Page 73 of Fangs for the Memories
Lucy leans her head on my shoulder. “I got you, hun, even if you are having a baby which is more likely to chew a bone than a bottle.”
I gently punch her in the arm. “Thanks, I don’t think.”
She looks me dead in the eye. “Grace, promise me you won’t go see Mark, please?” she says. “Whatever it is he wants, you don’t need him in your life.”
Ferenc
I’ve seen the inside of enough basements to last me a lifetime. Budapest is criss-crossed with them, and the vampires have used the damp tunnels to what they think is their advantage.
They are wrong. When it comes to protecting my own, I don’t care where I have to go, and I’ll take my pack with me.
The vault is not going to be opened on my watch. The world my mate lives in is not going to be threatened, and my pack will be here to deal with it all forever.
I slam my way into Dominik’s building. Several of his thralls throw themselves at me but find themselves back where they started.
“Get me your king,” I rasp.
“Fuck, Ferenc.” Dominik glares down at me from the balcony running around the atrium I’m stood in. “You can put your wolf away.”
“No. Not until this is over, and it means you have to pay.”
“Pay?” He leaps over the railing and lands in front of me without a sound, like the predator he is. “What have I done to you?”
“You gave me, my mate, and my pack up to the rogue.”
Dominik’s features twist into a frown, clearly not something the creature is used to doing given it means he exposes his sharp double fangs, which mark him out as vampire royalty.
“I have captured the rogue. My thralls and my vampires are rounding up the rest,” he says, looking me up and down.
I’m covered head to toe with blood from the hunt.
“I was told…”
“You were told something to distract you,” Dominik says. “To make you doubt me, most likely something which implicated me in a plot against you, which is untrue. I have this under control, although as the vampire attacked you and threatened your mate, you are welcome to have a say in what is done with them.” His mesmerizing gaze searches over me. “Possibly after you’ve cleaned yourself up a little.”
I check over my shoulder at my loyal troops. Each one of my wolves would die for me…
“Max,” I growl under my breath.
Dominik cocks his head on one side. “It’s true, isn’t it? Once you procreate, your line is confirmed and your authority is unquestionable?” he says evenly. “But until then, you can be challenged…or deposed?”
“Kurva anyadat!” I swear out loud.
To my surprise, the vamp puts his hand on my shoulder. “No one wants war, not while we have the vault under our protection. The only reason our kinds revealed ourselves to humans was because it was more important than any of us.”
“There will always be those who think they know better…” I snarl.
“I have the one who thinks he does in my grip,” Dominik says. “I suggest you do the same with your rogue as mine did not act alone.”
It all swirls around me. How the damn vampire knew where to find Grace and me over and over again. Only someone on the inside could have the knowledge.
“This ends today.” I cover my hand, matted with blood and gore. “No more war.”
Dominik nods and swirls away from me in a dark mist, followed by his nest mates, while the thralls sneak into the shadows.
“Time to go.” I stalk out of the vampire’s lair and into the winter night. Snow lies all around us, but the sky is crystal clear.
“Phone.”
