CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
17
Draven
I despise visitors. Always have, always will.
Dealing with outsiders from the mundane world has typically fallen under Lady Jen’s or one of my brothers’ jurisdiction. Viktor, in particular, has a knack for handling them, given his popularity in Chimera City. Me? Not so much. But as the rightful heir, claiming the throne comes with responsibilities.
“This is your order, my Lord,” the Chimeran supplier rasped, offering a vial filled with artificial blood. Its metallic tang filled my senses. Though Chimera humans supply some blood, witches, Alchemists and mages remain the primary source, crafting it to quell our hunger. We accept both – a necessary compromise.
The Vimic family excels in trade and possesses valuable resources, making it no surprise that the humans of Chimera City seek to collaborate. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement; they supply us with artificial blood, and in return, we provide them with jade—precious relics that hold little value to me but serve as excellent bargaining chips.
Just to be clear, the blood we receive is artificial, not human.
Leaning back in my throne, I ignored the vial sitting on the table before me. Lady Jen, a woman of formidable presence who stood behind me, possessed a keen eye for such matters. A retired witch with a past steeped in witchcraft – though she kept a polite distance from the coven these days – her senses remained sharp.
Lady Jen examined the vial and, satisfied, returned to my side, leaning in to whisper. She kept a respectful distance, not too close to my ear.
“This vial holds most intriguing blood, my Lord,” Jen announced, having inspected its contents. “Different, and dare I say, superior. Our supplier deserves high praise.”
She straightened after whispering the assessment into my ear, maintaining a respectful distance. A satisfied smirk played on my lips. “Excellent,” I rumbled, the word echoing through the vast chamber.
There were other large pots undoubtedly overflowing from the palace storerooms, sat outside unseen. However, protocol dictated they not be brought in until I, as the Lord, approved.
A sly grin stretched across the human boy’s face. “Wouldn’t you like to try it first, my Lord?” he offered, brandishing a vial. “I assure you, it’s precisely what you crave to quench your insatiable thirst.”
Impressive sales pitch from a human boy, I’ll give him that. But did he truly believe I was ignorant enough to think he had genuine blood from his people to satisfy a vampire’s hunger? He underestimated my senses; I could smell the artificial blood a mile away.
I scoffed, my growl rumbling low. I wasn’t one for lengthy discussions; a few words sufficed. That’s how my subjects knew me. “It’s fake,” I stated, my tapping finger on the round mahogany table coming to a halt. “Do you think I don’t know it’s artificial blood?” My eyes darkened, sending shivers down the human’s spine. He opened his mouth to respond, but I didn’t give him the chance. “Attempting to deceive the Lord of the vampires is strictly forbidden and can result in severe consequences.”
My words were enough to strike fear into him. “I’m sorry. My boss told me to use those words for better sales. I promise,” he pleaded.
They all knew. Forgiveness wasn’t in my vocabulary. Punishment, however, was a language I spoke fluently. Few words, each one a viper waiting to strike. Actions? Even deadlier.
“Get out of here before I change my mind,” I growled, teeth grinding. The figure rose from the mahogany expanse of the dining table, a beat too slow. A glint of metal on his uniform caught my eye. A badge. The very company that supplied half the Vimic’s lifeblood.
“Wait!” The word exploded from me, halting him mid-flight. He pivoted, barely an inch from a desperate sprint. I remained enthroned, a predator studying its prey.
“Y-yes sir!” His voice cracked, a tremor that echoed through the room. They all trembled, this human whelp included.
“Who do you work for?” I cut through his stammering. No need for specifics. My instincts, honed like a blade, smelled a rat. Blood suppliers from Chimera City were meticulously documented. Faces etched in memory, contracts signed in blood (theirs, not mine). This one, however, reeked of forgery. Nothing evaded my grasp for long.
Silence stretched, thick with his fear. “I work for... for...” He faltered, unable to continue. I could practically see the gears in his mind grinding to a halt.
“Don’t play coy with me, human,” I growled, a dangerous edge lacing my voice. “Who are you working for? Who sent you here?”
The hesitation in his eyes was all the confirmation I needed.
Rising from my throne with a creak that spoke volumes, I loomed over him.
My gaze was heavy, promising a world of hurt if he didn’t cooperate.
“Silence won’t save you,” I warned, each word a measured threat. “Talk, or face the consequences.”
A slow, deliberate stride brought me closer. Lady Jen, a phantom at my side, mirrored my movement, her magic crackling with barely contained power. Her loyalty was absolute, and her aim, deadly.
The Chimeran cowered, trapped in the tightening net of my shadow. Fear turned his legs to lead, but escape was futile.
“Wrong choice,” I murmured, a dark amusement dancing in my eyes. Lady Jen, poised for the kill, held at my unspoken command.
Before flight could turn to escape, the ever-present guards materialized from the shadows, their movements swift and silent. Three figures surrounded the trespasser, their fangs glinting in the dim light. One grasped each arm with an iron grip, the third a hair’s breadth from his throat. They presented him to me, a wriggling package on the cusp of oblivion.
A stifled chuckle escaped my lips as the human boy scurried around the room. Did he truly believe he could escape me when every corner of my domain was guarded by vampire sentinels? Nothing slipped past their watchful eyes, except for Morwenna once, but that was an error they vowed never to repeat, knowing full well the consequences. They had become more vigilant than ever.
The human boy trembled under my scrutiny, fully aware of his precarious situation. Killing him would be effortless; the vampires around us practically salivated at the thought of his blood, yet they hesitated out of fear.
With a swift flick of my wrist, I extended a long, pointed nail, sharp as a needle. I used it to tilt his chin up, forcing him to meet my gaze. “I’ve shown you mercy, and this is how you repay me? By attempting to flee?” A humorless chuckle escaped me reminding me of Morwenna, always running, never learning.
His voice trembled. “P-please, have mercy!”
Mercy? A concept I rarely indulged in. This one chance, I’d considered it. And how did he repay my restraint? By defying me. Pathetic. So why should I offer him the very thing he so readily disregarded?
A dark chuckle rasped from my throat. “Now you beg for mercy,” I said, my voice dripping with icy amusement. “I showed you mercy once, and you tried to exploit it.”
Terror flickered in his eyes, his pleas turning frantic. “I-I’m sorry!”
Fury simmered in my veins. Apologies were a fool’s game, a pathetic attempt to mend what was shattered. Weakness disgusted me, and apologies reeked of it.
My finger left his chin, the urge to end him rising within me. Perhaps I should; it’s been ages.
A guttural whisper escaped my lips, “End him.” The three vampire guards flanking the cowering human perked up, anticipation glinting in their eyes.
“Please!” the human rasped, his face ashen. “I’ll tell you who sent me! Just don’t…” His voice trailed off, replaced by a whimper.
But it was too late. I had no interest in hearing his pleas.
Ignoring him, I started to retreat to my throne at the round table when he blurted out, “It was a guy named Daniel Alder. It was him who sent me...” I didn’t care. But then he continued, his voice filled with fear. “He’s Morwenna’s boyfriend.”
Well, that certainly stopped me in my tracks. Those three words struck a nerve, reminding me of conversations Morwenna had had with me about her boyfriend.
I whirled around, the captive front and center. The guards salivated, their eyes gleaming with hunger. A flick of my hand halted their advance. They released the trembling wretch, who scrambled back in fear.
“Damn it!” A muttered curse from one of the guards.
“Lunch break almost over,” another grumbled.
“Silence!” The third guard, clearly the leader, cracked his knuckles, sending a shiver down their spines. All three straightened, their postures rigid under my withering gaze.
“Who’s this Daniel you speak of?” I barked, impatience gnawing at my insides. Time was a commodity I rarely wasted, and the man’s struggle for breath wasn’t helping. “Speak quickly, or your words will lose their value.” The grotesque amusement on the guards’ faces went unnoticed.
The kneeling human gasped out, “Daniel Alder. He works for A.B.P - Apex Blood Purveyors.”
Yes, that name was familiar. A.B.P was the supplier for the Vimic family’s blood. I recognized it all too well. So, Morwenna’s boyfriend had been working right under my nose all this time? It hadn’t mattered to me before, but now, I was intrigued.
I wanted to know more about Morwenna’s boyfriend and the man he had sent to deliver fake blood to me.
While I knew it was artificial blood, not real human blood, I also knew it contained a deadly and harmful ingredient for vampires. I could sense it without even laying eyes on it or tasting it. Somehow, it had slipped past Lady Jen’s notice.
“And he’s the one who sent you?” I growled, the question a low rumble in my chest. “And this... tainted blood,” I spat, tossing the vial to clatter at his feet, “was his idea of revenge?”
Lady Jen gasped, a sound echoed by the vampire guards flanking me. Her blue eyes widened in horror.
“Poison, my lord?” Her voice trembled as she addressed me, but I ignored her concern. Her senses, like mine, had been dulled for far too long. Genevieve’s abilities were superfluous at this point.
My gaze returned to the trembling boy. “Did you know it was poisoned?” I demanded, my voice laced with ice.
He flinched. “N-no, my lord,” he stammered, denial thick in his voice.
There it was. The telltale scent, a reek of deceit clinging to him like a shroud.
“You lie,” I stated flatly. “This is your last chance. Don’t you dare lie to me. Did you or didn’t you know it was poisoned?” My voice turned cold, sending a shiver down his spine.
Terror bled into his eyes. He hesitated, then choked out another, “No!”
Pity flickered within me, a fleeting ember quickly extinguished by anger. Who did this fool think he was deceiving? My half-breed senses, honed by years of navigating the treacherous world between human and witch, saw straight through his charade.
Lies were a cancer, festering within his deceitful heart. It was precisely this weakness, this inability to extend mercy, that had caused me so much grief in the past.
Yet, offering a second chance had only brought betrayal.
Regret gnawed at me, a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.
Another weary sigh escaped my lips. A dismissive wave sent the vampire guards shuffling forward, their predatory grins widening at the sight of their human prey.
“Please,” the Chimeran whimpered, his voice cracking. “Don’t do this! Have mercy!”
Mercy. I’d offered it, but his pathetic pleas had worn thin. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable.
Ignoring his desperate pleas, I strode towards the imposing throne at the mahogany table. “Wait,” I commanded, my voice resonating in the chamber as the guards paused mid-drag. Without turning, I added, “Keep his head.”
Settling onto the imposing throne atop the round table, I allowed the vampires their fill.
But the head… that was mine to claim. A gruesome warning, a message to A.B.P.
Severing ties with them was an option, a threat that would leave them teetering on the brink of ruin.
It was time they dealt with Daniel Alder – the fool who dared try and poison me.
The name itself triggered a humorless chuckle.
With that, they hauled the human away, his screams fading into the distance.
A heavy silence settled, broken only by the boy’s diminishing wails.
They’d taken him somewhere soundproof, a feeding ground for all I cared.
Blood wasn’t an option. Years, damn near centuries, had passed since I’d indulged. Now, it would be a slippery slope. But Morwenna... her blood, that was different. Reserved for the marking, for me alone.
And there was visitors. Another reason I loathed them.
Then, there was silence.
Until Lady Jen shattered it with her apology. “My lord, I had no idea it was poisoned. It’s been ages since I’ve cast a spell, my detection faltered. A flimsy excuse, I know, but I offer my sincerest apologies.” Her voice was laced with desperation, her head bowed low.
Her contrition held no value for me.
“The head,” I stated, ignoring her pleas, “will be delivered to A.B.P. as a stark message. We’re done with those fools. Unless, of course,” I added, a predatory glint in my eyes, “they cough up a certain Daniel Alder.”
“Yes, my lord,” she murmured, her head remaining dutifully downcast. As she began to raise it, I cut her off.
“Also, fetch me Morwenna,” I commanded.
“Yes, My—”
“Right now!” I snapped, my tone brooking no argument.
My... woman had a lot of explaining to do.