Page 114 of A Bond Beyond Blood

“Mr.Donati,” I said gleefully as I leapt onto the table and stretched out on my belly in front of him, feet kicked up over my knees and crossed at the ankles.“Your reputation precedes you.”I rested my chin on my hands.“Quite the rise to the top you’ve had, if I may say so myself.”

The crime boss smirked and sat back in his seat, reeking of so much misplaced pride and self-importance that it almost covered up the stink of his offensive cologne.For a vampire, with such a heightened sense of smell, I’d expect him to know better.

Which didn’t bode well for my overall opinion of him.

Not that it was particularly good to begin with.The man was a nuisance.

I detested mafiosos nearly as much as I detested the backstabbing vampires currently circled around this ancient wood table.

The way this particular criminal ran his enterprise was shady and underhanded.And had no place in the future I pictured for my kind—or our mortally-challenged human neighbors.

“Tell me, Carmine,” I said, tipping my head to one side and swinging my feet playfully.“May I call you Carmine?”I didn’t wait for a response.“Where is my throne?”

He swallowed, the motion disappearing in that thick neck of his, then his gaze flicked quickly to his right.To Winston, on my left.

“No, no,” I said, “don’t look at Winnie.This is the House ofLords.Plural.You are aLord, are you not?Equal among your brethren, correct?”I swung my head to face Winnie and rested it on my palm.“Isn’t that how this works, old friend, or have you truly achieved that level of power for which you always craved?”

Winston’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer the question.With narrowed eyes, he watched me, waiting.It ate at him, this distinction.He was one of five, but Winston didn’t want toshare; he wanted to rule.

Absolute power and infallible control.Praise.Blind allegiance.

He wanted to be obeyed and feared.

Deified.

Sharing this round table with a ragtag mix of those who once stood by my side and those who’d only heard about me in whispered fairytales meant even in my absence, my old friend had failed to reach the goal.

Sharing this table was his worst nightmare.

My lips quirked up.Nay, his worst nightmare was currently stretched across this shared table.

The poor fool never could accept that he wasn’t of royal blood, and therefore, even in my absence, even after all his scheming and maneuvering, he would never truly be king.

As long as royals still walked the earth, Winston was just an old, sad vampire grasping for whatever scraps were tossed his way.

I sighed as I rose to my feet.It truly was a shame.I’d expected more from the vampire I’d pulled from the grips of Death herself, nurtured back to health, then allowed to find safety by my side.

“Well done, my boy.”I clapped slowly as I strode in a lazy circle around the table.Stopping in front of Winston’s right-hand man, I lowered into a crouch.“Frances,” I said with mock disappointment.“I had expected more from you.”Tsking, I shook my head.“Such a pity.All of you, such utter disappointments.”Looking at the vampire beside Frances, I said, “Did you know I knew your mother, Micheal?”

His lips curled as his fangs unsheathed.

“Oh, settle down, Mikey.”I chuckled.“She’d be so disappointed in how you turned out, wouldn’t she?God rest her soul.”

With a dramatic sigh, I looked at them all in turn.The younger two, Carmine and smirking at the vampire beside him.“President Geier.”

He cleared his throat.“Greer,” he corrected.

I inclined my head.“My apologies.Your...”Narrowing my eyes, I recalled what I’d learned about him.“Your grandfather changed it the moment he stepped foot on American soil.”I snorted.“And understandably so.Geiermeansvulturein German.Did you know that?I’m sure there’s no correlation to the man sitting before me now.”I chuckled and he blanched, but he was of no significance to me.As soon as I stepped back into my rightful place, the political poison he’d inflicted upon the White House would be removed, starting with his festering head, no doubt.But all in good time.

I would give him a chance to rework the treaty and surrenderamicably.

See?A gentleman above all else.

The older three vampires, the turncoats behind this offensiveCouncil of Lords, men who once stood by my side and swore their allegiance even as they schemed behind my back, sat like diligent little soldiers, ready and waiting for my next decree.If only they’d shown that same respect back then.

“Micheal, Francis and Winston,” I said, my voice laced with power.They all straightened in unison, steeled their spines in anticipation of whatever horrific command I might deliver their way.

Oh, how I did like to see them rapt, on the edge of their seats.Hanging on my every word...

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