Page 11 of Because the Night

I hold on to his hand as tight as I can. Guess Shirley was right, better the devil you know.

Another ridiculously tall and built vampire guards the door at the back of the room. It’s like someone made an army of undead himbos. This one nods to Lucas and steps aside. No one seems to be making a move, so I reach out to open the door. And the handle promptly breaks and comes off in my hand. Oops.

Lucas swears under his breath.

“Sorry,” I say. “I was trying to be careful.”

He snatches the handle from me and gives it to the guard, who is now looking at me with a mildly horrified expression. Damaging the fittings is obviously a major faux pas. Lucas pushes the door open and drags me inside. And he saysmymanners are appalling.

There are no Art Deco touches in here. The spacious back room is painted black and is bare apart from a myriad of thick white candles and a long wooden table with five, throne-like chairs behind it. Vampires are seated in three of the chairs. And the only other creature in the room is one standing off to theside, wearing a long black robe and holding a digital notebook and stylus. Guess he’s here to take notes. A supernatural, undead personal assistant. Ha.

Lucas pulls his hand out of my grip, steps forward, and says, “You wished to see me?”

“Hello, Lucas.” A stunning woman with umber skin and her long hair in braids gives him a smile. Her blood-red dress dips low at the front to reveal a massive ruby pendant. A definite statement piece. “It’s been a while.”

“Rose.”

“Where is Christos?” demands an old man. He looks ancient, with white skin and hair. The style of his suit is dated as heck. Something from a century or more ago meant for hanging out in ballrooms or carriages. “He was supposed to accompany you.”

“My apologies, Archie,” says Lucas. “He won’t be joining us.”

He snarls. “You killed him?”

“Yes.”

“He was mine.” His lips flatline. “You had no right.”

“Have I really been gone so long that you thought I would tolerate being followed?” asks Lucas. “Let alone his disrespectful behavior. He killed one of my lackeys.”

“Never did know when to keep his mouth shut,” says the last person at the table, a handsome man with brown skin and dark hair. “But you can’t go around just killing our kind, Lucas. At least, not ones from other families without the agreement of their sire or the board. We have rules now.”

“What rules, Javier?” asks Lucas with a raised brow. “There’s a board?”

“You’ve been gone a while. Seventy years. Much has changed.” Rose taps her nails against the table. She nods to the man writing on his digital notepad in the corner. “The scribe will ensure a copy of the rules are sent to you if you give him your email.”

Lucas turns to me with one dark brow raised in question.

“Your electronic mail address,” I say. “We can set one up later.”

“The point is, we rule Los Angeles now,” growls Archie. “Not you.”

Rose clears her throat. “Things got a little out of hand near the end of the last century. A group of younger ones started running wild and causing chaos. Leaving bodies lying around for humans to find. Far more than their officials could reasonably be expected to ignore or excuse. They put our whole race at risk.”

“I see,” says Lucas.

“This board was formed, and one of our first decisions was to implement a cull. The troublemakers were destroyed, along with any known to associate with them. Many lives were lost in the conflict, but it was necessary.”

“It was the only way for us to regain control,” says Archie.

“We had no choice. They were making swarms of newborns to aid them in their stupidity,” says Javier. “The seventies were a trial, but the nineties were a fucking mess. We came this close to all-out war. You’re lucky you missed it. Though, the music was quite good.”

“Once it was done, we did our best to put the violence behind us. The board started to meet regularly to discuss any issues regarding our kind. We have as little as possible to do with the human world. They’re more than capable of governing themselves. But the board agreed to adhere to a set of rules for a term of thirty years to avoid another cull,” says Rose. “One of these rules was a moratorium on creating newborns.”

“Which is still in effect until we vote on it in a few days, unfortunately,” says Archie, turning his hateful gaze to me. “Awful timing on your part. This one will, therefore, have to be destroyed.”

I freeze in horror. They want to kill me, and Lucas doesn’t say a damn thing. We may have only known each other a few hours, but surely I am owed a little loyalty?

Rose frowns. “He was unaware of the rule when he made her.”

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