Page 62 of A Bond Beyond Blood

The line between an open existence among the humans and a return to hiding in the shadows was a delicate one indeed, and I had no desire to cross it.

With a deep sigh, I bent down and hoisted the large man over my shoulder, grunting at the weight of him.With a huff of annoyance, I positioned him so that his weight would be evenly distributed over my back, and crouched down to begin my exit.Carefully, I remained in the shadows as I made my way toward the opposite end of this tight alleyway between the two buildings, away from the popular tourist attraction where people still lingered at this late hour to enjoy the festively lit up tree at the center of the square.

Upon checking that no one was near, I took off in a sprint, racing as quickly as I could toward the river.To the human eye, I’d be but a streak, a shadow, something they may not even believe they witnessed at all.

But that didn’t mean I could be careless.The world was run by vampires now, and this city was no different than anywhere else.Here, however, unlike other places in the country, both crime families and corrupt vampire leaders alike wrestled for control.I wasn’t ready to reveal myself to either party just yet.

The moment I returned to the public eye, I’d be crowned king without question—which would bring about immediate retaliation.Those who’d risen to control upon my disappearance—both human and vampire alike—would not give up their positions lightly.New treaties would need to be signed.Laws would need to be rewritten.

A lot of work for someone who, up until just recently, hadn’t even considered returning to the position.

I sighed, shifting the dead man’s weight over my shoulders.

Honestly, I hadn’t even truly decided if Iwantedthat position back—or the power and responsibility that came with the title ofKing—until I met the girl.

One look at Franco’sJackand, suddenly, returning to a life of quiet solitude and aching loneliness had felt like a prison sentence.A hundred years ago, I’d relinquished my throne out of pure apathy, having grown bone-tired by the constant volleying for power among my kind, the infighting and disagreements.The way so many of my brethren detested humans when they were the very life force we needed to survive.

When I should have fought, I grew tired and vanished.

I’m not too proud to admit that I would have remained a ghost, a whispered bedtime story of an absentee king, if not for the urging of an old friend in Austria...

And the butcher’s daughter.

Nothing had piqued my interest like Jacqueline Fiorino ineons.

But until I was ready to move forward with reclaiming the throne, I had to stay to the shadows, clean up this mess as quickly and succinctly as possible while avoiding detection, because if that young vampire was connected to the butcher’s daughter, as I assumed he was by his visit to her home earlier this evening, I didn’t want to risk his carelessness coming back to her.

Until I figured out how it was possible that she’d gone this long undetected, or how my blood flowed miraculously through her veins, I had to keep my little secret just that.Mine.

At the river’s edge, I made quick work of securing the man’s body to multiple large boulders, then I lowered him slowly into the East River, waiting a few moments until I heard the soft thud of my target reaching the riverbed.

Heading back the way I came, I returned to Rockefeller Center and sought the young vampire’s scent, then I followed his tracks across the bridge to a small brownstone, lingering a few blocks away while I watched him.

He sat on the stoop, looking up at the front door for a long stretch of time, occasionally murmuring something to himself and breathing so deeply I could hear the depth of each inhaled breath even with the distance of three blocks between us.

Sadness and melancholy lingered in the air and I dared to step closer, trying to gain insight to who the residence belonged to—or why he remained on the stoop rather than disappearing inside the home.

Eventually, he rose to his feet, shoulders curled inward.“Merry Christmas, Ma,” the young vampire muttered, placing his hand on the front door and hanging his head for a brief moment.“I miss you.”

When he jumped down off the stoop and headed north, I followed, maintaining careful distance while I waited to see where he’d go next.My instincts told me his connection to Franco’s daughter made him important; I trusted that patience would soon reveal justhowimportant.

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