Page 36 of Cosmic Power

The vampire did not heed his warning. With a sultry smile on her face, she continued to torment him until finally, the shifter snapped.

His creature burst out of his skin with an earth-shattering roar. His face morphed from human to werewolf in under a second, while the rest of his body stayed unshifted.

It was a peculiar sight. The head of a giant light brown werewolf sitting atop a human body.

Strange. Very strange.

The creature roared again and the windows shook from the vibrations. A moment later the werewolf vanished and Void had returned, his breathing hard.

Margaret stared in shock. Her glasses slipped from her nose and dangled around her neck as she gaped. Then she smiled, her lips curving into the biggest shit eating grin of all time.

Luther didn’t think that was the reaction Void was hoping for. Before she could say anything crass and antagonise the shifter any further, he cleared his throat, getting their attention.

Two sets of eyes snapped to him, one golden with anger and the other burning red with lust.

“Margherita, go wake the others,” he ordered, marching towards the alcohol cart.

“But—”

“Now. I will not ask again.”

With a ‘hmph’, she left, blurring out of the room.

Luther poured himself a tumbler of scotch and turned to Void. “You’re going to have to start learning to deal with her yourself. I can’t protect you from her forever.”

Void glared and climbed down off the kitchen island. “I don’t need you to protect me.”

“Oh really? Well, in the case, Marg—”

“No!” Void screamed, panic in his eyes. “God, no. Don’t.”

Luther smirked and brought the glass to his lips, taking a sip. The taste of scotch exploded on his tongue and he savoured it.

Even though the shifter irritated him to no end, Luther couldn’t help but enjoy torturing him when the situation presented itself. It was only fair, after all, considering how much the shifter tortured him with his mere presence.

“You said Barnabas had his own home, outside of the pack estate. Do you know where it is?” Luther asked, walking towards Sarah, who sat at the table eating her dinner.

When Luther had first arrived and used his compulsion on Sarah and Clive, he had told them to go about their normal day-to-day routine, to act as if they weren’t even there, but to be prepared to serve when asked. He also instilled in them not to fear them, no matter what they might do or say.

Which was why, when Luther picked up the older woman’s wrist and cut horizontally along her skin with his claw, she didn’t even react. Just kept eating as if nothing was happening.

He turned her wrist so her blood dripped into his glass.

Void watched on, disgusted. “See, this is why I hate vampires. Y'all are nasty,” he said, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “You’ve got no idea where that woman’s been.”

“Stay on topic, Void. Barnabas? His home?”

“I’ve got no clue where it is. Only his closest Betas would know that location. Barnabas has trust issues.”

Not surprising, considering what Luther knew of him. He was a paranoid guy.

Once enough blood mixed with his scotch, Luther licked his thumb and ran it over the cut. The skin healed instantly. He placed Sarah’s wrist back on the table and she picked up her knife and continued to eat.

Vampire saliva was a great healing agent for small time wounds. It was used primarily for healing the puncture wounds left behind from a feeding, which worked well in helping hide the existence of vampires from humans.

“Which Betas?” Luther asked, taking a drink. His eyes flashed red as the liquid travelled down his throat and he had to suppress a groan.

Blood was like wine. The more it aged, the better it tasted. Sarah was in her late seventies. 1940 was a spectacular year, and her blood showed that.

---