Page 36 of Eleazar

Andrew swallowed roughly as he looked around the room. He spotted the three, and they were staring daggers at him, as if daring him to point them out. Andrew didn’t want to, but if they so easily fell into line with Maximus, who was to say they wouldn’t do it again if someone else decided to betray Eleazar?

His mate also had his assassin squad in the room, and Andrew wasn’t sure if they were part of the lineup or there to take down the ones who were fingered.

Shayde stood on the other side of Andrew, his expression blank.

After taking a deep breath, Andrew pointed to all three men. “Them.”

The three vampires attacked as Eleazar’s assassin squad took them down.

Eleazar stepped to them when the three were taken to the floor. “You are a part of my coven, and you dare betray me?”

None of them spoke. All three had defiant looks on their faces.

“Take them out back,” Eleazar said.

“No!” one of them shouted, but Eleazar’s elite picked them up and took them away.

“What’s going to happen to them?” Andrew watched as Eleazar’s men effortlessly carried them away. He was glad he wasn’t on his mate’s bad side.

“Do you really want to know?” Eleazar asked.

No, Andrew didn’t. Because he would feel responsible for their fates, even though it was their betrayal that had sealed it. He shook his head, ready to get away from the living room and the eyes that were on him.

Chapter Ten

“We have him,” Alaric said into the phone when Eleazar answered. He could see by the darkness that night had fallen. “Maximus is holed up in some building on Bellwood Drive. He has at least two dozen vampires in there with him. How do you want us to handle this?”

“Text me the address.” Eleazar hung up, made sure Andrew was asleep, then slipped from the bed and dressed. Before he took off, Eleazar texted Shayde to have Dr. Caldart come by. Then he texted the doctor and asked him to draw some of Andrew’s blood and test it to see if the human was truly pregnant.

Dr. Caldart would think Eleazar was insane, but his conversation with Sonny and Andrew’s sickness was something he couldn’t shake. He’d suppressed the thought, but in the back of his mind, he kept telling himself that this couldn’t be. There were myths of men getting pregnant by vampires, but Eleazar had never seen it for himself, so he’d dismissed the myths as ludicrous.

Even so, Sonny had placed that little nugget in Eleazar’s head, and he needed to know if it were even possible.

He had Isaak guard the door—he also placed someone outside his bedroom window—before he headed out into the night. It didn’t matter to Eleazar how many people Maximus had surrounded himself with.

No one was going to stop him from getting his hands on the vampire.

Eleazar was laser focused as he raced through the city, a blur to those who could even catch a glimpse of him. He stopped next to Alaric and his men when he arrived.

“He’s on the second floor, sir,” Alaric said. “How do you want to proceed?”

Eleazar didn’t answer. He stormed toward the entrance, taking down anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. After he’d killed over half a dozen vampires, the rest of the people inside backed away.

One even pointed to the second floor, indicating where Maximus was located.

Eleazar ascended the stairs, his clothes bloody as he inhaled Maximus’s scent. It was some kind of manufacturing plant that had long ago shut down. Eleazar could still smell the stench of whatever they’d produced there but ignored the scent as he zeroed in on Maximus.

He used his mind to slam open the door. It swung in so hard that the top hinge gave way and left the door hanging from the bottom rung.

Standing on the far side of the room was Maximus, and he was wearing a smirk. “I wondered if you’d ever find me.” He tsked as he turned to fully face Eleazar. “It seems I got the dosage wrong.”

Eleazar had no clue what the vampire was talking about. He raised his arm, and at the same time, Maximus rose off his feet. Eleazar clenched his fist, and Maximus clawed at his neck. “I always knew you were deranged. I should have put you down years ago.”

Maximus spread his arms. “Here I am.”

Eleazar had had enough. He wasn’t there to talk. He shot across the room and slammed into Maximus, sending the vampire flying through the second-floor window. Using his inhuman speed, he raced outside, glad when he saw his elite circling Maximus, refusing to let him escape.

“You think you’ve won?” Maximus wiped the blood from his mouth. “I poisoned you, Eleazar. You drink blood from bags that are accessible to anyone in the house. It’s slow acting, so it’s gonna take time. I wanted to see you suffer. You’ve grown soft!”

---