Ethan strode toward him, his hand outstretched. “Excellent, Nicu. I assure you, you won’t regret this.”
“Hmm, I hope not,” Nicu said, shaking Ethan’s hand and gesturing for his son and daughters to follow him out.
For the next few hours, Ethan met with the vampires he felt he could trust the most, vampires he’d been friends with for a long time. Most of the meetings went similarly to the one with Nicu, except that these vamps seemed far more enthusiastic about taking political positions with Ethan. Half the time, I had to stifle the urge to yawn. It was all just so boring.
It was only when Lucas brought a brother and sister into the room that my Spidey senses woke up. There was something off-putting about the two of them, but I couldn’t seem to put my finger on it. They both had sleek, jet black hair and green serpentine eyes. The way they regarded me far longer than any of the other vampires raised my hackles. I looked to Ethan as he watched them, and I wanted to know what he gleaned from their reactions to me.
Pulling my legs up under me on the cushioned armchair, I stared at them dead-on, not allowing myself to be eye shy. Eventually, they turned to greet Ethan and took seats on the sofa in the middle of the room. I remained in my corner, anxious that something bad was going to happen. My magical blood bubbled under my skin in warning.
“Angelica, Raul, it’s a pleasure to see you both again.”
“Likewise,” Angelica said, folding her slim, pale arms across her chest. “You’re wearing your years well, Ethan.”
He inclined his head, acknowledging the compliment. “As are you. Now, I’d like to get straight down to business. We are all aware that you were both in Whitfield’s inner circle, as I once had been. I need to know if you hold any grudges about how he died.”
“None at all,” Raul spoke up. “In fact, I’m eager to see how you fare as ruler. I always thought you had a good head for leadership.”
Raul continued to lavish Ethan with compliments, while my attention was drawn to Angelica, who was very slowly rising from her seat. Quick as a flash she whipped out a stake and advanced on Ethan. Raul stopped talking and strode toward me with feral determination. I didn’t hesitate for a moment before holding my hand out in front of me and releasing warning sparks. Angelica drove the stake at Ethan’s heart, but it didn’t even break the skin.
My mind flicked back to earlier in the day when he’d shown me the sharp nail of his thumb and told me it was the only thing that could successfully cut him now. Angelica seized with panic as Ethan stood before her, not even bothering to fight back. Her attempt on his life was futile.
“Not another step,” I warned Raul, whose eyes flickered from side to side trying to figure out a way to get by my sparks. Ethan turned his attention to me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he looked proud. The vampires might know what I was, but I wasn’t defenceless anymore. They could try to get to me all they wanted, but I had my magic to fight them off.
Angelica tried one more time to plunge the stake into Ethan. He grabbed her wrist and turned her body, clutching her to him. Her back was pressed to his front, one of his arms wrapped around her middle. It was a position that almost looked like a lover’s embrace if you were to ignore the way his hand gripped her neck and smoothly wrenched it to the side. I heard the dull snap of bone just before he let her body drop to the floor.
Milliseconds later he was on Raul, incapacitating him with the same snapping of his neck. He picked up the stake that Angelica had tried to kill him with from the carpet and then dragged both bodies from the room as though they were weightless rag dolls.
I hurried out after him as he went down the hallway to his front door, opened it, and heaved both bodies out. The vampires waiting in the dark gasped audibly as Ethan stood stoically before them and announced, “This is what happens to those who try to cross me.”
Lightning-fast, he plunged the stake into Raul and then Angelica before tossing their bodies out onto the road.
Dead silence filled the street as the assembled vampires looked on in terror, whispering hushed exclamations of shock and fear. Ethan turned and re-entered the house, bringing his attention to Lucas who was standing by me with a pleased expression. He was glad that Ethan had shown the vampires a display of power. And to be perfectly honest, I was, too. It would make any of them planning a similar assassination think twice about it.
Several hours later, Ethan had met with most of the vampires who had been waiting. He told those remaining to return the next night, and they left, quickly obeying his orders. Something about drinking Ethan’s blood this morning kept my hunger at bay for a while, but now I was starving. I found a frozen pizza in the freezer that must’ve belonged to Delilah and put it in the oven.
Note to self: go grocery shopping as soon as possible.
When Lucas sat beside me on the sofa, I took the opportunity to ask him about the others. “Where is everyone? You were with them on that roof, weren’t you?”
“I was. They were frightened when they saw what had become of Ethan, and they fled. I haven’t located them yet. I searched the slayer’s house, but it was empty. They can’t have gotten too far since we’re all trapped in the city.”
I sighed. “We have to find them, make sure they’re okay.”
“Delilah will return when the time is right.”
“Speaking of my sister,” Ethan said as he entered the room. “I would like her found now, Lucas. I don’t like her out there alone.”
“She’s not alone. She’s with Finn and the others,” I pointed out.
Ethan let out a low sound of derision at the mention of Finn’s name, and I rolled my eyes. Before I knew it, I was being flipped over his back and hauled upstairs to his room. Seconds later, he threw me down on his bed.
“Do that one more time and see what happens,” he warned playfully, leaning over me and nipping at my shoulder with his teeth, no fangs—not yet.
I smirked at him and took my time doing one big leisurely eye roll. In response, he turned me over abruptly and spanked my bottom hard. I yelped.
“Ow, ow, okay, I’m sorry. Please forgive me, oh great one.” I couldn’t help giggling as I said it. “That good enough for you?”
Ethan growled and licked a line from the curve of my neck up to my ear, where he sucked my earlobe into his mouth. His hand slipped over my belly and down into my pants, his fingers sliding over the fabric of my underwear. I moaned in response, and he massaged lightly before pulling away.
I turned my head to stare at him in frustration.
“Glad to see you’ve learned your lesson,” he smiled just as the timer went off downstairs, informing me my pizza was ready.
“Oh, come on. It’s not polite to leave a girl with blue balls,” I protested, and Ethan lifted an eyebrow.
“You have a curious way with words.”
“So, do you,” I replied, rising from the bed and walking past him to go remove my pizza from the oven.
Ethan rejoined me as I sat by his kitchen counter and pulled off a slice. He didn’t say anything, just sat and watched me eat as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
“Want some?” I asked, shoving the cheesy slice in his face just to annoy him.
Ethan scrunched up his nose in distaste. “No, thank you.”