AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s not helping her. He’s making things worse.”
“Maybe that’s what she needs. Provocation.”
“May I?” he says, motioning toward the door, his passive-aggressive way of saying agree to disagree. I don’t appreciate his insubordinate attitude, but this is how our relationship works. It straddles a line between professional and familial.
Sebastian MacNeil, or as I call him, Bash, has been my right-hand man for over a century. He was turned shortly after contracting the Spanish flu, and I intercepted to help him transition. He hasn’t left my side since. Bash believes I saved him, especially now that he sees what could’ve come of his life had I not intervened and helped him control his thirst. New bites are worse than vicious animals. They not only drain their victims, but they mutilate humans’ bodies, leaving them unrecognizable.
Bash has his ear to the ground too. Somehow, he manages to get news of uprising before I ever do. He’s become an unlikely friend and ally through the years of solitude. Without his help and Anderson’s, I wouldn’t be as far as I am with the new bite initiative.
Bash helps locate new clusters of new bites and brings them to Seattle, where Anderson leads the charge in rehabilitation. Anderson’s methods aren’t what many would call civilized, but they can’t be when you’re working with beasts.
Anderson lived as a new bite for years. Even though he was insane with bloodlust, he remembers many of his victims and the brutal way in which he killed them. He lives with that regret every day and has vowed to help as many new bites escape that same fate. He’s tough, but the best at what he does.
These two vampires have been my saving grace. The pressure of being the king of vampires is too much on most days and unbearable on others. I’m holding myself together by a string and the newest events threaten to unravel it. Marina has softened me, creating a new weakness that I can’t afford.
My mind wanders to Marina and how she’s doing. I’m worried about her, but I can’t call. It’s too dangerous. I don’t know who’s friend or foe at this point and I won’t put her life at risk because of humanlike emotions.
“Fuck,” I yell out, feeling frustrated and out of control.
I’ve never had these warring emotions. It isn’t in my vampire nature, yet ever since I tasted Marina’s blood, it’s as though her feelings have filtered into me. Poisoning me. It’s maddening, and no matter what I do, the frustration continues to build.
Leaving her was the hardest thing I’ve had to do, when it should’ve been the easiest considering it was necessary. The current new bite situation has to be my top priority. Marina’s in good hands with Law. She’s safe. The knowledge that she’d want me to help all of the humans that were changed that night helps me focus.It shouldn’t be this difficult.
Bash and Law have been trying to convince me that I can’t shelter Marina forever, arguing that if I’m going to make her my queen, this is the life I’m damning her to.
You could set her free.
My fists slam down onto the desk, rattling the drawers and contents within. The thought of losing Marina triggers a blinding rage that consumes me. I haven’t lived lifetimes of unhappiness just to have a moment of her light in my presence. One hit of her blood and I’m utterly addicted. I won’t survive without her by my side. My fear of losing her is all-consuming, and it’s threatening everything I’ve worked so hard for. My standing as Crown depends on my ability to shut off these infuriating emotions and to put my race and humanity first.
If I don’t get this new bite situation under control, I might lose her anyway.
The entire population of vampires worldwide is estimated at six hundred fifty thousand, the size of a small city. But with Marcellus’s army transitioning bites across the world, that number is growing at staggering rates.
I’m unsure as to when I stood from my desk and headed toward block six, but here I am making my way through the halls of five as new bites scream and lash out against the iron bars.
“I’ll tear out your heart and eat it,” a new bite gurgles through a mouth full of blood.
They’re fed vials of blood we’ve accumulated through a blood bank that Anderson has access to. He assures me the acquisition is legal and he has a deal with a doctor. I don’t ask questions. At this point, even if he is getting it illegally, stealing is better than having piles of dead humans.
“Where are you going?” the creature growls.
I turn to stare into the red eyes of the monster in front of me. That’s what this vampire currently is, a pathetic demon, ready to prey on the innocent. Uncontrolled and dangerous. He wants out of this prison, but it won’t happen. Not with him like this. I’d allow him to die before I unleashed him onto the world.
“If I were you, I’d watch who you speak to like that,” I warn, voice full of venom.
“You? You’re pathetic. You don’t deserve to rule this world.”
I snap.
All of the building pressure and stress of the job I’ve been handed crescendos until I’m blinded with fury. I can’t even recall taking out the master key from my pocket or ripping open the cell door. I vaguely remember wrapping my hands around the vampire’s neck and squeezing. All the while, the untamed creature bared his teeth and practically laughed in my face.
From there, it’s fragmented memories of repeatedly driving my fist into the creature’s face until two solid arms wrapped around me, drawing my body backward.
“Julian, calm the fuck down,” Bash yells in my ears, as I buck and thrash, trying to get out of his grip.
“Get off of me,” I growl, but he never lets go.
His grip gets tighter as he holds me against his chest. I continue to jerk against his restraint until the fight drains from me and I’m left panting and reflecting on what I’ve just done.
