Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I have never struck her. Ever.
But I have never liked her, either. And she knows this. She feels my hate just as easily as I smell her fear.
I did, however, save her. I took her with me when I was cast out of Europe. Josep was there as well. He and I are… complicated. But… he has been worth the effort. And, I must reluctantly admit, so has Lucia.
They were both necessary companions in the beginning. Hundreds of years later, they bore me. They tire me. And if they were to die in front of me tonight, I would not weep.
I have my children now. They are not vampires, and they are not really mine, but I feel closer to them than these horrible creatures who live in my house and on my land.
Children are the only true vessels of joy left in this world. They are the closest thing to God. And watching them, in their innocence, brings me closer to my maker. Because I come from Him too. Just like all the other creatures on this earth. And one day I will find a path that leads to my maker and I will finally get my say.
But other than the children, and the chance of seeing God, the only reason to exist right now is Ryet. And he’s not even here.
If he were, this party would not be happening and my feeder would not be dying in that little house across the compound. I look over towards the other end of the kitchen, then realize there are still a few humans in here with us. I turn to the nearest halfbreed, who happens to be the infant I passed by earlier. Her name comes back to me in this moment. “Echo.”
“Yes, my lord?”
She’s brave, I’ll give her that. She could’ve run when she saw me. I was not looking for her and she knew it. She would not be blamed for this party.
But she stayed. So I give her a job to do. “Clear this house of humans.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You can still have your party, but take it outside or to your own houses!” My voice gets louder as this sentence progresses and by the time I’m done, I’m bellowing like a raging fool.
“Yes, my lord!” Then Echo screams, “Everybody out! You heard him! Out, out, out!” Her voice is quite shrill, but she has a commanding presence for a halfbreed so young.
She leaves the kitchen, ushering humans in front of her. But not a single other halfbreed dares to move.
They are not all here, but the ones who are look at me with guilty eyes.
They know what they’ve done.
Actually, they probably don’t.
None of these mongrels is old enough to remember the last dying feeder. For all they know, feeders are eternal, like me.
But feeders are not eternal. And drinking from one without my express permission has always been forbidden.
She has a finite amount of blood. Idiots.
I feed them all with this single old woman. And they do this in return?
Getting angry is not my style. I am almost always in control. But I want to be angry about this. The hidden witch was dreamwalking over my awakening body. Ryet is God knows where, the old feeder is dying, and my house is filled with idiots.
I let out a breath and force myself to take the high road. “We will discuss what happened here tonight another time.”
I’m speaking to all of them, but I’m looking Lucia in the eyes when I say this. Her evil eyes. Her witch eyes. They betray her bloodline. For she is not like me. Nor will she ever be like me.
Neither is Josep, but at least he didn’t start his life as a witch.
“What I really want to know, and one of you had better have a very good reason, is why no one thought to wake me up as the feeder across the compound was dying.”
“Dying?” Several mongrels gasp this word out. And then the kitchen is filled with murmurs.
“Feeders can die?”
“I didn’t know that. Did you know that?”
“What happens when they die? Do we get a new one?”
They are so foolish.
But who can I blame but myself?
I am their lord and master. This idiocy is a reflection of me and it is in this moment that I decide things around here need to change. Drastically.
“Echo!” I’m bellowing again. She peeks her head from around a corner, waiting, apparently. “Come with me. We need to check on the feeder.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Paul—” Lucia puts a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“You did. You absolutely did.” I seethe at her. She is a formidable bitch. But when I am in the room, she is nothing but a cowering fool.
She hates me. She has always hated me. But I have always hated her too. Lucia and I have a very sick relationship that has been going on for hundreds of years and I have hundreds of opinions about her and a million more things that I would like to spit in her face.