Page 20 of You Will Obey
I reached down, grabbed a handful of her dark locks, then dragged her over to Bruce. “Feed, you can use it, but don’t kill her.”
Bruce nodded and leaned over her body, sinking his fangs. I watched as my child drew in the strength he needed from her blood, then quaked in pleasure from it before pulling back. His eyes were closed as he licked his lips, letting the bloodhaze work its beautiful magic. I then grabbed Lori whose broken neck was healed, but now she was too weak to fight any longer. I tossed her next to her boyfriend.
“Bloody hell, that bitch was vicious,” Bruce remarked as he climbed to his feet with a bit of stagger.
He was a mess, clothes shredded and covered in blood, flesh, and bits that were best left inside one’s body. “She kicked your ass,” I teased.
“Fuck,” Bruce groaned, then looked at Lori laying like a broken doll by her lover and he chuckled. “She did, didn’t she?” he admitted with a shake of his head. “I can’t even remember the last time I got my ass whooped, Father.”
“When we took over this territory, Marco had to help you,” I reminded him.
He nodded. “Ah, yeah… I wasn’t really asking, though, Father. It was rhetorical.”
I laughed, then turned all of my attention on the soon-to-be-dead couple. “You put up quite the gallant effort to survive, Lydia–oh, I mean, Lori. That's what you’re going by now.” I waved my hand before going on. “Anyway, it doesn't matter. You’ve always had a soft spot for humans and that’s why you were never able to rise in rank in spite of how formidable you are. You’ve wasted your gift and squandered your chance at true greatness. And for what? This moment in time? I will get Somchai and kill every human with him. I know where he’s at and all I need to do is make a phone call.”
“Just… do it,” Lori said with feeble breaths.
“You’re right. I can’t tolerate your betrayal or weakness and you never wanted to be a vampire. Problem solved,” I said, then ignited them with my dragon fire. They both screamed as the deadly flames engulfed their bodies. I wouldn’t let them move as the fire devoured their flesh, charring it. Once they were both dead, I extinguished my fire, letting the blackened husks of their bodies smolder. Setting them ablaze didn’t require me conjuring a fireball. I just had to concentrate on both of them and will my flames. Something Tylendel had taught me now that I was a Knight. There were all kinds of things Knights could do that were exclusive to us. Not even dragons as old as Hexon could do some of the things Tylendel could do. The benefit of our bodies merging with the dragon king’sHeartsblood.
“Where are they, Father?” Bruce asked as he stepped up to me, his gaze on the burnt remains of my enemies.
“In Heaven’s Stone. They had a vampire ally there, sympathetic to the rebels’ silly plight. I’ll have to contact the Princess to make arrangements to have the humans captured. But I only want one transported back over the border where I’ll be waiting for him,” I said. “I’ll leave you to tend to your General duties regarding this fiasco.” I made a gesture to encompass all of the damage done to the apartment.
“I’ll get Horace on it, Father,” Bruce said as he looked around at the carnage that was created during their fight. He was also soaking wet from the faucet that was still spewing water. “Let me shut that shit off before everyone in the damn building runs out of water.”
I smirked as I walked to the front door. Bruce tended to the busted pipe and I left, returning to Deijon and my driver. “Take me to the Riverland Hotel on Springfield Ave,” I said.
“Yes, sir,” my driver said, then drove off.
“We’re not going back home, Sir?” Deijon asked.
I shook my head. “No, we’re staying locally for the time being.” I pulled out my cell phone and called Noel and my son answered on the third ring.
“Yes, Father?” he greeted.
“I will not be coming home tonight, or maybe even tomorrow night as well,” I told him.
“Is everything all right, Father?” Noel asked.
“Yes,” I chuckled as I contemplated telling him that his older brother took what they called an “L”, and decided against it. Bruce would tell him if and when he was ready. “Everything is fine. I have a lead on Somchai and it’s a good chance I’ll have him within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
“Oh, so the intel panned out. That’s good. Is that all that you wanted to tell me, Sire?”
I smiled because Noel’s maturity pleased me. When the day came for him to be in control of his own House, I would be just as proud to release him as I was when I released my other sons.
“Yes, pet, that was all. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye, Father,” Noel said, and we ended the call.
I looked for my contact list for the number to the Princess of Heaven’s Stone, Leona Friedrich. From what I knew of the vampire ruler, she was two thousand years old and a favorite child of Queen Elsa Calloway. Fortunately for me, Queen Elsa and my Sire, Ara, had a friendly acquaintance. I wasn’t expecting much resistance to this favor I was going to ask for. I waited until we were at our hotel. It was quite lavish with white and cream plush sofas and chairs, cherrywood tables, cream carpeting, sparkling chandeliers, and granite countertops. The room had access to a private sauna, pool, and jacuzzi and had two master bedrooms. I, of course, didn’t have to pay for the room, as I was Prince of the city. But anyone else, this room would run them twenty-five hundred a night. I settled comfortably into one of the chairs before I made my call.
“Good evening, Princess Leona, this is Prince Théoden,” I greeted when she answered.
“Oooh,” she purred. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Her voice was sultry and with a German accent.
“Let me get right to the point, as I respect your time. I’m calling because I have a bit of a dilemma,” I said.
She tsked. “Dilemmas are nasty things to have. How can I help with yours?” she asked.