Idris

I stalked through Bite, the deep bass vibrating the walls and pounding into my head. The club was packed—the dance floor filled with writhing vampires thirsty for blood, and humans eager to give it up. I made my way deeper into the club, where carefully selected humans—ones who promised to keep quiet about the existence of vampires—came to give up their blood in exchange for cash. It was a transaction that worked for humans and the Gregorie vampire clan. We didn’t take what we needed by force, and they let us be—living beneath their city in old subway tunnels.

Not all vampire clans respected human autonomy. Some wanted to rule over humans, reducing them to mere blood slaves. In fact, that was the very reason why I was being summoned to a private room at Bite to have a sit-down with my brother—the newly crowned king of the Gregorie vampires.

The high from sinking my fangs into a human a mere ten minutes ago, the rush of fresh blood through my veins, was wearing off. I wasn’t happy about Athan deigning to sweep in from our family’s hidden compound outside Mission to make sure I was staying on task. Yeah, I wasn’t fucking happy about it at all.

Moans filled my ears as I surged through the crowd. I’d made it to the greeting room, which was filled with couches full of humans and vampires in various states of undress. A woman riding a vampire’s cock turned to look at me as I passed, her mouth open in ecstasy, eyes glassy.

I hadn’t had time for any of that. I’d fed, then received word my brother was here. My human hadn’t been happy. She wanted some of her own vampire dick. Too bad; she’d find it elsewhere. Hell, she was probably here now. I hadn’t planned to fuck her anyway. Unlike what my brother thought, I was here to feed and feed only because I had to. I was fully focused on my mission.

I walked down a hallway, then turned a corner and headed down another, going deeper into Bite where only employees of the club and members of the royal family—me—and our guards were allowed. Finally, I came to the correct door and shoved it open.

Athan sat at the table, large and imposing, his dark eyes taking me in as I sank into the chair across from him.

He didn’t speak, so I did. “Why are you here?”

Athan’s jaw clenched at my question, and just like that, the room filled with his energy. It’d been that way since he’d drunk from the Sanguivita. Athan was larger than life now, a true king who was strong as ten vampires combined, had goddamn wings, and could let the sun fall on his face without being burned.

My hand—the one with the maimed finger—twitched in my lap.

“I’m here to make sure you don’t do something stupid, brother,” Athan said.

“You weren’t so worried when you sent me on this mission.”

“I’m reconsidering.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering where the fuck this was coming from. Then I knew. “Zeb.”

“I’m having him keep an eye on you—”

“Fuck that,” I said, slashing my hand through the air. “Really? Spying on me?”

“I thought your anger would cool,” Athan explained, but there was no remorse in his tone. “I thought you’d focus on the mission and—”

“I’m fucking focused. The only reason I’m not watching her right now is because I needed to feed, and then you herded me into a room to give me a talking-to.”

“That’s my point,” Athan snapped. “There’s a difference between focusing on the mission with the end game in sight, and being so fucking lost in it that you can’t see what’s best for the clan.”

I stared at him, speechless, and when I spoke, I barely recognized my toneless voice. “Are you saying I’m not doing what’s best for the family?”

Athan flinched on the last word, and for the first time since he cornered me at Bite, I saw a bit of my brother and not the stone-faced king. “I didn’t say—”

I held up my left hand, where my middle finger was missing down to the first knuckle. It was barely noticeable, and to anyone who didn’t know, a minor injury. But to me, it was a pain I’d never forget, a constant reminder of what my father had been willing to do, and just how worthless he thought I was. I shook my hand at Athan, and his gaze narrowed in on my finger. “Don’t tell me I won’t do what’s best for my clan. I stood on our fucking roof prepared to let our father burn me one inch at a time to save your precious Tendra. Don’t fucking tell me I’m not willing to do what’s best for us.” I hissed the last word, beyond pissed. Beyond.

Athan knew it, too. My anger had always burned bright in a way that singed everything around me. Athan was the controlled one. The steady one. The king.

His nostrils flared when he spoke again, and his voice was softer. “I just want to talk so I know where your head is at. I’m not here to argue.”

“Then talk,” I bit off.

Athan’s lips pursed before he said, “Zeb said you have expressed impatience.”

“Yeah, I’m fucking impatient. You’re a goddamn super-vampire and you want to have a sit-down with the Valarian king? Fuck that. Fuck him. He turned our father, put our clan at risk, and wants every single human under his thumb.”

“I don’t want war—”

“He declared war the second he latched his claws onto Father.”

“Idris, what I’m trying to do is make our next step permanent. I don’t want to start a war, because we cut off the head of the snake, and three more grow back. I want to finish this.”

“Then finish it by flying your winged ass in there and taking them out.”

Athan’s eyes swirled. “I’m not saying I won’t do that if it comes to it. But I’m trying to play this smart. And I need you to play this smart with me.”

I turned away just as Zeb entered the room, along with Dru, the head of security at Bite. Every time I saw him, I was struck by how fucking huge he was. Only post-Tendra-blood Athan was larger than Dru.

“Do I need to separate you two?” Zeb asked with a smirk. Dru stood at the door, hands crossed over his chest.

“Fuck you, Zeb,” I said to him.

Zeb’s head snapped to me, his face darkening. “I see Athan expressed our concern.”

“I’m doing my job.”

“Yeah, and you’re so fucking steeped in anger, it’s a wonder you’re able to fucking function.”

“I’m really fucking sick and tired of people telling me how to feel about what Father did to me. Yeah, I’m angry. I have a right to be.” Zeb’s eyes softened a fraction as pity entered his expression, and that was when I knew I was done. “She’s waking up in a few hours. I gotta go.”

“Idris,” Athan called, and Dru’s body moved to block my exit. Fuck my life. That guy was a wall, and right now he was staring at me with impassive dark eyes.

I turned to my brother. “You need muscle here? I’ve known Dru for a long fucking time. Pretty sure he’s not going to take me out.”

“I have a vested interest in human future,” Dru said, his deep voice rumbling.

Fuck, I forgot. He’d hitched himself to a human he’d met in the club. Word was he was in deep. So yeah, he did have a vested interest.

I sighed and turned to Athan. “What?”

“You wait for my word. Once you have it, you can grab her.”

“What are we waiting for?”

“Something’s going on with the Valarians,” Zeb piped up. “Quellen are mobilizing and we’re not sure why.”

That piqued my interest. Quellen were an old vampire clan, and their only loyalty was to money and blood. The Valarians often paid them to do their dirty work. Recently, they’d been hired to kill Tendra. They were excellent at assassinations, but fortunately, Athan had been a better bodyguard, which was the reason she was in his bed now. “Anything else?”

“Got an informant who said there’s unease in the Valarian ranks,” Zeb added.

That was interesting, too.

“So we’re not doing shit until we’re sure what we do is going to make an impact,” Athan said. “Still, word is that the Valarian king values his hybrid daughter very much.”

I nodded tightly. It still made no sense why he didn’t keep her close. Zeb had said no one was sure if she knew about her parentage, but how could she not? She was a fucking half vampire.

“Remember.” Athan met my eyes. “Our interest in her is to get a sit-down with her father. She’s collateral. That’s it.”

Celia Valerie, half-human, half-vampire daughter of the Valarian king. A nurse in Mission Hospital. Five-three. Pretty, with hair the color of mahogany. Chocolate eyes. Shy. With an apartment she decorated in all whites and creams, like she wanted nothing but pure around her. She liked this rainbow-colored cereal in the shape of doughnuts, and she fed a stray cat who wandered around her apartment complex. She also liked to cook but always burned something she called “grilled cheese.” Even though I didn’t eat human food, I knew the smell of something burning. I sure as hell knew that.

To them she was collateral, and to me she’d been my life for two weeks. I watched her every move, all while she had no idea I was about to fuck up her life in a big way. But it couldn’t be helped. They needed her to rein in her father, and she had enemy blood in her veins.

I did plan to use her as collateral to meet her father, but what Athan didn’t know was that there would be no talking. Athan could ramble on about fucking negotiations until he was blue in the face, but I knew. There would be no negotiations. I wanted revenge. I didn’t care if I had to sacrifice myself to do it; it’d be worth it. The last thing I wanted to do on this Earth was to watch the Valarian king’s head roll.

And I’d be the one doing it.

But still, I looked my brother in the eye. “Yes, that’s it, my king.”

Athan jolted at the title, then nodded. His gaze flicked to Dru, who moved his body away from the door. Then I turned the knob and strode out. I had a human to watch.