Page 65 of Vampires & Bikers

“Vlas?” I asked, hearing muttering coming from the bed. “You need anything?”

As I came closer, I was shocked to see his deterioration. He had sunken cheeks and almost no hair left. I couldn’t imagine what had caused such a rapid wasting away. I looked around and found a container with what appeared to be blood product and offered it to him. He drank it greedily and sank into his pillows. After a while, he opened his eyes.

“Ah, Luc,” he said, recognizing me. Then he closed his eyes.

I thought of how I’d come into his service. Almost 200 years ago, I’d had a family and children of my own. I lived on my land in the North and when war broke out between the First and Second Families, I fought on the side of the Second Families. While I was away, fighting with Vlas, some from the enemy camp came to my land and murdered my wife and children. They were left for me to find, their bodies ripped apart and broken.

I was devastated. I burnt the house down and it took me decades to rebuild it but I could never quite bring myself to live there again. I saw images of Francesca and the girls everywhere. I decided to go away as far as possible and found a place in the West. I travelled a lot, had an apartment in the Capital and when Vlas asked me to help him rule, I agreed. For years, I’d been by his side, helping him advance our cause.

Matteo had been my closest friend and our trips on patrol or on assignment for the king were some of my happiest times. The war might be over, but until I had found his killer, I couldn’t move on.

“You were always loyal to me,” Vlas said. “Right to the end. Not Matteo.”

“Matteo?”

He shook his head. “Not loyal.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Matteo had always been devoted to the king.

“Matteo loved you.”

“Not me. Her.” I could see the effort it took him to say the words.

“Who?” I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“The queen.”

He looked at me. “You didn’t know about him and Taheera?”

His words struck me, I felt their force almost like a physical blow. Matteo and the queen? Surely not. Then I remembered how angry he got when I had criticized her. I remembered how he had reacted when he found out about me and Taheera, our one night stand. I knew he hadn’t approved but he had been angry then. Now I knew why. I wish I had known, though. Our friendship had been so important to me.

“You had him killed?” I asked. I almost couldn’t believe it.

“Not… me…,” Vlas said.

“Who did it then?” I asked.

His eyes moved from my face and I realized we were no longer alone in the room.

“It’s time to let Matteo go,” a woman said behind me. It was Taheera, her red hair flowing like flames around her. She was dressed to go out.

“He was useful, for a while,” she said. “Then he became… clingy. Needy. You know? Not like you…” she winked at me and came closer, trailing a hand across my cheek. I slapped her hand away. She laughed. “He knew I’d be a good ruler and make our empire strong again. Fearless, the way we used to be.”

“But why did Matteo have to die?”

She shrugged. “He wanted us to get married. Blah-blah-blah. Once Vlas had gone. As if he was a suitable match for me,” she laughed. “When I said no, he got angry and threatened to tell Vlas about us. I couldn’t allow that.”

“But the king knew about you!”

“I didn’t know that at the time,” she said, shrugging, like it was a small oversight. She was thoroughly evil. I thought of Matteo talking about a woman’s character. Taheeraseemed entirely selfish and arrogant, without a shred of compassion or integrity. How could he not have seen it? She must have seen the look of horror on my face.

“Oh, please. He wasn’t that wonderful. He wasn’t even that great a fighter. It was so easy to kill him. I walked right up to him and put a dagger into his heart.”

I could almost feel the pain of betrayal on behalf of my friend. He’d remained true to her to the end and she had stabbed him in the heart.

“The king won’t last much longer, then I will take the throne.”

“No,” I said, my voice a growl. “You will not.”

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