Page 82 of Sunshine and the Vamp

“No, he wasn’t!” Silas shouted as he backhanded Vlad across the face hard enough that Vlad’s head snapped backwards. Vlad just laughed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Do you know what they did to him?” Silas said to me, his eyes burning with fire. “They strung him up and cut him open from taint to throat and left him there for all to see. They murdered him for loving your precious Damyr and for what? So he could go and marry some whore a few decades later, cast her aside and then fall for some pretty boy. So now I’m going to take away something precious of Damyr’s. Rather poetic, don’t you think?”

“Don’t touch him,” Vlad seethed. I’d never seen the big guy so angry. “I don’t know how you managed to get someone to turn you, I don’t really give a fuck. But if you lay a finger on that boy, you’re going to wish you’d never been born.”

“Touching,” Silas taunted. “But you aren’t exactly in a position to make threats, let alone carry any out. Not that it matters. When Damyr arrives, I’m going to kill you and pretty little Benjamin over here. It’ll be slow and painful and I’m sure there will be lots of screams. Then I’m going to destroy everything Damyr built, piece by fucking piece. And then, when I’ve finally had my fun, I’ll rip his fucking heart out.”

“You won’t get away with this,” I said. “Damyr will make sure you never see another day.”

“Oh, honey,” he said mockingly as he climbed onto my lap. I hissed as his weight fell on my injured thigh. “Damyr will do anything to save you. Even give his life. There’s no way that I don’t win here.”

Vlad scoffed.

“You think that’s amusing?” Silas said.

“I think you underestimate what Damyr is capable of,” Vlad said matter of factly.

“Well, only time will tell.” Silas turned his attention back to me and I flinched under his gaze. There was something unnerving in his eyes, something that hinted at madness wrapped in a cool gaze. Like he was calm on the surface but a raging tempest beneath his skin.

“How did you become a vampire?” I asked, hoping to distract him by getting him to talk about himself.

His lip curled into a smirk that told me he knew exactly what I was doing but he was going to indulge me anyway. “I followed the Hunters that slaughtered my brother. They were good at hunting vampires, just not so great at killing them. They stumbled on a solitary old vampire and tried to take him out. They failed and it gave me an opportunity to strike a deal. And here I am.”

“Here you are,” I echoed.

Silas ran his hand through the curls on top of my head. “You really are pretty, Benjamin. Seems such a waste.”

“You’re pathetic,” Vlad said in a dry tone. “Pining after a dead man who probably gave you attention out of pity.”

Silas’ eyes darkened with hatred. “You know nothing. You weren’t there.”

“No,” Vlad replied with a dry laugh. “But I’m here now and all I can hear is a pathetic little sob story. So you weren’t loved? Well, boo-fucking-hoo.”

Silas got up and struck Vlad hard enough across his face that the force of it sent him barrelling to the floor. Vlad just laughed and Silas was on him immediately, his fists pummelling any part of Vlad he could reach.

“Stop!” I screamed. “Stop, please.”

Silas froze, his bloody fist poised to slam down into Vlad’s face again. He looked at me over his shoulder, his white hair brushing his eyelashes. All I could see was madness staring back at me. I was absolutely fucking petrified.

He stood slowly and moved towards me, his steps predatory. “Oh, Benjamin. You really are something.”

“You don’t have to do this, Silas.” I was relieved I had managed to drag him away from Vlad before he did any more damage. I wasn’t going to get through to him, I knew that. But I had to try. Everyone was worth being given the chance. No matter how far off the moral spectrum they’d fallen. I took a chance on Damyr, and it was the best decision I ever made. Maybe Silas just needed someone to do the same for him. “Just let Vlad go. You can still walk away and find something good to live for.”

“Sweet, Benjamin,” he said, his voice soft. He brushed my curls from my forehead with a bloody finger. I flinched, my stomach churning as Vlad’s blood brushed my skin. “You really are precious. For what it’s worth, I am sorry you have to die. You probably have some potential to thrive in my world if I could spend the time to shape you into something lethal.” He tilted his head to one side, considering something. “Maybe I will keep you. You’d be such a lovely little pet.”

“Don’t do this, Silas. This can’t be your reason for living. It won’t satisfy you. All this killing and all this revenge. It might feel good in the moment, but after? You’ll just be empty because you’ll have nothing left to live for.”

Silas stared at me for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then he threw his head back and laughed. There was no reaching him. No way that I could appeal to his better nature. He either didn’t have one, or it was buried so far beneath the madness that he was beyond saving.

Silas wasn’t a psychopath like Byron, or brutal like Damyr and Vlad. He was chaos in its extreme. Pure, angry, violent chaos. An intense concoction of emotions, flipping from one to the next so violently, I couldn’t predict what emotion would come my way next. I saw it now. The jealousy, longing, lust, and pain. For Damyr and the brother he’d lost. It fuelled him like gasoline.

“You’ll never be satisfied,” I said. I almost felt sorry for him. I certainly pitied him. after everything, when he finally got what he wanted, he’d be empty. A mere hollow husk of a man.

“You really are something,” Silas said as he wiped away the tears streaming from his eyes. “If you somehow make it out of this alive, I’ll keep you.”

I sighed. There was no hope for him. “Answer me one question, before you inevitably kill me.”

“Sure,” he said with an indulgent smile. “Why not.”

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