Cal
Lucian didn’t waste any time making my brothers and me follow through.
And now, here I stand, inside a luxury mansion, surrounded by elite vampires listening to my uncle address the room.
“Welcome, gentlemen, to Viewing Night,” Lucian announces. “For the next two hours, you’re invited to observe and learn about the pool of exceptional women we’ve gathered for this year’s Selection. I know many of you are new to the process, and we’ll be walking you through it as necessary, but the Council’s biggest piece of advice is to enjoy it. You’ll only have your first Selection once, and I must say…there’s nothing quite like that thrill.”
My jaw locks tightly as I lean against the wall in the back of the room, trapped in the hell of watching my uncle and his elder peers talk about this event like it’s some sort of fucking trip to an amusement park.
I’m wearing a tux and holding a glass of bourbon in my hand, but the liquor is untouched and the setting is the least deserving of formal wear I’ve ever seen.
It’s fucking disgusting, plain and simple. And if I had any other option at all, I wouldn’t be anywhere near it.
As things stand, though, I’m stuck here. Kane and Blair and Rook and Kylie have been confined somewhere out of sight since we arrived, and I’ve been tucked underUncleLucian’s wing.
And because of the tremendous exhibition of power he made during our first meeting, I haven’t gone rogue. Hell, he might be one of the most powerful vampire I’ve ever met. There’s no telling what he’d do to Rook, Kane, and their mates before I even had a chance to find them.
I’m trapped—both physically and emotionally—for the time being.
“Calloway,” my uncle calls from the front of the room, startling both me and the large group of men around me. I expected to be the unspoken elephant in the room for a bit—to be cast as an outsider as a further form of punishment.
Several sets of angry eyes find mine in a sneer, and the ones who don’t are openly curious. A hundred vampires, all waiting for me to make a wrong move. As the quietest brother of the Slater trio, I’ve never been under this much scrutiny in my life.
But I guess that’s the point.
“Yes?” Even the simple word feels like a bitter betrayal of my tongue. To be here. To be compliant. Everything about this is an assault on all that I stand for.
“Come up here, please.”
My jaw locks around a nasty lack of choice. He’s taken away my autonomy completely by separating me from my brothers, and he knows it. But he’ll be the only fool if he thinks my compliance is built to last. Iwillbe ruining him and this place and all these men when the time is right.
I vow it.
Weaving through the agitated group of wealthy pricks, I make my way to the front, only stopping when my uncle sets a hand atop my shoulder and spins me to face the room. My body is stiff, and my eyes scan the space for threats.
“Gentlemen, I know some of you are wondering about the presence of Calloway here, as most of you know him as a member of our blue-collar class,” my uncle announces. “I understand the confusion, but I want you to set aside your preconceived notions about who he is or where he comes from and treat him as one of your own.” He chuckles. “Calloway ismynephew.”
There are a few subtle inhales at the unexpected news, and a quiet murmur of hushed and hurried whispers follows swiftly. Naturally, my ears don’t disappoint. I can hear every fucked-up thing they say about my blue-collar background and orphaned childhood, but I shut it out as quickly as it starts.
Opinions of assholes like these are irrelevant, and letting their nonsense clutter my mind will unnecessarily dull my senses.
“He’s one of us, of the fourth, previously thought to be extinct, noble bloodline,” Lucian continues, shaking my body with a tight squeeze of his still-present hand. “And as such, is a keypiece of the Council’s long-standing goal for racial purity. If we’re to be the best, we need the best. And Calloway…is thebest. Understand?”
There’s a low murmur of understanding and begrudged agreement, but for my part, I’m reeling over the news.
Not only are my brothers and I elite, but our mother was of thefourthbloodline that went extinct decades ago? I’m shocked.
But I’m also fucking over this ostentatious display.
Without waiting for permission, I step out from my uncle’s hold and back into the crowd, carving my way to the back of the room.
A couple of men laugh, and my uncle joins in—relishing the cute little display of obstinance from their pawn—and then continues with his speech.
“We’ll be moving now to the observation room on the second floor. Don’t worry about your drinks—there’s a bar up there—just follow us swiftly, if you would, to prevent any commingling with the women in the hallway.”
As the men file out into the hall, chuckling and festering in evil rapture, a small group of men congregates at my uncle, who is, once again, flagging me over.
Frustrated, I down the glass of bourbon before setting it aside and stride toward them, anger clinging to me like a sturdy companion. It’s as though Rook cloaked me in his personality for good measure. He’s always been a grumpy-as-fuck bastard.
