Page 101 of Amethyst and Iron
It was the same voice that I’d heard before who’d given the command to take him.
I followed it this time and looked to see a guy who appeared to be in his late thirties by human years with long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, his tall yet lean form clad in a fancy pastel blue suit, seeming all elegant and stylish. Being a part ofPuritasit meant all that was trying to hide the shithead that he really was, masking the sadism behind the glamor. He smirked at my dad as he toyed with an orange shimmering ball he’d conjured, moving it between his upturned palms.
A sorcerer.
“Lucas,” Remnant spoke stoically.
Through all this, I hadn’t seen an ounce of emotion from him—except the wink he’d given me.
No rage.
No bloodlust.
No snide barbs or any remarks whatsoever.
He was so poised.
So controlled.
So… streamlined and focused.
Even with all that power at his disposal.
And most staggering to me… with him drawing on the full force of the vampire within.
It didn’t make him a bloodlusting maniac.
It didn’t have him losing control or being consumed by it.
And, unlike me, he’d didn’t have a wolf side to reel himself in.
“Are you done making your point?” Lucas asked with a sardonic smirk, as though it was all a game to him. As though he was safe.
“And what point might that be?”
“Trying to drive fear into the recruitment meeting you obviously got wind of through your whispers and whatever-the-fuck. Sure, your theatrics here might have a few running for the hills after this gory display of yours. But that’s all. So, come on, get to it. Save your energy. What deal is it you wish to strike?” He levitated his ball of magic, then cocked his hip, slapping his hand to it. “To be clear, though, you don’t need to make any deal. The Shadowed is always safe from us. Your agents are all purebloods. Either vampires or magic-wielders. Even at the top with the big boss, we’re forgiving you taking out some of our cells recently, because we understand you need to assert your dominance in the supernatural world, maintain the balance. There won’t be any retribution.”
“If you are so certain that I intend to make a deal, why have you called in seventy-two reinforcements as you’ve engaged me in this tedious small talk?”
I frowned and concentrated, calling on my vampiric senses, searching the area.
And there they were. I couldn’t see them yet, but I could definitely feel them.
Magical portals opening up and vampires and magic-wielders alike emerging from them—several hundred feet away.
Remnant had clocked it instantly and while immersed in that conversation.
I couldn’t count them all like he’d been able to.
Or, could I?
I pushed harder, drawing on the heat rolling through my veins from the fresh blood I’d ingested just before we’d left—five glasses of it. Yeah, I was starting to like it. A whole lot.
That barrier that I always kept in place, usually held there by using my wolf side to restrain the vampire, crumbled as I allowed myself to fully feel it, to give the vampire free reign.
There.
I could feel all of them, every individual heartbeat, every difference in the rhythm of their pulses too.
