Page 61 of The Satyr's Guilt
“Thank you for coming.” His vampire generalbowed, his deference appearing forced.
A grin quirked Cerberus’s lips when hepictured how Lort would grovel at his feet once he conquered allthree realms. For now, a small arrogant bow was acceptable. “Whatdid you need that is so urgent?”
Lort nervously cleared his throat, but helooked directly into Cerberus’s eyes, unflinching. “The addictivedrug designed to create followers who are … uh … amenable to ourcause is growing in popularity. Users are devoted. Even fanatical.If we ordered the addled motherfuckers to walk into a fire, theywould. And a pack of shifters is happily distributing the goods.But there are kinks in the drug.” Lort shoved his hair away fromhis face.
“Explain.”
“It has unpredictable side effects. It mustbe perfected.”
“Do so.”
“Already being done. Another setback. One ofthe hostages has escaped. The one called Jace jumped the wall. Westill have Celene and the others who aren’t as difficult tomanage.”
The cypress trees swayed. A wind stirredthrough the swamp.
“What happened?” Cerberus agitated thedebris at his feet.
As it swirled, Lort stepped away. “A guardlet them out into the exercise yard. As you instructed, I gave themaccess to the outdoors. Jace climbed over the wall, racing tofreedom while the other female fought the guard.”
“I. Want. The. Guard. Brought. To. Me.”Cerberus roared, thunder rolling across the sky.
Lort fought to stay upright in the stormcaused by his demand. “The guard is dead. I took my time with him.Afterward, I searched the minds of others on duty, killing thosewho have been lazy or inattentive. Reliable replacements areassigned to Celene now. The rest of my soldiers search for Jace. Weare scouring the forests nearby but are not picking up a scent.It’s as if she has disappeared.”
Cerberus grabbed Lort by the neck,squeezing, lifting him off the swampy ground until the general’sfeet dangled.
The vampire tried to pry the stranglinghands loose.
“Have I been wrong about you?”
Lort barely spit out his answer, his fingersstill plucking at Cerberus’s palms. “I was not there.”
Cerberus, his temples aching with sharppains, threw the vampire into a tree twenty feet away and pressedhis hands against his temples.
****
Lort’s spine slammed into thetrunk of a cypress. Sliding to the ground, he shook his head toclear it. One thing was certain. The male he worked for was not theincubus he pretended to be. Only a warlock could carry off adisguise or control nature.
“If we lose Celene or the others, I do notcare if you are there or not. You will be held accountable. Now,what of new descendants?”
Rolling his shoulders, Lort straightened.“Miller Nash is still on the run. We almost caught him last week.He is proving resourceful, but I am more so. We will get him.”
A deadly cold smile rested on Cerberus’sface. “Do not promise me what you cannot fulfill.”
“We continue to act on the list of namesyour human Dante releases to us. We are obtaining a blood samplefrom each candidate.”
“I want good news!” Once more his shoutstirred the wind, causing the swamp waters to ripple.
“Rumors say humans are moving into theEastern Stronghold in Covenkirk. It may not be true, or if it is,it may be meaningless. Anyway, I am investigating.”
“Hmm.”
“I have expanded our hunt for Blood Covendescendants to the relatives, parents, siblings, and offspring ofpotential candidates. After all, these relations are potentialdescendants as well.”
Cerberus nodded. “You are showinginitiative.”
“At your request, I have monitored Dante’smovements. You are right. He is building his own army, calledHumans First. They are watching portals. His aim, I believe, is toexpose Aeternals.”
“I suspected as much. The timing is early,but it may work in our favor.”
