Page 108 of Burn for Her
“We’re not babysitters.” Lucian shrugged. “If you can’t keep track of those in your service, that’s not our issue.”
“He was important,” Marius growled. “He was a weaver.”
That got everyone’s attention. A weaver was a gifted vampire who could turn the bones of Savag-Ri into the enchanted dust they used to keep them away from vampire property. It worked the same way salt warded against evil in some forms of witchcraft. Basically like how brick dust was used to protect and repel negative energy in other practices.
“If he was so important, surely he would have had an escort with him. Start there.” Lucian’s jaw locked after that. As in locked and wouldn’t reopen voluntarily.
“He was my son’s lover,” Marius said with great distaste. He pulled a photo out of his breast pocket and slammed it on the table. “I demanded they break up about a year ago. Stryx was… unforgiving about it.”
Which would explain why the young vampire might have run away.
It made more sense now. Marius couldn’t afford to lose his son over something this foolish. Stryx was, after all, the heir to the House of Bone and a pure-blooded vampire.
Malachi didn’t bother looking at the photo. “Do you think this one went looking for Stryx, or might they have run off together?”
“I don’t know.” Marius sagged into a chair. “I only want my boy back. I can’t sleep knowing he’s out there unprotected. He’s too young, too foolish for this world. If they’ve run off together, I must find them. I can’t lose my son over a romantic tragedy. I refuse to accept that. And Bram’s a naïve idiot.”
Marius slid the picture across the table, and Lucian picked it up to study it first. His mouth twitched. Then he handed the photo over to Dorian without making eye contact.
One glance at the photo and Dorian knew why too.
“Bram’s dead.” Dorian dropped the picture on the table like it was dipped in poison.
Malachi blindly reached out for his glass of blood and took a sip. “How do you know this, Reaper?
“Because I blew his fucking head off myself. With Savag-Ri ammo.”
Bram was the one who set fire to Dorian’s house. The one who Lena fought in the middle of the street with.
“How dare you!” Marius bolted from his seat and flashed to him. Lucian beat him there. “He attacked Dorian’s house, Marius. Set the thing on fire with Dorian still in it. We were within our rights to punish him.”
“Punish,” Marius seethed. “Not annihilate!”
“No.” Dorian leaned back in his chair. “He earned death the second he put a blade to my mate’s throat.”
Silence fell like a heavy blanket over them.
“Bullshit.” Marius raked an angry gaze over Dorian. “You have no mate.”
Dorian bit down and let his fangs pierce his inner lip. The slight tang of his blood tasted different now. Different… because he had Lena in him.
“I demand to see her. I want proof!” Marius, King of the House of Bone, looked around the room and tossed his arms in the air. “Where is she then, Reaper?”
He didn’t trust Marius at all. Or the sleezy entourage accompanying him. For all he knew, this was one massive set up to make Dorian look even worse so the House of Bone could wage war and demand custody of Dorian as retribution for killing royalty or a royal’s property without a proper trial. If they already sacrificed a weaver, and were also using the king’s son for this charade, how far would they really go to get Dorian in their House? Or worse… have him executed for attacking their sacred members? Marius wanted the House of Death’s fighters. That was well-known. He hated Malachi—another truth that was universally known. But why drag Dorian into this? It made zero sense.
Stryx was still out there. Was he going to attack? When, where, why? Did Stryx even have the balls to attack? Most royals were pampered pussies, Dorian couldn’t imagine the prince going assassin on anyone.
No, something wasn’t right about this.
“I want to see your so-called mate,” Marius insisted. “I want to hear her spit out this preposterous lie herself.”
Dorian knew why and the reason infuriated him. If Lena lied to Marius, he’d be within his rights to punish her for it. Humans were food and entertainment for most vampires. Unless Dorian could turn her, she’d fall under a different set of House rules—fated or not.
But it wasn’t a lie. Lena was his mate. That didn’t mean Marius wouldn’t try to trap her in another falsehood just to take her away from him and set a war into motion. For that’s exactly what he’d get if this asshole tried to come for Lena. Fuck territories. Fuck kings. Fuck laws. And fuck this.
The longer he stayed here, the longer Lena remained vulnerable and unprotected in her house.
He couldn’t stand this.