Page 8 of The Vampire's Mercy
“I got lucky?”
He chuffed like an angry bull, brushing down the front of his navy uniform. “What the frig were you doing out there?” he demanded.
“I… I don’t know…”
“Why do people like you exist?” he cursed.
To break your face?
“Why is it always up to likes of me to save your behinds?”
Firstly, my poor ears. No one needed to speak atthatvolume. Secondly, he could go lick a battery.
He proceeded to lecture me on the dangers of frostbrood nests, his voice melting into a stew of rambling I couldn’t give two fucks about.
Blah. Blah. Blah. Little did he know that I’d fallen victim to some bullshit shenanigans. Dragged out there against my will after some crazy dream in creepy darkness, finding a vanishing crystal dagger to hurt my brain further.
The dagger…
He shoved me in the chest. “You’re a wanker, you know that?”
Shove me again and your balls are getting tossed into that nest.
I wanted to summon my stakeblade to show him what the pointy end could do to his throat, but there were more of him than me. And I’d already risked using my gifts out in the open enough for one day.
Executioners were considered renegades where they’d once been essential in the war against the vampires. Our creation was now illegal, as was killing vamps. All academies were swiftly shut down after the deal, by decree of the Global Order—a collective of scumbags rolling over and spreading their legs for the vampires ten years ago. They made a deal to stop the fighting, ending the sixty-year war overnight.
Neither side was winning, so the vampire king brokered with us mortals to make things better. Offered to work with us against the frostbrood, aiding in the creation of the nest veils, on the condition that they could snack on our blood in a non-murderous way and create the odd vamp and thrall in return—with willing volunteers.
Oh, and the Executioner Program must be wiped out. For the greater good. A whole if you can’t beat them, join them’ moment.
The Global Order agreed. They shut down all the academies, hunting and killing executioners after so many years of us fighting for, well, everyone. Made us the outcasts.
The storming of my academy still rang in my mind. Guns firing, people screaming. So much blood and terror andrunning, running, running. Pearl and I barely got away, all of our friends slaughtered.
Aidan damn the souls of the Global Order. Of all traitors.
The vampires made good on the deal. They helped rebuild the cities and towns that’d suffered the most, everything coming back stronger and better than ever within a few years. A combination of the magic of mages and the physical speed and strength of the vamps helped, along with their magicalengineering skills. Technology advanced beyond our wildest dreams at an accelerated rate, everything changing overnight.
Frostbrood aside, we were now living in a golden age of peace. A utopia even. Progress. No more hiding every night from vampire hunts. A world united in understanding, no more war, everyone moving on from a terrible past together.
What a sick betrayal.
It made my blood boil.
Vampires were all surface level. I knew from firsthand experience that they were monsters through and through. And Aidan looked down on us all with shame for sleeping with the enemy like this.
“Where’s your breaker?” Big Gob barked.
Breaker. A government-issued gun for blasting frostbrood. Everyone carried one by order of law. Mine currently sat in my underwear drawer.
“It’s at home,” I answered.
With that, Big Gob went at it with the scolding. Turned up the volume, spittle flying in my face.
How long would I need to spend in a cell if I stuck my fist in his mouth?
I weighed the pros with the cons.
