Red Ruby (Velvet Vows Trilogy #2)

Prologue

EMIL

I’ve been sitting on this metal chair, tapping my index finger on the table in front of me for a good five minutes.

The man right on the other side is staring at me, his eyes wide open as he tries to contain his distress.

If my scientist right here is so worried about what he has to say, it might actually make my day interesting for once.

“Well?” I question, raising one eyebrow. My patience has its limits, and as people like to remind me, especially my wife, I am not a very patient man.

“Sir, I think we found the solution.”

“This better be good, Serj.”

The dark-haired doctor is looking at me as if he is scared for his own life to reveal what he has just discovered.

“It’s their blood, sir.” Uncertainty makes him tremble while he tries to get the words out.

My sudden silence might have been too much of a reaction for Serj because he’s looking at me as if I’m about to torture him, or maybe kill him.

I mean, I just might, but I do need the guy to live a little longer.

My wife calls me an opportunist and, well, she’s not technically wrong.

I did get married for a very good opportunity.

Her blood. What it could give me mixed with mine.

And now, Serj is talking about their blood.

The life force of my enemies. But what would that do?

It’s petrol, pure poison. Nothing can come out of it.

Not when it’s pumping in an abomination’s body.

I force my lips to curl up into a smile just so that Serj doesn’t faint out of the blue. “You might want to be more specific,” I voice, growing a tiny bit impatient. I almost don’t even realize that my fingers are massaging my temples, trying to calm the imminent headache.

I just need to kill more vampires, that’s all I wish to do. I want to end this sickness, no matter the cost. I need to get rid of all of them once and for all. Forever.

Then, I’ll find the Original and end him for good. A full-on extinction. This is what the world needs. I will terminate vampirism permanently.

Maybe by getting rid of them all, Talulla will come to her senses and understand she’s spending her time with the enemy. An enemy who can kill her, or worse, turn her into the abomination she grew up despising.

Serj clears his throat. “If we dri—”

My jaw clenches. “Don’t even try to finish that sentence.”

“Sir, please, let me tell you what we found out.”

I sigh but nod. My jaw remains locked as the scientist tries to get his voice to work.

“Vampire blood is potent. We have known this for a long time. But we didn’t know enough about how it affected the human body aside from its healing abilities—at least before my experiments.” Serj swallows some air before continuing his speech. “More precisely, how it affects hunters.”

My eyes widen. “Go on.”

“Sir, if we feed vampire blood to hunters…” Serj’s eyes are trying to avoid my cold stare. Or at least trying to. “They would momentarily gain the vampire’s abilities without being turned into one.”

I scratch my chin, my stubble starting to get annoying. But as I think about his words, a question comes to mind. “How momentarily?”

“Depending on the vampire’s strength and the hunter’s metabolism”—Serj stops for a moment to think, his index finger tapping his mouth—“I presume between one to three hours.”

I hum before asking what I’ve been contemplating since my employee started talking about the results of his experiments. “What if the blood is given on a daily basis?”

“That would be too much.” The doctor shakes his head.

“What would happen then, Serj?” I repeat, the tone of my voice raised. I have a serious problem with people who avoid questions, especially if they are my employees and the question is a very simple one.

“Too much blood would make you go mad, sir.”

I nod at the statement. “You talked about the vampire’s strength. What do we know about that?”

Serj’s stare brightens up. “This is where things get interesting.” He claps his hands in excitement. “The hunter gains the strength of the vampire they drank from.”

Same strength. This might be my lucky day.

Perfect. This is starting to taste like sweet revenge.

With something like this up my sleeve, I could truly have a chance in ending Vladimir, the Original.

I just need to find him now, and what better way to do that if not by visiting an old friend of mine.

He knows where the Original is hiding. The First Turned is the only match against him.

The corner of my lips lift into a grin. “This is wonderful news.”

Serj’s eyes widen in shock as if he had been worried about this discovery. And the shock is understandable. The kind of hate I feel toward vampires is ancient—it lives in my veins. This is what I’ve trained for my entire life. My only purpose in life.

“I am glad to hear this, sir.”

“This means only one thing.” I smirk, staring at Serj.

“What, sir?”

“Call Stefan and Andrei. We need to go pay a visit to my daughter and her new…toy.”

Serj nods. “And how do you plan on convincing her?”

The corners of my mouth curl up. “With the only thing I know will make my daughter question the abomination’s intentions. I know something about him that I am sure he did not disclose.”

“What if he compels her?”

I chuckle at the concerned look on Serj’s face. “That’s not his style. He’s far too proud for that. Just like his friend.”

“What if he’s desperate?”

“My daughter might be stupid, but she can’t be compelled. Just like Nora. Manipulated, though, that she can. And I plan on making sure she questions everything around her.”

“Alpha Reyes said they’re mates. Wolves rarely make mistakes about fated mates.”

“Bonds can be broken, Serj. Even when fate locks them into place.”