Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 50954 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50954 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
“Yes. Well,” Chauvelin said. “Worth a try.”
Maddox found himself briefly amused, and that brief moment of levity was almost enough to make him unpin Chauvelin. But not quite.
“What will it be, Ivan?” He turned his attention back to the man at his feet, the cowering wolf suffering in silver. There could be only one response.
When Maddox returned home, he did so with reserved trepidation. He was certain the stench of the hole clung to him, as no doubt did the guilt. Yes, he felt guilty hiding his actions from Gideon. There was loyalty deeply built into his very being. He owed Gideon a lot. More than sneaking around and hiding his intentions. He felt like a teenager sneaking out of the house trying to get access to a lover his parent did not approve of.
Would Gideon know where he had been and what he was doing? Or had he been suitably distracted by Lorien?
If he had been human, he would have blushed when he stepped through his front door — a door that no longer felt like his — and almost directly into Gideon himself.
“Careful,” Gideon said as Maddox stepped through the front door. “He’s had a little too much to drink.”
“Who has?”
Gideon jerked a clawed thumb upward. Maddox cast his eyes in that same direction and saw that Lorien was clinging to the ceiling, fangs bared, eyes bloody, face entirely healed but now scrunched into a hissing rage.
“What is…”
“I gave him some of my blood,” Gideon said. “It seems to have been a little rich for him. These modern vampires are so dilute.”
“I thought when you said you’d feed him, it would be from some of the stored blood.”
“He needed fresh blood. Besides, it has been too long since I fed a young vampire.”
THUD!
That was the sound of Gideon’s blood wearing off, and gravity reasserting itself with immediate effect.
“Fuckkkkkk…” Lorien grunted, writhing around on the floor. Now he had a new wound.
“And where were you?” Gideon asked the question, irritatingly, ignoring Lorien’s pain.
“I had business, Gideon. The world does not stop merely because you wake up and decide to ruin my life, not to mention intoxicate my charges.” Maddox bent down and picked Lorien up. His leg was broken, though he didn’t seem to notice it in his post-blood stupor. Maddox carried him up to his bedroom and laid him down on his bed. The leg would knit itself. He was worried about what other unseen damage Gideon might have done in the meantime that wouldn’t.
“Sleep,” he told Lorien who was now stirring and coherent enough to recognize Maddox.
“Maddox…” Lorien groaned. “Gideon knows too much. He…”
“Sleep,” Maddox repeated.
“But I told him…”
“You couldn’t help telling him what you knew,” Maddox said. “Just get some rest. All is well.”
Reassured, Lorien closed his eyes. Maddox squared his shoulders, took another one of those breaths he did not need, and went back downstairs. He had been on the back foot since Gideon rose, plan-less, plotless, and somewhat hoping the whole situation would simply resolve itself. That was no longer the case. Gideon had to be confronted.
“I know you do not consider anybody worth considering,” he said curtly when he found his maker. “But I would thank you to take better care of those who come to me for help if you are going to interject yourself into our affairs.”
There was a brief hiss, then Maddox felt himself snatched off his feet by Gideon’s clawed grip. He was not surprised, and he was also unable to stop what was going to happen next. The beating had been coming since Gideon rose. He was going to be hurt now.
“You’ve lost respect,” Gideon intoned. “I will help you rediscover it.” His grip tightened on Maddox’s throat, threatening to cut off air Maddox didn’t need anyway. It was not meant to hurt him. It was meant to humiliate him, to teach him a long-forgotten lesson. But Maddox had been starting to consider that perhaps Gideon was not actually as powerful as he had been in the past. A lot of time had passed since their respective strength was tested.
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
Gideon put him down and loosened his grip enough to allow him to speak. A moment of truth was upon them, and Maddox was not going to let the moment pass.
It had been well over a thousand years since Maddox had even thought to test his strength against Gideon. He had become so convinced of Gideon’s dominance that the very idea of fighting him seemed impossible. Suddenly, it was possible.
“I am not the broken man who just killed his lover. I am not weak. I am not young. And I. Am not. New.”
Maddox punched Gideon square in the face. It might be the last thing he’d ever do, so he put his full force into it. He expected it to have little effect, but to his surprise, Gideon staggered backward. It was a slight stagger, but it was a sign of weakness, and Maddox had never detected one of them before.