Chapter Six
Lucien and Erie
Erie had enough of Lucien Dumas by the fifth hour spent together in the mundane vehicle he had rented.
Gritting her teeth, she tried her best not to growl at him as she spoke.
“Why is everything you do have to be by the book? Those laws were written ages ago by vampires that were too afraid of their own reflection to write sensible enough laws.”
“Well, at least my father has the respect of many by following those rules. I’m going to be the next leader of the coven and if it has worked for him then I will do the same. There will be many that support him still during my leadership and I want to gain their respect as he has.”
“If that were the case then I would stop bringing those Seelies and Unseelies into your bed. They already garner enough rumors that would dampen your reputation. If that’s what you actually care about. Maybe find a mate and break that cycle of political matches.”
“I can bed who I want,” he retorted. “It’s what makes me equal to everyone else.
Besides, they are best at what they do. Once you’ve gone Seelie, you can’t go back.
As for a mate, I would prefer to never find them.
” Gravel crunched under their shoes as they exited the car and headed in the direction of the convenience store. Erie was less than amused at his words.
“That’s not how it works with mates. You’re pathetic, Luce,” Erie directed at the blond vampire, “You swore off a mate, taking whatever creatures you want into your bed and yet you say you want people to approve of you by the person you are. At the rate you’re going, people are going to only support you based on your eye color and lineage only. You won’t garner their respect.”
As the last word tumbled from her lips, she felt a blunt force strike her torso and the world flew past her in a flurry of neon lights and starry skies. She managed to land on her feet, but it would take a moment to heal her broken ribs from Lucien’s kick.
Such a baby, she grumbled through the mind link. It was moments like this that the others were lucky Ambrose took her magic. If she had even a drop, she would’ve used every bit of it to beat some sense into their future leader.
“Are you done talking bigger than you are?” Luc’s voice sang from the other side of the parking lot.
Mortal ears would’ve only been able to pick it up if they were standing near him, but Erie’s hearing caught it with ease. She bristled at his smugness while dusting off her skirt from the debris she had gathered in her landing.
“You know, beating up a weak pureblood like me is a bad look for a future coven leader,” she fired in his direction. “What would the coven think?”
“Their thoughts don’t matter. As you said, I’m getting in either way.”
“I guess we’re already used to a tyrannical abusive leader. What harm could another—.”
His hand wrapped around her throat as Lucien’s snarl gave a promise behind his wordless threat. Erie knew she went too far this time, but Lucien had brought her there by his own actions.
Some words needed to be said, but Erie could have chosen a better moment.
Lucien could kill her and no one would bat a lash because she had already been dubbed as useless by their coven.
A pureblood vampire without a drop of magic in her blood.
It was a travesty that could have had her family removed from their sect.
It was only due to Ambrose’s abundance of magic that the coven continued to support her family.
“I. Am. Not. My. Father,” Lucien spoke slowly, but with enough malice in his words that Erie began trembling in fear under his grasp. “You ever make the comparison again, Erminia, and I will not be so merciless.”
“You made the comparison first, forgive me.”
“This time,” Lucien agreed before releasing her from his hold.
Lucien turned around, looking out at the disgusting mortals that loitered drunkenly before them, unaware of what had happened.
The mundane world had zero decorum. “Let’s find someone who knows where Burrow Hills is.
We’ll grab the directions from his memories and leave him here to be found later.
Make sure to heal the fang marks before his heart stops. ”
“I know the drill,” Erie grumbled before following Lucien inside the convenience store that concealed a small casino and diner inside.
The smell of cigarette smoke, deli meat and money wafted around the pair as they struggled to refrain from gagging at the rancid scent.
Erie went for the register, putting on an innocent mask as she donned the aura of the child she appeared as.
“Aren’t you adorable?” the cashier gushed as Erie skipped her way. “How can I help you?”
“Um, I need to go to the bathroom and my uncle was looking for directions to a place,” Erie pursed her lips in feign ignorance.
The cashier was hooked as she felt the pull of Erie’s aura, something all pureblood vampires had.
Their compulsive aura made humans weak kneed for them, thus making it easier to find prey.
Erie saw the glassy hue over the cashier’s eyes. “It’s called Burrow Hills I think.”
“The bathrooms will be just down this way,” the cashier advised while pointing to the hallway on her right. “As for directions, Bo is a transplant from that town. He’s a semi-truck driver who has a tattoo of a magnolia on his neck. He’s a bit older, but he’s super friendly. He might be around.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Erie smiled before heading towards the bathrooms to continue her charade. “Did you hear that, Luce?”
“Loud and clear. I’ll search for the guy and tell you when I find him,” Lucien muttered under his breath.
The cashier, now free from Erie’s vampiric allure, had her eyes on him.
Where she felt blind adoration of Erie’s cute demeanor, she stared at Lucien with lustfulness that consumed her entire being.
Lucien immediately stood up and walked to the casino side, hoping the stench of the room would get rid of the invading feeling of her eyes.
Lucien was not one who shied from the company of a woman, but mundanes were only blood bags to him.
A means to an end of his hunger. He knew one was his.
Mates were an occurrence that wasn’t close to the realm of being a rare commodity for vampires.
Political arranged marriages were common amongst vampires and his family was no different.
His father chose his mother based on political gain alone.
Her family had been well known in society, enough to gain a large enough following that his father was able to ascend beyond the normal stature of coven leader.
Erie and Ambrose’s parents were arranged from birth, both despising the other until the kids came.
Their attitude shifted and they were able to find love that wasn’t common for their status. For Lucien and Isadora’s parents, they had still despised one another after their children were born. His mother had fallen into heartbreak and loneliness when his father’s mate had shown up.
The woman had appeared out of nowhere, having only met their father on two other occasions.
Mother had wanted to get rid of the woman, but father kept her as a mistress and succumbed to the mating bond’s pull.
It had been the same arrangement many of their ancestors had.
Left abandoned and enduring abuse for birthing Lucien, she had taken her life and he resented his father for it.
This had created a rift in Lucien’s desire for marriage completely.
He no longer wanted to have someone by his side as he presided over his coven.
He didn’t want an heir. He would not add to their lineage.
This was one thing that he and Isadora agreed on so ardently.
They would not drag someone else into their family or ruin another child’s life by the pattern of their ancestors.
They would break that pattern their predecessors created.
Lucien searched through the rows of machines until he caught the glimpse of a magnolia tattoo on the neck of a man who seemed rather large for the seat he was taking over.
He had a deli sandwich in one hand and the other was busy tapping the button to the machine.
Lucien leaned against the machine as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.
He didn’t much care for the taste or smell, but it always made for a good ice breaker around humans.
“Got a light?” he asked the man. Bo looked up from his machine to see the blond, attractive male before him. He retrieved a lighter from his pocket, holding it out to the vampire before him, oblivious to the fact that the monster before him was hunting him.
“Here.”
“Thanks,” Lucien replied before taking the lighter and igniting the end of the cigarette between his lips. “The lady up front said you’d know the way to Burrow Hills. You’re Bo, right?”
“That’s me. What’s got you heading to that run-down town?” Bo inquired while returning his eyes to his game. Lucien exhaled the vile tasting smoke that swirled in his lungs. “Doesn’t look like your type of vacation spot.”
“Definitely not, but my sister decided to run away from home to go see our grandmother. Our dad told me to bring her back," Lucien admitted with a dismissive wave.
“Well, you got a map? You aren’t too far from that town. I’d say you could make it there before sunrise if you head out soon.”
Lucien produced a map he had stolen from the entryway of the establishment. The cashier had been too engrossed in her conversation with Erie that she hadn’t noticed.
Bo took the map, unfolded it to the right area and used his own pen to draw a route from where they were, all the way to Burrow Hills.
The town was so small, it was barely marked on the map itself.
Lucien twisted his nose in disgust at the thought of his family in that forsaken place.
What was so great about it that their grandmother had left Shadowhaven to make a new life there?