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The human blinked, eyes glazed. “That’s it?”
“Go.” This time Felix injected compulsion into his voice.
Once the woman disappeared, Felix turned to his attacker. Jiaren, the Chinese representative, materialized from the darkness a few feet away. He was good. Felix hadn’t sensed him at all until he’d thrown the knife.
“Try harder next time,” Felix said and tossed the weapon at the other vampire’s feet.
The man’s lips curved into a cold smile and he spoke with a slight accent. “It was a test. With your abilities, I was confident it wouldn’t hurt you.”
Felix cocked his head, watching Jiaren’s every muscle for another sign of attack. Jiaren wouldn’t have made himself known if his goal was to take out Felix, but one should never underestimate an unknown enemy. “What do you want?”
“To make a deal. Concerning Mistress Gabriella.”
“Last time I checked, I’m not Mistress Gabriella.”
Jiaren’s lips thinned. Guess he didn’t appreciate Felix’s sense of humor. “She is your mate. I thought you can convince her to see things our way.”
“Why are you interested in her?”
“We are interested in her territory. We want a base of operations here, but her second, Nikolas, hasn’t been receptive to our overtures.”
Felix scoffed. Of course, he wasn’t. Nikolas and Gabby had established Haven’s territory fair and square through their own blood and sweat. Nikolas had kept the House together without Gabby and ruthlessly quashed several takeover attempts from outsiders. They won’t hand it over just because a foreign vampire asked politely.
But why Gabby? The answer came to him on the heels of the question. Jiaren and his House had evaluated the Houses in the States and determined Haven was the weakest. Devon was a Council member with the largest House, his territory spanning the whole of the eastern seaboard. Felix was the second oldest and had held onto power almost as long as Devon. If Felix wanted, he could have Devon’s Council seat. In fact, Devon had offered more than once in the last two centuries. Malika was just as power hungry and would never hand over anything or cooperate. That left Haven, whose Mistress had been asleep with a second-in-command who had never attempted to usurp power.
Not only were they underestimating Gabby, they were also underestimating Nikolas. Felix wondered how many bribes Nikolas had turned down from them before they resorted to their current tactics.
“So, you want me to convince her? What’s in it for me?”
“We don’t need all of her territory. You can take a third of it and merge it with your own. You two can rule it together.”
“Wow, a third. That’s so generous of you.”
A wave of icy anger blasted Felix. “We want to resolve this peacefully, but you’re not leaving us much choice.”
Felix had his hand around Jiaren’s throat in another blink. “I should kill you now for threatening my mate,” he hissed, and let the other vampire see the monster within. “If you want her territory, grow a pair and take it. I’ll enjoy watching her tear you to pieces.”
Jiaren’s hand whipped up, the dagger flashing. Felix lunged back, but not fast enough. His arm burned, and a line of red appeared from his wrist to his elbow where the dagger had struck. The pain vanished a second later as the wound healed.
He’s fast.Jiaren was stronger than Felix’d given him credit for.
“I see. I guess we have nothing more to say to each other.” And he disappeared in a flash.
Felix didn’t give chase, though his body shook with restraint. Any threats to his mate needed to be eliminated. The mating bond reared its ugly head with the urge to destroy.
To kill.
Or should he have accepted Jiaren’s offer to save Gabby?
Felix?Nasir’s call broke the instinct’s hold on Felix.
What is it?
I just received word Alfred is missing.Nasir sounded calm, but Felix sensed an underlying unease in his second-in-command. Alfred, whom he’d left in charge of Eden, wouldn’t have gone missing of his own accord, not to mention all the other missing vampires.
I can’t leave the Gathering.He wouldn’t abandon his mate.
I know. I will head back to Eden tonight. Should I send someone else to help you here?
