Page 102 of The Time Of Queens

“Then we will tell him what’s at stake if he does.”

“Which is?” Luc pushed.

“His solitude,” I replied before pointing out, “Come on, he looks to be heading home.”

Lucius gave me a nod before we jumped from one rooftop to another, ensuring we gave enough distance so as not to spook him into running. Or worse…fighting.

He continued making his way down Nanjing Road, which was considered as one of Shanghai’s busiest shopping streets, quite possibly in the whole world. Shanghai’s main shopping district attracted millions of visitors daily. Perfect then, for a hungry Demon to feed and sate its need for control.

In no time at all, he was entering his shit hole apartment, one filled with enough degenerates, it would at least allow him to get some rest, if only for a short while. We dropped down to street level, masking ourselves from mortal view. Then as we both looked up at the building, Luc asked,

“So how do you want to do this?”

The question gave me cause to sigh before admitting,

“I never got that far with the planning.”

He scoffed a laugh and said,

“I gather knocking on his door is out of the question?”

Luc’s words gave me an idea.

“Fuck, but I just signed myself up as the bait, didn’t I?”

I patted him on the back and said, “Sure did, old friend.”

“You know, if you weren’t my father-in-law and I wasn’t married to your daughter, I would say, screw you,” he replied, making me grin, reminding him as I walked away to get into position,

“You just did, Luc.”

His muttered ‘fuck’ was another cause to grin. I walked back into the alleyway, released my wings, and made my way back up to the roof, knowing he lived on the top floor. Then I waited until Lucius knocked before making my move just as our target made his.

“What the fuck do you want, Vampire?!”

“Nice to see you too… whoa!”

I slipped inside just as Lucius was being pinned against the wall with a thick, muscular forearm to his neck. Of course, I knew he could have taken hold of his mind, but we weren’t hereto hurt him. Meaning either course of action would defeat the purpose of us being here. Which is why I ordered firmly,

“Put him down.”

I received a Demonic snarl of anger in response as his head turned my way. The sight of such hostility towards me always pained me to see.

“Leave, old man, and take your blood hound with you!” he snapped, letting Lucius drop to his feet, completely unphased by this treatment. But then again, he had expected it. He also had experience with it.

“Can’t do that, as I have a job for you,” I told him.

“Fuck you and fuck your job!” he snapped venomously.

“I’ll ignore that, in favour of showing you this,” I said, pulling the Heirloom Seal of the Realm from the special box we’d had made to help contain its power. His eyes widened at the sight, glowing Demonically before he asked in disbelief,

“Where did you find that?”

“I hear that your employer has been looking for it,” I stated, making his eyes now narrow dangerously.

“Keeping tabs on me again, I see.”

“But of course, you are, after all, my…”

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