Page 29 of Awaken the Dragon
“I thought I solicited the help of a mighty force of evil, not that of a petulant child.”
Warrick whirled around, the long flaps of his coat circling his legs with the motion. Metallic sludge oozed beneath the door, moving slowly, meeting in a spot where it grew taller and wider until it was the watery silhouette of a being.
“You were certain you could do this, and now you’ve done nothing but fail.” The voice had a hollow, yet authoritative ring to it.
“This is not over! We still have time before the veils close,” Warrick railed. He yanked his coat off and tossed it on a green marble-top table. Pulling the tie loose from his neck allowed him to work on steadying his breathing. “You’re certain that the wedding has to take place at a special time?”
“Positive.” The ominous tone of that one word being spoken ricocheted off the walls.
Warrick went to the back of the room and sank down into the high-backed velvet chair pushed against the wall. He propped an elbow on the arm of the chair and ran his fingers over his goatee. “I could have taken her tonight. I had her in my arms and I could have easily made her mine. Then my part would be done and my elevation to the Royal Blood would be complete,” he said, frustration sifting through his chilly body.
“This power that you seek cannot be rushed. Every piece must be carefully moved into place. You know this, and you agreed.”
The glossy bastard was twisting his words. “I agreed to do this so that I could move into my rightful place.”
Warrick was the unconfirmed son of two lords within the Burgess Royal Blood, the group of vampire lords assigned to rule over a certain territory. His father had been born of a lord who served in the Royal Capitol—the global council of vampires. And his mother had been in love with his father but promised to another lord. She’d kept that promise and mated the lord, but slept with his father regularly, until becoming pregnant with him. With such a scandalous entry into the world, the Royal Blood denied Warrick any holdings or place of stature in Burgess, but allowed him to be called lord by whomever was bold enough to do so, knowing the Court’s ruling on his existence.
Partnering with this one who hailed from the Spirit Realm and called himself Hoan was not ideal, but would bring Warrick what he wanted. In exchange for helping Hoan acquire the power he needed in this realm, the lords who looked down on Warrick would be sentenced to the bowels of the earth in the Spirit Realm while Warrick rose to his blood right position in Burgess and across the sea. Marrying Shola would give him access to the Mobo family mausoleums, under which rested the tombs of a legion of ancient vampires. Those of which he would raise to dominate and take control of the small village. The fact that she would also make a scrumptious little wife whose blood had smelled as sweet and seductive as her body appeared was a perk he could not resist.
“You agreed because you are greedy and power hungry and angry at all who despise you for being born,” Hoan rasped. “You are impatient and making a mess. All problems that will lead to failure. I am here to intervene.”
“I don’t need any intervention.”
“I need her alive. You have put her life in danger twice.”
Warrick shook his head. He hadn’t been the one to put her life in danger, but he knew who had, and he would deal with that accordingly. But in his years on this earth, he’d never allowed anyone, not even those who thought they were above him with their royal and untainted blood, to speak to him as if he were an inept idiot.
“This will play out exactly the way I told you it would. You’re in my territory now.”
“But you are not in control.” The icy voice never changed its tone.
“You bet your shimmering ass I am!” Warrick countered. “There’s nothing you can do in this realm. If there was, you wouldn’t need my help. So for the next week and a half, you’re gonna hang back and let me do my part.”
For endless moments, the sludge wavered in that space. The part that resembled a hooded head remained still while the rest of the body swayed from side to side. On the floor, the metallic liquid mixed with frosty white smoke, a sulfuric stench filling the air.
“You do not want to take this lightly,” Hoan stated.
A wintry breeze filled the room as the silhouette traveled across the floor so that it was now at Warrick’s knees. Warrick looked down and then slowly stood.
“You do not want to make me angry,” Hoan warned.
In the next seconds, the room filled with icicles as sharp as pitchforks, extending from the ceiling until one was pointing directly to Warrick’s heart. It was meant to intimidate, or quite possibly kill him, but Warrick was a lord vampire, regardless of what the Court said. He was more powerful than the low-level vampires in any realm, and even the knights who had money and position in the human world, but were still second class in the Court’s eyes. He’d done things over time to assure his power was a step above all others as if in preparation for this moment.
Now, he inhaled deeply, taking in huge gulps of the chilled air, and then with a slow motion, pursed his lips and breathed it back out. Only this time, it came out as a moist mist of watered-down blood. The mist sprinkled on the sharpened icicle, melting it and casting an undeniable heat over the surrounding chill. With that cleansing, Hoan vanished, and Warrick once again sat in his chair. He leaned back against the cushions and closed his eyes.
He would have Shola N’Gara as his wife, and together, they would rule not only Burgess, but the entire Royal Blood of the Human Realm. Who or whatever got in their way would die. It was as simple as that.
Chapter Eleven
“I overheard her on the phone yesterday inquiring about a box and so I searched for it,” Bleu said when they were all gathered in the main conference room.
It was just after dawn and Theo had barely been able to rest through the night. He’d refrained from calling the meeting as long as possible.
“You used your remote viewing power to track a box of rocks for her?” Theo felt odd asking the question. Not just because they were talking about a box of rocks, but because he’d used his power to open the doors with his mind and had been fighting like hell to keep his beast at bay. All since Shola’s arrival.
“You didn’t hear her on the call. It sounded important,” Bleu insisted.
“They were rocks!” Theo countered and then clenched his teeth in an effort to get a hold on his rising temper.
