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"But the Department…" she begins uncertainly.
I scowl as soon as I hear the organization on her lips. "The Department of Paranormal Entities is a joke," I snarl.
She blinks, looking taken aback by my sudden vehemence. I can't it help it, though. The Department is a touchy subject with me. Like any government entity, they're completely corrupt, using their power for their own gain and to try to take down any who would stand in their way.
And I have nothing better to do than stand in their way.
It's suddenly crystal clear to me why Britney believes I killed her parents. The Department told her so.
She's one of their little vampire slayers, fueled by a need for revenge. The only reason I can think of that they would put her on my trail is because I keep blocking their bid to expand their reach over my people. Vampires are one of the few species still not under the Department's control. Being the oldest "living" vampire in existence, all of our kind defers to me. I wouldn't call myself a king of the vampires, though that's certainly how the Department sees me.
And any power that could rival their own, they see as dangerous. However, I'm of the old school mindset that no one entity needs to become too powerful. I've seen it all before. A monarch gains too much power until the ruler becomes a ruthless dictator.
No, there's a reason's America's checks and balances system works so well, and consider me one of the checks and balances to the Department. I won’t be bowing to their demands any time soon. Someone has to keep them in line.
They're constantly hitting me up with new proposals of how everything in the entire world would be better for all species if we would all submit to their one-rule government—and many other creatures have fallen in line, but I refuse to allow my people to be controlled by the power-hungry machine that is the Department.
I've got my people relatively under control. Yes, the new changelings are often a handful, but I have a team that specializes in teaching vampires how to control their bloodlust and to drink without draining—and that if they must drain a body, to drink from the dregs of society, those that the human race would be better off without anyway.
"They're the ones who told you I killed your parents?" My nostrils flare, and I feel like I could breathe fire. I'm becoming angrier by the second. It's not just the fact that the Department lied on me. It's that they lied to her, this sweet, innocent little angel. They knew the potential danger they were placing her in, putting her on a suicide mission to kill me, the most powerful vampire in existence.
So, not only are they trying to get rid of me, but it looks like they're trying to get rid of her too, and what I want to know is why.
"Yes." She doesn't deny it, nodding her head instead.
I press my lips into a thin line before I reach for her hand and begin pulling her along with me.
"Wait!" she pulls against my hold, though she can't break it unless I choose to let her. "Where are you taking me?"
I stop just long enough to turn back to her, my eyes filled with promise. "To find out who really killed your parents."
* * *
Britney
I'm staring up into Henry's earnest eyes, and I can't deny the truth I see reflected there.
"Oh my god," I whisper as the realization dawns on me with the certainty of a ton of bricks. "You really didn't do it."
"No," he states the word firmly, holding my eyes the entire time, willing me to believe him.
"Then why did…?" I begin. None of it makes any sense.
Henry interrupts me, already able to tell where my thoughts are going. "That's exactly what we're going to find out," he says decisively before he begins leading me by the hand again.
I go with him willingly this time. I have no clue where he's taking me, yet somehow, I instinctually trust him now. It's crazy. I know I was just willing to kill him not more than ten minutes ago and now even though he's a vampire—and the most powerful one in the world at that—I'm letting him lead me wherever he wishes without even knowing where we're going first.
I'm either in shock or incredibly foolish, or maybe a bit of both.
I stare up at the back of his head, my head spinning with questions, as he pulls me along down many corridors. I should probably be paying more attention to which way he's taking me so that I can make a quick escape if I need to, but I'm beyond that now. We've made so many twists and turns there's no way I'll ever find my way out of here without either luck or Henry to lead the way.
He said he hasn't killed a mortal in over a century. Does that mean he's killed some immortals? Maybe even some of his own kind?
"Henry?" I speak his name as a question. I have so many questions. I don't even know where to begin.
He halts in his tracks and goes completely still when I say his name. My face flushes when he turns his head back and looks at me with those golden eyes blazing down at me intensely.
It's the first time I've said his name, and the effect it has on him is profound. I feel my breath catch in my throat, and I fight the urge to speak it again just to keep his eyes blazing down at me like this.
