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Chapter One
Eleazar Bancroft sat forward in his leather chair, entwined his fingers, and placed his hands on the top of his mahogany desk. “Watch your words carefully, or you’ll be eating your own tongue.”
The color drained from Felix’s face as he sat across from Eleazar. “I was just saying that vampires—”
“Are idiots,” Eleazar snarled. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Felix held up a hand.
“As memory serves me, and I have a very good memory, especially considering you just stated that ten seconds ago, you said idiot.”
“No.” Felix’s brows creased. “Now I forgot my point. See, that’s what happens when you scare the piss right out of me. My mind goes completely blank.”
Eleazar sat back. “Your mind goes blank a lot.”
“Now why you gotta diss me?” Felix scowled. “Oh!” He grinned. “Now I remember what I was saying. I said Zakrem was an idiot.”
“Zakrem is my brother,” Eleazar said, giving the needless reminder. “To call one of my family members an idiot is an insult to me, as well.”
“My brother’s a complete trainwreck,” Felix said. “That doesn’t make me one.”
Eleazar raised a brow. He begged to differ. If Felix’s family hadn’t worked for Eleazar for three generations, he’d neuter the punk. Unfortunately, he was quite fond of the human, but Eleazar would never admit that out loud. Felix was like a son to him, which also made him a weakness. If anything ever happened to the boy, quite honestly, Eleazar would mourn the loss.
But Felix was also a brat.
“Fine,” Felix huffed. “You have to agree the vampires who’ve been killing humans are idiots.”
“We have no proof that vampires are the ones responsible for those deaths.”
Felix rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Whatever, man. I was just saying that some people believe vampires are real. You guys are exposing yourselves a little too much. Humans talk. How do you think all those movies and books came about?”
Eleazar smirked. “And some people believe in Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Does that make them real? As long as humans don’t have verifiable proof, I’m not worried about my kind being exposed.”
“And those rumors of humans disappearing on the lower east side?” Felix asked.
“Rumors.”
Felix shrugged. “I’m just saying the rumors are spreading that it’s the work of vampires.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, and I heard that the hunters are organizing and planning something big.”
Eleazar leaned forward again. He couldn’t have a witch hunt, so to speak. He needed to find out if his people were indeed responsible for killing innocent humans and what the hunters planned, or if it was Fayez’s coven who were involved.
Eleazar could do his own investigation into the disappearances, but it wouldn’t bode well for him if he tried to press a hunter for information.
Felix appeared nonthreatening. He could inquire about the vanishings and what the hunters were up to without rousing too much suspicion.
“I’m going to need you to investigate this, Felix.”
Felix’s eyes widened. “Me? Why me?”
“Because you owe me for that little incident last month.”
Felix groaned. “Fine, but how am I supposed to investigate rumors of what the hunters are up to or whether it’s vampires who are snatching humans?”
Eleazar stood up and walked around his desk, the sound of his Italian boots echoing in the quiet room. He leaned down, his face inches from Felix’s. “You’ll figure it out. And if you cannot, you don’t want to find out how creative I can be with your punishment.”
