Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“I promise to make it worth your while.”
Okay then. I follow the king into his living room.
“What are you going to do with your sired?” I ask. The king ignores me, going to the bar and pouring two glasses of whiskey. I accept mine but don’t drink.
Frangelico drinks his in one gulp and pours another. Is he trying to get drunk? Do vampires even get drunk? Shit, I don’t have time to play drinking games.
Before I can bow out, Frangelico murmurs, almost to himself.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to sire a vampire? What’s involved?”
I shrug. “Blood exchange.”
“Yes. A careful, constant feeding. The number of exchanges varies. Too many and you weaken the victim. Too few and the virus doesn’t take hold. Oh yes,” he takes my shock for interest. “Vampirism is a virus. After all the exchanges are done to ensure the victim is primed enough to accept the virus, it’s time for the final step. The sire kills them. The heart must stop and the victim must die. Only then can the virus take over. It takes heart’s blood. The deepest, richest, and most deadly blood of all. The victim spills their heart’s blood, the sire replaces it.
“It’s excruciating,” he whispers, studying the color of his drink. “Waiting by your youngling’s side, not knowing if they will rise again. If you snuffed their life out before its time.
“Of all the sins on my head, the deaths of my children are why I am damned. But damnation is a small price to pay to avoid the long penance: eternal life.” He sets down the glass with a clink. Again, he’s murmuring so softly I wonder if it’s meant for my ears. “I will live forever, alone.”
Lucius Frangelico, all-powerful king of the vampires, is lonely.
Enough of this. I’m not his therapist. I drain my glass and set it down on the bar with a clink.
“I’m going after the one-eyed vampire,” I say. “I need blood. Lots of it.”
Without another word Lucius goes to his bar and draws out a small cooler.
“Here,” he says. I take the cooler’s handle but he doesn’t let go. “This is more than I’ve ever given you. Use it wisely. Drinking all of this could—”
“Kill me, yeah, yeah. I know.”
He raises a brow and I realize I just mocked a vampire king. After a second he smiles and I relax.
“I was going to say ‘bring a person back from the dead’. That’s another use of vampire blood—did you know? Vampire blood—the most healing substance on earth.” He picks up his glass and murmurs to the liquid, “The humans would hunt and breed us, if they knew.”
I wait until he’s finished swallowing before saying, “One more thing…”
“Yes?”
“The shifters who borrowed money from you. To place on me during the fight.”
“Yes? What about them?”
Fuck. How do I say this? “They’re…they’re my friends.”
The vampire king grins broader. It is not a pretty sight. “And you’re telling me this because…”
“Because I like my friends.” It better not get back to the Stooges that I said any of this. “I’d be very upset,” I enunciate carefully, “if any of them got hurt.”
“Ah. I see.” The vampire laughs. “You’ve been hanging out with vampires too long. Learning the art of the subtle threat.” He bends to the mini fridge and fills his drink with ice while I grit my teeth. I’m this close to saying a stake isn’t so subtle when he shrugs.
“I have no interest in killing any of my debtors. You can’t squeeze blood from a stone. Or a dead shifter.” He gives me one of his chilling smiles. “If they cannot repay me, they will simply owe me a favor.”
I suppress a shudder. The Stooges might be better off dead. “Got it.”
“I wish you well on your hunt.”
I’m halfway to the door before I remember my original question. “And your sired? What are your plans?”
The king has moved to a spot in front of his French doors, looking out on the portico. Without turning he waves his hand. “Finish your quest. Have your revenge.”
“Don’t worry, I’m planning on it. But if I run across Augustine and the rest of your sired, do I have permission to deal with them?”
“If they have turned against me, they are no longer under my protection. You may kill them. Kill them all.”
I leave him looking out at the night sky. I have a feeling he won’t move for a long time.
Chapter 17
Jordy
“Buck up, lass, it’s not so bad,” Declan says. He and the other two have been trying to cheer me up since picking me up from Grizz’s house. “You get to spend the day with us.”
I stare out the car window but see nothing except Grizz’s angry face.
“Here we are,” Declan sings as Parker pulls into a trailer park. Each lot holds a single wide, a patch of gravel for a yard and, towering over everything, a palm tree. “Home sweet home.”