Page 55 of King of Night
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“I was wrong.”Eliza closes the office door behind her, drowning out the sounds of the bar.Opening this hipster bar was her idea, and it brings in an obscene amount of cash night after night.I’ll compliment her on it someday.
“That’s a first.”I look up from the calendar, done with scheduling employees for the rest of the week.“Care to enlighten me?”
“We don’t have to go out to find virgins to feed from.There are plenty in here.”
“There are always plenty of virgins in here.”
“You should come see this pathetic one hitting on the least interested woman in this place.”
“You?”
She laughs.“Second least interested, I mean.Want to watch?She looks the type who has pepper spray on her keychain.It’s always so fun to watch humans writhe in pain.”
“Another day.”
Eliza zooms over and puts both hands on the desk, leaning over so her face is just a few inches from mine.“What is wrong with you Lucas?Don’t you want to enjoy life?”
“I’m not alive.”
“Ugh!”She steps back and throws her hands up.“You fucking know what I mean.I miss the old days when it was me and you, fucking and killing whoever we wanted.”
“Times have changed.”Even I don’t believe the bullshit coming out of my mouth.Times have changed, now that vampires are out and have assimilated into the general public.But that’s not what’s changed me.
What’s changed me is…nothing.The nothing that I feel.That’s taking over me.I’ve done so much in the sixteen hundred years I’ve been undead.
Eliza opens her mouth, fangs drawn, ready to come at me with something else, but we both stop, having smelled it at the same time.
“Blood,” she whispers.“Someone better have dropped a bottle or something again.I’ll deal with it.”She lets out another dramatic sigh and I can’t help but smile as she speeds out of the office.Eliza can be a pain in my ass most of the time, but dammit, I love her.She’s the closest thing I’ll ever have to a daughter.
I used to want a family back when I was human.Before I was captured in war and forced to fight for other humans’ entertainment.[HW1] I lost faith in humanity before I became a vampire.[HW2]
I stand and start toward the door.The boredom makes the emptiness worse.It reminds me that I have nothing to live for—being dead aside.The smell of blood grows stronger, but then I smell something else—magic.
Speeding out of the office, I find Eliza heading toward the basement.
“Wait,” I tell her, holding out my hand.
“Do you smell that?”She turns, brows pinched together.
I draw my fangs and move in front of her.“Yes.It’s a witch.”
ChapterTwo
“Stay behind me,” I growl and tip my head to the side, cracking my neck.Virgin blood did sound tempting, but witch blood…witch blood is strictly forbidden.
For them, that is.
For us…it’s bragging rights.
“Fucking witches,” Eliza huffs.“What are we going to do with her?”
“I’ll deal with her.”
Eliza pulls her lips into a smile.“And I’ll watch.”
“Hey!”a feminine voice floats up the stairs.It’s soft and delicate yet strong and determined.The magic intensifies, but it’s more than a smell.It’s a feeling.
