Chapter One
Abbott
I stepped into the crisp night air and walked through my city, pleased the bar I’d stopped to check on was as raucous and crazy as it was supposed to be on a Friday night.
The humans laughing and cutting up didn’t know it, but I kept them safe from my kind as well as other supernaturals.
I was the top of the food chain and Master of the City.
All non-humans living in my territory did so under my rules. My code of ethics.
The city’s human leaders tried to keep the homeless away from tourists, but I smelled them hiding out in the park from a few blocks away as I neared the business district.
One scent stood out, and I altered my course.
I inhaled and analyzed each smell. The Fae essence was hard to pick out under the meth, but it needed investigating.
Fae blood is mouthwateringly delicious and can be addicting to vampires.
Most of my kind lose control when they drink Fae blood, which is why vampires aren’t allowed in Faerie without special permission from the reigning Queen.
I no longer worried about losing control, but it shouldn’t be an issue with this woman.
She was perhaps ten or twenty percent Fae — likely enough to give her blood the out-of-this-world taste and thrill without the loss of control or addictive properties.
Detoxing young people from meth is a bitch, though. Most meth junkies don’t stay clean. I have excellent methods to help young people break the habit of most other drugs and move on to find fulfilling lives, but meth is in a category all by itself.
I walked over pine needles and through a small wooded area, and stood over the girl.
She was propped against a tree, sitting in the dirt, and I shook my head at the life she was choosing to squander.
Blonde hair mussed, eyeliner smudged around the eyes of a too-slack face.
She wore recently laundered jeans, a skin-tight shirt over an ill-fitting bra, and athletic shoes so old the tread was nearly gone.
Her heart rate was fast for a human, but not so far out of the normal range to cause concern.
She had no idea I was standing over her, and she didn’t rouse when I opened her small satchel and rummaged around.
A cursory glance showed three pennies and a nickel, a hairbrush, eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, face powder in a half-dozen shades, lipstick, and a half-full bottle of water.
Something was wrapped in a red bandana, and I opened it to find a meth pipe.
Shaking my head, I opened the small inner pocket and found a thin straw and a small empty baggie.
The makeup was cheap and most was nearly gone.
No wallet, cellphone, or extra clothes. She likely had clothing somewhere and wasn’t able to make it back to wherever she was couch-surfing or staying for sex.
The make-up told me she still wanted to look presentable, but her teeth were in terrible shape and I couldn’t imagine she pulled it off after she opened her mouth.
No identification, and she could’ve been anywhere between sixteen and twenty-five.
Now that I’d looked through her things, I felt obligated to protect her at least until she was awake.
A quick look into her head told me her name and age.
She wasn’t a minor, or I’d have called my contact with the foster care system and had her set things in motion to get her to a family capable of helping her.
I telepathed instructions to an underling vampire, and stood watch over the girl while I waited for the car to arrive.
One never knows how important a new person will be until time tells the tale.
Kendra had been in rough shape when I’d pulled the young vampire into my fold, and she was now a dear friend and one of the reasons I’d amassed so much power.
My friend Aaron had taken the new Lion King under his wing eight hundred years ago, and the two were now best friends and business partners of a lucrative security company.
I’ve pulled vampires and supernaturals into my inner circle for centuries, and have created a team who helps ensure my territory runs as I wish. It isn’t perfect, but it’s likely as good as it’ll ever get.
As many friends as I have, my enemies are also numerous. Most despise me for the way I seem to almost accidentally amass power sometimes. They don’t believe it isn’t carefully planned. Sometimes it is, but often a situation falls into my lap and I have no choice but to act.
Once upon a time, I didn’t believe in karma, but millennia have taught me that good deeds eventually come back to you.
Not all of them, but enough it can’t be coincidence.
Treat people well who haven’t harmed you, destroy those who have in a spectacular fashion designed for maximum impact.
It’s a simple philosophy, but it works for me so long as I’m careful with the grey areas in between.
Sometimes compassion is necessary, other times it’s necessary to make your rivals fear you.
I looked back to the human on the ground. Would this too-thin girl pass in the night, or would she become important to me? My mind wandered to one of the young men I’d recently acquired — a blood-bonded wolf whose very soul called out to mine.
A few weeks prior, a human in my territory brought things to a head between my people and the Strigorii Master of Maryland.
As a result, I’d inadvertently added a state to my territory, as well as my former counterpart’s property, holdings, and titles when Gavin — my second in command — killed him.
In this case, property included a few dozen blood-slave wolves, and I was debating the best course of action for their assignments.
Gavin didn’t need any more money, and he already owned an indentured blood-slave and wasn’t interested in another. I’d gifted him with a hundred grand in cash as well as his pick of the jewels and vehicles. Gavin had chosen the black Ferrari. No surprise there.
Kendra — my third in command — was in Maryland, cleaning up the mess and explaining how things work in my territory.
From what I was hearing, she was making her point as only Kendra can when vampires don’t fall in line as she orders.
I hadn’t wanted to take on another state, but I didn’t regret a thing.
The Master of the City had been part of a child slavery ring, and the Concilio had done nothing because the group had only taken human children and weren’t drawing the attention of law enforcement.
Thanks to the human woman who dug in and wouldn’t stop investigating, some of those children had been returned to their families, and the criminals had been shut down. For a little while, at least.
Thoughts of child abductions reminded me of the problem at hand — what to do with the blood-bonded wolves, many of whom had been abducted as children and young teens from the foster care system.
I’d kept them at my home the first couple of days, so I could properly exchange blood to switch their bond to me.
Also, so I could take my time to get to know them and see into their heads.
They were all at the coterie house now — on cots in the underground bunker, with Chromebooks so they could learn their lessons while I figured out the best places for them.
I’d set two free of their bonds and handed them over to the local wolf Alpha. They’d known how to control their wolves before being blood bonded, and had a chance of surviving as free men in the local Pack.
However, freedom wasn’t an option for the rest. The bastard had ordered them bitten as young children, and he’d blood bonded them and controlled their wolves for them. They’d never met their wolves, who were feral, wild animals living inside them and now tethered by me.
One of the wolves would go to a married couple who’d been loyal to me for centuries.
They were having problems and I hoped sharing a blood slave between them would help.
Only one vampire can safely feed from a human on an ongoing basis, but shapeshifters can feed more than one vampire without risking their health.
There was no guarantee the young male wolf would solve all the couple’s problems, but I hoped he’d create a starting point.
Several of the wolves had been in positions of power within the Maryland political structure, and I was still looking through their memories to figure out whether they’d fit into my power base.
They’d done horrible things in their Master’s name, but he’d controlled their will and they’d had no choice.
I could see their regrets, so I’d give them a chance.
However, some had taken great joy in doing their Master’s bidding. I’d stripped them of all autonomy and sent them to work in a position where they’d never make another choice on their own again. The were-hyenas I let live were given the same fate. There’s no place in my territory for pure evil.
And the blood-slave who called to my soul?
Against my better judgment, I’d had him brought back to my home after sending him to the coterie house with the others.
Or, perhaps it was good judgment. Resonating with someone usually means you have something in common with them, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes off the boy when he was in the same room.
I wish I could call it lust and get it out of my system, but it was more.
I’d been all through Spencer’s head, and now I wanted to take the time to get to know the young man.
Once blood-bonded to a Strigorii vampire, it’s impossible for all but the strongest wolves to exert willpower and disobey orders.
However, Spencer had found ways to follow orders and yet…
not. The boy had found the least injurious way to follow his Master’s orders, even when he risked dire punishment for doing so.
However, he was crafty enough it seemed he usually pulled it off without drawing attention to his actions.
He’d had a hard life, and yet he’d kept his optimism.
Spencer had strength of will, compassion for others, a superb understanding of the politics inherent in vampire society, and the boy was bloody brilliant.
Yes, I very much wanted to get to know the beautiful young man better. Common sense told me a relationship couldn’t work with someone bound to do my will, but the heart doesn’t care about logic.