Page 5 of Draco

“Both of y’all need to chill!” I swept my tongue over my sharpest teeth. “I already know where the wallet is. Well, kind of.”

Quadir pulled a gun from the waistband of his Dickies. “Then pep up, brodie. Let’s bust a move.”

“It’s not that simple. A woman has it.”

“So what!” Zo snarled. “I hope her thieving ass is chocolate. The darker the prey, the sweeter the blood. If she wasn’t above stealing, she’s not above getting eaten alive.”

“Yes, the fuck she is!” I snapped.

I couldn’t see myself, but I knew my eyes had switched from a natural brown to an icy blue when my skin became hot to the touch.

“Y’all talk big shit, but I run the show. Dead the issue until it concerns you. What we can discuss is the money we made from the hit and what time we’re heading to Midnight Hills to make the delivery.”

All the light in Zo’s red tone slipped out of place. The trip to our birthplace was always a headache. Aside from it being six hours from Blackstone, we had to give funds to people who hated us because of our ancestors’ deceit. After years of the same routine, one would think we would be used to the tense interactions, but the bullshit never got old.

Since we agreed to meet outside in an hour, I took a shower and then added coconut oil to my hair. As I brushed my teeth, I admired my wide nose and the facial hair covering my upper lip and my chin. Nothing about my appearance revealed my ability to kill a man with a slap or my need to digest human blood every thirty days. That was the beauty of being an onyx vampire. We could live amongst humans during the day, and most of us were born with unique powers other vampires only dreamed of.

On my business tip, I paired black slacks and a black Prada button-down with a mahogany overcoat. Unlike Zo, I wasn’t big on jewelry, but I never left the house without something heavy on my wrist and gold around my neck.

When I made it to the front of my house, I saw Zo leaning against his bike. His fit made him look like he was going to meet our motorcycle club, The Sons of Eshu, instead of the ruler of our personal hell.

“I don’t know why you’re over there,” I commented. “We’re riding together. No bikes today.”

Zo snarled, showing off his gold grill. “Man, I don’t want to hear that. You don’t want to ride because you know I’ll dust yo’ ass.”

I nodded. “Yep, and we both know you don’t know how to act without supervision. Get in the truck.”

An eerie silence covered the car for most of the ride. We had taken the same drive plenty of times, but we could never find joy in visiting the city. Just like tales of our hometown haunted humans, the truth about the city disturbed my peace. Thoughthere were only a handful of people who believed vampires lived in the hilltop city, I knew for a fact onyx vampires were devils in designer clothes.

The sound of Zo clearing his throat caused my concentration to shift to the passenger seat.

“What’s on your mind, brodie?”

He pulled on a chain resting on his chest. “Do y’all ever think about what will happen if we can’t pay the price?”

I gripped the steering wheel at the idea.

“That’s not an option. I don’t want to be around for eternity, but I don’t want to be knocked off.” I grimaced at my reckless brother. “With that being said, keep your attitude and wings under control when we meet up with these bums.”

“You know I don’t make promises. I’m going to follow their lead.” Zo blew out a cloud of smoke. “Every time we come out here, they treat us like we could control some shit that happened before we were born.”

Quadir reached from the back seat and smacked Zo upside the head, knocking his hat off.

“Don’t start that shit. We don’t make the rules, but we follow them.” He groaned. “I’m not going to lie. After all this time, I still don’t understand why they don’t fuck with us.”

I heard my mom’s voice echo in my head. “I’m going to give you the same answer Mommy gave me any time I asked. Centuries ago, your great-great-great-granddaddy, Luca, broke a deal that onyx vampires made with a small group of humans who discovered our existence. We were supposed to remain up north in Midnight Hills, but Luca found his way to Blackstone and had kids—all mixed with human blood and vampire abilities.”

“We never had a chance.” Quadir huffed.

I released a one-note chuckle. “True. Death was supposed to be the punishment for Luca’s reckless behavior, but eventually,everyone attached to his bloodline had to provide gold to the people of Midnight Hills. To this day, I don’t know what they use it for.”

“Damn!” Zo grimaced. “That was a whole essay of bullshit I already knew and still don’t respect.”

The drive to my birthplace made me recall all the rules I had to follow. While most vampires from Midnight Hills could decide what they wanted to do once they matured, those with mixed blood had to step into an untraditional form of slavery. We couldn’t live in Midnight Hills. We couldn’t have sex freely because of the damage it could cause. We had to provide for people who despised us.

After being on the road for hours, we made it past a steel gate that protected a massive estate and exited my truck, each holding two briefcases that held bars of gold. A pack of meatheads that resembled an Italian mob guarded the front door of the property like they didn't know who we were. They looked like clowns, dressed in dated Versace buttoned-down shirts and styling their hair with too much gel.

“I see the half breeds have arrived.” The one I knew as Roman smiled. “Y’all know the routine. We need to search your pockets.”

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