Chapter 9 Lazriel
~Lazriel~
“Son.”
My eyes opened slowly, a weariness plaguing me.
But no more pain.
That was a hell of a thing considering the last thing I remembered was agony.
At the hands of that purist psychopath.
A shudder rolled through me.
I blinked, not wanting to go there.
Not wanting to think about it.
I wouldn’t give it power.
I wouldn’t give him power.
Hurting me, taunting me, torturing me… touching me—stop!
I needed to focus.
I took in my surroundings.
What the shit?
I was tucked up in a fancy-ass bed carved with dark wood with piled pillows in emerald and deep sapphire, the sheets covering me up to my abs the softest silk I’d ever felt. And so warm and comfortable.
I had to strain through my exhaustion to make out the rest of the space.
The ceiling was arched high above and reinforced by metal beams. There was a plush gray couch over on the other side of the room.
Surrounding it were two high-backed chairs upholstered in navy velvet.
In the far right corner was an open door that I could just make out part of a bathroom through that was decorated in emerald and gold.
I looked to the left as I felt that same sensation I had outside the diner.
And I only just managed to suppress a choked sound of surprise as I caught sight of a figure standing to the left of a floor-to-ceiling bookcase stacked with tons of books, some looking age-old.
He had his back to me and he was shoving his hand through his hair, a phone pressed to his ear and… talking?
Shit, I really was exhausted. I mean, he was talking quietly, not even above a whisper, but I was a fucking wolf-vampire hybrid.
I strained and managed to make out what he was saying.
“A dozen? You’re certain? And Claudette? Harold?” I heard a pained groan. “Understood. Yes, ashes then burial also. Scent-wipe the grounds. They cannot be discovered. No. Do not pursue the perpetrator. Report when it’s done. Remnant out.”
Remnant.
He pocketed his phone in his black jeans.
“Do you wish to continue pretending that you are still asleep? Or would you like to have a conversation?”
I jolted.
He turned around slowly.
His wavy hair fell to his shoulders, a deep dark brown.
Stubble framed his jaw. His eyes were a piercing steel gray just like mine.
He stood tall and broad, a whole lot of muscle on him, clad in a weathered black leather jacket with a black top beneath, complete with the jeans—a sleek but hard edged black-on-black look.
He had stakes holstered at his calves and a pistol at his right hip. Chunky rings adorned every finger.
But there was something that stood out above all the rest.
The leather chain with a golden wolf claw hanging from it.
My necklace. My mom’s necklace. We both had one exactly like that.
He saw me looking and clasped it, stroking it reverently.
“Yes. This was gifted to me by your mother. Just like yours.” He gestured at mine that was visible with me apparently being stripped.
I discreetly felt through the sheets. Okay, I was wearing some pajama pants.
Really cozy ones from what I could tell. It was just my chest that was bare.
“You’re… I heard you call me…”
“I called you my son. That is most definitely what you are.” He smiled. “I am, indeed your father.”
Shit. That wasn’t something I could just… I couldn’t just reconcile that. Especially not right off the bat.
“You expect me just to buy that?”
“You feel it.”
I… I did.
That same deep-seated familial blood bond I felt when I was around my mom.
“If your senses seem a little off-kilter after what you suffered through earlier, perhaps this will assist to offer you the proof and reassurance that you need.” As I arched an eyebrow, his eyes shone as he spoke, “Creswyn.”
I choked. “How do you—”
“It was I who provided that safehouse for you and your mother.”
I blinked and pushed out of the sheets, swinging my legs around, my feet touching the floor.
A wave of dizziness hit me and I had to leave it at that, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“It will pass once you feed and eat. Both are required with your hybrid nature after sustaining such horrific damage.”
Horrific damage. “You saved me… stopped him.”
“Correct.” He came to the bed and stopped a couple of feet from me, folding his arms across his chest. “However, he is still out there. As such, you are not safe above ground.”
“Above ground?” I looked up at the beams, studying them closer.
And I listened.
Really listened.
There it is.
My gaze snapped back to him. “We’re literally underground.”
He smiled. “Very astute.”
“Is this room… what is it?”
“It is one of many in this specific area of Shadow Tunnels. Situated beside mine.”
“Shadow Tunnels… right. Because you’re part of The Shadowed.”
“I am its Commander and its Maker.”
“Is that how I should refer to you? As my maker?” I bit back.
“I wouldn’t advise it. Maker in that context has a mythical vampiric connotation to it that many would interpret as you being a sireling.”
“Isn’t that what I am?”
“Certainly not. I have thousands of sirelings who are bound to me by the dark magic inherent in vampirism and the rites of turning. You are my flesh and blood. You are my one and only child. My son.”
I frowned. “You speak so reverently about it.”
“Of course.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It doesn’t make sense. You disowned me. You abandoned me. Worse—you left me to be raised by that brutal bastard. My fucking stepfather.”
“Rest assured, that brutal bastard was punished for what he did to you.”
I started. “What are you talking about? He was mauled by a rival wolf pack, one trying to protect my mom.”
“Well, I was certainly trying to protect your mother—and you—but his fall wasn’t the result of wolves. It merely needed to appear that way due to the political complexities at play during that time.”
“You murdered him.”
“Well, not just murdered. As I said, he was punished. Severely. As were his allies who attempted to exact revenge through you over the years once you left the safety of your mother’s home and made your way in the world.”
“You were everywhere. All this time?”
“In the shadows, yes.”
“I don’t understand. Why never emerge? Why never show yourself to me? Why never claim me as yours?”
“To be connected to somebody like me would have marked you for death. Not to mention, the work I do, it is not a life I would wish upon those whom I love.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “There is no reprieve. No peace. It just… is.”
“Just survival?”
“In a manner of speaking.” He smiled sadly. “Great power is not free, hmm?”
“Yeah, I’m getting that… a lot lately, actually.”
“I am aware, Lazriel. And I am so very sorry.” He reached out, but stopped at the last moment, thinking better of it as I tensed. “Rest assured, that hard times will pass. They always do. And in this case I will see to it for you.”
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“As you keep demonstrating through evading the protection detail I have assigned to you. However, you do need my assistance. Did tonight not serve to highlight that?”
I shuddered. “I’ll… be better next time. Prepared. Make sure I’m always wearing my tactical gear.”
“Tactical gear will do nothing to withstand a single blow from the likes of Halrow.”
“That’s not—”
“He tossed you through a building with a flick of his hand.”
“He did more than that,” I muttered under my breath.
Absolutely futile with an Ancient Vampire standing right there.
“He will burn in Hades for laying hands on you.”
“You’re going to kill him?”
“You and I will take his life.”
I started. “What? No. You don’t know what he—”
“I have the capacity to hear over a distance of several hundred miles. I heard.”
“What, were you speeding across land and sea to help me or something? That massive distance, even as an Ancient, to cover it—”
“I was.”
“Fuck. That’s… wow.”
“Emotion can enhance a vampire’s capabilities more than you realize.” He eyed me. “Especially one who feeds properly.”
I went to speak, but he cut in, “Not just once in a while from an Immortal. Yes, it will provide you with a temporary surge of power, but it is offset by the lethargy it also causes. Even if you are spelled against feeling that high, that is still a factor.”
“I don’t like feeding from the vein.”
“Only during sex?”
“Yes.”
“That is how many new vampires start out feeding from the vein, finding it an easier way to sink into it, to accept it. But in your case, you can only do that with an Immortal, because the blood of your other two loves is toxic to you. Especially the necromancer, given the awful sickness that plagues him.”
“You know about his sickness?”
“I am fully aware, yes. The Shadowed is researching viable solutions now.”
“Because of me?”
“Your love for him is a factor. But there are also others at play. A bigger picture we are concerned with.”
“A bigger picture?”
“Not to be discussed at this juncture. Your priority is to learn.”
“Learn?”
“To embrace your vampire side and your Ancient blood.”
“I’m wolf first.”
“Because of the fear. Because you grew up without somebody to guide you properly. And for that, I am fully responsible. I wanted to keep you away from all of this. I wanted you to remain free. To escape the pain of it all, the darkness, the danger. But things have shifted and we must adapt.”
I started shaking my head.
“I do not intend to discount the wolf. I respect how much you value it. And it is the part of your mother that I can see in you, and I would never wish to dishonor her. However, you are at a severe disadvantage with the forces aligning now, enemies gathering. If you do not embrace all that you are, if you are not willing to learn, you cannot hope to face them and survive, let alone succeed.”
He paced for a moment, then leaned against one of the high-backed chairs.
“You are a chief target of Puritas. Victor Halrow is a high-ranking member. He has now also taken a personal interest in you, beyond the scope of Puritas’ intentions to make an example out of you.
He became fixated on you the moment you crossed paths near Vantiqe. ”
“Why?”
“Because he saw something in you.”
“What?”
“Me.”
“He… oh.”
“Yes. You see now why I wanted to keep you far away from all of this? That is just the tip of the iceberg, Lazriel.”
“You really think you could take him?”
I hadn’t even registered his speed when he’d torn into the area and sent Victor flying off hundreds of feet into the distance. But I didn’t know the extent of his abilities, obviously.
“I should say so. I’m his Maker.”