is called curse for a reason. Is is not?" I asked and rolled onto my back.

"You are a clever one, Y/N." She said and trace my neck. "You have to drink blood in order to survive and keep your ravisihng looks in tact. Without it, you will continue to age and time, won't be on your side anymore." She said and avoided looking at my face.

"Is any blood okay?" I asked carefully.

The countess laughed, "You ask the right questions. I like that." She said. "It has to be fresh. And since empathy won't be in the way, I have found human blood to be the best option." She said and caressed my cheek.

"It is quite a decision to make." I said and huffed.

"And you'd have to be loyal to me. You'd be mine. I see that with james' affection towards you, this might be a problem." She said and dug her nail into my face. She didn't pierce my skin but it still hurt.

I stayed silent and thought about evreything.

"You'd only have to drink a little bit of my blood." She said and moved closer to me.

"You said James is different from you. And so is everyone else in the cortez. How so?" I asked and held her hand against my cheek.

"He is dead." She said without any hesitation. "And so are the others. In fact he killed a great deal of them." She said without much emotion. "At first I was intrigued, but now. He just bores me."

"You wouldn't let me be with anyone else?" I asked her carefully.

"Never. You would be my creation. And if you'd try to run, I'd find you." She was obviously serious. "But. James has nver had any interest in anyone else besides me. This is a first." She said and stood from the bed. "You could keep him off my case. Maybe he'd even fall for you, so he'd finally leave me alone for good." She seemed exited now. "Then I'll make an exeption. You may make a move on James. But no one else. Understood."

"So I'd be a link for you and James. In return, I get immortality. Is that correct?" I asked just to be sure.

"Yes. You could say it like that." She said and came closer to me again.

"Then count me in." I said and smashed out lips together.