Chapter 3

Silas

“Must I go to this, Mel?” I complain, sighing loudly.

Melanie Nightgare stops adjusting my tie and steps back with her hands on her hips and a glare in her eyes. She radiates a no bullshit aura that I love, but this time it’s aggravating.

“Silas, you know this is part of the plan. We want them gone. In order to do so, we have to be buddy buddy. You know the human saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” she says in a determined tone. She always is the more confident one of us.

I simply shrug and finish up the tie myself. I leave the room and head to the grand staircase that leads to the overly dramatic and overly large gothic front door. Melanie follows closely behind, looking ever the part of an angelic mistress despite my knowing better.

At the bottom of the staircase, my butler comes to greet me with our suitcases in hand. We head to the car awaiting us, and he opens it for me. “Sir, will you be needing anything else before you leave?”

“That’ll be all Quint, thank you. Please relax during this time and enjoy yourself. I trust you to keep everything up to snuff, but I expect you to take some time for yourself too. You work hard,” I reply. He beams at me and gives me a thank you before shutting my door and loading our luggage.

“You’re so gooey,” Melanie chuckles and smirks from her seat beside me. I roll my eyes and look down at the reports stacked on the console. The driver begins to drive as I pick them up to read.

****

I must have been asleep as I wake up at the rough shoving of Melanie. She huffs from beside me as I snap my eyes to her. Vampires are not known to need sleep, but personally I enjoy it. It’s dreamless and passes the time. It also means a break from looking at countless words on reports.

“We are twenty minutes out. Did you get to read anything on those reports before you conked out?” Melanie asks.

“Yes, of course. Lorez is a prick, has roughly 54 slaves as reported from last months scouts, and we’ve yet to surmise which village he will hit next. Nothing new. These reports pale to what I hope to gleam by our stay there for a week.” I reply, lazily drifting my eyes to look out the window and away from her judging gaze.

“That’s true. Still, you should have read them all. Don’t worry though, I have. It’s worth it to note that Krono has made a building a ways away from the clan for unknown purposes. He and Lorez go out there weekly though,” she says with disdain coloring her voice. “I am going to figure out what they are hiding.”

Melanie is always suspicious of structures only accessed by few people, and rightly so. It was 20 years ago that I rescued her from a group of witches that experimented with transmutation. They wanted to combine species and create the ultimate race.

Melanie is a product of their experiments. She survived when no else had and for all intents and purposes was a success. She is a witch with the dna of a wolf. When she gets mad, her eyes shine with an amber hue and her magic takes the shape of a wolf when used. She is strong, physically and magically. However, she still carries the emotional damage from that time. It doesn’t bother me though. I have baggage of my own that she also knows about. We help each other, and she is my best friend and confidant.

Smiling, I say, “I’m definitely gooey.” She gives me a quizzical look but doesn’t ask. Now, we wait for the dinner of hell.

****

“Ahh, Duke Silas Everwood. It is a pleasure to have you here. Come in, come in. We have a wonderful dinner for you and your mistress, with a volunteer for the real meal of yours after.” Lorez Blackclaw’s screeching voice reaches my ear with his groveling greeting while he snaps his fingers at a nearby slave who takes our luggage and disappears.

Melanie and I move toward the door with him as I observe silently. He wears a goddess awful green black button vest with a white long sleeve dress shirt underneath tucked into tight fitting black slacks. His shoulder length black hair is slicked back. The jewelry adorning his neck and fingers is overindulgent. He is really trying to show his affluence. How drawl.

Crossing over the threshold, I watch his reaction. He has none and continues to lead us to the dining room. At least I now know that he knows humans got it wrong. We do not need to be invited in, but I like to use that misinformation to my advantage when I can to instill fear. Unfortunately, I will not be able to this time.

The large dark mahogany table in the room is filled with colorful dishes that look delightful. It seems that even if I will be unenthused by all else, the food will be good. The alpha stops and pulls out a few of the chairs at the table, indicating our seats. Humility. He has none but he certainly wants to act like he does.

We stand at the seats waiting for him to move away. He gets the hint and crosses to the other side. We take our seats, mine before Melanie’s as we want to show the common hierarchy. There isn’t in my mind as I believe Melanie my equal, to the disdain of everyone else.

Lorez takes his seat and snaps his fingers. Immediately, a girl pops up from below the table and reaches for his napkin. Girl is an understatement, she is a woman, a gorgeous woman. With deep chocolate brown hair, soft curves, and a determined jawline, she paints a stunning picture.

My mind whirls and hum with an elegant tune as a pull captures my heart. My other half. This woman is my other half. How cruel can the goddess be to have placed the other half of my soul into the care of a brutal man such as Lorez.