Page 132 of The Vampire's Thirst
“I do not know.”
Cerberus tapped his index finger on his desk but stopped himself, realizing the habit showed nervousness. He would display no weakness. Alarik’s Ministry of Well Being was key to much on Scath. His witches and warlocks maintained the portals, controlled gun use, and probably knew the science behind the D-chips. “Is there a way to breach Director Alarik’s ministry, Lort?”
“I doubt it is possible. He is too powerful. When you add in the combined strengths of those who work for him, his building is impregnable. The lawgivers could remove him from office.”
“Hmm. They could but would he leave gracefully? We have made limited progress on guns.”
“Yes, we can use them in certain areas on Darque. No mage has been capable of undoing the explosive weapons ban on Scath.”
Boden interrupted the conversation. “I did have someone alter our portal jumpers to allow larger groups to travel to Earth.”
Cerberus’s severe gaze flipped to the director. “Yes, Boden, but ten at a time is still a small number.” The warlock rubbed his temples. The male sitting in front of him was irritating at times. As the papers on Cerberus’s desk funneled upward in a small windstorm, both males in front of him shot up from their chairs. “General, carry on with the attacks on the strongholds. Leave me. I must think.”
****
Bountyslapped Dax’s face. Her brother had shown up at her office after the disappointing raid on Arisen Dawn’s abandoned garrison. As usual, his head was up his ass.
“What the fuck?” He rubbed his cheek.
“That’s for talking smack about yourself.”
He opened his mouth to say something else stupid, but she held up a hand. “Before you lay out all your faults, let me tell you about you. You were the male who cleaned up Mom when she wallowed in her own vomit, too sick to get out of bed. You are the one who picked her up when she stumbled, high on O injections. You are the one who bandaged her wounds when my asshole father beat her.”
Dax grumbled.
Bounty arched a brow, daring him to speak. “Shut it. There’s more. Every birthday, you made sure I had a special gift and a cake. On my fifth birthday, you gave me a rag doll.”
“I found it in someone’s trash.”
“On my seventh birthday you gave me a copy ofAlice in Wonderland.”
“Used.” His eyes rolled away from her pinned gaze.
Bounty tapped her chin. “Let me think. On my tenth, a gold necklace. It was a heart. I still have it.”
“Stolen and not gold.”
“Shut the fuck up. When nobody else took care of me, you did. You made sure I had a supply of blood. You guarded my door on dangerous nights to make sure I was safe. Don’t think I was unaware you slept in the hallway on the cold floor. When nobody else noticed if I had a clean dress, you did. When nobody else stepped up to save me from monsters, you did. You sacrificed your soul to control the man who donated his sperm to my creation. And you did all this while barely more than a kid yourself.”
Bounty reached behind her brother’s neck to untie the leather band of the necklace Dax had worn since the day he had killed her father and her rapist. A string of their fangs. “It’s time to lose this.” She dropped it into his hand.
Dax squeezed his fingers around the grim reminder. “I fucked everything that moved at the O blud den.”
Crack. Another smack to his jaw. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Yes. I loved every minute of it.”
Before she could smack him again, Dax grabbed her wrist. His nostrils flared. “I did enjoy it, Bounty. It was what it was. I’ll make no excuses.”
“How noble.”
“Yeah. That’s me. I didn’t save our dam, and I didn’t save you. But I had a good time feeding and fucking.”
“You couldn’t save Mother. Nobody could. She was bent on self-destruction after your father died. I agree, you’re a vampire with an active libido. You walk a fine line between aggression and control. Sometimes you slip onto the wrong side. So what? From what I can tell, that makes you just another Firebrand. You saved me, Dax. Protection is hardwired into your DNA. That’s why you are a warrior. Problem is, who saves you?”
“Forgive me, sis.”
“Nothing to forgive. I’ve never blamed you. If I had only known you…”
