“Solei,” I all but barked the name.
Stormy eyes met mine. The old vampire, the same one who had wanted to breed me and my mother for our distant relation to our goddess, sat at the far edge of the table. Atlas was sitting next to him, making sure he didn’t do anything funny.
It had been her idea to bring him, something I was not all too happy about. But because of the stunt I pulled, he had missed out on one of his most prized possessions. Rumor was he blamed my brother for not marrying me off fast enough. For playing a silly game and losing.
Being in the same room as him was sickening, but what was the saying?The enemy of my enemy is my friend…or some shit.
He made sure to glare at Vesper every second he could, not forgetting the person who had led to the demise of his bloodline.
“The one in his shadow paid me a visit,” he grumbled. “Talking something about blood contracts or whatever.”
I raised a brow at him. The one he was talking about was one of the last of Adrian’s people. Most of the others were already dead at his hands.
To be safe, we needed all of them gone. For this to work, I couldn’t leave a single stone unturned.
“And yet I saw him just this very morning,” I hissed. “Sowhydid you not find a chance to kill him?”
“Because he mentioned something interesting,” he said. “That there was a use forvampireblood instead of human blood.”
Murmurs broke out, vampires looking at one another.
“Vampire blood?”
“But what about blood bonding?”
“One-sided?”
“Or we just kill them.”
“It doesn’t taste as good.”
“Not as fun either.”
I slammed my hand on the table to stop the gossiping. They were moving into dangerous territory, and if we didn’t put a stop to it, I was worried at the ideas they might come up with on their own.
“What did he say exactly?”
He shrugged. “Just a mere suggestion. Asking if I ever considered switching the feeders for some hybrids or full vampires. Then he left.”
My head was starting to thrum. Anger and annoyance were pulsing through our bond, making me all that more reactive.
Fuck the Solei.
“And you still let him live,” I growled.
“He didn’t do anything.”
I imagined jumping up over the table, lunging at him, and tearing his heart out. I imagined crushing his head between my bare hands. Taking out his throat.
I hate this fucker.
Before I blew up, I moved on to the next.
“Elora.”
She looked up at me, looking stronger than I’d seen her in years. It had been immensely painful to see what her husband did to her. I didn’t know what changed, but I was glad something had.
After this was all over, maybe I would be able to help her.
