Page 14 of Wanted 3

"Did your father drink the blood?" Vlad asked, breaking my focus on Jeremy's new friends.

I nodded. “It changed him. He grew stronger, faster, more deadly."

“And where is the troll now?" Vlad asked, his voice unnaturally calm.

Leonard began whispering something to Jeremy, and it was hard to concentrate on the Count’s questions with the way the Shadows were splitting up, dividing themselves between my brother and Leonard. What the hell was going on?

"Kassandra?" Vlad prompted, an edge of steel entering his tone.

"Um, the troll? My dad chased him down and shot him, he—”

“Did the troll die?” Leonard asked suddenly, his attention momentarily diverted from the shadows swirling around his feet.

"Yes," I said. "And then… " I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Then my dad fed on him, like a vampire."

I studied Vlad's face for any reaction, but he carried all of his emotions in a clenched jaw.

"Not a vampire," he objected softly. "A chimera."

"Chimeras are real, too?" Jeremy asked, his voice way too excited.

"I thought they were Greek myths," I said, trying to remember what little I'd heard about the creatures.

"You also thought I was myth until recently," Vlad whispered in my ear, slipping an arm around my waist.

My pulse sped up in response to his proximity and I leaned into him, my body acting of its own accord. How did he manage to arouse me even at the most inappropriate time?

He smirked as if he could tell what I was thinking.

Brain, focus.

"Tell me about chimeras," I said, deliberately shifting away from the Count's sexy-ass body.

His gaze roved over me a few seconds before he replied, “Chimeras are powerful, demonic creatures made when someone without magic feeds on the lifeforce of one with dark magic, such as a bog troll. All magical beings are created from one of the six elements. Earth, air, fire, water, light and darkness. If a human consumes the dark soul of a magical being, they become a demon. They become a chimera.”

My dad had basically been a demon before the bog troll. I shuddered to think what he’d turned into, now.

"Can you stop him?" I asked, uneasy.

"Yes." Vlad’s nod was firm, confident. "But it won't be easy. Especially this soon after his transformation. He’ll be at his most powerful. And likely he is already feeding, increasing his strength. We need to find him and stop him."

“No,” I said. My eyes fell on Jeremy and I added grimly, “We don't need to find him. He'll find us."

Vlad clenched his fist and when Leonard met his glance, they nodded in a shared understanding. "Then we’ll be ready." Vlad turned to leave.

I stepped forward and grabbed his hand, intertwining my fingers with his. "Where are you going?"

"To the forge," he said, giving my fingers a squeeze.

I’d pretty much forgotten about the fact the mansion had a forge. “Then I’m coming with you." I glanced over my shoulder to where my brother sat at the kitchen island. "Stay inside with Leonard, okay?"

I hated leaving him, but I needed to talk to Vlad alone, and this might be my only chance.

Jeremy nodded as I left the kitchen hand in hand with the Count. "What did you wish to speak to me about?" Vlad asked as we left the mansion through a back entrance and headed through the gardens to the forge.

The night was cool with a fresh breeze carrying the scent of roses and a dark sky full of stars, lit by a full moon.

"How did you know I wanted to talk about something?" I asked, tucking myself closer to him.

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