The Den of Shadows Quartet - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [3]
“This isn’t your land,” he told me. Though I could sense a bit of a vampiric aura around him, he was definitely human. He was blood bonded to a vampire and probably even working for one, but not one of my kind. He was not a threat, so I did not even bother looking into his mind.
“This isn’t your land,” he told me again. I knew he could read my aura, but I was strong enough to dampen it, so to him I must have felt young. Even so, he was very foolish or he was working for someone very strong — possibly both. Since there are no more than five or six vampires on Earth who are stronger than I, I had little to fear.
“Get out,” he ordered me.
“No,” I replied, continuing toward the Café Sangra.
I heard him draw a gun, but he had no chance to aim before I was there. I twisted the gun sharply to the side, and he dropped it so that his wrist would not break. My prey’s eyes went wide as she saw this, and she ran away blindly darting around the corner. Stupid human.
I stopped veiling my aura, and my attacker’s eyes went wide as he felt its full strength.
“Is that all you were armed with?” I scoffed. “You work for my kind — you must have more than one gun.”
He went to draw a knife, but I grabbed it first and threw it into the street hard enough to slam an inch of steel into the ground.
“Who — Who are you?” he stammered, afraid.
“Who do you think I am, child?”
I tend to avoid most of my kind, and destroy those who insist on approaching. Because of this, few recognize me. “Whose are you?” I snapped when he did not immediately respond. I received only a blank stare in return.
I reached into his mind and tore out the information I wanted. Those of my line are the strongest of the vampires when it comes to using our minds, and never have I found a reason to avoid exercising that power. When I found what I sought, I threw the human away from me.
I swore as I realized who this human belonged to.
Aubrey … He is one of the few vampires stronger than I. He is also the only one who would care about my presence in his land.
I had been in this part of New York City before but had never encountered Aubrey or any of his servants here. Yet, according to this human, the place belonged to my enemy.
My attacker smiled mockingly Perhaps he thought I was afraid of his master. Indeed, I fear Aubrey more than anything else on this Earth, but not enough to spare this boy. Aubrey would learn about my being on his territory one way or another, and this child was bothering me.
“Ryan,” I crooned, finding his name as I read his mind. He relaxed slightly I smiled, flashing fangs, and he paled to a chalky white. “You made me lose my prey.”
Before he had a chance to run, I stepped toward him, placing a hand on the back of his neck. As I did so I caught his eye, whispering a single word to his mind: Sleep. He went limp, and did not fight as my fangs pierced his throat. I could taste a trace of Aubrey’s blood in the otherwise mortal elixir that ran through Ryan’s veins, and that taste made me shiver.
I did not bother disguising the kill. If Aubrey wished to claim that street, he could deal with the body and the human authorities. Either way Aubrey would feel my aura and know I had been there; very few would dare to kill one of Aubrey’s servants on his own territory.
Though I feared Aubrey and dreaded what would happen should I confront him again, I refused to show that fear. That was the first time our paths had crossed in nearly three hundred years; I would not show that I still feared him.
Aubrey … Hatred flickers through me at the thought of him.
The long-stemmed rose lies on the scarlet comforter over my bed, its petals soft, perfectly formed, and black.
I pick up the rose, cutting my hand on a thorn, which is as sharp as a serpent’s tooth. I look at the blood for a moment as the wound heals, reminded of a time long ago; then absently I lick