Chapter 6 #2
I swiped my tongue over the marks, making sure no signs were left behind.
It wouldn’t do me any good to have the world know of my existence.
Although I had contemplated pointing the police toward the Cordell brothers for a string of murders, they were hybrids.
Their power and influence could get them free, and then the fallout could be catastrophic for me.
Damn, daywalkers could go out in the sun, something I hadn’t been able to do since my turning in the early nineteen hundreds.
I was made, unlike them. Born vampires thought they were better than those who were created, but I had killed my maker years ago, taking his powers into myself.
In my mind, that made me equal to those who were born.
A grin split my lips. I had not stopped at taking my own maker’s head. Hell, I’d lost count of the number of vamp heads I’d taken, making me one of the strongest and seemingly oldest of their kind. I now craved something else—a woman who loved me above all others.
“Do you require more of me, Master?” Blue eyes stared up at me.
I liked having my people below me. At only five feet eight, most men and some women towered over me.
I nodded toward my lap. She stared at my erection.
Again, I hated having to use my powers, but I made her want me.
My mate would not need to have such things done to her mind.
I’d seen the bond when a vampire found his Hearts Love and wanted one for myself.
When the female shifter had applied for residency in my condo building, I’d instantly recognized she was different.
However, it wasn’t until the hybrid twins began sniffing around her that I’d realized she could be my one.
I guided the feeder where I wanted, imagining she was the red-haired Laikyn.
Flashing green eyes replaced blue. I wanted to last longer, but the thought of having the female shifter on her knees, at my mercy, brought me off quickly.
I kept my roar to myself, enjoying the feel of the soft tongue laving me till I was clean.
“Up you go. Tell Arie I will be there shortly.” She nodded, keeping her face serene. As with all my feeders, their minds were manipulated as I saw fit. If I wanted them to feel pleasure, I allowed it. Most of the time, I only sought my own. The female rose to her feet and then was gone.
If I had a heart, I’d feel bad for not giving her relief.
Shrugging, I stood and stretched. The fresh blood replenished me from the attempt at bringing Laikyn back to me.
“I’ll just have to come to you, my dear.
” First, I’d have to deal with the Cordell twins and find out exactly where she’d gone.
I was looking forward to the coming confrontation.
If luck were on my side, I’d kill one or both of them.
I hoped by taking their lives, I’d also take on their power of daywalking.
Or, if not, at least they would no longer be an obstacle in my life.
When I bonded with Laikyn, if the stories were true, I would then take on some of her abilities.
Being a shifter or part shifter with my great powers would make me invincible.
I’d then go back to the Council of Elders and take the head of the leader.
“Nigel Watson, leader of all vampires, sounds like a perfect title to me.” Walking naked to my large closet, I surveyed my options.
Since becoming a vampire, I’d worked hard at making my body the best it could be.
I could do nothing about my short stature, so I worked hard to ensure not an ounce of flab could be found on me, unlike how I’d looked over a hundred years ago.
A growl escaped my throat as I pictured the pale-faced youth I’d been.
The images of the abuse and mistreatment I’d taken as a short, young man had me seeing red.
I had gone back to the local area I’d grown up in, found the men who’d taken joy in beating up on the young, pimple-faced kid I’d been.
When I’d faced them at the local pub, they’d been shocked to see me standing before them dressed in my fine clothes, tailored to perfection.
I’d had more muscles than all of them put together, but they’d still thought they were better than me.
A laugh bubbled out as I remembered the fear in their eyes.
I’d challenged them to a fight. Four to one, and they were so smug.
A crowd gathered to watch me get my ass handed to me.
Jerking a red button-down shirt and a pair of black slacks from the row in front of me, I let my memory unfold to the end, where the four men were left lying in a puddle of their own blood.
Their limbs lay in total abandon where I’d tossed their unconscious bodies on top of one another.
The onlookers gave me a wide berth as I’d strolled through them.
My knuckles were the only thing showing any damage.
The murmurs from those who should have protected me, now raised in alarm from what I’d done to the clearly much larger men.
I shrugged into the clothing, using the powers that allowed me to clean myself without modern technology.
“Idiots, all of them. I should have killed the lot while I was there.” I pulled my pants on.
The anger still burned me as I remembered the mob that had come for me the following night.
My Master had been angry at me for being petty, almost allowing me to be staked.
It was in that moment that I’d decided I’d take Miles’ head.
It had taken me twenty years, but I was patient and learned from the best. Miles was a devious fucker who didn’t deserve loyalty.
Not a day went by that I regretted my choice to end Miles.
Being a slave to a master was not a comfortable place to be.
Especially when you were completely heterosexual but forced to serve a man who didn’t care.
I shuddered, blocking the years I was forced to do whatever Miles said in order to survive.
“I’m a much better Master than you ever were, Miles Jordan.” And I was. I didn’t take men. Only women. And I certainly never left them with memories of my abuse.
Using the private elevator accessible only to my feeders and me, I went up to the ground floor of the condo building. The condo I’d been using across the hall from Laikyn was now empty, as was hers. I cursed the twins again for running her off. It all came back to them.
“Good evening, Master. What would you require of me this evening?” Arie stood in a black evening dress with a red belt cinching her tiny waist. A pair of red high heels, with her hands folded in front of her, made her look the part of a sexy woman and a perfect hostess.
All the things I enjoyed in a personal assistant. Plus, she knew exactly what I was.
“I need to find out where Laikyn has gone, and I want the Cordell twins’ heads on a platter.
The first, you can do. The latter, I’ll take care of myself.
” I heard her heart rate kick up a notch.
My assistant never failed me, but I wondered what caused her to react the way she had.
I tried to look into her mind, but the block caused me to recoil. “Do you have a problem, Arie?”
I shook my head. I’d been sent to keep watch over Nigel from the Vampire Council.
As one of the only other hybrids, my job was to appear human.
For over three years, I’d been his perfect companion.
Yet, not once had I seen him outright kill anyone.
I hadn’t understood why the Council had sent me, a young hybrid in the world of our kind, but I didn’t question them.
Of course, I’d heard of the Cordell twins. Everyone who was anyone had.
Pulling my mind back to Nigel, I pasted a serene smile on my face. “No, Master. I will get to the first issue. I’m sure we have her information from when she applied for residency to live here. I’ll get on it now. Will there be anything else?”
Nigel’s head tilted, the slight balding on the top glinting in the overhead lights.
If he wasn’t evil to the core, I was sure he’d be found attractive, especially with all his muscles.
Although I preferred my men to be tall and blond.
Why I had a thing for men who resembled Thor, I had no clue, but he just did it for me.
“That will be all for now,” Nigel said. “Oh, and Arie,” he paused. “Do make haste.” Nigel’s dark eyes bore into me.
I nodded. “Consider it done. Will you be in need of any more feeders this evening?” I glanced over at the young woman I’d sent down earlier. Carly was young and easily manipulated. However, I wouldn’t be sending the young female back to Nigel for at least a week.
“I will get my own sustenance this evening. I’ve already partaken of the female you sent down, but I’ll be sure to take my fill before sunset. Have something for me before I return.” Nigel stomped out of the large apartment, his usual smooth gait gone.
I worried he was on to me, but I shook off the doubt.
No, I’d been the perfect assistant. I’d have to be more reserved and hide my feelings for the Cordell brothers.
No way could he harm either of them, no matter how powerful he was.
Fear for them plagued me as I made my way to the manager’s office.
The Council had given me strict instructions to inform them if Nigel did anything they needed to know about, and up until that moment, I had nothing to truly report, except for the first time I’d been inducted into his world. That night still gave me nightmares.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the link to the head of the Council, sharing the conversation I’d had with my boss.
“Thank you for your bravery, young Arie. My sons are very lucky to have you watching over them. Now, you must return to us. It is too dangerous for you to stay there.” A woman’s voice, I assumed, was Mrs. Cordell, entered my head, making me stop in my tracks.