Page 49 of Heathens

“You’d love to know that, wouldn’t you?”

“What are you gonna do, sell it? Ship it out to other cities?”

The louder he laughs, the angrier I get.

“Do you really want to make it, Dominic? I’ll tell you what it is.”

Lies, but my silence is the only answer he needs.

“It’s power and money in a little vial. Whoever controls it controls the city. Maybe more.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask.

“Because you don’t have a plan. You never have and you never will. Meanwhile, I’ve been working on this since we found out what our blood could do for the humans. Do you know how exhausting it is to make deals with them? They demand respect, but why should we respect a species that only destroys itself over and over?”

“So that’s it, it’s just a drug after all.”

“It’s far more than that, child, but your tiny brain could never grasp its complexity.”

I puff my chest out as though he were standing right in front of me.

“You want a war? I’ll bring it right to your fucking doorstep.”

“Did you forget, Dominic? You already have. You should have been content with the territory that I generously let you scrape together, but you’ve always been a covetous little wretch. I’m going to enjoy taking your head. I’ll parade it around Santa Cruz, right beside your little girlfriend’s.”

“Don’t you touch her.” My teeth clench so hard they threaten to grind into dust. “Don’t youdare–”

“Better get to her quick, Dominic!”Rene sings, just as the line goes dead.

He’s bluffing. He has to be.

Rene’s little minion laughs again, and something inside of me snaps. I swing the phone, hitting him in the side of the head and creating a crater in his skull. The pungent scent of blood and viscera fills my nostrils as Theo leans down, checking his pulse.

“Still alive. Durable fuckers, aren’t they?” His tone is melodic and playful.

I lean forward, jaw clenched tight, and remove the knife from the man’s thigh. He lets out a strangled grunt as his body lurches in place.

“You’re gonna be a good little lapdog and scream nice and loud for me.” I lean in close and lick the side of his face. “That call put me in a bad fuckin’ mood, and this is the shit that really gets me off.”

When I pull back, a wad of spit lands on my cheek. Humans are so adorably stubborn.

“You havenoidea what Rene has planned for you… for all of us.”

“You’re all so goddamn gullible. Let me guess, he’s going to make you a vampire, right? He’ll give you a whole new life, full of wonders you never dreamed of,” I gesture with the blood-soaked blade and stare out at the night sky with a smile. “Power, money, blood… he’ll promise it all, but it’s a pipe dream. You would have just ended up trapped under his thumb.”

Theo stares at the man with a stony expression. We’ve both played this game before. There’s no room for real freedom with Rene.

“But hey, at least now you can avoid all of that.”

“You’re gonna die, Duncan.”

“Christ, I wish you’d shut up,” I snarl as I pry his mouth open with one hand.

He chokes and sputters, and I grip his tongue, sinking a claw into it to keep it from moving as I slice through the thick muscle with the knife. He lets out a strangled wail and tries to wriggle away, but it’s futile. The ropes are too tight, and even if he got free, he’s in far too much pain to run.

Theo chuckles beside me, and the grind of his lighter catches my attention.

“Been a while since we did this, huh?” He blows a smoke ring.

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