No one would ever look at him that way again.
A human scent moved through the trees.
Rhen turned.
A jogger followed the lower path with his hood raised and music playing through his earbuds. A pale dog moved behind him, sniffing the wet ground before stopping abruptly.
The animal detected Rhen first.
The human noticed nothing.
Rhen watched him approach without anger, hunger, or moral hesitation. Humans died constantly, and this one had entered the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rhen stepped from the trees.
He crossed the distance before the jogger could react and drove him against the trunk of an oak. Air left the man’s lungs in a panicked burst as Rhen’s hand closed around his throat.
The human attempted to scream.
Rhen exposed his neck and sank his fangs into warm flesh.
Blood arrived quickly.
He drank without restraint or pleasure, emptying the man because stopping required a reason and none presented itself.The heartbeat beneath his mouth weakened before ending entirely.
Rhen released the body.
It collapsed among the wet leaves with its eyes fixed upon the branches above.
The dog remained several yards away, trembling and silent.
Rhen looked at it once.
The animal held no information, posed no threat, and offered nothing he wanted.
He left it beside its dead owner and continued into the forest.
Human blood remained on his mouth, but Leena’s was the only blood he could still feel upon his hands.
Later that night, the map room smelled of stale bourbon and cold stone.
A digital topographical map of New Orleans glowed across the central table, casting blue light over Dax, Cole, and Malakai. Reports, marked routes, and lists of known safehouses occupied the surrounding surface.
Cole placed a tablet onto the table with more force than necessary.
“Nothing. His usual contacts have heard nothing, the secondary properties are empty, and nobody at Bar X has seen him.”
Dax remained against the far wall with his arms folded.
“Sule does not want to be found.”
Cole looked toward him.
“There is a difference between wanting privacy and disappearing while the city is circling the stronghold.”
Malakai sat at the head of the table in Sule’s chair, although the tension in his shoulders made it clear that he took nocomfort from the position. An untouched glass of blood rested near his hand.
He signed,The council has demanded an audience twice. Reports connected to Marcella are moving closer to our territory, and Sule has answered none of us.
