Page 19 of You Will Obey

We walked inside and I followed behind Bruce to the second-floor apartment where the vampire who was last seen with my target lived with her human lover. Bruce kicked the door open and a man screamed and jumped up from the sofa, his popcorn spilling from the bowl all over the floor. He scrambled to a cabinet against the wall, pulling out a gun. Bruce was on him faster than he could blink, snatching the gun from his hand and backhanding the human. The man cried out and fell to the floor with a skid, his lip and nose bleeding profusely. All of this happened before I could even cross the threshold. I stepped into the apartment and took a look around at its quaint furnishings and decorations. Leather sofa and chairs, tile flooring, granite countertops in the kitchen, and open concept. Perhaps Tylendel may have been on to something when he told me that vampires loved leather or suede. Never thought about it before, but now I was seeing a pattern. I smirked to myself as I settled on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other. The human was still on the floor, a terrified expression on his face as he looked at Bruce, then me.

“Do you know why I’m here?” I asked and I scanned his mind while I waited for him to answer. Ahhhh, yes, my future son has been here, aided by this human and his vampire lover, Lori. Well, both were going to learn what a tremendous mistake that was.

The human shook his head. “No, my Prince.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true now, is it?” I asked. “You had some visitors a few days ago, didn’t you?”

“I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about, my Prince,” the man said and it pleased me to see him shake in fear. Good.

I scanned his mind as he thought about Somchai and those remaining in his crew, which was once Noel’s old crew, those who got away. I’d scanned Noel’s mind back then, trying to figure out where his crew would have gone, but he had a contingency plan in place. His crew had their own places to go that Noel was not privy to. It was that level of genius that really impressed me about him. But those human rebels’ luck was running out. This human didn’t know where Somchai had gone off to, which only meant that his lover had erased the memory. No doubt in an attempt to protect him and the others. No matter, I’d get what I wanted from her.

“Bruce, get Lori,” I ordered.

“Yes, Father,” Bruce said, then walked off to carry out my command.

“Please, Prince, don’t hurt her,” the pitiful human begged.

I snorted but didn’t say anything, at least not yet. I wanted his lover to hear what I had to say because I wasn't in the habit of repeating myself. I heard a woman scream and then there was the sound of a scuffle. I heard glass breaking as well as wood, and then the drywall before me busted open when Bruce’s body came flying through it. A cloud of dust floated in the air and I fanned some of it from my face as did the human who coughed a little from the debris. The vampire I presumed was Lori climbed through what remained of the wall, her sexy lacy pajamas covered in wood splinters and drywall dust. I looked at Bruce and his cheek was bloody, but the wounds had already healed. It would seem that Lori had put up quite the fight. She was quite beautiful as she glared at Bruce, her fangs and claws out, prepared to give it her all. Her black hair was littered with glass, dust, and more wood splinters, and her brown eyes turned red as her gaze panned to me.

“Fucking cunt,” Bruce cursed as he brushed the debris off his body. He rose to his feet and Lori turned from me back to him. “You’re going to fucking pay for that, bitch.”

“Oh, did I hurt you?” she taunted.

“On the contrary, you just made my night,” Bruce retorted.

I didn’t bother to move from my vantage point, it’d been a while since I’d been this entertained. I scanned Lori’s mind to realize that she was eleven hundred years old. My, my, my, now I recognized her! She was one of the humans who’d been embraced after the werewolf rebellion exiled Ara from his territory and land of his birth. Bruce was going to be in for a fight. Back then, her name was Lydia and her hair had been red. As for Somchai and the six humans running with him, they were in Heaven's Stone, which was made up of Kentucky and the lower portion of Illinois. In any case, it was out of New Haven, but not out of my reach. Granted, it was going to take some diplomacy as I negotiated with the vampire Princess of that territory, but I was sure I’d have something I’d be willing to part with for what I’d gain. For instance, every vampire wanted dragon blood, venom, or werewolf venom, and I had it to bargain with.

“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve attacking me, I’ll give you that. Do you know who I am?” Bruce snarled.

“I do, and I know you’re here to kill me, so off bets are off, General,” Lori said, then she turned to me. “Prince Théoden, I’m sure you already have read my mind and gotten the information you wanted. I’m of no use to you, so you can go fuck yourself, too. You and Ara and every vampire piece of shit who thinks they’re better than humans.”

“Well, I’m glad you got all of that off your chest. I’d hate for you to die with regrets,” I remarked with a chuckle.

Bruce advanced and Lori ducked his blow and countered with an uppercut to his chin, snapping his head back. She followed that blow up with several more and Bruce found himself lying in the rubble of the wall once again. He growled and rose, a smile on his face, because like Marco, he loved a good fight. The bloodier, the better. He slammed Lori into the cocktail table, destroying another piece of furniture and she kicked him in his groin, causing him to groan and drop to one knee. She leaped to her feet, then tossed Bruce into the kitchen island. The granite countertop shattered under the impact and weight of his body. Pieces of the counter crumbled to the floor.

“Fuck!” Bruce moaned, then spit out two teeth along with some blood.

“I bet you didn’t count on me dog walking your ass, did you, General?” Lori taunted my son.

“This ain’t shit but foreplay, baby,” Bruce shot back as he climbed out of the rubble.

The scent of blood was thick in the air, but one thing I did notice was the fact that the scent of Bruce’s arousal had grown during the fight. He was clearly annoyed by the struggle, but also equally turned on by it. Interesting. The human cowering in the corner wanted to run, but my will wouldn't let him. I had already compelled him to stay in place. He was worried for Lori and himself, but no amount of worrying would save either of them. Bruce charged Lori, ramming his shoulder into her stomach, the impact so powerful it sent her flying into the large TV. The screen shattered as the TV cracked into two pieces. Lori fell to the floor and the pieces of the TV crashed on top of her. I watched as Lori shoved the TV away and climbed to her feet, her chest heaving as Bruce’s blood dripped from her fingertips. I actually hated having to lose a vampire of her fighting prowess, but her betrayal made her useless to me and Ara.

Bruce grinned. “My cock is so hard right now.”

I chuckled, because I could see his dick bulging from his crotch. “Not sure if you’re going to win this one, son,” I teased.

Bruce tossed me a smirk, then let his fangs and claws come out to play. “Bring it, bitch.”

“You bring it, bitch,” Lori snapped back.

Bruce’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile, showing off his sharp teeth. He growled as he advanced on Lori and the two clashed again. Bruce threw her up in the air, over his head, and slashed her several times before she could hit the floor, then he kicked her, sending her body flying in my direction. I moved before she could hit me, but now, I had to stand as the sofa was flipped over and bloodied. Everything else had been broken into firewood. Lori was on her feet again and back on Bruce, kicking, punching, and slamming him into the sink, which broke, causing water to shoot from the shattered faucet.

She reached down, grabbing Bruce by his hair, and slammed his face into another granite counter and he elbowed her in the stomach. He snatched his head away, leaving a handful of his hair still stuck in Lori’s grip. He grabbed her hair, then punched her over and over, making her stumble a bit. But before he could bite her, she reached out, grabbed his neck, and dug her nails in. Bruce garbled blood, his eyes wide and full of pain as he looked at her.

That was when I intervened. I advanced on Lori, grabbing her wrist so she couldn’t rip his head off or throat out. I squeezed hard enough to shatter the bones of her wrist, making her cry out and release my son. Even though she was only two hundred years younger than I was, Kendrick’s dragonHeartsbloodin me, as well as him mating with Elliot increased my strength. Another perk I enjoyed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Bruce had fallen to one knee, gasping for air as his wound healed. He spit more blood out, a great deal of it running down his chin and from various wounds. He’d lost too much in this fight, and it’d made him weaker, slower, and when fighting a vampire a few centuries older, it was what you didn’t want to happen.

Lori turned her ire on me, slashing at me in rabid fury. I dodged most of her attacks, but got caught by a sneak attack that left four bloody claw marks on my cheek. When she tried to capitalize, I kicked her hard, sending her flying into the stainless-steel refrigerator, and it dented like cheap aluminum from the impact. I didn’t allow her to rise before I was on her. I grabbed her head and twisted, breaking her neck, which I knew would leave her paralyzed for a few minutes until her bones healed. For my sons, a blow like that would take seconds to heal. That was how powerful my children were, and by extension, their children.

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