Page 90 of Thicker than Blood

“Yes, sir.”

Geordi leans into me. “Tristan knows all of this, doesn’t he?”

“He was well aware of the consequences he risked.”

“That will be Tristan’s fate. The place between worlds.”

“Yes.”

Geordi straightens his shoulders. “Good.”

CHAPTER 27

Geordi

Iwatch in stunned silence as Elias takes Tristan from Benicio, and using the chains wrapped around the vampire’s body, effortlessly strings him up from a metal beam above us. Tristan is still defiant, glaring at me and doing his best to endure the burning of the chains on his flesh. He’s still pretty, which is more than annoying, but his looks are marred by blood and singe marks.

A hint of guilt tugs at my chest that I’m allowing this to happen. Not only am I allowing it, but I’m relieved. I don’t want anything bad to happen to Elias or me, but especially Elias. He put himself in this position with Tristan on my behalf.

“You’re wrong, darling,” Elias says as he steps back to admire his work. “This would have happened even if our paths had never crossed. You recall how we met.”

“Right. Yeah.”

“You see, Tristan was misguided, lured by the promise of dominance that will never happen. A wise vampire knows we are outnumbered by mortals many times over. We learned during the war that mortals will go to extreme lengths, even destroy themselves, to retain power. They will sacrifice anything and a vampire will sacrifice nothing. We have no real allegianceto anything, no grand purpose except our own continued existence.”

He glances at me, smiling.

“There have been many such misguided pursuits over the centuries. Uprisings against the church or a powerful government. I’ve seen it more times than I can count, and do you know what happens every time?”

I shake my head. “What?”

“We are pushed back into the shadows. We are forced into hiding for our own preservation. We gain nothing and lose much. What Fisher, Tristan, and the others who joined their cause couldn’t see is that our current reality is the most progress our kind has ever made. I can walk freely among mortals. I enjoy the opportunity to make a fruitful life for myself and others like me. Domination is not the goal because it’s impossible to reach. Peaceful coexistence is the only reasonable choice.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Unfortunately for Tristan, he didn’t understand me as much as he thought he did. He thought he could seduce the most powerful vampire currently living, but I knew something wasn’t right about him. Foolish,” he whispers. “Didn’t you consider that if I wanted more power, I simply would have taken it?”

Tristan’s upper lip curls into something of a snarl, but he tries to maintain his composure as best he can in his position.

“Now, you stupid little puppet.” Elias steps closer to Tristan. “You’re going to watch me entangle my soul with another.” He grips Tristan’s chin hard. “I’m going to drain him, then feed him, then fuck him. He’s going to scream my name in pleasure, now and forever.”

Tristan’s eyes harden. “I don’t care. Your punishment is meaningless.”

Elias chuckles. “You can’t lie to me. I feel your grief and humiliation. I feel your rage.”

Elias opens his mouth to reveal his fangs, and my stomach does somersaults. He’s so sexy. And he’s mine.

“You want to tear my mortal apart, but you’re powerless. You wanted it to be you.” Elias drags his nails down Tristan’s chest, drawing blood. Tristan flinches but remains stoic.

“He’ll tire of you,” Tristan says to me. “He tires of everyone. His eyes will stray to the next pretty mortal, and when he’s over you, he’ll discard you and one of his friends will take his seconds. You mean nothing to him.”

Tristan’s words sting, but when I look at Elias, his eyes are pulsing. I don’t know how I know, but I literally feel his commitment to me. I don’t understand why he chose me, but I know to my core that he has.

“That’s what you’d like to believe.” I straighten my shoulders. “But you know I’m different. You hate it but you know. He’s going to keep me, and you can watch him love me from your eternal grave.”

Elias smiles, pride in his eyes. “Geordi knows what he is to me.”

“Why?” Tristan demands, his voice tight and strained. “Why this one?”