Page 50 of Missing Piece
He clung to that distinction as his pacing resumed, more agitated than before as the rocks and gravel dug into hisfeet. Vincent knew what he needed to do. But how could he? He had already set the tone of their interactions when he drugged the human and tried to have a second chance at glory days that he no longer found glorious.
If given the chance, free from threat and violence…Adam would reject him.
He couldn’t risk it.
The device in his pocket vibrated again. Richard. Vincent ignored it, the relentless alerts a physical manifestation of the other vampire’s taunts. Another buzz. And another. He pulled the burner phone out, the small screen flashing with Richard’s name.
LeBlanc: You must have a lot of questions. Let’s have a chat.
LeBlanc: Surely you can’t be ignoring me for that sad little toy of yours. Just break his legs if you’re worried he’ll escape.
LeBlanc: Whatever you think of me, allow me the opportunity to explain. I think once we have a chance to clear the air, everything will make more sense.
LeBlanc: Mr. Bellenger, I have waited a long time and traveled a long way to meet with you. It is in your best interest to hear what I have to say.
LeBlanc: Don’t make me come to you.
LeBlanc: You won’t like the results.
The beast clawed at his insides, demanding blood, demanding they hunt down such an arrogant creature who dared threaten them.Kill him. Rip his throat out. Show him why they feared us.
His old self would have already hunted Richard down, would have torn through his followers like paper and painted the walls with their blood. The Vincent of decades past neverwould have allowed such disrespect to go unchallenged.
But that version of him hadn’t known peace. Hadn’t felt the weight of a human’s head against his chest or experienced the strange warmth that came from caring for another being. The quiet life he’d built here, the freedom to only don a mask of ruthless strength when he wanted, had given him space to breathe, to think, to feel something beyond rage and hunger.
Weak. Soft. They see it.
The phone continued its insistent alerts. Vincent stared at Richard’s name on the screen, his jaw working as he wrestled with his instincts. His beast was right about one thing: his reputation had suffered during his self-imposed exile. Perhaps that’s why Richard felt bold enough to make his move now.
They don’t speak of our cruelty anymore.
Without fully processing the decision, his thumb swiped across the screen.
“What do you want?”
“Mr. Bellenger, you finally grace me with a second from your well of time,” Richard said.
“You have thirty seconds. Go.”
“Whatever you think you know about me, do yourself a favor and dispose of that notion. Once we have a chance to really talk face-to-face, you’ll see that we have much more in common than you realize—”
“You’re really wasting time on this? Twenty seconds left.”
Richard sighed. “I see you’re still as defiant and rude as ever.”
Vincent stopped pacing. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know, I had considered gettin’ your attention other ways. I could have sent letters, could have just shown up atyour door. But I wanted you to see what I’d built, what I’d accomplished. All the wonderful things I heard about the great Vincent Bellenger, I thought you’d be impressed. Every person I asked for a story about you tended to end with the words, and I quote, ‘fuck Vincent Bellenger’. I thought you’d appreciate my flavor of defiance against those stuffy old city vamps, but it appears I was wrong in my estimation.”
“You’re using a lot of words to say a whole lot of nothing.” Vincent scanned his surroundings as he made his way back up to the front door, unease making its way into his already roiling emotions. The farmhouse’s windows glowed warmly in the darkness, a reminder of what he stood to lose.
“How ‘bout this? I let you set the time and place and we have us a quick chat. We can meet at that fine den of sin you run on the county line, or we can meet at that lovely farmhouse—”
“The fuck you will,” Vincent snapped. “I don’t care what you have to say to me. I’m not interested. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing, you can say to me that will make me want to hear you out. Do yourself a favor and get the fuck out of my territory.”
His grip on the phone tightened as silence fell on Richard’s end. The beast paced beneath his skin, restless and hungry for violence. The wooden floorboards creaked under his feet as he stepped back inside the farmhouse.
He is a threat to our power. To our human. Kill him. Shred him. Make them all afraid again.
