Page 60 of How to Entice a Fiend

“How would he know about you?”

“The only way is if the person I was making it with told them or told someone my name and it got back to Abel.”

“Who is that?”

“A man named Patrick Grady. We worked together for a short while. He studied under me when I was a chemistry professor and he had a sob story to get what he wanted. I thought his sorrows were genuine… hell… maybe some were. But he lied about his intentions.”

“Grady… why’s that name sound familiar?”

“He’s the man who created the drug that drove vampires to attack humans. I’m sure you heard about him releasing it during a concert, which caused all of the vampires to attack the humans. He wanted to show the world that vampires shouldn’t be trusted, cause turmoil between them and humans, and then gain followers who were willing to eradicate them. He only got so far before the VRC shut him down. He was arrested… or at least that’s what they say happened to him. Oddly enough, it seems like someone from the US council was in charge of what happened to him before he completely disappeared from all records. No one from our side knows what is going on with him.”

“So you’re trying to find him?”

“My boss is. If I find him, my only plan is to keep him from ever mentioning my name again. Maybe I’ll even beat him up for the shit he put me through.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Youwill beat him up?”

“I can fuck up a man if needed,” Mads says, like he honestly thinks I would believe any part of that.

“Uh-huh. Sure. Who is your boss?”

“A vampire named Vivian. I play the role she wants me to play in exchange for her getting me into the council. She has me trying to regain control of the drug that I created, while lookingfor Grady who has to be the one who has spread information about it. On the council’s side, I’m playing the role of a happy-go-lucky man who is supposed to convince others that the best outcome is for Callum to gain control. Personally, I’m only here to kill the people I made that drug for, the ones who slaughtered my entire family and left me alive for some sick fun.”

“Is that what you used on them back there with the explosion?”

“Yes… sort of. It wasn’t strong enough to kill a full room of vampires like what was used at the council. I do want to add that I didnotkill the US council members. I don’t know who did. But the explosion back there actually had two parts. First was the drug that stunts the ability to heal so when the explosion went off, they couldn’t heal or recover from it.”

“Why didn’t it affect me? I was closer to the blast than some of people who couldn’t even get up.”

“Because the antidote I injected you with is the same one you’d use for either the bullet or the powder form of the poison.”

“If this Grady person is already telling them how to make it, why would Abel want you? Obviously, they have the ammunition and know how to make it and modify it. Does Grady know how to make the drug?”

“Grady knows how to make a diluted version of it, which is what I used back there. The drug I created is a powder that is significantly more lethal, but I never shared that information with Grady. What is used inside the ammunitionhasto find its way into the body to be lethal and can take minutes to kill instead of seconds like the powder I created. I… honestly don’t know how Abel obtained it, and I promise that’s not a lie. Maybe Abel acquired the ammunition but not the knowledge of how to make it. With Grady having been arrested, this ammunition could have been something he made before the VRC shut his operation down.”

“So Grady doesn’t know how to make the more lethal powder you created?”

“I don’t believe so, unless he figured it out after leaving me. He stole some that I’d made but wasn’t able to find my research about how to create it. You’d have to ask him that, assuming you can find him. I know he was there for parts of it, but I pulled back when I realized what he was doing.”

“So if the more potent powder was what presumably was used to kill people, like the council members, what kept anyone from seeing it?”

“The powder is clear and extremely fine to the point that it’s nearly undetectable, and within minutes its potency is gone.”

I ponder this for a bit. “Who killed your family?”

“I don’t know. Funny, huh? I went to all of this work to kill them, and I don’t even know who did it. I hoped joining the council would lead me to them, but I don’t know what that’s led me to beyond the bullshit that ended with me here.”

“How long ago did they die?”

“Four years ago.”

I still as this settles. “How long have you been a vampire?”

Mads laughs as he realizes why I look so startled. “Nearly two years.”

“Fucking hell, no wonder you’re so damn slow.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

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