“Enough.” David looked up at me, and I repeated, “Enough!” He released the man. “Seal the wound.”
He peered at me uncomprehendingly. “What?” The wound continued to flow freely.
He’d always fed until there was nothing left and had destroyed what was. He had so many things to learn. “Lave saliva over the wound and watch to make sure it heals.” He did as I asked and watched as twin pink lines formed. Then I bore into the man’s eyes. I motioned to his friends. “Bring them to us. Tell them there’s free sex in the alley, you had a taste. Send them to us, one at a time.” He nodded blankly, straightened and stumbled back to his friends to deliver his lie.
One by one the four made their way to the back of the tavern, and one by one, they were feasted on until David’s beast purred. His demeanor relaxed for the first time since I’d found him as his body filled with someone else’s blood. He fought to control the beast, and at least for the moments we hunted together, he’d fed without bringing death. We turned away from the bar and headed back to the safety of our sun-proofed rooms.
“Mr… . Ben, thanks.” David stared straight ahead.
“S’kay, kid. You just didn’t have anyone to show you how to be a vampire.”
“Didn’t know what was wrong with me. I craved … something … blood, I guess … and violence, the more the better.” He swiped a hand across his face. “The sun hurt all over my body. I thought I was crazy, turned into some kind of wild animal. I was actually hoping someone would kill me, until you showed up.”
“It’s all part of being a vampire. You heard Lucius, you’re part of our family now.” I clapped his shoulder. “If you’ll let me, I’ll show you how to live.”
We walked on for a few moments, the sky starting to lighten, and we sped up our return home.
“I’ll stay.” He looked over at me. “I don’t know what else to do.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “Good, there’s more to show you, more that you need to learn. Being a vampire isn’t all bad, but it’s not all good either though. The sick bastard who turned you should have at least given you some guidance. But, if it’s who we think it is, he’s a crazed ancient who suffers from poisoned blood. He wants to ruin Lucius’s life, calling attention to the vampiric existence, and eventually, it’s going to get him killed … I hope.”
Loupgarin had returned to haunt us, I’d see him burn in hell. Lucius’s life was worth more than a hundred of his, hundreds upon thousands of his.
Over the next few evenings, David’s lessons continued. There were copious amounts of individuals to feed upon in this city, plenty of prey. Even I took a feed, hunting without taking is true torture. The hunger can’t be denied.
But Lucius remained in the back of my mind, waiting to confront his maker, and along with him, the Magistrate.
Chapter Nineteen
The week following David’s discovery, Lucius managed to arrange a meeting with the Magistrate. It would mean a confrontation this time, and I couldn’t let him go alone. The Magistrate could, in one move, end his life, and if there were going to be hostilities, I wanted to make sure the Council understood where my loyalties lay. It wasn’t with them, it never would be.
Lucius was my maker and father. He had shown me more kindness than I’d ever known. I refused to stand idly by and watch him be destroyed. We discussed our options, deciding David was safer staying behind with Isabella, but the young vampire wouldn’t be happy being babysat instead of accompanying us into the lion’s den.
“Don’t know why I can’t go,” he sulked, showing his young years. He might be a vampire, but he was still a kid—maybe soon he’d be forced to grow up. He was a survivor.
“This is the big bad we’re going to see today. If they come for us, I want to worry about as few of my family members as possible. With Isabella’s link to Lucius, if you need to get out of Chicago, you’ll have a head start on the Council.” The idea of leaving them behind, unprotected, was a hard choice to make.
Originally, I’d argued for bringing them with us, and hiding them along the way. But Lucius reasoned differently, and he was right, no matter where we stashed them, if the Council sought retribution, it would do little good. Isabella was harder to deal with.
“Look at it from my perspective, Luc. I understand David’s youth and your need to keep us safe, but you also have to realize that if anything happens to you or Ben, I’ll go to the Council myself.” Isabella and Lucius were in our rarely used kitchen as they quarreled about the next evening’s appointment. It wasn’t hard to see she was unhappy, but from the raised voices, so was he.
“Please, just do this one thing—keep David and yourself safe. Ben and I will be fine.” He tried reassurance, finally cursing and tugging her stubbornly into his arms. His forehead rested against hers. “Please, tell me you’re okay with this. I need for you to do this for me. I can’t afford to worry, and love, if you’re there, worried won’t even cover how I’ll be feeling.”
“I’m okay with it, but I can’t walk away from you either.” She sighed. “I love you. There’s only ever been you.”
“If you love me, stay safe.”
She caught her breath. “You’re impossible, you know?”
“I do, but you still love me. And it makes everything else imaginable.”
*
Together, Lucius and I returned to the Magistrate’s stronghold and ascended to his suites, met by the Draugen, his contingency of the golden-eyed guards. Once again, we were searched and made to wait in the outer rooms that smelled of death and blood while the Magistrate prepared to greet us. The same ancient vampire entered the room.
“Lucius Draco, to what do I owe this visit?” He sank down upon a low white sofa that ran the length of one side of the room. He chose to ignore my presence. I can’t say I was unhappy. When he did take in our appearances, it was as if a persistent insect had come back to bother him. He sighed and examined his fingernails.
“Magistrate, I came with a request for the Council,” Lucius started. “My family needs more information, to be effective in Chicago.”
“What makes you think the Council has more information to share with you?” The Magistrate’s golden eyes fell upon him, piercing and deadly, before he glanced idly at his fingernails once again. I wondered if he was making a point or just so bored with us, he’d rather groom his nails.
“Because the Council dumped us in Chicago, and immediately it was discovered that a rogue hunted the area.” He glared at the old vampire, but there was nothing to read on his pale bloodless face.
“You think the Council has information about this rogue vampire?” He raised his hairless eyebrows, giving us the full weight of his stare, his pupils mere pinpoints.
“I think the Council knows more than they’re willing to tell,” Lucius replied, “and I’d like to know why.” He pushed the ancient vampire, a dangerous proposition at the best of times. But if we were going to police the Chicago area, the Council also needed to know we would stand on our own feet, instead of being hand fed Council bullshit.
“My, you’re a bold youngster.” The Magistrate eyed Lucius with a shadow of a grin, long fangs hanging below his upper lip. A young woman was led in, and she knelt before the Magistrate.
“Ah, Sybil’s here!” For the first time, he became animated. “Would you like a feed? Sybil won’t mind, I assure you.” The very young human woman cringed, lifting her wrist, and the Magistrate’s hand snaked out with the speed of a striking viper, greedy with need, dragging her wrist nearer with a viciousness that made my skin crawl. She winced as pain filled her eyes. Quickly, he bent down, jerking her wrist to his face so hard we could hear a snap, and he inhaled the heady richness of her blood. With a growl, he gouged the soft flesh of her inner wrist, and her eyes widened, twin trails streaking her cheeks before relaxation grabbed hold of her. The vampiric pheromones took root, her tears drying before they could fall. In a few moments, he lifted his head, his lips stained with the ruddy essence of her l
ife, his face flushed with it. The young woman was visibly paler. She quivered as she knelt and her head drooped forward. Scars showed on her neck as well. Not only was he cruel, but sloppy too, not taking the time to properly heal her wounds.
“Sybil, offer yourself to our guest.” She dutifully held up the other shaking wrist.
“No, thank you, Magistrate.” Lucius’s lips thinned. “We didn’t come to feed. All we need are a few answers.” He paled even whiter at the sight of the Magistrate abusing the young woman, another homeless waif sucked into the vampiric world. Her shorn blonde curls hung limp, her plump lips were fever red, her exposed flesh chalky, addicted to the vampire pheromones. The Magistrate fed from her without regard, and soon she’d perish. She wasn’t alone, so many to use and helpless to protect themselves. Promises kept the blood cows willing, until they were drained and tossed aside. Lucius didn’t agree with Council practices, but unfortunately, they were the same the world over. They took what they wanted, and used it up greedily, just like they proposed to use our family.
The Magistrate snapped his fingers and the Draugen returned, lifting Sybil, and started away. But she screamed, lashing out with her fingernails, and clung to the Magistrate’s robes. He turned his now red-rimmed golden eyes to his guards in disgust and motioned for her removal as she sobbed. It sickened me. The girl wouldn’t last much longer.
His eyes bore into Lucius’s. “Ask your questions then.” His voice was deadened and when his eyes fell upon Lucius this time, it was with the ice cold stare of a killer.
But Luc would not be deterred. “The rogue was easily ferreted out. Ben discovered him in a single evening, nothing more than a boy.” He moved between the Magistrate and myself, trying and failing to refocus the old vampire’s attention. As the Magistrate shifted, his gazed pinned me to the white carpeting.
“Did you dispose of the rogue?” The Magistrate turned his boneless neck, his eyes piercing mine. It was impossible to look away or to glance at Luc, though I could feel his rage.
“No, Magistrate, I didn’t deem it necessary.” With his eyes on me, I paused. “He was a youngling without training. He lived the only way he could.” The Magistrate’s penetrating glare never left my eyes, and mine were trapped by his. A sickening feeling began in the core of my being. This old bastard knew much more than he was telling and about why our family was forced to Chicago, coerced into leadership.
“Was it your decision to make?” He stood with an easy grace and blurred to meet me, face to face. The foul scent of decay permeated the air around him. He had lived off the lives of others for too long. He killed as he liked, corrupting those around him. A feeling of cold steel stole into my blood
“I felt it was my duty to discover what was happening. Killing the boy would only leave me with more questions unanswered.” I spoke with that feeling of icy metal leaking into my words, causing a hard, stony, determined state of being. Come on, you old bastard, you murderous son of a bitch, have a taste of me. Try me, my beast bellowed.
“Mr. Draco? Perhaps you did not understand me? So, I’ll talk slower.” His lethal gaze still locked on mine. “Was … it … your … decision … to … make?” He spoke with a deadly deliberate tone, steely calm, almost a whisper which clawed in my ears.
The touch of his voice raised the short hairs along my arms. But my beast liked it … a lot. Confrontation, destruction, that’s what it loved best, ready to leap into any fight.
“No … Magistrate. It wasn’t my decision to make.” On my admission, his hand shot out, wrapping around my throat. My feet scraped on the ground, and I hung above his head. My beast groaned, ready for battle.
He squeezed with the unknown power of the ancients as he stared up into my eyes. Small popping sounds wrenched from my throat. He wouldn’t be able to kill me if he broke my neck, but it was going to hurt like hell to heal. Now, if he ripped my head off altogether—that was a different story.
My beast pushed against my skin; it roared in my ears. It would be fun to kill the old prick. My beast might succeed, or maybe not, but what the hell, you only die twice. I growled deep in my throat, even as his grip grew tighter. My fingers itched. It was all I could do to pull the beast back. Claws wanted to burst from my fingertips, but if Lucius and I planned to walk out of here alive, so to speak, my beast couldn’t come out to play. Not yet.
“My, you’re an eager beaver, Benedict Draco. Why, we should’ve just killed you.” He grinned with his sharp pointy teeth. Death glared at me, but it wasn’t the first time, and if the Gods were willing, it wouldn’t be the last. The small bones of my neck popped a little more. He wanted to pulverize those vertebra, I could see it in his eyes, but my beast was ready to spring. Please, it begged me.
With so much of his attention tuned to me, Lucius hurried to the Magistrate’s side. “Magistrate, Ben has my utmost confidence, I stand by his decision. We’ve welcomed the young vampire into our home. We’ve stopped his feral behavior. This is not Ben’s fault. If fault needs to be placed, it should be with the one who turned him, left him on his own.”
The Magistrate’s grip squeezed tighter, my feet dangled above the floor, and I felt the muscles begin to burn, finally to tear. Unintentionally, my claws slipped into place as my beast prepared to defend itself, self-preservation taking hold. Lucius’s consciousness touched mine, commanding patience and trust. “But you know all of this. How did it happen, Magistrate? How did Loupgarin escape you?”
With Luc’s distraction, the old bastard’s thoughts bled into mine. Images of slavery, blood cows from an earlier time. No … That wasn’t right. Blood cows … and breeding camps … and something else. Slavery of the human race. Now. A battle between those loyal to the Vampire Realm and soon, what was left of humanity. A fight that would lead to the end of all that we knew, all of humankind. Row after row of death, marching on city after city. And with him … and another, Rafael, in control of all they beheld. What? None of this made any sense. I attempted to worm my way in, delving deeper into the madness that stood in the place of the Magistrate. And just as quickly, a shield slammed into place and he refocused on me.
“I should’ve killed you, youngling,” he repeated.
And the images were gone.
“Ben’s beast is the strongest, take him and Loupgarin will be your problem,” Luc finished.
There wasn’t any way to beg the Magistrate for my life and I wouldn’t if given the choice. If what I’d seen came to be … there was nothing to hold on to, everything I held dear, gone.
No. It wouldn’t happen, I wouldn’t let it. My eyes burned, my breathing became harsh with the desire to sever his head from his shoulders. If there should come a time when the Earth could be relieved of the Magistrate’s antiquated presence, I would take it.
It was a horrible promise held deep in the bloody recesses of my eyes, in the heart of them, where the crimson coals burned. The bastard needed to die; his time had come. There would be no enslavement of humanity. I would see to that.
My claws reached out, I could feel my muscles mending, tearing, and mending again. My beast saw red. The image of the Magistrate’s rich, thick blood coating my hands, my clothing, the floor—colored my vision. I focused my concentration, closing my eyes, and the beast was reigned back, soothed even as it wanted to howl.
The Magistrate’s grip loosened, unwrapping from my swollen throat, my feet scraped the floor once before I fell to it.
His eyes glittered hard as diamonds as his glare bore into mine.
Then recognition hit me, he had no idea his thoughts had bled into me.
“Your maker saved your life this time, young one. There won’t be a second.”
I coaxed my beast back. My fingers soothed the burn and fresh pain blossomed as the soft tissues knitted, the small bones popped and healed. My crushed voice box heated like fire as it repaired itself, and I found the ability to speak once again. “My apologies, sir, I meant no disrespect.” My voice croaked, not sounding like my own, and I bit ba
ck the response I truly wanted to make, a promise of his death yet to come.
Lucius grabbed a hold of my arm, first restraining me and then supporting me as my strength evaporated with the effort to repair my body. The old, evil vampire stood in front of me, eyes sparkling with his morbid humor.
His grin widened, happy with my compliance. “None taken, young Ben—you may learn yet.” His gaze swept to Lucius. “What are your plans in regard to the youngling you’ve acquired? Am I to understand you’re taking responsibility for his future?” The Magistrate continued back to the white sofa, sinking into the soft cushions with the same graceful bonelessness with which he stood. He inspected his ugly fingernails and tisked at the one damaged with his temper.
“Yes, Magistrate, we’ve taken the boy in as part of our family, there’ll be no more occurrences of reckless behavior. Our vampire secret is safe. You have my personal assurance.” He bowed his head to the ancient vampire. The power of the Council acknowledged, at least for now.
“Make sure of it or it won’t only be this youngling that suffers.” The Magistrate nodded, a promise to fulfill his threat.
“And what of Loupgarin?” Luc asked.
“Why, Lord Draco, what gives you the impression that the Council has the information you request?” He gave his deadened stare, unreadable and lethal.
“Are you saying the Council is unable to track or is unknowledgeable of this one vampire’s presence? An ancient one at that?” He raised his eyebrows, his eyes showing his disbelief.
The Council had insisted on knowing the whereabouts of our every move but had no knowledge of the one vampire sworn to kill Lucius? One who was extremely powerful and who called the wolf as his beast? It seemed rather unlikely, even to a youngling such as myself. The Council would never let such a powerful being slip by unnoticed. More was going on than the Magistrate wanted to share, politics playing into our fate. Could Loupgarin be the catalyst by which the human race became aware of the vampire? Then there’d be no need to hide, the battle for humanity would arise. And, we would finish it.
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