Page 76 of Black Bird

“Love the office.” The girl flashed an approving smile.

“Thank you.” Dahlia rolled her eyes, watching her lower into the seat. “I’m assuming you know what’s happened to your partner.”

“I heard.” She shrugged.

“What was your name, again?” Dahlia asked, leaning forward and keeping the blood bag safely concealed in her lap.

“Lorraine … but everybody calls me Raine.” She shrugged. Dahlia chuckled through her nose, looking down it as the overconfident girl in her chair continued to take in the room.

“And what is it that you wanted from me?”

Raine smirked, seemingly unfazed by the danger she’d found herself in. “I want power. I wanna be able to do what I want. I’m tired of living in my parent’s house. I’m sick of working at coffee shops, or retail stores. I wanna have a good time, without rules and stereotypes. I want freedom.”

Freedom … what a laugh.

“Well … if that’s what you desire, I’ve told you how to acquire it. How is it that you’ve failed so badly?” Dahlia interlocked her fingers over her propped elbows. Raine shifted in her seat.

“It wasn’t my fault. Tank drugged her. Everything was going fine until that cop showed up.”

“Tell me about that.”

“He came in and she went straight for him. Everything we’d done didn’t even matter. He twisted Tank’s arm, and I backed off. She left with the guy and her friends, and after that we haven’t been able to find her. I heard the ginger shot him up. He was being fucking stupid. I could’ve taken her out if that’s really what you wanted.”

Dahlia raised from her chair, leaning over the desk and bracing her palms on it. “I didn’t ask either of you to kill the redhead. Wherever she goes, our new friend is sure to follow at some point. Contrary to what you might believe … you did fail. I was to have her in this building over two weeks ago now.”

Raine’s eyes refused to meet hers. “Fine. I’ll go, then.” She made to get up from the chair but was stopped as Decclan’s broad hand shoved her shoulder back down. She seemed a little worried then. Dahlia’s smile grew wide.

“Go?” Dahlia slowly shook her head, the human’s fear feeding her every pore. “I’ve never claimed to be a patient individual,Lorraine. But … I do sometimes give second chances.” She glanced at Devin and jerked her head toward the girl. He moved to the other side of Raine’s chair, both males holding her down.

“What the hell are you doing?” Raine panicked. “Let go!”

“Now, now, pet … fighting me won’t do you any good. Just hold still. This will be over before you know it.” She grinned.

“Oh, fuck …fuck!I won’t—I won’t tell anybody about you! Let me go!” She started kicking against the desk, both the males finding purchase with their hands along her arms and thighs.

“Patrick,” Dahlia said with deadly calm. “If you will.”

The young newborn seemed as if he were trying desperately not to appear hesitant. Dahlia had spent the last few days breaking him in. He moved swiftly, leaning over the terrified host and grabbed her by the hair.

“Please! No!” She wailed. “Pl—” Her breath caught as Patrick tore into her neck like a rabid animal, feeding on her like an experienced immortal. It made Dahlia’s blood sing. Raine kicked and struggled, slowly losing her strength … her life.

“Enough.” Dahlia held up a palm. She slithered from around the desk as Patrick halted, dropping Raine’s head back against the chair and drawing in exasperated breaths. “Well done, darling,” she soothed, patting his shoulder. Dahlia bit into her pale wrist, dark blood dripping down her arm and stepped up to the girl as she lay nearly lifeless in the seat. “You’ll be of some use to me after all.” She smiled, holding her wrist to Raine’s mouth. The young girl jerked back, drops of blood making their way into her gaping mouth.

“You … bitch … y—”She rasped, hardly able to speak a word. Dahlia lowered her wrist to her lips and knew the moment that Raine realized she couldn’t control herself. She drank from her then, as if she were on some tropical beach with a chilled beverage in her hands. Dahlia moaned; every drop taken filling her with bloodlust. She closed her eyes and the lacy material between her thighs moistened with arousal. She jerked her wrist away, leaving the human to rid herself of her mortal body and turn.

Patrick watched, expressionless as drops of Raine’s blood dripped off his chin. Decclan and Devin remained on either side of the girl while the transition began. Dahlia relished in it, pushing her young slave against the wall and hiking up the skirt of her black dress. She grabbed his hand and shoved it between her legs. She’d give him no further instruction and he seemed inclined to believe her now when she told him she’d leave him chained to a rooftop to await his demise if he balked from her command. Dahlia claimed his mouth, tasting the sweetness of fresh human blood on his tongue while he slipped his hand beneath her thong and stroked her.

Raine cried out in agony behind them as her body began to die. It only made Dahlia more ravenous. Patrick’s fingers plunged inside her, and she rode them while she listened to the sounds of death. The louder the girl screamed; the harder Dahlia fucked his hand. She climaxed as the last howl of Raine’s transition ended.

“Good boy,” Dahlia said, shoving his hand from beneath her skirt. He remained against the wall, and she turned to look at her newborn plaything. Raine panted in the chair. “Now …” Dahlia started, holding the blood bag in her hand as she approached the starving new vampire. “You must be thirsty.”

The meeting among the politicians and hopefuls for the upcoming elections had run longer than Conrad expected. Suits were everywhere.Photographers, reporters. So many damn questions, so much damn noise. It was a small mercy when the door was opened to him in the black SUV that waited outside City Hall. When it closed, he loosed a long breath, reaching for the scotch to his left. He poured himself a glass.

“Fifteen minutes to the hotel, sir,” the driver announced as they pulled forward, cameras still flashing outside the dark-tinted windows. His phone started buzzing from his jacket pocket.

“I was wondering when I’d be hearing from you,” he answered.

“It worked.”

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