Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
We had to be seen as normal if we were to blend in, so that meant rides in vehicles when it would be exponentially faster to just arrive with a small will of my mind.
The drive to my club took less than five minutes, and I likely could’ve walked it just as fast, but important people didn’t show up on foot. Or at least that was what my old master, the man I’d usurped for my current position, had said.
And his words had stuck with me, even to this day.
“Hello,” I said politely to the man at the door.
The bouncer, another vampire, nodded his head, keeping his eyes mostly on the crowd that was waiting in line.
He knew who I was. Hell, every vampire in the city knew who I was.
You didn’t become the Master of the City without knowing your people. Their negatives and their positives. Their worthiness in a fight.
This man, Render, was very important to me. He was the security for all of my places of business, and for him to be on the door meant that Pavlov, Fox, or my other two closest friends felt it paramount.
“How’s your daughter doing, Render?” I asked him as I made my way to the entrance.
Render’s blank face lit up for a few short seconds. “She’s doing better every day. They believe she’ll make a full recovery.”
Render’s daughter had been in a car accident a few months ago and on the brink of death.
I’d gone to visit her, and had fed her my blood to help speed up the healing process, causing her to advance faster than she would have had her father done the same.
Render hadn’t expected it of me, and that’d been why I’d done it. He was a part of my inner circle, the person who kept me safe, and I was willing to reward my people for putting their lives on the line when warranted.
“That’s good news to hear,” I told him meaningfully. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was the weekly meeting that myself and my inner circle had to discuss any questions or concerns we had. Likely, tomorrow would be full of recounts of how the human activists set out on ridding the planet of vampires had upped the stakes.
That’d been what today had been about, that was for sure.
It never took me long to find out peoples’ motives for what and why they did something. The moment I touched my mind to theirs, I could discern their deepest fears, desires, and anything else they were thinking or had thought at one point in their life.
I was one of about ten vampires in the entire world that could do that, but people still tried to hide stuff from me.
Most didn’t succeed, but others, like Acadia, who had a natural immunity to vampire powers, could do it easily.
Which was a curse and a boon all at once.
“They’re in our regular booth.” Pavlov indicated the same booth that I’d first laid eyes on Acadia in. “Do you want your regular drink?” He stopped at the bar and flagged the bartender down.
I nodded my head. “Yes, please.”
I left him to collect our drinks from the blue-eyed blonde that’d replaced the heel that used to attend the bar, and headed straight to my seat.
I knew the minute she was in the building, and I cursed myself for not telling Render to refuse her if she decided to show.
He would’ve denied her had he known how deep I was. How I was slowly drowning, and not caring in the least. If I allowed it to go on too long, then I’d find myself in a place I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to be again.
But it would’ve broken something between us that I wasn’t willing to break at this point had I denied her entry, so although I didn’t want to have to see her, because my resolve was quickly disintegrating, I allowed her entrance and didn’t complain when she sat at the bar.
I didn’t complain when her friend joined her.
I also didn’t complain when two men flanked the women. Two vampires. Men that I recognized from the business side of the operation that I ran.
“You look like you’re about to kill someone,” Fox drawled, eyes moving toward where he could see me glaring. “Would you like me to take care of the problem before it escalates?”
I waved him off.
“No,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “I’d like you to tell me why we had to meet here in the first place.”
It was Pavlov who answered. “You need to be seen in public seemingly uncaring about all the threats to you. This club is the easiest and safest place to do that, and get the most attention from the community at the same time.”
That made sense.
“We could’ve just as easily done this another night,” I growled out.