Page 77 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“They also say you took a mate,” she continued.

“Maggie,” I started, but before we could have that awkward conversation, a beefy vampire cut in.

“It looks like His Majesty came to visit us.” He cracked his knuckles, nodding his head toward a table full of similarly burly companions. “Should we kneel before you?”

Lysander cursed under his breath, but I simply regarded him for a second before picking a piece of dust off my jacket. This was exactly what I’d been looking for—what I needed to quench this blood rage I felt every waking hour. A fight. My new friend just needed a push. “That won’t be necessary. A simple bow will do.”

Maggie groaned as the vampire’s eyes bulged at my glib tone. “Do we have to do this?”

He answered her by taking a swing. I ducked, his fist cutting through the air with a loud whoosh. I grinned at her. “Getting soft on me, kid?”

As a trained handmaiden, she could handle herself. Now that she was a vampire, no one stood a chance against her. “You didn’t just say that.”

I winked at her and threw myself at the vampire just as his friends joined in.

Apparently, I’d been wrong. It hadn’t been a table of burly companions. It had been two tables of burly companions, and from the looks of it, a few absinthe-doused patrons wanting in on the action, too.

“This ought to take the edge off,” Lysander called. He twisted, narrowly avoiding a flying fist. He caught the vampire’s arm and wrenched it behind the male’s back. “Like old times, eh, Maggie?”

“Unfortunately,” she yelled. She jumped clear of a vampire stumbling toward her. Catching him around the waist, she swung him into the heavy metal door. He collapsed to the floor in a heap. Before she could catch her breath, another one was on us. “Do you two start fights for fun?”

“Yes,” I grunted as a female jumped on my back. Her arms coiled around my neck, and I caught sight of a red slash tattooed on her wrist.

Mordicum.

I needed to keep her alive, which, given that she was choking me to death, was a lot harder than just killing her. I darted for the nearest wall, twisting at the last second and throwing myself back into it. There was a snap as her ribs cracked. Her arms loosened, but she didn’t let go, even as she bellowed out.

“I...can...do...this...all...day,” I forced through gritted teeth.

Her nails sank into my neck, slicing through my skin and vanquishing any mercy I might show her. I smashed one more time into the brick, and she went limp.

She fell to the floor. I didn’t bother to see if she was unconscious or dead. One was as good as the other where vampires were concerned.

Spinning around, I discovered Lysander brandishing the neck of a broken whisky bottle at two males, smiling from ear to ear. He lifted his other hand and beckoned them closer with his index finger.

“I forgot how fucking cocky the Rousseaux brothers are,” Maggie yelled, leaning over to spit a mouthful of blood on the floor.

“It’s earned,” I reminded her, starting over to help Lysander finish them off.

“That’s not even fair. Two of you against them?” she called after me.

The bigger of the vampires growled at the insult. He swayed in my direction, swinging his fists. I caught sight of another tattoo peeking out from his rolled-up shirtsleeve. More Mordicum. We’d hit the jackpot.

“You aren’t welcome here,” he snarled.

Across from him, Lysander knocked his companion’s head off his body. It took one lurching step and fell to the floor in a bloody heap.

“Here?” I snorted. “I’ve been coming here since before your lungs knew air.”

He lunged forward, right into my waiting hands. My hand sank into his chest like a knife through soft butter. I’d caught one member. I didn’t need another for questioning. Not when I could use the others to send a message.

My fingers closed over his heart, and I wrenched it free. Blood sprayed as his body processed its death. The heart beat once, twice, against my palm. I held it up for the rest of the bar to see.

“Anyone else want to go a round?”

There was utter silence, and then, as if nothing had happened, everyone went back to their drinks. I dropped the heart next to the corpse. Maggie sauntered back to the bar and tossed us both a rag before wiping her hands on her own.

“I haven’t heard from you in over two centuries, and you show up and wreck my bar.” She shook her head and reached for a bottle of vodka.

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