Raven's Blood Page 19

Chapter Fourteen

  Graham was enjoying a very nice meal with Roger and Miles. He’d known them for years, and they were part of Graham’s inner circle. Most would describe them as part of the leadership council, but Graham considered them threats to his power most days. Friendship was for fools. The others who were considered part of the leadership council were merely there for show. They were brainless women, only good for sex on occasion.

  Roger and Miles could have been brothers. Both had unremarkable features with brown hair and eyes. Graham needed their support, even if he didn’t trust them completely. They’d both been on his ass about the shortage of nymph blood for the last few days. As they ate, Graham imagined taking his steak knife and putting it into Roger’s eye socket. He chuckled softly as he thought about the noise it might make. Would it pop? Or would it be more of a squishing sound?

  “How can you be amused at a time like this?” Miles demanded in a nasally voice.

  Graham’s response was interrupted when one of the guards he’d sent out with the new vampires barged into the room. The man hadn’t showered in days, and the smell was enough to spoil Graham’s appetite.

  “I assume your return means you’ve brought back at least one nymph?” Graham remarked in a bored voice.

  The man shook his head, his black hair damp and clinging to his forehead. After being outside for so long, he had a painful looking sunburn. “Not exactly,” the man said nervously.

  “Then why the hell are you here?” Graham demanded. “Did something happen with the team?”

  The man nodded. “Two of the vampires were killed, and three others were seriously injured. Two of them are healing quickly, but we had to put one of them down.”

  “Killed by whom?” Roger demanded, setting his fork aside and putting a napkin over his nose and mouth to block out the smell. “As I understand it, there are only a handful of human ranchers in that area. There certainly aren’t enough to present a danger.”

  “A born vampire,” the man stammered.

  “We knew it was possible you’d run into someone from their settlement.” Graham moved around the table to stand in front of the man. “While there may not be a vampire settlement close to there, they patrol those areas. Did you dispose of the blood brat’s body? We don’t want to draw attention to that area. It would be best if he just disappeared.”

  The man shook his head vigorously. “He’s not dead. He got away.”

  Graham was losing patience and fighting the urge to strike the man.

  “I’m curious to know how one born vampire bested at least ten of our vampires,” Miles asked. “Even if it was just the five you mentioned, he shouldn’t have been able to take them all on. Were there more with him?”

  “Maybe your new vampires aren’t all you made them out to be, Graham,” Roger taunted.

  Graham felt his face turning red with anger. “There is obviously more to this story,” he said through his teeth.

  “There were wolves,” the man uttered as if he was having trouble believing his own claim.

  “They were probably wild dogs,” Graham argued. “Did you actually see them?”

  The man shook his head.

  “So, we need to train the vampires not to run from a pack of dogs,” Graham muttered, wishing Roger and Miles weren’t hearing this. The blood brat getting away meant someone was going to reveal that there was a group of vampires in that area. Even worse, they might have noticed they were different from other turned vampires. That meant he needed to move them out of the area quickly. The last thing he wanted was one of his creations ending up in the wrong lab.

  “There was also a wood nymph,” the man said.

  “Interesting,” Graham mused, wondering how long he could keep his vampires there before a team was sent to hunt them. “Did the blood brat see her?”

  “She was with him,” the man replied. “She brought the wolves to save him.”

  Graham couldn’t mask his shock. Why the hell would a wood nymph help one of the blood brats? The only one he’d ever met that didn’t live in the forest hated vampires. “Did you see what she looked like?”

  “I didn’t see her at all,” the man admitted. “I wasn’t with the vampires.”

  “Any name?” Graham asked.

  The man shook his head. “The vampires did hear that the born vampire is named Connor.”

  Graham laughed. “In that case, I think I know where we can find a wood nymph.” He knew the closest major vampire settlement was ruled by a blood brat named Connor. While it was certainly possible it was a different Connor than they’d met in the woods, he had a feeling it wasn’t. That meant he had a chance to get his wood nymph and some much deserved revenge. He remembered that blood brat all too well. He’d always had an over-inflated sense of self-worth. The blood brat’s mother had been truly lovely and perfectly obedient. He got hard just thinking about her cowering at his feet as she begged for blood.

  “I need you to take about twenty more vampires with you and half a dozen trusted guards,” he began. “Bring back the vampires and guards from Las Trampas. On the way back, stop at as many ranches and small settlements as you can. I want you to bring back every human over the age of fourteen. Actually, bring back the younger ones, too. We can always use them for experiments.”

  The man looked shocked but dropped his head and nodded before hurrying out of the room.

  Graham turned to face his friends. “I don’t suppose the two of you remember a blood brat by the name of Connor?”

  Miles had a thoughtful look on his face and shook his head.

  Roger smiled pleasantly. “I remember him. He hid my favorite blood whore from me one time. I had the flesh practically whipped off his back. I hope you aren’t planning to get too distracted from what’s important. I agree the blood brat’s death would be nice, but we need nymph blood.”

  “I’m aware of that fact, Roger,” Graham snarled and threw his plate against the wall. It shattered, which took some of the edge off Graham’s anger. Destruction always made him feel calmer.

  “I’m just concerned about you losing focus on what’s important,” Roger said with false sincerity.

  “There’s no reason to worry about me,” Graham assured him. “We’ll have our nymph, and then we’ll find a way to get her to lead us to more nymphs. Better than that, we’ll have some much deserved revenge on the blood brats. I know what I’m doing.”

  “I certainly hope this plan goes better than the last one,” Roger said with a snort.

  “Just keep in mind that if we should have a shortage of nymph blood at some point, I’ll have to decide who continues to receive treatments,” Graham warned with a pleasant smile. “You might have some say in what happens here, but you’re mostly a figurehead. I am the one in charge of who lives and dies.”

  If Roger’s glare was any indication, he got Graham’s message loud and clear. Roger quickly masked his reaction with a relaxed smile. “You know I’ll always have your back.”

  “Let’s not argue about this,” Miles chimed in. “We’ve been friends most of our lives. It’s just the stress making us fight.”

  Miles always was the idiot peacekeeper among them. Graham wondered if he could convince Miles they needed to kill Roger. He already knew it was Roger who made Miles question things in the first place. The idea of killing someone he’d been friends with most of his life excited Graham. He’d have to save that pleasure for later. It would be a reward after the wood nymph blood issue was resolved. Until then, he would just have to fantasize about all the ways he could kill Roger and all the things he could do to make the blood brats pay.