AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once, my fear and anger would’ve been fighting to get out. I’d have known I was about to be bent over the desk for a beating. But now I felt nothing except an icy lump where any family feeling for Jules might’ve resided.
My father made a low, angry sound. “Look at me.”
I turned—and he lunged, closing a claw-like hand around my throat. A deliberate insult, his way of telling me he owned me and could do anything he wanted. Grab my throat, beat me with a belt.
Anything.
And just like when I was a child, no one would interfere, not even my mother.
Over his shoulder, I saw Prosper watching us, his expression wiped of any emotion. He must know that Jules was going blood mad, but if he did, he didn’t show it by even a flicker of an eyelash. Outwardly, he remained the loyal lieutenant.
“Where have you been?” Jules demanded in the old-world French of his boyhood.
I replied in the same language. “In Quebec City. Negotiating with Régis, as I told you.”
“You lie!” He shook me like a dog.
A killing fury flamed to life in the icy lump that was my heart.
I was no longer the boy who had to obey my father and primus. I was a man, and a pureblood, whereas Jules was a vampire who’d been turned. Now that I’d come fully into my powers, I was stronger—and we both knew it.
I grasped his wrist, digging my nails into the tender place between the tendons on the inner side. “Let me go,” I said, soft and dangerous.
A vivid blue flared to life around Jules’s irises, so bright it looked like his eyes had caught fire.
“Like fuck I will.” He shoved dagger-line fangs into my face. “I’m your primus. You will treat me with respect.”
The switchblade in my back pocket practically leapt into my free hand. I pressed the button, releasing the sharp silver blade. I felt my own eyes go vampire, my fangs lengthening even faster than his. I pictured sinking them into his jugular, distracting him long enough to stab the blade into his chest.
I drew a slow breath through my teeth.
He’s your sire. You can’t stake him in front of his own lieutenant.
“Jules.” Prosper put a hand on my father’s arm. “He went to Quebec City for you, to negotiate with Régis’s syndicate. Now come, it’s time for you to feed.”
Dumbstruck, my gaze flicked to the lieutenant’s broad face. Prosper had never taken my side against Jules. Not even last month, when Jules had threatened to slash up my face with a silver dagger. That time, Talon had intervened, reminding Jules that silver wounds left scars. Even my father’s confused mind had understood that a scarred heir would make him look weak, and he’d lose face.
“Let him go,” Prosper told me in an undertone. “I can handle this.”
I waited another beat, then retracted the switchblade and returned it to my pocket. But I didn’t let go of my father’s wrist until Prosper tugged at Jules’s arm.
“Come, my lord.”
Jules released my throat. Bewilderment flashed across his face.
He brushed a hand over his mouth, the vampire still shining in his eyes. “Hungry.”
“I know. You need to drink.” Prosper put an arm around my father’s shoulders and turned him away from me.
Rattled, I took a deep breath. Jules had grown worse in the short time I’d been away. I couldn’t put off acting much longer.
Prosper’s thick black brows drew together. “Go,” he told me.
To my father he said, “We’ll get Carly for you. You like her, don’t you?”
“Yesss.” Jules’s voice was a hiss, his grin evil—and not him.
My father was a brutal SOB who rarely even smiled, let alone grin like a cruel child.
