I groaned impatiently.
Finally, he said, “Anyone, human or vampire, who possesses a vampire’s fangs has the power to control them.”
The rational part of my brain refused to accept what I was hearing. “How is that even possible?”
“The possessor can also indirectly create an event for a vampire and then make it happen.”
My mouth fell open. “I don’t believe . . . I mean how . . .”
My words faded when I was struck by a memory from Bali.At the time, Robert and I were on the island hiding out from the VGO, and Nick was in possession of Robert’s fangs. In one of his email rantings to me, he’d stated that he wished Robert would wrap his flashy car around a tree—and that he wanted millions to witness Robert’s humiliation. Shortly thereafter, Robert crashed our convertible into a palm tree while trying to outrun the paparazzi. Photos of the incident were later featured on social media sites all over the world. People loved seeing billionaires screw up.
Still. It was crazy, wasn’t it, that Nick had caused the accident because he’d wished for it with Robert’s fangs?
Joseph raised his eyebrows. “You have questions?”
“So many.”
It was difficult picking which one to ask first. I said, “You’re talking as if this is something that’s happened before, but how could it be possible that someone could even have a vampire’s fangs? From my understanding, a vampire has never turned back into a human before my blood changed Robert. Beyond that, the only other times I’ve seen a vampire’s fangs fall out is when they died. Am I missing something?”
“A vampire’s fangsdofall out when they die, which every immortal knows. But if a vampire loses their fangs, it does not necessarily mean theyhavedied. I’m assuming you’ve heard of pliers?” he asked rhetorically. “If I pulled my fangs out right now it would hurt like hell, but they’d grow back by next sunrise.”
“Why would anyone want to pull a vampire’s fangs out?” I asked. “Beforeanyone discovered that a vampire could be controlled by them, I mean.”
“It once was a form of punishment for those who stepped out of the confines of vampire law. It was meant to humiliate the vampire for their misdeeds, but only for a short time. It was like a slap on the wrist for minor infractions,” he explained. “How it was later discovered that vampires can becontrolled by their fangs, I don’t know, but the news of it spread fast.”
“Were the removals done by the VGO?”
“Yes, originally. However, once word got out, the removals were done by others.”
“Humans?”
He nodded grimly. “Ifthey could capture a vampire and starve them into weakness. It wasn’t unheard of for royalty, both human and vampire, to buy fangs on the black market from fang merchants.”
“So, they could have their very own vampire to control,” I said.
“Right. Usually as palace guards, commanded to fight to the death to protect the kingdom. A couple kings kept harems of vampire women and even vampire boys, though the ‘boys’ might have been older than they were by centuries. Some bought vampires for their children to be used as pets. Dreadful stuff.”
“God.” I couldn’t imagine something so awful.
“The last known fang extraction occurred a couple centuries ago. Now, of course, the practice is strictly forbidden and punishable by death. That goes for everyone, the VGO included.”
“Were fang merchants vampires?”
“Sometimes,” he said, his eyes narrowing at the recollection. “It was a terrible time, vampires attacking other vampires for their fangs. It came down to money. Fangs could fetch a sum higher than some vampires had seen in their entire lifetime. The VGO considered such business practices treason, so the fang merchants were also executed, even if they didn’t do the extractions themselves. So were those caught trying to buy fangs. We have a zero-tolerance policy for vampire slavery.”
I swallowed, thinking of Robert. “Is the vampire aware they’re being controlled?”
“The vampire knows what’s happening on a subconscious level, much like a human in a coma—though the vampire is awake. The one with the fangs controls everything: the vampire’s decisions, behavior, and even when to feed and sleep. It’s torturous, from what I’ve been told.”
I sighed, heartsick. “So, how does this relate to Robert and Serena?”
He raised his eyebrows, as if I should know. I had an idea, but I wanted to hear it from him anyway, so that we were both on the same page.
He said, “Serena obviously knew Nick had stolen Robert’s fangs, since she’d been monitoring him.”
“So, she killed Nick for Robert’s fangs?” I said, aghast. “Why didn’t she just ask for them?”
“Serena doesn’t ask for anything. It was faster to just take them.”
