Not long after the rest of their allies departed, Bryce, Zaid, Tyler, Skylar, and the two vampiresses, Sheila and Eleanor, returned to Zaid's mansion with their advisors.
Luxurious furniture furnished Zaid's office with a sophisticated, debonair style.
Bookcases lined up neatly against the back wall upon walking in, as Zaid enjoyed reading from time to time. Behind his desk, on the left side of the doorway, a large ceiling-high window provided a serene view of a lavish outdoor garden. In the center of the snow-covered garden, a golden fountain of a serpent statue posed as Zaid's most cherished masterpiece, providing him with a sight to admire from his window.
Across the living room area, a square carpet featuring a serpent motif dazzled over a small section of the shining, diamond-colored marble floor. Crocodile skin was intricately stitched into the arms and back of the leather couch and recliner chairs, creating an exotic design.
Snake skins lined the wall to the right of the entry, adjacent to the living room area, and above the hung wall TV. Two crocodile heads were mounted on the green wall, positioned on both sides of the TV. Aligned in the center of the room, a large leather table layered with more snake skins served as Zaid's card game table, as he enjoyed gambling.
At the table sat a gorgeous blonde named Tori as she waited for their arrival. Tori was Zaid's two-year-younger sister who was Bryce's sole wife and destined mate.
"Took everyone long enough," Tori remarked as everybody strutted through the door when she elegantly stirred her teacup of blood with a spoon.
Born as the only daughter to their parents, Tori took after their mother as a Hunter species instead of being a Slither. Out of five siblings, Zaid and their three other brothers were born Slithers like their father. Similar to their beautiful blonde-haired mother, Tori was just as cunning as a snake: a wicked trait that every Slither in their grandparents' Coven admired about her and their mother.
Their proud father spoiled Tori rotten like his lovely wife. There was nothing their father denied his only daughter and his wife; as Zaid could recall, they were his father's sole weaknesses.
Bryce felt like the luckiest vampire Slither in the world to not only be blessed with such a gorgeous yet conniving destined mate to match his guileful personality, but Tori was also a wonderful queen to his clan and a loving mother to their three sons.
"Exactly my thoughts," Eleanor agreed as she relaxed in a chair diagonal from Tori at the circular table.
With everyone inside, Sheila announced near the door, "With that meeting out of the way, Bryce will be happy—"
"Tell me you found it! Please tell me you have my heart!" Bryce cut in, anxiously hounding Sheila for information.
"Yes, give me a second to get it," Sheila replied, rolling her eyes before exiting the office.
Anxious about the previous announcement that Sheila might have retrieved his heart after Kai had removed it from his chest, Bryce eagerly waited for her return inside Zaid's spacious office, while almost everyone else sat down at the table.
Minutes later, Sheila reopened the door, holding a small black chest in her hands.
"You have it!" Bryce cheerfully exclaimed, practically ramming into her at the door like a hyperactive puppy.
"Would you calm down!" Sheila hissed as Bryce barely allowed her entry when she pushed against him.
"Oh, I could kiss you!" Bryce chuckled, snatching the chest from her grasp, as his wife, Tori, happily smiled at them from the table.
"Please, spare me!" Sheila gagged, sticking out her tongue as she shut the door.
Tori burst out laughing at her complexion turning a greenish hue. Meanwhile, Bryce chuckled and opened the chest to find his beating heart lying inside it, as he took a minute to admire it.
He awed in glee, "I can't believe you found it!"
"It took me longer than I expected, but I finally located it," Sheila explained, walking behind the desk to view the snowy, ice-glazed garden.
"I wish I had your gift," Zaid enviously admitted, sitting at the edge of his desk and sneaking a sideways glance at her from behind his back.
One thing he noticed was that her posture remained as still as unmoving water. Dark energy permeated around her aura, as she avoided looking at Tyler at the table, which he keenly observed.
"Many vampires could only wish to be granted such an enchanting gift," Sheila whispered, fixing her gaze upon the bed of roses that looked like icy, crisped thorn twigs, looking as lifeless as her.
Unlike countless others, Sheila was bestowed one of the rarest gifts any vampire could dream of, which granted her the ability to smell scents underwater. Whether a vampire hid their detained victims or a simple heart, Sheila's gift equipped her with the senses to detect anything or anyone beneath the water.
Regardless of the depths, she always located whatever target she intended to find. Numerous times, she sniffed out hidden underwater chambers or caves where Covens kept their offspring and females safe from enemies during past attacks. Unfortunately for those females and their little ones involved in the recent Rebellion Wars, Sheila still exposed countless hideouts for Zaid and his allies to capture them.
"Someone quickly put it inside my chest!" Bryce anxiously exclaimed with exhilaration gleaming in his eyes.
Bouncing to his feet from the desk, Zaid offered, "I'd be honored to help you."
Steadying his hand, Zaid firmly grasped the heart, holding it in his palm after tossing the chest aside. "Ready?" he asked, though a wicked glint in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by his little sister or the others.
"Gent—ahh!" Bryce gnashed his fangs as Zaid abruptly shoved the heart into his chest. "I said gentle—ahh! You jerk!"
On cue, their friends laughed, clearly enjoying Zaid's deliberate display of humor for them.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you," Zaid lied with a conniving grin, roughly wrenching his hand out of Bryce's chest as the open wound made a painful crunchy sound.
"Aah!"
As the pain gradually faded, Bryce gritted his fangs for a second, and the telltale signs of his heartbeat fluttered beneath his chest after the gaping hole naturally sewed his torn flesh back together, fully healing the wound. Right away, the gifts flowed a powerful energy through him as he outstretched his muscular arms and flexed his solid chest. By the milliseconds, he felt stronger as the power of his gifts reactivated itself throughout every muscle and nook in his body.
"You're such a liar!" Bryce exclaimed, punching Zaid's upper shoulder after regaining his composure and full strength.
Unfazed, Zaid laughed with their friends.
Thereafter, Bryce rebuttoned his navy blue shirt that he had undone when Sheila left to grab the chest. Then he sat beside Tori and kissed her temple while running his fingers through her long, straight, silky blonde locks.
Meanwhile, Zaid cleaned the blood off his hand with a handkerchief he had taken from his desk. After grabbing a black and gold deck of cards from his drawer, Zaid took a seat with them. "Who's up for a round of poker?" he asked, and a few of them nodded with consent.
~~~
Check out the image for Zaid in the comment section. The details in the background features Zaid's interest and style. It's a side viewpoint of the fountain from Zaid's study, not his office.