Page 5 of Burn for Her

Dorian whirled on Lucian and got all in his face. “You want bloodshed then you want peace. You can’t have both, Lucian. If Marius’s son has gone Rogue, he must be put down. It’s law.”

“I know.” Lucian didn’t even flinch. “I also know that Marius is influential with the House of Blood, which could bring other problems to our doorstep. If you deliver his son’s ashes, he’ll think you did it out of spite, not justice.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about his son or what Marius thinks.”

“That’s exactly my point.” Lucian pushed back with a firm hand on Dorian’s arm.

Dorian stopped dead in his tracks because he needed to give Lucian a margin of grace. He looked down at where Lucian’s firm grip had a hold on him, then flicked his gaze to the vampire. “I fail to see your goddamn point.”

Lucian released his grip. “You’re a cold-hearted killer. The Reaper, Dorian. Your reputation has an extremely long reach for someone who’s only three-hundred years old.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. The vampire society made him the monster he is. Well… not entirely, but they certainly helped his dark side flourish. Dorian ground his molars together and let his fangs pierce the inside of his bottom lip. The sting and burn were swiftly quelled by the heady taste of his own blood in his mouth. He swallowed before saying, “My job is to execute our enemies. By law, a Rogue is an enemy.”

Rogues were vampires who broke away from one of the three vampire Houses to be on their own. Most vampires indulged in drinking from humans, but it was more for fun than nutrition. Without powerful vampire blood to sustain them, which was always supplied in the Houses, they eventually lost their minds and control. Once that happened, they bit, maimed, and killed anything that breathed. If a Rogue turned a human into a vampire during this manic state, that person would also need to be put down due to their instability and tainted blood. Otherwise, a toxic turn like that ate their mind and they became a threat to all societies—vampire, human, Lycan, even the vile Savag-Ri.

It was a vicious cycle and one of the many reasons why vampires had a specific code they lived by. Rogues needed to be executed. End of story.

“If Stryx has gone Rogue,” Lucian warned, jabbing his finger at Dorian, “and that’s a big fucking if, then he’ll need to be captured and brought to judgment first. Marius will need irrefutable proof that his son is beyond saving. Even then, this could get incredibly messy. I doubt Stryx has gone in that direction though. Rogues are sloppy and mindless. By now he’d have been seen and captured if that was the case.”

Hence why they snatched a Savag-Ri to question instead. Those pricks were a tight-knit crew with a well-oiled communication system. Not to mention they were insufferable braggers. Always comparing kills. Always wanting credit for taking another of Dorian’s kind down.

Vampires weren’t that way. They killed quietly. Secretively. Selectively. Passionately and possessively. Death was a personal thing, and they didn’t take it lightly. The only time a vampire craved mercy was when one of their own was facing a death sentence. That’s why executions were always brought to a deliberation first, which was a waste of time in Dorian’s opinion.

But that’s what all immortals had, right? Time and insurmountable patience.

Only one thing made both those commodities run out fast—alakhai. Their fated mate.

Dorian never bothered to put effort into searching for his because he’d never drag a soulmate into Hell with him. Some lives were best spent alone. Others filled their time by hunting Savag-Ri, fucking each other, playing with human minds, and throwing parties.

And when it came to hunting down their enemies, a vampire’s predator instincts were satisfied, and the thrill of the slaughter never got old. Dorian was no exception. He lived for that shit.

Vampires were like cats with a world full of mice. How brutally they behaved depended on how bored they were. That was the lifestyle Dorian thrived in. That was all he knew. All he wanted. All he fucking deserved.

“Relax. Stryx could be dead already.” Dorian pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Or maybe he ran away because he was tired of living under his father’s thumb and following the House of Bone’s rules. Either way, it’s not my problem.” He turned to head towards his car. He needed to get away from this place and clear his mind.

Lucian’s tone cut through the gathering darkness in Dorian’s head. “Meet me at the mansion in twenty.”

Dorian froze. Turned. Frowned. “Why?”

“Someone’s waiting there for you.”

“Who?”

“I think you know the answer.”

Shit, if his girl was there, something must be very, very wrong.

Chapter 2

Dorian pulled up to the House of Death’s mansion and parked on the pad out back. Trudging up the steps to the main door, he saw Lucian already waiting for him, which was frustrating as hell. That vampire was a fast one. Faster than most, which was why he remained at the top of the food chain. Dorian was nearly equal to him in rank, but only because of his brutal, merciless kill streak.

“She’s been here a while,” Lucian shut and locked the front door behind them.

“You didn’t want to tell me this before the execution?”

“Business first,” Lucian said, clearly not giving two shits about how cruel that sounded. “I needed you to keep your focus in the Kill Box. Marius is looking for reasons to have our House infested and dominated. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Dorian couldn’t argue with the judgment call. His pace quickened to get to his girl. His girl. Shit, no one better hear that slip from his tongue in this House. “Where is she?”

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