Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
“Your Majesty,” someone calls. Theophilus waves them away and closes my office door, muffling the sounds of the club, people having a good time. The security feed shows bright-eyed, happy horde of humans, laughing, talking, dancing on silent repeat. I want to destroy this office, burn the club to the ground, with everyone in it. Torture Theophilus for being the messenger, for witnessing my humiliation.
Instead I remain still and silent, watching my lovely pet staking vampires. Again and again and again.
The video ends with a close up shot of Selene’s perfect face. She’s younger, cheeks flushed and hairline sweaty from exertion, but it’s her. She looks straight into the camera, a defiant expression that’s all too familiar.
A garbled voice breaks the silence. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Selene.”
“What is your mission?” The camera zooms in further.
“Find Lucius Frangelico.”
“And then?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “I’m going to kill him.”
Selene
Ten minutes without Lucius, and I’m bored out of my mind. Watching vampires try to seduce unsuspecting humans isn’t my idea of a good time.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” I tell the guard.
“Frangelico says you stay here.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s either that, or I pee on the seat.”
The guard touches his earpiece. “We’ll clear it first,” he says. Good call.
The bathroom they clear has a luxurious sitting room attached to the room with the stalls. There’s a couch and huge mirrors. The sinks are set into fancy marble topped vanities with gold faucets. I primp and freshen up, feeling a little bad that there are women waiting in the hall to pee while I have the entire room to myself. Lucius is paranoid about security, seriously. It’s not like anyone can get to me and even if they could--
“Hello, Selene,” a deep voice makes my head snap around. A whimper escapes my throat as a giant shadow pushes open the door and enters.
Xavier.
“What are you doing here?” Any minute my guards should burst in.
He prowls to my side and sets down a glass filled with amber liquid on the fancy vanity.
“Drink,” he orders. “You’ll need it.”
I’ve swallowed half the glass before I realize I’ve obeyed without question. Old habits die hard.
I finish off the drink and set it down.
“You can’t be here,” I whisper. I stare in the mirror at my own reflection. Xavier’s doesn’t show, but I feel his eyes on me all the same.
“Frightened for me?”
I start to turn and he grips my neck.
“Have you forgotten who you are? What he did to you?”
“I’ve...gotten to know him. He’s not like that…” I feel stupid even as I say it.
“He’s a monster.”
I blink as Xavier uses the word Lucius so often uses to refer to himself.
“He killed your pack with no remorse.”
“Is there proof?”
“You’ve seen the photos. What more proof do you need?”
That’s not proof, I want to say. But vampires can’t be caught on film, so if there is any proof, it’s lost. “Why did he do it? He can lure any victim he likes. Why would he need to massacre an entire pack?
“Who knows why the killer kills? Boredom in his old age.”
I bite my lip because Lucius has said the same sort of things. I almost tell him Lucius has a search team looking for my old pack but Xavier speaks first.
“There’s more. I have eye witnesses. He took the youngest and the strongest to his lair. Lucius took them to his lair where he drank from their neck, forced them to drink from him, then tore out their hearts.”
I shake my head.
“Yes,” Xavier booms. “It’s true.”
“Why would he do that?”
“To turn shifters into vampires.”
“He can’t do that. He wouldn’t.”
“If he can do that, he’ll be the most powerful vampire on earth.” He sets the stake on the sink. “Unless you can stop him.”
Lucius
The video ends and I rewind it. This time I play it on silent. Whether she’s facing the camera, staking or beheading, her expression never changes. She’s so young. So determined.
It’s one thing to hear her admit she came to kill me.
It’s another to see it.
She worked at this. Trained. Everything we’ve shared and she hasn’t told me who sent her. I could torture it out of her, but it will break the fragile trust we have.
“I thought you should know,” Theophilus says, stupidly reminding me he’s here, witnessing this private humiliation.
I whirl on him. “Did you deliver this?”
He backs up, palms up. “No…”
“Did you have anything to do with this?”
“No! I just happened to be here. That’s the she wolf you bought at auction, right?’
“Yes.” I grip the edge of my desk so hard something cracks. “This video. Did it come with anything else?”
“Just the jump drive.”
“Show me the box.”
Theophilus hastens to fetch it. “We had it checked out when we first thought it was a bomb.”
No return label, just the club’s address scrawled on a white notecard taped to the front. I rip the tape away with a sharp nail. Peel off the label and there it is, the note. On screen his voice was garbled, but when I read the slanted script Xavier’s voice plays in my head.