Page 22 of The Serpent's Bride
He was thespare.
And at the moment, he wanted to hurt something. He wanted to watch somethingbleed.He wanted to watch somethingsuffer.That was the only way to calm down his anger—to eke out his revenge on anything within range. Part of him wanted to drag Monica into his bed by the hair and show her who she should be taking orders from.
But this wasn’t Monica’s fault. There was no stopping Lana when she got something into her head. And he knew, no matter what he said or did, Lana would be showing up the next night with a caravan of people for her “party.”
Now, that wasn’t to say he didn’t want to drag Monica into his bed forotherreasons. Lana wasn’t wrong. The young woman who had stumbled into their family was a treat and a half. He wanted to taste her. To make her taste him. To show her exactly who and what he was.
But he had to wait.
He wanted to make Monicawant itfirst. It was no fun to seize what he wanted—that particular game bored him now. He liked his playthings to crawl to his feet, begging for more.
Walking up to a wall, Raziel smacked his forehead on the hard surface. He needed to do something. He wouldn’t be able to sleep like this. If he couldn’t loose himself on Monica, he’d have to find something else to distract him.
His fangs were pricking the inside of his lower lip. He needed tokill.
Taking a deep breath, he cracked his neck from one side to the other and changed into a different outfit. Something a little more appropriate to cause mayhem in. A heavier wool peacoat that reached his ankles, and an all-black suit that he wouldn’t mind ruining when it became soaked in blood.
Throwing open the doors to the balcony off his bedroom, he stepped out onto the landing and took a deep breath of the chill night air. The stars were beautiful, framed by the two moons. The larger white one—the Father—was high in the sky, giving him plenty of light by which to see.
And hunt.
Tonight, he’d rip someone’s throat out and drain them dry. It was consideredbad formfor a vampire to murder a human for blood. Mael would have to smooth it out with the mayor and the police force when they found the body. Not that anything about the kill would tie Raziel to the scene. Even if Mael suspected Raziel, nothing would come of it.
For vampires were the superior species in the metropolis, and the humans knew it was because of the vampires that they were safe from the fae. Without them, the humans would still be pets and servants to the hideous savages beneath the ground. So, it was the least the humans could do to serve as food from time to time. The least they could do was give up a spare life now and then. Theydidbreed like rabbits, it seemed. Always so many of them underfoot.
Spreading his arms, he dissolved his form into bats and took to the night sky.
Tonight, someone would die.
Tonight, he would drink his fill.
Even if, when he shut his eyes, it washerthroat beneath his fangs.
SEVEN
Nadi left her room around lunchtime when nobody had come by to get her. Not that she particularly wanted to interact with anybody—she was just hungry. And once it was clear she was going to be largely ignored by the staff—and Raziel, it seemed—she didn’t feel bad throwing on a much more casual set of clothes and heading down to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich.
A few of the staff and the guards stationed around the house gave her odd looks, but other than that, it seemed they weren’t going to stop her. Great. She made herself a grilled cheese with what she could find in the fridge, poured herself a cup of coffee—cream no sugar—before making the trek back toward her room.
As she passed one of the doors leading out to the back yard, she stopped. Sitting out there, lounging on an elegant piece of outdoor furniture, was Raziel. He was staring into the shimmering waters of the pool from under a patio umbrella, his expression drawn tight. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. Vampires were sensitive to light—it weakened their powers to almost nothing—but they weren’t hurt by it.
He looked…upset. Not angry. Justupset.
In his hand he had a coin. He walked it over his fingers to his thumb, then back again. It was an almost hypnotic pattern he kept repeating again and again.
Her curiosity drove her outside, approaching him a little cautiously. What was upsetting him? Likely still Lana. But she had to know.
Ivan, Raziel’s chief bodyguard, turned his head to look at her as she approached. He nodded once in greeting. “Miss.”
I’m going to love murdering you. Even if it’s going to take me eighty-two stabs to do it.She smiled at him sweetly. “Mornin’. Though I guess it’s afternoon, now.”
Raziel looked a little surprised as she sat down near him, placing the plate on her lap with her grilled cheese.
“Want half?” She motioned to the plate.
There was the faintest, quizzical smile on his face as he turned his attention back to the pool. “No. Thank you.” He paused for a moment. “You kept your hair down today. Good.”
Shrugging, she started eating in silence. She wasn’t sure whether the people in his service were under his hypnotic command or not. He made it sound like doing his bidding was a willing choice on the part of his victims. That made sense. She supposed it was a lot more problematic if his victims knew they were dancing on puppet strings.
