Page 28 of Graced
“Guaranteed.”
The man’s face went another notch paler.“What’ll he do?Do you think he’ll try to kidnap her or something?”
“Norris, in all my years, Grace is the only person I or anyone I know of whose blood is able to do what hers does.That not only makes her unique, it makes her invaluable to others of my kind.I have no doubt Welsh is the kind of vamp who’ll take her prisoner and keep her alive just so he can milk her to retain his color vision.You’ve heard the expression that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king?Well, a vamp with color vision is superior to the rest of us, and Welsh will use that to his advantage every way he can.”
“How?”
Rhyne frowned.“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try and use her for self-gain.Knowing the guy as well as I do, he might try to sell her blood to other vamps for a hefty price.And because the ability fades after three days, they’ll keep coming back for more.He doesn’t know that bit about the fading yet, but it isn’t going to be pretty when he does.”
“But if he does, if he lets other vamps get the color sight, won’t his status as being a superior vamp be diminished?”
“Not in the least.In fact, it’ll raise his status tremendously.”
“How?”
“Because he’ll have sole control of the product.While he keeps his vision intact, the others will have to bow to his demands if they want to retain theirs.”
For a second there, Rhyne wondered if the man was going to hurl, but Norris managed to keep himself together.
“Can’t you stop him?”he finally begged.
“I’m going to try,” Rhyne admitted.
“How?”
He let out an exasperated breath.“I have no fucking idea, but that’s never stopped me before.”
CHAPTER15
Confrontation
When Rhyne arrived back at the house, he found Welsh in the living room.The man was jubilantly bragging to someone on the phone.Hearing what the man was saying, the cold mass in his stomach that had been warning him for the past few hours turned sour and heavy.
“Yeah!Yeah, yeah!I promise!I’m not shitting you!I can see colors again!It’s like her blood flipped a switch in me, and now I can’t stop staring at things!It’s a fucking miracle!”The man laughed with delight.The sound chilled Rhyne even further.
A movement from across the room alerted him.Rhyne looked up to see Nash coming down the hallway.Putting a finger to his lips, he gestured to the man and went back to the kitchen.
“Please tell me he’s not spreading the word around about his eyesight,” Rhyne tersely asked once they were out of eye and earshot.
The expression on Nash’s face answered him before the man uttered a word.
“Fuck!”
“What’s the problem?”Nash asked.
Rhyne threw a hand in the direction of the living room.“Who’s he talking to?Do you know?”
“Cargill.”
“Cargill?Fuck!”
“What’s the problem?”Nash repeated with a bit of anger.
“Yeah, Rhyne.What’s up?”Welsh demanded, striding in to join them.
Rhyne whirled on the man, determined to stay on offense.“Did you call Cargill?”
The man narrowed his eyes.“Yeah.What’s wrong with that?Since when do I need your permission to make phone calls now?”
