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Jules dropped his fake smile, went back to his desk, and sat down in the position of power. “You know I haven’t. Why are you here?”
“Because you dropped the ball, mi amigo. Failure is not an option here,” Enrique told him. He had a thick Spanish accent.
Jules huffed. “Do you think I don’t know that? For fuck’s sake, Enrique! Do you have any ideas on how to fix this? I’m open to suggestions.” Jules shouldn’t snap at his patron, but he’d reached his daily limit for patience. The smaller man knew how to irritate Jules, and he seldom refrained from doing so.
As he’d expected, neither had anything useful to say, so he dismissed them, irritated by the waste of time he could have been using to solve their current problems. He was the alpha of his hyena pack, and several pack members were with him in hiding. The walls of this shitty safe house were paper-thin, so he could hear them telling jokes and laughing in the next room as they sat around the large table he used for meetings too big for his office.
Louis’ voice carried as he told a ridiculous joke, and the other members of the pack, Gaspard, Oscar, Leon, Mathis, and Eliott, laughed like the hyenas they were. Stressed and frustrated, their mirth got on Jules’ last nerve. He was desperately trying to find a way to eliminate the new king so his cabal could replace him with someone who shared their values. The pack laughed at a bawdy joke, and Jules flinched as the sound sent a sharp stab of pain through his head.
I can’t fucking think in here. It’s too damned loud.
He rubbed his temples to soothe the tension headache and tried to focus. He had been fine with Nikoli’s batshit-crazy ass on the throne. His pack was far enough from the high court that they didn’t get much interference or attention from the royals, and Nikoli had required a steady supply of fresh slaves.
Jules never asked about them. He didn’t care. He figured the palace always needed new slaves to replace those who were beaten to death, and continuing to provide them was good business. Jules didn’t give two fucks about other people, whether they were humans, Therians, or vampires. They were all slaves to him.
Jules tried to turn his attention back to his work, but Louis was telling another joke. “So, the doctor walks into the room and tells his patient, ‘I have some bad news for you, sir. You really need to stop masturbating.’ The guy looks horrified and says, “Oh, my God, Doc. Why would you do this to me?’ The doctor answers, ‘I’m trying to examine you!’”
The pack erupted into manic laughter that seemed to go on forever. It evaporated the last of Jules’ patience, and he stood. Pulling the gun from the holster at his hip, he stalked next door and fired a single shot at Louis’ forehead. The other man stopped speaking in mid-sentence and crumpled to the floor, dead.
“Maybe now I can get some fucking peace and quiet,” Jules growled, glaring at the surviving members of his pack. He gestured at Louis’ body with the gun. “Do something with that.”
No one made a sound, and they sat still, terrified to attract Jules’ attention or wrath while he still held the gun. In the ensuing silence, Jules had time to think about the joke and chuckled. “That…that joke was actually funny,” he muttered.
He already regretted his impulsive decision to kill Louis since he’d been a good friend, even if he had been stupid. In a world of zombies, he needed people to trip. Jules shrugged. It would keep the rest of the pack quiet.
“Keep it down and do something useful, or get the hell out of here so I can work,” he snarled.
Jules returned to his office and made a plan to capture a former slave who was working at the new palace. He wanted to test the new king’s dedication to the slavery ban. Jules was banking on the idea that if they applied pressure in the right place at the right time, the Therians would see how empty Luca’s concern was and turn against him.
After they eliminated Luca, things could return to the way they had been.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Therian Palace, Morning, Monday, December 31, 2012
Luca rose with the sun, eager to start the day. An army of artisans had worked around the clock to complete the new palace in weeks, and the unveiling ceremony would be held later that day. That would be followed by him bestowing awards and officially welcoming Zia to the Therian empire as its first vampire.
She didn’t know it yet, but Luca planned to grant Ivanna a title. He wanted to build the foundations of the new Therian empire on the idea that one’s actions made one noble, not an accident of genetics.
Luca was delighted by the prospect of leaving his traumatic memories behind and starting fresh where the walls weren’t saturated with pain and frustration. His people would change this place and fill it with hope and life, but it would always be a prison to him.
As his last act in this compound, he would reveal the memorial Euan had carved into the marble wall, officiate at the ceremony to honor those who’d lost their lives, and lead the procession to the new palace. While he sat in quiet contemplation, someone knocked on the door.
“Enter,” he called as he donned the crown he wore for official events.
Mikhail walked in and smiled at his grandson. “I hope I’m not disturbing you. Do you have a moment?”
“Of course, Grandfather. Please, come in and sit down.”
Mikhail shook his head. “I come to you this morning as a former Therian king addressing the new one. We are only separated by one generation, but my son became a stranger to me and a monster who nearly destroyed us all. I’m not sure what an old man’s opinion is worth, but I want you to know I will help in any way I can.”
Luca aimed a sarcastic look at Mikhail. “You will never be ‘an old man,’ and I have always valued your opinion. You are the voice of wisdom and experience, and I’m counting on you to guide me away from the mistakes of the past. I’ve never needed your advice more than I do now, which was why I appointed you to lead the large and small councils.”
Mikhail’s face showed his joy. “I can’t tell you what a relief it is to hear that. Your trust means a great deal to me, Luca, and I am tremendously proud of the man you’ve become.”
“Thank you. I’ve always looked up to you, and you were more of a father to me than he ever was. I’m proud to have you at my side,” Luca stood. “Are you ready to get this day of endless ceremonies started?”
Mikhail gave him a knowing grin. “The pomp and circumstance might seem pointless to you, but to your subjects, this is the start of a new, brighter era in Therian history when they can finally allow themselves to hope.”
